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Show PROOF THAT TIDE OF WAR IS RUNNING AGAINST AXIS POWERS The Winter just passed produced three encouraging developments for the United Nations in their fight against the Axis powers in Europe. They include: (1) The British victory at El Alamein on October 24, which caused Marshall Rommel to retreat re-treat more than 1,500 miles in less than six months. (2) The successful Russian offensive of-fensive which began on Nov. 10th and which, after four months, has freed 185,328 square miles of Soviet Sov-iet territory despite the German counter-attack in the Kharkov sector. sec-tor. (3) The landing of a "powerful American force" and British soldiers sol-diers in North Africa on Nov. 7, which has led to the present Tunisian Tunis-ian campaign and is preparing the way for an attack against the Axis in Southern Europe. In addition, the Anglo-American aerial offensive against Germany and occupied Europe has been intensified, in-tensified, with unmistakeable evidences evi-dences that the real air attack is about to get underway. Axis Definitely On Defensive . . . Against this impressive array of favnrahlp rtpil solidate gains, establish communications communi-cations and set up a defense system. sys-tem. The hope is that the island chain of forts will be strong enough to resist 'our attacks. Already, we have done much to cut down the naval strength of Japan but forces now available are insufficient for a major offensive offen-sive against the heart of the Asiatic As-iatic aggressor. However, there are signs of increasing activity in the Pacific, with full coordination of the three Pacific commands. We would not be surprised if the relative inactivity in the Far East is altered within the next few weeks by another striking advance, but where and how the blow will be delivered is a secret that cannot can-not be divulged. ot tavorable developments, the Axis Ax-is powers can point to only two favorable developments: (a) the stemming of Russian attack in the Ukraine area and the stabilization of the Eastern front; and, (b) the continued depredations of U-boats which inflict costly losses upon the United Nations and delay the accumulation of men and supplies for future military campaigns. The 1,500-mile front from Leningrad Len-ingrad to the Black Sea is in a state of relative calm at this time, but in Tunisia, the battered remnants rem-nants of Marshall Rommel's army are fighting a delaying struggle to prevent complete disaster. Military experts are not in agreement as to the length of the intensive struggle for the Tunisian tip, but their guesses are that the campaign will last anywhere from six weeks to four months, depending depend-ing upon Axis strategy. Montgomery Scores Over Rommel . . . The general idea is that if General Gen-eral Rommel makes a fight-to-thc-death stand in Tunisia, taking advantage ad-vantage of every conceivable position posi-tion and hampering the Allied advances ad-vances by land mines and other devices, the process of expelling the Nazis from North Africa will be somewhat prolonged. Apparently, Apparent-ly, the Germans are using the Tunisian campaign as a testing ground to devolve a defensive technique tech-nique to be used later in the defense de-fense of their territory in Europe. While some observers are inclined in-clined to dwell upon the abilities of the German "Desert Fox", one is inclined to pay tribute to the leadership of General Montgom- most favorable in our prolonged defense against Nazi U-boats. There are no official figures as to losses, but it is an established fact that shipbuilding has passed ship losses and that, despite sinkings, the position of the United Nations at sea is gradually improving. Whatever success the Germans may be having at sea is more than offset by thee developing fury of the Anglo-American aerial offensive. offen-sive. As April got underway, the combined air forces initiated a devastating dev-astating assault upon Axis industry indus-try and naval bases. The destruction is described as terrific and officials make no secret sec-ret of the fact that what has taken tak-en place so far is only a sample of what is scheduled to occur. American Amer-ican heavy bombers are taking an increasing part in the aerial assault, as-sault, making big raids from bases in England and from North Africa. Action Expected In the Pacific ... Our war in the Pacific, against the Japanese, is slowly developing, develop-ing, being subordinated for the present to the struggle against the Axis in Europe. This does not mean, we believe, that no plans are underway for the delivery of increasingly in-creasingly heavy blows against the Japanese. Hitler's boast of a fortress in Europe is paralleled by the Asiatic fortress which Japan has erected upon various islands. Undoubtedly the enemy is working hard to con- ery, whose Eighth Army, despite immense supply difficulties, has followed General Rommel's retreating re-treating forces and battered him from every position where he elected elect-ed to make a stand. The fact that there is no historical histori-cal parallel for the long retreat of General Rommel and his Afrika Coprts attests that there is likewise like-wise no victory comparable to the steady progress of the Eighth army. ar-my. The impending Axis disaster in Tunisia stems from the magnificent mag-nificent victory at El Alamein and the follow-up procedure adopted by the British leader. Aerial Attacks Offset U-boats . . . The announcement that ship losses in March exceeded those of February is no surprise because the latter month was one of the |
