The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-11-21
Interpreting
The War
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON
Associated Press War Analvst


Despite minor Allied reverseg
the Aegean and difficult Arg,a1
British advances up the Itai io'
boot, key plays are about IN ~
made on the global war Chez
board. 10y
Some Of the forthcoming noro,
are self revealing others still clos@
ly guarded United Nations miI5
tary secrets. Taken together t5a '
give observers the strong innroS'
sion that within days or a fan,
weeks at most the war scene "
the Pacific as well as in Eurona
Will undergo a drastic change
Despite minor Soviet setb.o.
Ii the Zhitomir rail center tSa
main action in the battle to sn,a ,Is
the reeling Axis continued to ' ~
the Russian front. Nazi cononoSs
dreams were dispelled at SfsI is'
grad a year ago ard the crumbI;r,
Of the Axis began with Red AIS
nreaK-throughs that now havs
stabbed hundreds of miles west
ward to threaten Axis Rail-"
satellites and Germany itself n;tl
invasion from the east. "'''
Seeds Ripening
British victories in Egvnt .r,
Africa and Anglo-American.Franoo 1
t-iumphs in North Africa. SiciI,
and on the Italian mainland boi,
greatly. But it still is in Puqsip
that the seeds of complete mil
tary disaster for Nazi Germ
are Ripening to unpredjctsbi,
Tuition. Nor is it to be dopbtoS
that the advance of the Russfsn
steam-roller is about to be ns
nlately coordinated for the fir>4
time with Allied second-front st
tacks in progress by air or i,
preparation by land and sea. Word
CT new Allied-Russian INTERCHANGE
to that end may be expected at
any moment-and swift Joint AZ,
ton to follow them up.
Fresh mass Allied bombing raid,
over Germany stirred speculation
ID London that the onset Of bn
final, deadly winter air attack IN
shatter Nazi war industry under.
mine German war morale and
pave the way for an Allied inya,
sion from the west, has begun.
There are intimations from
Italy. meantime, that German
armies on all fronts are going into
winter action badly crippled by
motor transport shortages and
with depleted divisions,
Failure
There is now evidence too of the
failure Of counter Nazi U.boat
campaign in the Atlantic to halt
CT even seriously delay the move.
nent of troops and war goods from
the United States to the European
war theaters for the final phases
of the conflict. Marine insurance
rates in the Atlantic dropped steep
~, strongly bearing out the re.
cent assertion of Prime Minister
Churchill that the back OF the sub
marine attack has been broken
Coupled with the startling Rus.
sian battle successes since Stain
grad, the Allied anti-submarine
campaign invites complementary
revisions of recent Allied and So
Wet directives TO shorten the road
to final victory by many months.
There can be no doubt that con-
versations to that end are in pro-
g1ess OR preparation. The fact Of
those meetings, if not their re-
suits, will not be withheld long
In the Pacific where the bulk Of
American sea power is massrs
without prejudice to the cam
paigns in Europe, there is every
indication of impending major az
gressive action against japan
Tokyo must be aware that Shreen'
ing Nipponese island outposts in
the central Pacific are ear-mark-
ed for American taking.
japanese evacuation of Rabam
with the explanation for home
front consumption that the island
base has served its purpose, would
cause little surprise in Washington.
That might explain the astonishing
hroadcasts from Tokyo claiming
heavy naval losses inflicted on
american forces. Otherwise these
claims have no meaning whatever