Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS by edward C wayne hillers Hit lers spring drive into balkans follows usual pattern of nazi blite As greeks and jugoslava Jugo slavs fall back axis powers register african gains EDITORS when opinions opinion ar an std in then thea 0 ol 01 klamn ola 0 tons mn they b ej aro re those of the news new analyst X and d n not necessarily of this hi a newspaper new e paper P e r Be leaned by so tern newspaper union I 1 awa W V 7 g wv 10 M R pik N par A 7 NO 0 O 4 p X jk 1 EL LIBYA beyond this nazi armored tank waves a swastika from a building in this libyan coastal town since the nazis nazi joined the italian a ilan troops in the libyan sector previous sensational successes suc cesse sesby s i by the british have been wiped out and much territory formerly won is now in BALKANS nazi power the sudden onslaught of the nazi troops on five fronts against and greece came with terrifying swiftness and in the early days of the conflict it was evident that a delaying action was the most that the greeks could offer and that f the he Jugo jugoslava slavs avs prepared mentally but unprepared physically to resist could do little but harass the advance of the invader hungarian troops were also ordered to enter yugoslavian Jugo territory separated from hungary after th the e war of 1914 1918 events moved swiftly in those first few days immediately the city of belgrade perilously close to the border and in the center ofa of a plain was declared an open city ana and that the jugoslava Jugo slavs would not defend it Ho however kever the first act of the nazi bombers was to deliver a series of assa assaults alts on belgrade closely followed by similar attacks on sara civo nis zagreb and other points of to the army The attack on belgrade rr may aay or may not have put the city entirely hors du combat but the immediate effect was to shut off all communication with the outside world and that caused the reports of the early phases phase of the new war to be fragmentary and c conflicting to the utmost most degree ea one heard that the jugoslava Jugo slavs were invading neighboring boring countries had taken flume were bombing sofia and in the same sama breath the germans claimed the capture of nis nh the razing of belgrade the cutting of vital railroad lines only the british reports seemed to carry conviction toge together with those from athens the former predicted a a gener oil withdrawal and the latter told how that withdrawal was being carried ou out 1 B but ut from the 11 itra it had been expected by this country that Salon kalonika Sal lka would he be defended and that the british had to troops in that general neighborhood and were prepared to moke make a serious defense of the port th on the british announced that kalonika Sal might fall and gave rise to the general belief that perhaps the british forces were not so numerous or so strong as at first stated suddenly came theford the word that the british had only to troops on the scene and that they were in the second line of defense ready to veer to east or west as the situation demanded this was the answer to the dispatches of the first few days which did not reve reveal aLthe the british in contact with the enemy at any point they were in this report placed in the vicinity of katerene Kater Wf irine lne which put them somewhat what in the center between two main forces of G reeks greeks closely following this dispatch came a report from berlin claiming that their troops had entered salon ika and from Athens Atheni Itself came the following terse yet disquieting report the german blitz has split greek forces in two with a wedge driven down west of Salon kalonika Sal lka trapping uncounted thousands of troops defending the line of the truma rivera right hight on the heels of this report un unpleasant plenia rit to americans who were hoping that the nazi attack on northern greece might be bd halted came the word f from rom london german troops have entered kalonika Sal follow ing virtual evacuation of th the epport port by greek troops british troops have not yet gone into action one of the five fronts on which the germans attacked was around in southwestern a vital railroad link between the greco british and yugoslav Jug forces early in III the conflict german panzer divisions captured P cje and drove a wedge through t the he bardar val valley ley the germans reported taking I 1 ng more than prisoners in this action and radioed photographs showing long lines of truckloads truck loads of serb and critian prisoners going along mountain roads passing for ward moving nazi divisions on the way while the united states led by president Roosevel Roo roosevelt ts promises of sympathy and aid to and greece during this invasion was watching with anxiety and hope for some more favorableness favorable news the general tone of opinion was wad that the story of poland and finland was being rewritten before their eyes americans american s interested in seeing something like this happen again scanned the news dispatches in vain for signs that the nal Nazi putsch was the shock of the fall of kalonika Sal was matched by the shock to learn that the british forces were relatively small but the fact that they were in a reported second line gave some measure of hope to those anxiously watching the defense that something might happen when the second line was reached and went