Evening star., 1942-11-15

Is the Nazi power waning? If 50 what
desperate action is the Fuehrer preoar-
Ing in the near future? These were
questions which responsible military men
were asking themselves early last week.
the first chapter in Americas often
slVe across the Atlantic was opened at
dawn last Sunday morning, full of hope
ana while it was on the way, Hitler knew
the Yanks were coming. What kind of
reception was he preparing for them?
1t was known in responsible quarters
that between six and seven packs of sub
marines, with about 10 submarines to
each pack, were watching the movements
OF the long conveys of troops and supply
ships going into the Mediterranean or
descending along the west coast of Africa.
The conveys were strongly protected, but
sacrifice attack on the part of the
Nazi subs might have been costly to our
expeditionary forces.
The Nazis would have had little chance
OF escaping, considering the strength of
our warships The operations of 1t. Gen,
Dwight Eisenhowers divisions might
have been seriously handicapped But no
such mass attack occurred The Nazis
evidently withdrew or they are ssll wait
ing in that region to catch stragglers or
Isolated conveys.
1t was believed equally possible that
Hitler might have had some surprise in
store, either in the shape of an aerial
blltz while we were engaged in landing
operations in North Africa, or in the
shape OF surprise attack through Spain
against our base at Gibraltar. Neither
happened. Instead, there was petulant
complaint that we were invading
French possession and the customary
threat that Roosevelt has not got the
last word"
The japanese, collaborating with the
Nazl leaders, declared that we had en-
tered North Africa illegally and that
Gen. Eisenhower had acted "ungentle-
manly
No Signs of Counterblow,
But outside these childish outbursts of
anger, there was no indication that the
Nazis were preparing for counterattack
IN North Africa, where the man who
is unquestionably their ablest military
leader, Marshal Ewrin Rommel, con-
tinues his spectacular retreat with little,
II any. support from the Fuehrer.
Whether he will be able to put in effect
his olan of settling down in the little
Maglnot Line in Tunisia and making
full use of the Bizerte and Sfax bases is
matter which cannot be answered at
the time of this writing.
There seems to be no doubt that Gen.
Eisenhower is moving as rapidly as
means will permit him toward the
Tunilian border with the hope of getting
to that line before Rommel arrives. It
is also more than probable that the
French troops in North Africa intend to
throw In their lot with ours and that
they may eventually become an impor-
tant asset TO Gen. Eisenhowers expedi-
tionary corps.
Gen. Henri Giraud, Who has been
quietly studying our plans, has thrown
the weight of his prestige with the
French professional African troops to our
SIDE. In all likelihood he will henceforth
become the organizer and commander of
that reservoir of manpower on which the
French, before 1910, relied so much for
the defense of their country
Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who initiated
the move of resistance to the Axis out
side of France, junior in rank and also a
much less experienced military COM
mander, will unquestionably place his
services at the disposal of the 6J-year-
old lieutenant general of the French
Army who in spite of his age made
spectacular escape from a Nazi prison
and managed to switch the confused
French commanders in North Africa to
the American side
Hitler has never understood the i'm
portance of North Africa and he has