Evening star., 1942-11-15
Success in Africa Does Not Mean
End Of War Near, Experts Warn
Military Leaders Ponder Hitler's Next Move:
Packs of U-Boats Watched Conveys
On Way to French Colonies
BY Constantine Brovn.

| never fully supported Marshal Rommel.
In many ways he looked on the southern
shores OF the Mediterranean as being
only OF secondary Importance, even as so
many OF our political leaders look on the
Pacific area as Of far less consequence
than the area across the Atlantic.
According to reliable reports, Hitler,
who realized that his armies must obtain
Oil for the Naz military machine, was
'hipped" on the subject of defeating
Russia and getting the oil he needed
from the Caucasus. There was time,
soon after Rcmmels victory last summer
over the British army cor, handed by
Gen, Sir Claude Auchinleck, when by
rushing everything the Nazi command
could get across from Italy. the Balkans
and Crete, Rommel could have occupied
Alexandria and reached the Suez Canal
But at the time the Fuehrer, and pre-
sumably his headquarters, believed Rus
sla was on the verge of collapse; that by
hghtlng few more weeks the forces un-
der the command of Marshal Simeon
Timoshenko would collapse and there
was plenty of time to send reinforce
ments to North Africa to start gigantic
campaign from Ell Alamein and from the
Aegean Sea against the Middle East. He
was correct about the length of time re-
quired for the Allies to get their REIN
forcements to Egypt. But he was utterly
wrong again about the power of resist
ance of the Russian armies.
And, instead of slowing down opera
tions in the Caucasus and around Stall
ingrad and answering Rommel's des-
perate appeals for reinforcements, par
ticularly gasoline for his tanks and
planes, only sketchy assistance was sent
to Africa and more forces we're sent
against the Russian positions on the
southern front.
The result was inevitable. Rommels
army suffered disastrous defeat Many
professional men could not believe at
first that the Nazis lacked gasoline and
supplies to the extent that was shown
later. Hence. they kept their fingers
crossed, as did the British commanders
in Cairo. when the British offensive was
launched.
But Rommels defeat in itself would
have been of far less consequence if at
the same time we had not started the
offensive from the West. The American
high command had stubbornly resisted
public clamor for second front in Eu-
rope. The pressure to undertake such
an operation for the sake of drawing
some Nazi divisions from Russia was at
times terrific.
Some day, when the censorable news
of today becomes history, the resistance
of the American high command to the
pressure from outside to ''do something
in Europe" will be known. Until then,
it must be passed in silence In any
event. the responsible members of the
armed forces prevailed over the civilians
by selling the idea" that the only pos
sible second front across the Atlantic was
in Africa which had been left open to
attack because Hitler-an armchair
strategist himselt-had not conceived it
to be the principal weak point in the
Axis armor.
To say, however, that our brilliant op-
erations in Africa mean the end of the
war is definitely in sight and that vic
tory is already within our reach, would
be jumping too hastily to conclusions
There is plenty of fight in the Nazis yet.
Even if by a spectacular operation we
could conceivably jump from Africa into
Italy in the course OF the next few
months, it would be premature to shout
victory.
The Germans are hard to kill So
long as the army and the German pub
lie believes biindly that military defeat
will mean the final destruction of the
Reich; so long as the 100000 Germans
believe that defeat will mean opening
the borders of the Reich to the Poles, the
Czechs and the Russians whom they
(See BROWN, Page B-3)