Evening star., 1942-04-19
Bv Constantine BrOton.

be sent to that area. Besides this. Rus
Sia is, receiving a number OF British
planes of all types, tanks and anti
aircraft guns.
There Is little left, according to un-
biased observers, for large-scale opera
tions in Western Europe, where 1t is
certain the NaziS will offer stiff resist
ance, for the entire coast from Norway
to Spain has been we'll fortified.
German production Of anti-aircraft
artillery has been sufficient to provide
the entire coast line with weapons. But
it appears from reliable reports that the
main landing places for large invasion
units are we'll protected by Notifications,
planes and a sufficient NaZ defensive
force.
Nothing is impossible in war, of course.
A determined attack, so the advocates
Of defeat Hitler now" contend, by a
large Allied force would permit 1t to
break through the defenses and, with the
aid Of the subjected nations, divert such
important forces from Russia that the
Soviet forces could overwhelm the Nazis.
Lack Of Shipping.
Theoretically. the plan appears to
have good chances of success But the
main drawback other than lack of
trained troops and sufficient aviation is
lack of ships to transport troops and to
provide them with war material once
they have scored an initial victory.
According to experienced soldiers, it
would be possible to establish beach,
head on the continent with force sent
from England in small boats under pro-
lection OF the r. A. F., but the question
then would be how to keep such force
going and to bring over the tanks. artil-
lery and supplies to expand the beach
head and pour IN at least 500 900 men.
The United Nations have suffered
heavy losses at sea since last January.
Despite the accelerated production Of
our shipping industry We are not at
present producing enough to replace the
ships Nazi submarines are sending to the
bottom every day. Even if We were to
produce as many as four ships day we
would just about break even with our
losses at their present rate and We would
have no surplus tonnage for an expedi-
tionary force.
We must bear In mind that one of the
principal tasks OF our Navy and the
merchant marine of all the United Ma
tionS is to keep supplies flowing to Eng
land Russia and Australia. In order to
do this we must build more ships than
are being sunk. 1t is only when We reach
that point and when new patrol vessels
are commissioned to counter the depre-
dstions of Nszi raiders that We can seri-
ously discuss an offensive against Nazi-
occupied Europe.
Must Keep Supplies Flowing.
OF course. the sending of supplies to
Russia Is OF paramount Importance be-
cause even If Hitler succeeds In what he
failed to do last fsll-take Moscow and
. Leningrad-the Russians can carry on
the war indefinitely as long as they get
the necessary tools. II the Germans
attack with an overwhelming force be-
fore the Russians are well-supplied with
war materials. they could withdraw their
lines behind the Volga to the Urals and
continue to fight the Axis
Those who stubbornly contend that our
main task right now is to defeat the Japs
and then turn on Hitler have frequently
been told that they are playing into the
hands of Hitler and Hirohito. 1t is re-
pestediy said In high quarters that Hit