Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS U. S. North African Occupation Seen As for European Hitler's Seizure of Southern France Thins Axis Forces for Russ Campaign When opinion ore impressed In thee the 7 those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this I by Newspaper Territory in North Africa occupied by U. S. expeditionary forces under Dwight D. Eisenhower will be used as a springboard for offensive action against the Adriatic Balkans and possibly southern military experts Principal features on above map show American control over Atlantic ports in French Mediterranean ports of Oran and Algiers in American strategic in which would complete Allied control of the south and which military experts expect to be taken over by BLITZ Beats Schedule Two immediate jobs had remained for Dwight D. Eisenhower's American invasion forces after they had completed their spectacular blitzkrieg of French Morocco and Algeria in the record time of 77 One job was to secure control of rectangular a French protectorate jutting northward into the Mediterranean and via strategic an stepping stone toward the Axis of Italy and the Adriatic The other job was to complete with their British Allies the nutcracker drive into Libya to smash forever Marshal Rommel's all but extinguished Afrika The capture of Morocco and Algeria had given the Americans control of miles of precious North African on the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean including the key ports of Oran and Significantly it was Jean French chief of all defense forces who had given the order to the French North-African Darlan was now in a new role of collaborationist with the United after secret negotiations with American army The welcome of the American forces by the French-African inhabitants had been warmed by the presence with them of heroic Henri dramatically flown to Algeria from France after a secret rendezvous with British Neighboring Tunisia was of key Importance not only because of its strategic value for future offensives against but because of the concentration there of Axis air-borne troops and combat Hitler had not intended to give up North Africa without a His hold upon it would not have been possible without Possession of the port of best equipped French Mediterranean naval by the United Nations would mean that the Allies would have relatively easy access to Sicily and the Italian mainland and an effective springboard to nearby former of Axis North African Success of the operations prompted President Roosevelt to raise Mark second in to the rank of lieutenant Like a groggy prize-fighter before a knockout Marshal Rommel's shattered Afrika Korps had scurried across Libya pursued by General Montgomery's conquering Eighth British The chase iad been nip and tuck with Rommel trying to reach his main near Tunisia in an effort to use his remaining strength to make a But Tripoli meant no rest for for oncoming American armies from Algeria in the west and Montgomery's battering ram from Egypt in the east would converge In a mighty nut-cracker movement to annihilate Axis power in North Seizes All France Military observers agreed that Hitler's seizure of unoccupied France meant a further lengthening of his lines and a weakening of his The Fuehrer had no other choice than to try to close the to prospective Allied Invasion by ordering his own legions southward to the and the Spanish frontier and of his Italian northward to the island birthplace of was likewise But Hitler's move into southern France meant that 20 to 30 Axis divisions would be tied down in occupation thus weakening the English channel invasion coast and also his forces along the far-flung Russian front where action was at a He had likewise enlarged the area where the Nazis would be sabotaged as they already have been elsewhere in occupied Reports-from Russia Indicated the Nazis had already begun to withdraw troops to build up their defenses elsewhere in These were further substantiated by word from Greece indicating the arrival of fresh German units at key seaport Hitler had first slopped his occupation forces 30 miles short of the French naval base at designating it as a to be by-passed and set apart from Center of speculation since the 1940 the French fleet comprising warships was the prize at stake with the Axis standing on the near side of the Mediterranean and Allies on the Now an Allied in Jean Darlan had added his voice to that of Dwight D. Eisenhower in a request for the French fleet to join him in ALLIES Channel From both sides of the Atlantic official optimism over the war's future outlook was expressed by leaders as a result of the Allied successes in North President Roosevelt predicted the Axis' inevitable and welcomed the increasing number of Frenchmen who are joining the United Nations' In London Prime Minister Churchill for the first time since the bleak days of 1940 told the British public to Churchill pointed out that a direct thrust across the English channel was coming in due He suggested that the day would be nearer as soon as it was evident that Germany was becoming The prime minister said that the Allied drive in Africa had as its primary objective the of the underbelly of the especially to heavy The extent of the armada that had carried American and British forces to the shores of North Africa was disclosed by Oliver British minister of who said that transports and warships had comprised the mammoth invasion Inductions Soar Induction of 18 and Into the nation's armed forces by January appeared certain as the senate finally approved legislation lowering the selective service induction In order to fill military requirements up to the first of the local boards throughout the country Indicated they would soon have to begin drafting childless married Final Impediment to the law's passage was hurdled when a group of senators decided not to press their attempt to require a full year's training for all the 18 and before they could be sent into combat service The house had previously approved a measure eliminating this selective service headquarters disclosed that local boards had been advised that demands of the armed forces require that a large number of men in essential activities who are liable for service be released for This meant that war plants would have to release key workers for the army and RUSSIAN Nazi Drives Stalled from Moscow took on an Increasing note of optimism as the Russians maintained that the German offensive against the Red lines from the Baltic to the Black sea had been smashed for the Southeast of where the German drive for the strategic Trans-Caucasian military highway had been the Russ defenders continued to repel Elsewhere in the Caucasus the Reds were holding the Nazis well in Soviet armies continued to keep a German force encircled in the mountainous vicinity of Black sea and thwarted every enemy attempt to break The defenders of Stalingrad con- their heroic While small enemy detachments infiltrated from the south these were thrown Meanwhile Soviet troops northwest of the city continued to harass the SOUTH MacArthur Pincer Slam-bang warfare continued in the air and on the ground in the South with American and Australian forces pressing the Japs hard on New Guinea and at Guadalcanal in the Solomon General MacArthur's headquarters reported that at Oivi on New Allied forces were using tactics to squeeze the Japs Australian columns had cut off a u mm I DOUGLAS MacARTHUR Pincer squeezes Japanese retreat by means of flanking The Japs' effort to cut their way through to the rear had been stopped by American troops flown by aerial transport to the vicinity of 55 miles northeast of the Oivi battleground in the Owen Stanley mountain At American troops met enemy attempts to recapture Henderson airfield by an offensive that threw the Japs back several An example of spectacular heroism in the Guadalcanal fighting was cited by a navy department release recounting the feat of Marine Albert A. whose companions in arms say he killed more than Japs in a single while manning a machine From Washington came a navy announcing the sinking of seven more Jap ships in the southwest Pacific by American U. S. ARMED To Total Armed forces for the United States totaling by the end of 1943 were envisioned by President Roosevelt Roosevelt's estimates Included an army of a navy of and marines and coast guard forces totaling The bulk of future additions to the military forces will go to the whose present strength is the President pointed The navy will be augmented by and the marine corps and coast guard by men during the next 12 On the basis of calculations that it requires nine workers to support one fighting man in the the President's estimates would mean that a working force of men and women at home would be needed to back up the armed |