A THIS EEK: A Roundup | aes 5 The War The Inwasion Draws Near There was every indication that events on the war fronts were building up this week to a climax—an Allied invasion of the continent. Prime Minister Churchill’s speech to the British in which he inva- House of Commons, declared that a large-scale sion of Europe is imminent seemed to prove that the British and Am- erican chiefs of staff have come to a final decision on their Churchill's gen- eral strategy. refer- / (stake BiceRTe” SS SICILY @ Catania” STUN oe Bigs z 2 -PANTELLERIA © = TUNISIA =}. &: 4 ae ~~ Swacta- SAE] ence to further reliance on the air offensive, upon which most news reports laid undue stress, was also qualified by his statement regard- ing “amphibious operations of a peculiar complexity and hazard on a large scale,’ which would indi- cate also that there is every in- tention of landing troops on the continent. That the invasion is not far off is demonstrated by other facts. For months a large fleet protected by scores of heavy naval units lay in the harbor of Gibraltar or was being concentrated there . Last week this armada left for the Med- iterranean. The obvious conclusion is that supplies and weapons car- ried in these vessels have now been sent to a point where decisive ac- tion is to be undertaken. That can be anywhere along the Mediter- ranean, but it will quite likely be either Italy or Greece. Meantime the tempo of bombings continued to increase. The Italian island of Pantelleria has become the most bombed spot on earth. Air raids on German military and industrial targets continue. In Italy itself Mussolini is facing a real erisis. A split in the ruling clique has become evident. The evacua- tion of tens of thousands of peo- ple from Sicily and Sardinia, the substitution of Italian by German troops, the inability to protect cities and airdromes against Allied bombings—all point to a crumbling of Italian morale and the sapping of the last remnants of the will to fight, in particular the Italian workers’ growing disgust with and hatred of the fascist regime. With these factors in mind, it is quite possible that Italy could be knocked out of the war by one determined blow, and this is quite possibly part of the Allied plans. The principal weakness in Allied plans—as voiced by the British prime minister—appeared to be his over-emphasis on the degree of An- glo-American accord and military preparation to the partial exclusion of any form of an Allied Grand Council that would recognize the part being played by Soviet Rus- sia. It was this omission in Chur- echill’s speech that brought the Main criticism, for obviously any plan of attack that fails to include the greatest military power on the Allied side would not only weaken but endafhger the suc- cess of that plan. Churchill’s ref- erence to “our inability to bring to counsel Marshal Stalin or other representatives of our great ally, Russia,” ignores the fact that as yet neither he nor Roosevelt have proposed any concrete plan for bringing either Soviet Russia or China into closer military consul- tation. What Can Hitler Do? What the effect of Allied preparations for invasion must be on Hitler and other Axis leaders can only be imagined. Cer- tainly they are experiencing a sense of impending doom, of wondering where to turn, what to do next. For the first time the war of nerves is working against those who boasted of their mastery of that art. Hitler himself has only hunches to play now — no longer does possession of the initi- ative alow him to call the turns. Hitler has several possible moves — pambler’s moves — that can stave off immediate disaster for Germany, though they cannot avert final defeat. One is to withdraw troops from the Eastern Front and especially one or two air armies. This could be at best only a temporary plug, and meanwhile a wide breach would be opened in the East of which the Red Army would take immediate advantage. The second is to invade Spain and outflank the Allies. This The Eastern Front would offer greater danger to the Allies, but it would also be a great- er drain on German manpower from the Eastern Front and would open the gates for an invasion of Europe at the other end of the Mediterranean through the Bal- kans. The invasion of Spain, however, would demand German forces superior to what the Allies could send there, and since the Anglo- American-French forees now num- ber some 1,000,000 men in the Med- iterranean area, where would Hit- ler get a force to create this super- jority ? This is especially true since Allied preparations also seem to be going on for an invasion of the European mainland from Great Britain, Situation The big problem facing Hitler within the next few weeks is the military situation on the Eastern Front, and what the Red Army will do. It has been expected that the Germans would try one last of- fensive on the Eastern Front in a desperate effort to break the Soviet lines, penetrate into the rear, smash the Red Army reserves, take Moscow or Leningrad and knock the Red Army out of the war. This effort, in the light of past events, would be fantastically des- perate. But even this offensive has not yet come — though this week the Wehrmacht attempted a drive southeast of Kharkov which was driven back — and the time is drawing on. Last year the main blow came on June 11, though pre- liminary battles were fought earl- ier. This year the fighting has been centered in the sky where terrific air battles have raged in which the Germans have tried and failed to win air superiority. So long as air cover can be pro- vided, a German break-through is unlikely, and it may well be that the Germans will be unable to begin a decisive drive. Qn the other hand, all the Rus- sian armies are straining at the leash awaiting the Allied invasion of Europe in order to drive a shat- tering blow against the enemy from the East. Such a blow, if develop- ed, will probably come either in the Ukraine or via the Veliki Luki salient which juts far -into the enemy positions. This may be pre- ceded by a battle to destroy the German salient at Orel. Massed air raids by the Soviet air force against Orel and retaliatory raids by the Germans over Kursk may indicate that around these two cities the major concentrations of power are being created. All this would indicate the prob- lems facing Hitler. Threatened from the West by the Anglo- American armies, faced with the growing failure of his submarine warfare, outclassed in the air over Europe, with the Red Army’s growing strength pointing the di- rection