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Show COMMENTS , tion, and its loss is extremely important. Now the Germany can release many trained train-ed soldiers for service elsewhere. Sevastopol is a key position in the drive to the oil resourc es of the Caucasus, and to shatter the U. S. supply line t0 Russia. That is why the German Ger-man commanders figure it must be taken no matter how great the cost. At this time it is impossible to explain the defeat of the British in Libya, the tacts are not available, and the Cairo censorship has been complete. As Mr. Churchill frankly admitted, the British h..ad the edge in numbers num-bers and in arms. The fate of Libya was sotted sot-ted on a single day when 300 heavy British As a nation, Americans haven't been fighting this war not 'by a long shot." said Life recently. "A handful of boys and officers offic-ers have been fighting bravely and eagerly but at home the fighting has not even begun, Most of America is earning big money, eating eat-ing well, rolling up new batting records at the horse races, dashing around the country on rubber that is irreplaceable . . . The only battle the U. S. citizens have won so far is the battle of newspaper headlines . . . . Mem-while Mem-while the Axis pushes in, rings us with steel, accumulate real bases all over the world..' That - is a pretty tough statement, but the facts certainly bear it out. The incredible optimism concering the war that still seems to prevail in some quarters is not shared by real military men. As General Somervell, the army's chief of supply, said in a 4th of July speech at Detroit, the United Nations have taken a terrific shellacking in every corner cor-ner of the world. And most of us, he added, have no idea of the magnitude and difficulty of the job that lies ahead. The hard truth is that Hitler and his brother dictators have done more to change the map of the world than any conqueror's in modern history. The Russians showed great valor in the defense of Sevastopol: They were hopelessly hopeless-ly outnumbered in both men and equipment, and after the first few days the Luftwaffe had command of the skies. The Red Army made the Germans pay tremendously for their victory, and, according to the Moscow account. Sevastopol was left a pile of useless use-less ruins. But Sevastopol was a vital posi- tanks went into action, and only 70 were left at nightfall. No comparable losses, Mr. Churchill said, were inflicted on the enemy, Rommel seems to have lured the British into a trap. The British commanders seemed confident con-fident that Rommel could not fight an offensive of-fensive action in the desert heat. But Rommel Rom-mel did. As yet, we have not fully appreciated the extraordinary fanaticism of Axis leaders and troops. With them it is "do or die." They take incredible chances. They fight under the worst climatic and geographical conditions. They violate classic rules of warfare. The commanders are, apparently, completely callous cal-lous when comes to shedding the blood of their compatriots. The Axis hordes can he compared in many respects to the brutal hordes of Ghenghis Khan. To stop them, will require a comparable fanaticism, held in a very different cause, on the part of all United Un-ited Nations. |