Evening star., 1942-04-25
Beoverbrook's S PIeo

Lord Beaverbrooks ringing call for
great new offensive In Western
Europe to help the Soviet armies
faced with an impending German
drive Is the latest of series of SINH
lar appeals from prominent spokes-
men among the United Nations. It's
special significance arises from the
position of Lord Beaverbrook himself,
until recently member of the Brit
ish Cabinet and now in America on a
special mission. Addressing a key
audience representing the press of
the Nation, he undoubtedly spoke in
more than his private capacity: Ger
tainly with the governments knowl-
edge and assent.
No stronger advocacy OF the sec
ond front" thesis could well be i'm
agined. voicing full confidence in
the efficacy of Russian arms, the de-
pendability of the Soviet Union as a
wartime ally. and its loyalty to the
principles Of the Atlantic Charter in
the postwar settlement, Lord Bea-
verbrook urged emphatically: Strike
out to help Russia. Strike out vio-
lently. Strike even recklessly, but In
any event strike such blows that real
help will be our share and contribu-
ton to the Russian battle front" BY
so doing, he held out the hope that
Russia may settle the war for us
in 1912" And he coupled this hope
with the warning that "if the Rus
slams are defeated and driven out of
the war, never will such a chance
come to us again"
Here we have the second front"
theory, set forth with the incisive
eloquence Of which the speaker is
capable. And from the strategic
desirability of the proposal there can
be no serious dissent. The only
question Is as to whether a general
Anglo-American offensive in Western
Europe at this time is feasible. No
layman is capable of giving an au-
thoritative answer to that query,
since it rests ultimately on precise
figures regarding troops, equipment,
production and shipping which are
closely guarded military secrets.
Yet Lord Beaverbrook himself
stated some OF the difficulties in
volved. He admitted that "seaborne
traffic is now the bottleneck." And
he further pointed out that "five tons
OF shipping are needed to keep one
soldier overseas" Also. his poignant
description of Britain's equipment
losses in the Dunkerque disaster
indicates what might be the price
paid If great expeditionary force
on the European continent were de-
feated and driven back into the sea.
There can be no doubt that such a
campaign, with one or several large
scale landings all the way from Nor
way to Portugal. would involve risky
diminutions of ships and supplies
&ot VIC al Enot, Vic lNcdt dIiQ MlQUie
East, and possibly Britain itself, in
certain respects, even though the ex-
petitions we're British based. In
short, the opening up of an effective
second front" in Western Europe
logically implies putting most OF the
United Nations strategic eggs in one
basket.
This may, of course, be the wisest
course. And the decision should be
one for our general stats and states
men to make. They should certainly
be neither prodded nor held back by
the pressure of public opinion
swayed by emotion or wishful think
ing rather than by exact knowl-
edge OF the facts. This is time for
trust and confidence in the judgment
of our leaders rather than for at
tempts at "back-seat driving"