The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-12-28
EISENHOWER SEES
VICTORY in 1914
Continued from Page One)

(Continued from Page One)
first Job would be ITO weld the
directing team together" for the
great assault.
Reviews Events
Reviewing the events OF the
past year, he said he was salts
fled with progress made in the
Mediterranean thus far and pre-
oicted there would be vigorous
fighting in this theater for the
remainder of the winter: He said
Allied progre% necessarily would
be slow and difficult, and pointed
out that Allied forces in the
Mediterranean had to depend on
military might IN proportion to the
needs of other theaters.
In replying to question wheth.
er he was satisfied with Allied
progress in 1943-if the year had
been up to expectations-the gen
eral said the best way to answer
answer that was for people to
compare the position of the Allies
in October, 1912, with the position
today
He then reviewed the changes,
pointing out that last year the Ger
mans were almost at the gates
Of Cairo, Malta hung by thread
and the Nazi submarine warfare
was at its height
In Good Humol
Tanned and In unusually good
humor. the general showed no
signs of the tremendous response
biiity that had been thrust on his
shoulders. He expressed regret at
leaving this theater and said he
would entertain any question from
the time of the assassination OF
Admiral Jean Darlan a year ago
down to his most recent trip to
Italy.
Occasionally shaking his fist to
emphasize point as he leaned
forward in his chair, the general
discussed a wide variety Of sub
jects. Much of the conversation
was off the record" for reasons
of military security.
He grew serious when he spoke
of the hard fighting in Italy. He
emphasized that it was necessary
&c attack and to keep on attacking
along the muddy, mountainous
front to make the Germans real.
ize they will be constantly on the
defensive until their m e
breaks.
Fiat Prediction
When asked if the Allies had
been able to attack Italy as quick
ly as they planned when they first
landed in Africa in November,
1912, General Ike grin 4 d
broadly and declared that at that
time the high Allied command had
not even decided whether Italy
would be invaded.
He made his flat prediction that
Europe would be conquered in 1914
with elaboration, and said he was
resisting an impulse to qualify it.
My own and personal job i'm
nlediately, of course, will be to do
what we have done here. That is
to weld the directing team togeth-
er in such a way that no real fric-
ton ever develops, that people
trust each other, work in unison
and go into this thing with full
weight. I believe we have develop
ed here that sense of partnership
which has come as near as hui
manly possible to elimination of
the friction that has been typical
Of Allied armies in the past" he
said.
Commenting on his trip to the
Italian front, General Eisenhower
said he was amazed by the abili-
ty of American and English troops
to accommodate themselves to the
appalling conditions there and to
make the best of the terrible
weather.
He pointed out that the surren-
Ger OF the Italians had enabled the
Allies to seize the heel of Italy,
including the naval bases of Ia
ranto and Bari, with a small ex-
penditure He said he had expect
ed nothing more. although he may
have hoped that the surrender
would give the Allies greater mill
tary advantages than it actually
did.
He explained that the Allied
landing on the beaches at Salerno,
$50 miles from Rome, was dictat-
ed by the fact that it was within
range of Allied fighter planes bas-
ed on Sicily. He declared that any
commander who sent such large
force beyond its fighter protection
should be relieved.