Evening star., 1943-12-26
Choice Of Eisenhower
P|eases Troops, Stirs
Invasion Speculation
BY the Associated Press.

LONDON, Dec. 25.-Untold thou
sands Of American soldiers observ-
ing their last pre-invasion Christ
mas In British glowed with pride
tonight in the announcement that
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had
been named supreme commander of
the Allied grand assault on Hitler's
Europe.
The dramatic Christmas Eve tim
ing Of the Eisenhower announce
ment, synchronized with yesterdays
attack on the French invasion
coast" by the greatest Allied aerial
armada in history, touched off a
new wave of conjecture over the
date of the Allied ss-Channel
thrust.
American fighting men also ac-
cepted with quiet confidence and a
sense of destiny Senator Johnson's
statement in Washington that the
United States will provide 73 per
cent Of the troops to be used in
storming Hitler's west wall-prob-
ably within the next 80 days.
Gen. Esenhower's appointment
was hailed by British commentators
as the harbinger Of Germany's
final downfall, and from Moscow
came word that the choice was
viewed there as indicating the earn
estness of the Allied promise to de-
liver the blow from the west" for
which the Russians have long
hoped.
Sorry to Lose Eisenhower.
Dispatches from Allied head
quarters in North Africa said British
and Americans alike were sorry to
lose Gen. Eisenhower. A British
colonel, summing up the reaction
of staff officers, said:
1--WE never felt more sorry about
anything in my life than to see him
leave here. In IS years of military
service I have never encountered
an officer whom I deemed it greater
privilege and pleasure to serve"
Another Algiers dispatch said Gen.
Eisenhower had returned to head
quarters today from tour Of the
front, and was expected to begin
conferences to select the staff he
will take with him to help lead the
second front forces, and arrange to
turn the African theater over to
Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, his
successor
In London there was no flicker of
dissatisfaction over the choice Of an
to lead the greatest ex-
peditionary force history has ever
known.
Expected Before End of March.
A typical comment came from the
British press association:
His handling not only Of military
operations in Tunisia, Sicily and
Italy but of the equally complex
political problems made easier the
task of selection which confronted
Mr.. Roosevelt and Mr.. Churchill
and their advisers at the Cairo
and Teheran conferences"
"It is no secret that great Allied
source of all arms is being built up
for the INVASION" the news agency
added.
American troops now arriving
are already highly trained. In
Britain they are receiving a final
polish at special assault schools of
amphibious warfare.
I'm America it is generally be-
lieved that the second front will be
launched within 80 days-that is,
before the end Of March,"
Other commentators recalled with
relish that Gen. Eisenhower once
defined his job as IAN urgent date
in Germany"
They said they believed he would
keep that date toward the end of
Germany's fifth and most terrible
winter of the war, when the toll OF
casualties ,on the Russian front and
the blows of the American and
British aerial offensive have driven
Germany to a depth of gloom rival
ing the despair of November 1918.
AS the Allies completed their in
vasion preparations, Propaganda
Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels
broadcast Christmas Eve programs
from the German war fronts in
dramatization of his calls for pa
tience and perseverance" on the
German home front.
Berlin broadcasts told the Ger
mans Of the strength of their for
tress defenses and the high morale
of the legions that man them.
"The whole country in Holland,
Belgium and France, bristling with
the newest weapons, Is waiting,
lying In wait for every move on the