The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1944. Guderian’s Message

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVII, Issue 23113, 30 January 1945, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1944. Guderian’s Message

QENERAL Guderian, commander of the German Armies on the Eastern Front, has said in an Order of the Day broadcast to the defenders of Breslau: “The next eight days will be decisive—a question of life or death. No quarter will be shown; these days will settle our fate.” General Guderian added: “We have no Urals, no Steppes to retire behind until the enemy exhausts himself. All our cards must now be placed in the gigantic battle for which both armies are concentrating.” This is the most significant statement yet made bv a German military leader, and while it may in part be intended to excite the German troops in the East to their supreme effort, it has unmistakable undertones of doubt. For some days it has been fairly clear that the Germans had. to halt the Russian advance quickly or else be completely over-run. There seemed a possibility that they might be able to create some kind of anchoring line in Central Poland, but the latest reports show that the Russian advance in this part is still unchecked. In East Prussia, where the chances of defence were good, the Germans have been so completely defeated that the troops in this region can be written off. During the past fortnight the German defences have been smashed, but it has yet to be shown that they are broken beyond hope of repair. The; strength of the combined Russian offensives is such that the enemy armies in the East have no time for rest and consolidation; they are on the move, and the next few days must prove whether they have much defensive capacity left. General Guderian, who is in the best position of all to assess the position accurately, has set an exceedingly short limit to the lime left for the Germans to make their stand. If the Russian drive continues for another week it seems almost certain that the Germans will find their present situation irretrievable and the Russians will then be able to march on to Berlin. That the German situation is desperate is shown by General Guderian’s envious reference to the advantages the Russians had in their period of greatest trial. They had tremendous room for retreat eastward. They took their industries with them and even under terrible pressure were able to preserve the integrity of their war machine. ,The Germans have no such advantage. In losing Silesia theix-great secondary industrial support has gone. The Rhur, their major pool for the materials of war, is under constant air attack and is being threatened by the Allied Armies. The subjugated countries surrounding the Reich can no longer be exploited for the maintenance of the German war effort. There is no escape from this hopeless situation. Germany at last is completely alone in Europe and she is being pressed on both her eastern and western frontiers. There can only be one outcome from this unequal struggle, and it may be coming very soon.