The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-10-12

wind pointing to an increasing anti Axis trend inside Europe were these'
 1-Reports reached London that the V SGermans have informed the 'vichy government of their inten- ton of imposing even more rigid control over France, including the nrerst of all officers of the French Arnistice army and the disarming of police, presumably to nip any pro- Allied uprising or coup coincid- eng with German military reverses. The measures originally were to have been invoked only in the event of an Allied invasion.
 2--A Budapest report published in Stockholm said the Rumanian gov- erninent has ordered the Rumanian civil administration in occupied areas north of the Dniester river be- tween the Dnieper and the Bug to return home.
 3--The London news-C Chronicle said Christian of Denmark has re- fused defiantly to help the Germans form Q new Danish government.
 On the eastern front, the Red army already is across the Dnieper, where the Germans had hoped to halt for the winter, and Is threat ening to cut off all Axis forces in the Crimea and in the Dnieper bend.
 There also is considerable indica- tion that the Germans are about to pull out of the Leningrad sector to escape entrapment by threatened Russian outflanking thrust to the Baltic from the NeVel area.
 The Germans are reported to be moving heavy artillery and other heavy equipment from the Lenin- grad front.
 The Nad command also appar- ently is steadily thinning Its forces in Finland.
 Ohaervers believe that another general retreat along the entire Russian front this fall might crack Hitler's eastern empire to bits.
 If the Germans are forced to draw back into Poland and East Prussia while the Allies advance from the south and air attack hits civilian morale, thousands of Nazi professional officers would say the war is lost. London military men believe the Wehrmacht officers prime Interest at that point would be to preserve the army as intact as possible as @ batering point ct the peace table.
 Greatest Retreat
 It seemed clear about August l, when the German army became committed to the greatest retreat in its history, that Hitler's profess sional generals quietly re-assumed control of grand strategy, leaving the Nazi party to handle the home front as best 1t could.
 Even then the party remained in the background. However, the ex- traordinary speeches by Hitler, Ge- stapo Chief Heinrich Himmler and Arms Minister Albert Speer last week calling on the German people to hold firm indicated the party is being pushed into the foreground again, possibly so that at given point 1t can be blamed for defeat.
 The Anglo-American bombing of Europe maintained screaming cre- scerdo during the past ten days, clifnaxed by Saturdays American raid half-way across Poland. Recon naissance pictures showed that the To-day assault was more devastating than any similar period during the Royal and United States Air Forces teamed in the offensive.
 Partisans lost some ground in Jugoslavia after an offensive against ports which proved premature, but the fact that they maintained con- trol of the country just behind the ports as well as inland communica- tions center and off-lying islands proved that the German occupation forces are stretched so thin they cannot feel safe against an Allied trans s-Adriatic attack.