Evening star., 1942-05-19
Decisive Summer


American correspondents return
Ing from Axis occupied Europe report
that Hitler and his aides are con-
vinced that this will be the decisive
summer of the war That this con-
viction may be shared by the Allied
strategists is indicated by several
recent developments.
One of these is the announcement
that new contingent of American
troopS-the largest yet to cross the
Atlantic-has been landed in Ireland,
and that these soldiers took their
own tanks with them. Any inferences
drawn from this announcement
necessarily must be sheer speculation.
But we may be sure that these troops
have not been sent on any idle voyage
through Submarine-infested waters,
and the possible uses to which they
may be put are limited.
There is one school of thought
which believes that Hitler, unable to
smash the Soviet Army, will attempt
merely to stabilize his position in
Russia and direct his major offensive
blows at Britain this year. Pro-
ponents of this theory call attention
to Winston Churchills recent state
ment that the Allies had no evidence
of German troop concentrations on
scale indicative of an all-out attempt
to crush the Russians, and draw sup
port from that for their belief that
the British Isles will be the real
target. If this belief is well founded.
then the sending OF large numbers OF
American troops and heavy equip
ment to Ireland is understandable
as a defensive move, for Britain must
be held
1t seems more reasonable TO be-
ieve, however, that Hitler is hope
lessly committed to a final effort to
break Russia this summer. He might
well prefer some other course, but he
threw away his freedom Of choice
last June % when he came to the
Inflated conclusion that the time was
ripe for a new adventure, and now
he finds himself locked in battle with
a foe which Is not content to wait
for the enemy's blows to fall.
The Germans, 1t is true, have made
progress with their offensive on the
Kerch Peninsula, but this Is gain
which would mean little If the Rus
slams are able to press home their
drive on Kharkov and the Donets
Basin. The Nazis at Kerch and in the
whole Crimea are supplied by rail-
road running down the Dnieper
Valley, and this supply line is threat
ened by the Russian offensive. If it
should be cut the position OF Hitler's
troops in the south would be
desperate.
And this fighting, it should be re-
membered, is but prelude to the
great struggle which is shaping up
along the 2,OOO-mile Russian front.
Before another month Is out, the
decisive battle OF the war should be
In full swing from Leningrad to the
Black Sea.
II this picture develops, the posi-
bility OF q serious German assault on
Britain would be ruled out and the
explanation of the sending OF an
American expeditionary force to Ire
land as a defensive operation would
become invalid. That would leave
the possibility that the opening OF
second front" so vigorously advo-
Gated in Britain, may be in the offlng.
Lending some support to this line
of conjecture is the recent announce
ment that this Government has
largely abandoned its program OF
building new war plants and will
concentrate every effort on turning
out weapons in the plants now oper-
ating or soon to be built. Most OF
our officials have been saying that
one tank, or one plane, or one gun
this year will be worth ten in 1943.
Now it looks as though we are pre-
pared to stop talking about producing
every possible weapon this summer
and are moving with real determina-
ton to get them. If that be the case,
the great and decisive battle now
taking shape in Europe would seem
to be the theater in which they can
be used with most telling effect this