STOP PRESS NEWS The Waikato Times MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1940 WATCH ON THE RHINE

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21082, 8 April 1940, Page 6

STOP PRESS NEWS

The Waikato Times MONDAY, APRIL 8, 1940 WATCH ON THE RHINE

Describing his visit to the German side of the Western Front, a neutral correspondent gives a strange picture of the war and clear proof that the time has not yet arrived for the total war which everyone has been expecting. Fully exposed to the guns of both sides, French and German soldiers are going about their tasks of “occupation of the banks of the Rhine, in many places without serious fear of molestation. Trains are running backward and forward between the fortified lines, and in some places, the correspondent declares, no shots have been fired since the beginning of the war. These conditions obtained over most of the 120 miles of the Rhine front between Bale and Lauterburg. It will be noted that the correspondent merely presented the picture without making any attempt to explain why this extraordinary state of affairs exists. There may be a tendency to regard this condition of quiet on the vital Western Front as an indication that the threat of a full-scale war is not real. That is far from the truth. . Germany is not yet ready to attack. It may be that she regards a frontal attack on the Western Front as a hopeless military proposition, but that is not the only reason. There are other fronts where the Nazis might attack if they saw the chance of victory. Yet they have not moved. And it must be remembered that the Western Front defences do not bar the passage of Germany’s vaunted invincible air force. Why has not Germany sent her thousands of planes over France and Britain in an attempt to force the issue ? There must be a reason, and a very strong one, for while Germany is withholding her hand the Allies are gradually gaining a strangehold upon her, and delay is dangerous.

It might be asked why Britain and France are content to maintain their watch across the Rhine without showing the slightest inclination to attack. In this case the answer is simple. Within limits it will pay the Allies handsomely to wait. Every week of delay sees the Allied war machine becoming more formidable. Seven months ago the Allies were far from ready, although Germany was apparently at the peak of her power. This tremendously valuable period of uninterrupted preparation was even more than the Allies dared to hope for. It has certainly saved thousands of lives and has made doubly sure eventual victory for the Allied cause. Further, it is proof that Hitler in his boast grossly over-estimated the power of Germany’s fighting forces. When all the circumstances are considered it is impossible to escape the conviction that Germany, in the past seven months at least, has been scheming to end the war without the necessity of putting her armed forces to the test. First she placed reliance upon the ability of her submarines, mines and aeroplanes to wreck the Allied supremacy of the sea. And then she hoped by her own particular brand of diplomatic intrigue to deprive the Allies of their friends, recruit the neutral countries to Germany’s aid and then to present to the Allies a diplomatic front that would convince them of the futility of attempting to defend democracy. That policy can be read into almost every utterance the Nazi leaders have made. Somehow it has not worked out that way. British sea power is still supreme and democracy is not friendless or defenceless. The diplomatic and economic struggle is still going on, but the Allies are gradually gaining a grip of the position. When that grip is sufficiently firm, then Germany will have to fight with all her might or else lay down her arms.