DEFEAT OF GERMANY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25625, 28 August 1944, Page 6

DEFEAT OF GERMANY

TENTATIVE DATE OCTOBER 1 _ WASHINGTON. Aug. 25. The army tentatively expects the war against Germany to terminate on October 1 this year. The chairman of the House Post-war Military Policy Committee (Senator Woodrum) interposed this statement at a hearing at which Admiral James Irish, a navy inventory control officer, said the navy expects still to be fighting in the Pacific at least until the end of 1945.

Irish added that successful prosecution of the war in the Pacific was handicapped by failure to obtain the necessary ships, such as troop carriers and refrigeration ships. Replying to a reporter’s question at a press conference to-day, President Roosevelt declined to predict when the war is likely to end. He added that he was very careful about such things. He was about the only person who had not said when he expected the European war to be over.

Mr Roosevelt also refused to predict how long the war against Japan was likely to continue after the defeat of Germany, saying that such things were pure speculation. A report from Washington says that Senator Woodrum said October 1 had been chosen by the War Department over a year ago as a basis for tactical planning purposes, and was not regarded as an outright prediction that German resistance would have ended by then.