into action FASCISTS move in alrica africa the te war was not nat only taking a nazi turn in and greece but in III northern africa as well with combined fascist nazi troops definitely on off the forward move again As in a football game the british had evidently lost the ball and unless the anzack could hold the F fascists for downs there might be a drive to a touchdown in libya it was odd that the reports of the advances in libya by the italo german forces should have coincided with dispatches saying that gen sir archibald wavell and large numbers of picked troops had been sent to greece whether this was true or not could not be learned but if so it was an interesting coincidence that the backward movement of the british in libya tallied in time with the rumor that wavell was gone to another field the british in their forward drive had gone past sidi bahrani to derna and thence to benegasi Ben gasi the libyan capital photos of british troops taking down street signs putting up their own and other reports tended to the belief that italy w was a s knocked out of the war in africa afric a and that it was all over but bu t the shouting suddenly berlin reported IT minor success on the libyan front and then with equal suddenness britain began announcing that there would be withdrawals that Wavel wavelle ls forces would pick their own line of defense and fall back to that came the fall of benegasi Ben gasi and then the fall of derna with the british still back pedalling and fighting a rear guard action all the way in er eritrea irrea and ethiopia however the british continued their success making mass attacks on Mas massaua the sole remaining point of military importance STRIKES new turn strike news continued sensational but took somewhat a turn tor for the better with the dykstra mediation board settling the allis ailis chalmers strike and making headway both on the threatened walkout against U S steel and the big ford strike at river rouge but the news while somewhat better from the standpoint of the national defense was still disquieting enough most sensational of the stories was the claim that CIO chieftains had been canvassing lobai local unions throughout the united states seeking to find what sentiment if any there was for a general strike if the bridges deportation move should be carried out the bridges case was in the hearing stage w when hen this move was uncovered in washington when sidney hillman of was asked by a house committee investigating the national defense program to investigate the report mr hillman expressed surprise at the question and said chedid he did not believe that any such movi move was was being carried out mr hillman said that tha t philip murray president of the toioi clo and chairman the steel workers organizing committee would not tolerate a strike against the defense program this ahli report by mr hillman came Juit justene ju stone lone day after mr murray had made a surprise visit to the white house 1 at the invitation of president roosevelt and the nihad made a flying trip to detroit and later had announced that the projected strike against U S steel would be held in abeyance aboyan e for a time ostensibly to permit work by mediators and con cil cilia lafors tors to avert the strike entirely froma mediator in new york that part of the coal strike difficulties hd had been settled he said that the reopening of other mines had been delayed delaye dand and apparently the main difficulty yas was a difference ference in attitude between northern and i southern ap appalachian jala chlan mine operators concerning the demands of the united mine workers the mediator said we are trying desperately to effect a complete accord and to stabilize this backbone industry for a perlo dof two years year s lie he also said that the schism between the two geographical portions of the operators group was causing the chief difficulty fi in the meantime there were signs thit that the mediation efforts in the ford strike were bearing fruit when governor van wagoner of michigan wired president roosevelt as follows Plea please sedo do not approve certification of the ford strike to the defense mediation board before I 1 have talked with you I 1 am in con conference ferenc e now with philip murray and james dewey the concil conciliator lator this made it look at least tor for the ahe mo moment as though some settlement of the dispute which has tied up in defense material might be at hand SHIP AID on move alove the ships for britain end of the aid law was well on the moved move with the president formally seeking from congress the right to take possession of the 36 danish merchantman merchantmen merchant men now in american waters mr mi roosevelt said his advisers were convinced they had every right to take over the german and italian ships regardless of the protests of the two axis governments it t was plain from the white house comment th that atthe the government proposed td combine the three groups of ships into one fleet and in time to use the whole fleet in defense transport the government will go far it was believed to keep this line of transport opeland op open enand and under way until deliveries begin on the new merchant ships now being constructed in addition at the same tune time the british announced that this country la Is turning over to them 10 united states coast guard cutters for aid in the war against nazi subs |