RECENT VICTORIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25300, 10 August 1943, Page 3

RECENT VICTORIES

REACTION IN BRITAIN ATMOSPHERE OF CONFIDENCE (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) LONDON, Aug. 8. The victories of the past week have produced an atmosphere of confidence throughout Britain which has not been exceeded throughout the war. No curb has been put on this mood, and one of the most frequent comments this week-end is upon a quotation from Ludendorff’s memoirs of 1918: “August the eighth was a black day for the German army.” In public opinion the same week in 1943 was no less ominous for German arms. • Of the three victories—Orel, Byelgorod, and Catania—commentators suggest that the Russian victories are probably most alarming for the Germans, because they confirm that the long-promised German summer offensive is a .disaster and that the Russian offensive, combined with the Sicilian victories, means the successful opening of two fronts.

Unrest in Balkans There is also the possibility of the present situation in Italy recurring in the Balkans. “Kharkov is ‘hotly pressed,’ and if the Germans try to hold it they will be exposed to another circling movement,” -says the Observer. “With Orel, Kursk, and Kharkov in Russian hands the Soviet commanders will control a network of railways based on the Moscow _ industrial area and stretching out in three long branches into the vitals of the Ukraine. As sure as the threat to Sicily encouraged popular opposition to Mussolini, so a . Soviet advance in the Ukraine would lead to a popular uprising in the Balkans. Like the Italians, the Balkan peoples even now can see themselves reduced to the role of an outpost of German Nazism.” There is considerable conjecture about what the next step will be in the Mediterranean. It is questioned whether it would be strategically sound for the Allies to pin down a relatively large proportion of Allied man-power by occupying the no man’s land of Southern Italy. On the other hand, if the Allies were firmly established in Southern Italy they would threaten pot only the German line north of Rome, but also the Balkans. The Sunday Times says: "From the heel of Italy it is a short crossing into the Balkans—short enough to permit landings to be made with fighter cover. Such landings, if successful, would outflank the enemy forces in Greece. That circumstance, combined with the fact that the burden of occupation has hitherto been borne almost entirely by the Italians, might cause the evacuation of Greece in the quite near future. It would not be surprising if Greece were the first conquered European country to be liberated.” Allies and Italy Last week’s House of Commons debate focused attention on the Allies’ political intentions inside Italy. The Economist expresses the opinion that the cleavage of opinion in the House of Commons was real and profound. The journal supports the policy suggested by Mr Ivor Thomas, Labour M.P. for Keighley, that “ there should be for some period a military occupation during which the organs of aemocraey should be allowed again to function,” instead of attempting to throttle down passions under some quasi-Fascist dictatorship. The Observer contends that Mr Eden’s reply to the debate was “an elegant but evasive little speech,” and declares that it would be an immense relief to hear one word from the Government benches indicating that Britain’s leaders are alive to the immense and pressing opportunities and responsibilities of this question.