of his doom, the Nazi leader in the fourth year of his attack on civilization must be going through all the feelings of a cornered rat. But he is still able to deal gigan- tic blows, and hard fighting lies abead for the democracies before the whole edifice of fascism erumbles under their blows. Fighting French De Gaulle Emerges As Leader One of the outstanding events of the recent period is the unmistakable turn of the tide behind the Fighting French and their leader, General Charles de Gaulle. A few weeks ago cer- tain people in both the British and American foreign offices were ar- guing that de Gaulle’s support was not what he himself believed it was, and there were strong tend- encies to throw support behind General Giraud as the “safest” man. The reason behind this whole at- titude was fear of the underground movement in France, fear that this movement would emerge as the only popular force able to disrupt certain post-war plans that some circles might hold for that coun- try. Giraud was in a sense the fig- urehead of these masterminds in Washington and London. Undoubt- edly it was they who spoke through Giraud when he proposed that de Gaulle meet him in some remote town in North Africa where Fight- inf French opinion is submerged. That this scheme fell through, and that Giraud was finally forced to meet de Gaulle in Algiers was the first indication that the Fighting French leader was the man who held the popular’ support. This was followed by the set- ting up of the new French Na- tional Council, in which de Gauile’s followers exert the most influence, then by the ousting of several ex- Vichy elements from positions of importance in North Africa, and their replacement by supporters of de Gaulle. The new Council of Resistance, a magnificent national front move- ment organized by the French un- derground and comprising major groups from left to right, is now fully supporting the de Gaulle committee. Such conservatives as Louis Jacquinot, undersecretary of the interior in the Reynaud cabin- et in 1940, might have been ex- pected to become a Giraud parti- san. Instead he joined the de Gaul- lists after his recent escape from France. The only large obstacle remain- ing that can prevent complete French unity are those disruptive projects manufactured in some cir- cles of the foreign departments in Washington and London. Freneh Underground Is Ready While General de Gaulle has been strengthening the posi- tion of the Fighting French in North Africa, Fernand Grenier, French Communist leader now in London, told a press confer- ence that instructions have been issued to the French people on how to act in case of an Allied land- ing. Grenier told the conference that such a question was of “‘tremend- ous importance,” because a landing “must be immediately followed by a@ mass uprising against the Ger- mans.” Reviewing the growth of French resistance, Grenier hailed the re- cent formation of the United Coun- cil of French Resistance within France as the most “important political event that had occurred in France since the collapse of 1940.” He cited facts to show that this Council represents 90 percent of the French people, and made it plain that this great mass move- ment feels no Vichymen now in Worth Africa should be kept on in any unity setup between de Gaulle and Giraud. “The French people will never permit the Vichymen to remain in any post of importance,’ he said. “Does anyone believe that organ- izations embracing millions of members like the Socialist or Com- munist parties, the CGT or the Christian traae unions, would fol- low the Fighting French if it were the instrument of the ambition of one man?” he asked, replying to eriticisms often heard of de Gaulle’s French National Commit- tee. “Ther® are two policies evident— those who wish to treat the popu- lar masses as inferior and white- wash the old Vichymen, and the others who want the participation of the broadest masses in the lib- eration work. “Tt is necessary to choose be- tween the new France, which will be a social and advanced demo- cracy, and the France of Peyrou- ton (recently ousted by de Gaulle) Nogues, Chatemps and Flandin.” Grenier also reviewed briefly for the press representatives some of the sabotage work being performed by the French underground. During the past four months, for example, the patriots have at- tacked German transport, smash- ing 180 locomotives and damaging 110 more, and damaging 2,000 cars. In 17 cases communications were interrupted for more than 48 hours; in 31 cases for more than 24 hours; in 75 cases for more than 12 hours. ‘All these attacks occurred on na- tionally important railways. - Bi Strengtheni | British Tories ¢) threatening motions Service Clerical Ass. Office Workers’ Unior ; members to apply fc} with the Trades Uni'® in defiance of the 1927 putes Act which forbi civil servants from 6s ] ties. The decision, made <= conferences of the twe accompanied by 4 seci | to set up a Civil Se Soviet Committee “for of establishing closer r our fellow workers in The latter move is s ‘given certain members ernment considerable In urging the crea Givil Service Anglo-= mittee, L. ©. White, © tary of the CSCA, poir § one of the worst efi Trades Disputes Act vent British governme) from joining hands wi low workers in th USSR through the me TUG. Initial steps for up of an Anglo-Soviet he said, had been take conference of civil si recently in London. T&T resolution, proposed by son, general secretary Office Workers, was passed by the London “That this -meeting civil servants, recog complete understandi Britain and the USSRi Stone of internatio standing, declares its with the heroic Rus: ° in their struggle agair mon enemy, and affi termination of Britisl ants to play, individuz lectively, their full 7 = Unions Call US labor this v Lewis, president of ated) whose action organization for two st one month gave enem inside and outside © chance to stir up a fr hatred against unions. a direct result of this, that the Connolly ani Was passed. In a wire to Preside! shortly before the mini to work for the second Emspak, secretary-tr United Electrical, Rad chine Workers — third union, with 450,000 1 urged immediate actior strike, declaring that: a showdown on the rig to organize disruption effort as something come regardless of th of this particular disp) Lewis nor any other i group can be permitte private war against a which is fighting the mies of the America Sidney Hillman, Pp Amalgamated Clothin blasted Lewis as ~ enemy.” MHillman’s sté regarded as particuli cant, since leaders ¢