Evening star., 1942-12-17
African Invasion Held Possible
Because of StoIingrod Stand
Reds Socrifice Of 250, 900 Men Also
Soved Egypt for British, Stowe Suys

Leland Stowe, who left Mos
coi1 Nopember IL, hos fo,On to
the United States BY ,0ay OF the
Middle East and Africa. He has
,oritten several stories about
tol1df he obserped on his trip, OF
,ohich the JoilosUino is the frst)
BY LELAND STOWE.
Correspondent Of The Star and Chicss,
Daily News.
The 250,O00 Red Army soldiers
who died to keep Stalingrad out o1
Hitler's hands saved Egypt for tn,
British and made 1t. Gen. Dwigh'
D. Eisenhower's offensive In NORTH
Africa possible.
I brought this point home to &
group of American airmen I hae
met in an advanced base on thu
Libyan Desert, a few weeks after
left Moscow on November IL. THESE
clean-cut Yankee airmen had hat
their baptism of fire over Ell Ala.
mein and Hellfire Pass and hac
contributed their important bit
helping Gen. B. L. Montgomery.
9th Army drive Marshal Erwin
Rommel's Afrika Korps out OF
Egypt and hundreds of miles to.
ward points west.
AS we lounged in their squadron
officers mess tent that night. they
told me about the Allied air battles
which had paved the way and de-
cided the issue.
What would it have been like II
Rommel had had about 400 more
planes to put up against you?"
asked casually.
This chance shot netted q collec-
ton Of unanimously knitted brows
and a circle of suddenly serious
faces. One Of 1t. Col. Frank Mears
opera tions staff officers, Maj. Archie
Knight Of Richmond. Ind, obviously
spoke for every one present when he
exclaimed: -Four hundred more
German planes? Phew! even
hate to think of it,
DO you think you'd be sitting out
here in Libya with the Nazis dig
ging In at Ell Eeheila II Rommel
had had several hundred more
planes?" I asked.
Not on your life. Not a chance! !"
The answer came in 4 general
chorus.
' Stalingrad Takes on Importance.
well, that's all want to know"
I said. You're the fellows who are
doing the fighting But If the Rus
slams hadn't held Stalingrad all
through September and October,
you can bet your flying boots Rom
mel would have mad at least 300 or
400 more planes behind Eli Ala
mein."
So far as these American flyers in
Libya were concerned there was no
need to press the point. In fash
Stalingrad had taken on a very
personal meaning to them. There
was no telling how many gaps
there would have been in this little
circle II the Red Army had not sac
rificed 250,000 men or more in order
to hold Stalingrad-if Hitler's Luft-
waite had not lost hundreds Of air
planes trying again and again to
take Stalingrad.
But now the Russians were on
the offensive at last, both around
Stalingrad and around Rzl1ev and
battling toward Velikie Luki. and
with this the almost inconceivable
had happened. No foreign corre-
spondent or military observer in
Moscow would have dared predict
all this, or more than A tiny frac-
ton Of what the Red Army has
accomplished in the past six weeks
They could not have predicted it
because the Russians know how to
keep military secrets-but If Rus
sian Army commanders did not
know how to keep military secrets
some Is Nazi divisions would not be
menaced with eventual humiliation
in front of Stalingrad today
No Inside" Information.
Accordingly, when I attempt to
analyze the Red Army's winter pros
poets. it must be clearly understood
that my observations are not based
on any inside" military informa-
ton. I do not know any foreign
observers in the Soviet Union, in
Guiding military attaches, who pos
sess any really inside" information
about the Russian armed forces;
much less about the strategic plans
OF the Russian high command.
So far this fact seems to have
been largely responsible for the be-
devilment of the Nazis' eastern
front commanders and of unmiti-
gated benefit to the Allies cause
Meanwhile, the only advantage
which correspondent, freshly home
from Moscow, possesses accrues from
having been closer to the Russian
war effort and from a somewhat
more detailed knowledge of the
weapons, methods and morale of the
Soviet armed forces.
Unquestionably, the Germans still
have very powerful forces on Soviet
soil and large amounts OF tanks,
planes, guns and other equipment.
The possibility of a desperate Nazi
counteroffensive. either on the Don
or on the central front, cannot vet
be discounted; nor probably for
months to come. Even so. the Red
Army has dealt a staggering blow
In the Don elbow and south OF Stall
ingrad and the jolt to the German
/ soldiers morale must be very con-
siderable: perhaps even Of long
term consequences.
Dump the paralyzing Russian
winter on top of this blow and 1t
may well be that the fighting spirit
| Of the simon-pure Aryan invaders
will never be quite the same again
To Hit With All Their Power.
| This is one big reason why the
Russians are certain to hit with
everything they can muster through
out this winter. but don't ask me tc
tell you how far their present Of
| fensives can go. l don't know and
I don't know any one outside OF
the Red Army's high command and
the Soviets' Commissariat OF Ma
tional Defense who could pretend
to know. But there are certain
broad aspects of the Russians open