Evening star., 1943-07-01
Winning the War at Seq

turn downward about three months
ago, qualified observers have increas-
lngly voiced hope that history was
repeating itself and that an answer
to the U-boat menace had been
found this time, as it was in the last
war. But, until the past week, such
hopes were qualified, and undue
optimism was frowned upon both
here and in Britain. Confidence was
expressed that the cumulative effect
of antisubmarine measures rang
ing from escort craft and air patrols
to secret devices would ultimately
check U-boat ravages, but the init
nation was that this might not hap
pen before autumn.
Within the past few days, however,
British official statements coinciding
with German avoWals would seem to
indicate that the Battle of the At
lantic has taken a decisive turn in
our favor and that the continuous
improvement OF the past three
months represents permanent
rather than temporary trend.
On Tuesday, Malcolm Macdonald,
Britain's High Commissioner to
Canada, painted a bright picture of
the situation in the North Atlantic,
confirming London reports that, for
weeks, U-boats were being sunk at
an unprecedented rate. With grim
humor, he declared: 1--WE have had a
dead submarine served up for break
fast every day for the past fort
night" And yesterday, in an address
before a distinguished London
audience, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill was even more en-
phatic, saying that U-boats were
being "massacred" and that Allied
ship sinkings for June would be the
lowest since the early days of the
war.
Strikingly enough, those British
statements by the highest authorities
coincide with equally authoritative
German confessions of failure. Most
notable is that of Heinz Bongartz,
naval correspondent for Goering's
organ. the Essener National Zeitung.
Herr Bongartz admits that new
Allied antisubmarine methods, espe-
clally the increased use of air
planes, have got so notable an edge
over the U-boats that Allied ship
sinkings for June will probably be
the lowest in years." Avowing that
Germany had lost her superiority in
U-boat warfare in April" when mass
employment of Allied planes "sur-
mounted the Germans" he warned
that the worst is yet to come. In
deed, he goes so far as to propose
that all U-boats be recalled from
their Atlantic hunting grounds $50
that they will not be exposed to un-
necessary dangers and in order that
they can be improved technically,
while the crews are retrained tacti-
cally"
U-boat conditions and prospects
must indeed be bleak when a state
ment of such extraordinary frank
ness can be published in the Ger
man press. 1t tends to explain as
we'll as to confirm recent reports
from Scandinavian sources that
U-boat crews in Northern Norway
had mutinied rather than go to sea
again 1t should be remembered that,
in any Navy, the submarine person.
mel is an elite requiring long train
ing, and is hard to replace. So losses
are cumulative in their effect upon
both ability and morale.
Mr.. Macdonald pointed out the
momentous effects upon the course
of the war if the U-boat were reallv
reduced from a major menace to a
minor nuisance. More than any
other factor, it has hitherto hindered
the massing of Allied striking power
for decisive blows against the Axis
European citadel. Once the sea
lanes can be counted on as being
secure, preparations already "well
along can be speeded toward COM
pletion. A decisive rout of the U-boats
can thus be the prelude to larger
victories long and impatient.y
awaited.