WAR OF NERVES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 225, 24 September 1942, Page 5

WAR OF NERVES

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT’S INTENTIONS AMBIGUOUS STATEMENT ON SECOND FRONT (By TeUgraph—Press Association—Copyright) New York, Sept. 22. The New York Times correspondent, Arthur Krock, says: “The British authorities permit the publication of the fact that Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden expressed doubts to Mr. Roosevelt about a sentence in the joint British-American communique of June 12, announcing that a lull understanding had been reached regarding the urgency of creating a second front in Europe in 1942. They debated over the radio-telephone the form of this sentence, to which has been ascribed the disappointment of the Russian armies and the people that no BritishAmerican invasion of the continent was attempted. “Washington surmises that the British want the public to know that any unfulfilled optimism that the phraseology aroused was apprehended at the time by the British Government. Nevertheless, such vague implications 1 as the communique convoyed were not left with M. Molotov or his colleagues in Moscow, or with M. Litvinov. The best explanation is that the President is deliberately indulging in a war of neiwes, which the Nazis hitherto have monopolised, when he approved the language of the communiques.” STRIKING FIGURES AMERICAN SEA EXPANSION SECOND FRONT DEPENDS ON SEA POWER New York, Sept. 22 “When the second front is launched in Europe, it is seapower that will launch it,” writes Mr. Carl Vinson, chairman of the Congressional naval affairs section committee, in a report on the course of the sea war, prejiared with the co-operation of the Navy Department. The first fruits of the American naval expansion were already influencing the course of the war, he said, as for example the Dieppe raid and the increased submarine actions against Japanese shipping. Furthermore, the Battle of the Atlantic had definitely taken a turn to the advantage of the United Nations. The augmented American naval forces were giving the United Nations greater seapower than the world had ever seen, enabling us to take the offensive with a superior force in any chosen theatre. A total of 679 navaft vessels was under construction at the end of June, 1941, while in June, 1942, American yards were building 3230 ships for their own navy and 218 for the Allies. A further 11,659 smaller categories included harbour craft and auxiliaries. Deliveries were generally ahead of schedule. For example, the usual construction time for a battleship was 42 months, but one commissioned last year was actually completed in 29 months. The Coral S?a and Midway battles had proved beyond doubt that the carrier had supplanted the battleship as the backbone of the modern fleet. The latest models of naval aircraft were unexcelled, particularly the torpedo bomber, which perhaps was the most lethal weapon yet devised against surface vessels. Long-range bombers for patrolling the oceans were now being produced in sufficient numbers to supply American bases from Iceland to South America, from Alaska to the Indian Ocean. The first, squadron of these had already destroyed five Axis submarines. American plants were at present producing 2000 naval planes a month and were also increasing their output of non-rigid aircraft.

NAZIS WITHDRAW FROM RUSSIAN FRONT

Stockholm, Sept. 22. The German paper Schwarzekorps admits that some Germans have been withdrawn from Russia to meet the threat of a second front. The journal states that all the transferees were relieved to get away from Russia. After the terrible Russian winter they were happy to go anywhere.