CRISIS FOR AXIS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 204, 30 August 1943, Page 5

CRISIS FOR AXIS

LEADERSLWORRIES THE THREAT OF INVASION *Ry Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright! Recd. 6 p.m. London, Aug. 27. Reports received in London indicate that the Axis is facing perhaps it-s greatest crisis uf the war. The Allied bombing of Germany and Italy, the threat of Allied invasion, and the increasing unrest in the occupied countries are adding to the worries of the Axis leaders. Himmler’s appointment is regarded as evidence of the near breakdown of German morale on the home front under the Allied air blows and the reverses suffered by the Germans on the Russian front.

Increasing unrest in the Balkans has followed the German failure to hold Kharkov. With the massing of large Allied armies in the Mediterranean, the Balkan countries believe they maysoon be caught between two fires—the Russians on the north and the British and the Americans on the south.

Hitler is reported to have summoned the Rumanian dictator, General Antonescu, and the Hungarian Minister tor Defence to his headquarters for discussions on defence of the Balkans.

The Daily’ Express correspondent at Istanbul says that the Rumanian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian Ministers to Turkey believe there is a strong possibility of an Allied invasion of southern and centra] Italy’ next month, and says that if this develops satisfactorily the Ministers believe invasions of Crete, the Dodecanese Islands, and

Greece will follow almost immediately. The Ministers believe that talk of Allied invasion of France or elsewhere in western Europe this year is bluff. A strong contributing factor in this belief is the degree of publicity given to new “invasion zones” on the south coast of England.

Following the reported arrival of an Italian mission in Lisbon headed by Count Grandi, the spokesman of the Italian Legation told the Lisbon correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain: “Count Grandi has not arrived, and we have no indication that he will visit Lisbon.”