The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-09-26
Interpreting
The War
BY klRKE L. sIMpsx
Associated Press War .n '

Aae COMING week holds a bi4.,
for Herr Hitler 's'
a year ago next Thursday he onss
ed the annual Nazi winter rsI l.,
campaign in Berlin by an0on. ,s'
ing that we have drafted vs.,,
simple program" for 1943 Il
he said: way
First, hold in all circume,,.
what must be held; that is S'y les
me enemy run against US ey >, 'g'
where we do not Intend = l'eSg'
vance; and let him storm ~ ad'
as ne, wants to; hold adam. '0as
first. '"iI'dntty
Second: Absolutely attso.
all circumstances where afton IN
necessary" '''''A u
At that moment a year 100
Battle of stalingrad was ~ ~ we
height, Nazi troops actually w. u.s.
at the Volga. Alexandra was S't .'
dire peril with Rommers s ssnl "a
girding for new attack a sla
the Alamein line only 60 m ias
away. The Battle of CuadaIoa,eS
was in progress. Terrible Io s.al
had been suffered by Allied cos
voys to Russia in the Arctic T tgli'
ian war craft had made a dsr ia',
hlt-and-run attack at Gjbrslto'
The Dieppe Commando raid IN ' ia,
the western defenses of the Ma w..
continental fortress had cost bos a.'
lily in life. In the Atlantic Ts,,
u-boats were taking d grim ton
of Allied shipping. VII
Final Halt
Nevertheless, with another Pc.
sian winter at hand Hitler eIect.,
to announce a halt in his ogs,
ward surge, but only d halt mt
better weather came. He did WA
know that it was the final hal.
his attempt to rule the world h,
force.
Hitler must have no doubt n
that now-noW with the lossot
Smolensk, the keystone of Na7
defense on the vast 1,200-mj]e b.,
tie line.
This latest major achievement
OF the Russian armies opens tra
door to White Russia, to Nszi.oc.
cupied Latvia, Lithuania and F..
tonia, and smashes home to Hitler
the bitter, hard fact that Gernary
virtually has lost her war with
Russia.
At the height of his successes
Hitler held 100000 square miles
OF Russia's $4,000 square mzs
area. Today, those gains hav
dWindled at enormous cost to NM
100000 square miles. Almost al
the living space" Hitler boaste5
as won by the Whermacht for h;
Greater Germany, is lost. And The
floundering NaZi armies are now
along the Dnieper, not the Volga
At no time since that September
speech a year ago has Hitler Or
any Of his spokesman had any
word of cheer to give the German
people. 1t has been an endless
chapter of defeat they have sought
to explain away with glib phases
A German army and all its gear
was lost at Stalingrad, another Ii
Tunisia. Italian allies have de.
serted him and Italy is Just an.
other Nazi-held state fighting with
the United Nations for freedom
now. There is no AXIS in Europe.
Balkans Near Revolt
All Africa has been Wrested
from Nazi control, the Mediter.
ranean freed for Allied use. Ba.
kan satellite states are in near re
volt against their Naz masters
and Finland is ready 10 Cit Ner
unnatural ties with Berlin Japan
is Keeling back in the Southwest
ern Pacific under preliminary Al
lied blows.
In Corsica. the bridgehead for
a French American invasion Of
France to end the Vichy regime
and restore Free France Is IN the
making. In Britain the most pow
erful armed force the world has
ever known is mustered to Smash
across the Channel at Berlin ltSeA'
A dozen German cities lie n
bomb-blasted ruins in an Allea
air campaign that has only starred
on its deadly work OF destruction
At sea Allied shipping has been
using the Atlantic freely for monaN
and the kill in U-boats has risen
to decisive figures.
For y months Hitler's taUnt !
wait and see who will tire A@
has been put 10 the test, ana "
ways it has been the Wehfma'I,
which tired of the struggle Z"
back-tracked where it did not sur
1t has held nothing V.
however urgent the orders iTo-
Berlin. It's ability to hold eV'.
the Dnieper line in Russia or ~ n,
line in Italy on which it may W
to stand is dubious. And its mo"
terrible defense task, to ho-a u
the west against the storm o. n.
lied attack by air, sea ana -S.5
piling up for action, is still alls''
Of it.
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