Evening star., 1943-10-02

''N'S app >tiNAA 4s28 : W.
sive that the lull David Lawrence.
might mean preparation for a new
offensive by the U-boats. Secretary
Knox issued this warning publicly.
and so did Prime Minister Churchill
The fact is that the possibility of
some weapon being developed which
would successfully overcome the
American tactics was foreseen here
BY the same token our scientists
and experts who have been trying
to stay lap ahead of the Nazi
scientists are presumably working
on the antidote to the latest German
weapon.
The use of small aircraft carriers
from which planes are launched for
reconnaissance has protected the Al
lied conveys because the airplaneS
have been able to notify escort YES
sells Of the location of U-boatS. Be-
tween the attacks from the air and
from the surface, the Nazi sub
marines were driven from the seas.
Sub War NearS Climax.
But during the interval they have
been absent, it is assumed that most
of the submarines were recalled to
Nazi ports for refitting with the new
torpedoes or other weapons. Come
submarines have stayed on the sur
face and employed antiaircraft guns
against our planes. Meanwhile, our
own bombers occasionally have been
diverted from raids inside Germany
and have concentrated many at
tacks on submarine bases in the
areas on the Atlantic coast occupied
by the NaziS.
Certainly the submarine war is
coming to climax at the same time
that the air war is reaching a crisis.
The next three to five months may
prove to be decisive in the sense Of
assuring victory over the Nazis in
the subsequent military operations,
though it is recognized our plans
may be delayed considerably by the
hara assment of our supply lanes over
which a heavier and heavier volume
of traffic is passing.
The Importance of U-boat opera
realize the vital necessity to them
of curtainling our flow of men and
supplies to the Mediterranean and
Northern European tn a ters of
operation. Second, the knowledge
that Allied shipping losses are in
creasing will be used inside Ger
many to bolster morale and stimu-
late the workers on the production
front.
Propaganda Boomerangs.
Undoubtedly in recent months the
German people have been depressed
by such news as the Allied victories
in North Africa and recently by the
surrender of the Italian feet and
the land forces in Southern Italy
The overthrow of Mussolini by the
Badoglio government had serious
repercussions inside the occupied
countries. So anxious have the
Nazi5 been recently to promote
some sort of victory that their
propagandists seized on the reverses
suffered by Allied troops when they
landed on the beaches at Salerno.
Stories of the losses of 10000 men
and of the evacuation by the Allies
In another Dunkirk" were flashed
by the German radios. When later
the peoples in the occupied areas
learned that the Allies were not de-
feated but pushed on inside Italy,
the German propaganda suffered its
worst boomerang this year.
The fact is it was really touch
hndgo at Salerno and there was a
time when fears were felt that
maybe our men would be driven off
the beaches. The Germans boasted
too soon and in the end. as the
operations became more and more
successful for our side and final
occupation of the port of Naples was
assured, Axis morale suffered again. /
So now it would not be surprising
II the Germans exaggerated the
effectiveness of their new under |
water weapons. This does not mean
that the conveys haven't been seri-
ously bothered or will not be but
that the tendency of the German
propaganda will be to broadcast
their claims in the hope of creating
inside Europe the impression that
the U-boat will keep the American
military might from reaching Eu-
rope in sufficient force to win the
war by big invasion movement.
The attitude of Washington to-
ward the new developments in
U-boat warfare is one of genuine
concern, but there is no lack of
confidence that we will soon find
the answer to the latest weapons
and tactics.
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