Evening star., 1943-04-01
Second Front Prospects

N s'V"A AOSPSNNS
A series of contributing factors has
sharpened discussion of the peren-
nial second front" question, mean
Ing thereby an Anglo American
offensive against Axis-held Fortress
Europe" The problem is extremely
complex. From known facts and
apparent trends, it Is possible to
make out good case for or against
the feasibility of such an undertake
ing. Furthermore, nothing can be
more, speculative than such discus
sions, because the strategic plans of
both the Allies and the Axis are
perhaps the most closely guarded of
military secrets. It would be worth
many divisions to either side to know
definitely what overall strategic de-
cisions had been made.
That vast force of British, Do
minion, and American troops, highly
trained and splendidly equipped is
massed in Britain and Northern Ire
land, cannot be denied, and recent
events lend color to the theory that
it will soon strike at the Continent
The British government has just
announced that extensive coastal
zones in England, and even in Scot
land and Wales, are declared from
today on to be restricted areas mot
solely from the standpoint of the risk
Of invasion but also from the point
OF view of the use of this country as a
bases for offensive operations against
the enemy" The German high COM
mand is admittedly preoccupied with
the prospect and is taking intensive
precautions all the way from Norway
to the Bay of Biscay. Concurrently,
Rommels darkening prospects in
Tunisia hasten Axis preparations to
fortify the soft underbelly' of the
Axis in the Mediterranean, from the
Spanish border to Crete and the
Dodecanese Islands. It is generally
assumed that no large-scale Allied
attacks in the Mediterranean will be
feasible until the Axis has been ex-
peHed from it's last North African
foothold, but that may not be long
delayed.
Meanwhile, the stabilization Of the
eastern front by the spring thaws has
revived Russian pressure for Allied
action in Western Europe. A strong
article by Soviet President Kalinin in
the official organ Izvestia has been
quickly followed by pamphlet from
the pen OF Alexander Troyanovski,
former Soviet Ambassador to Wash
ington, asserting that 1.-THE United
States and Great Britain have every
possibility of fulfilling their obliga-
tions by intlicting crushing blow
from the west upon the Hitlerite
robber hordes." Russian diplomatic
pressure along this line can be logi-
cally predicted.
However, a second front this sea-
son, either in the form of single
gigantic invasion or a series Of CO.
ordinated attacks at various points,
should not be considered virtual
certainty. The obstacles are enorm-
Gus, and the gravest handicap prob
ably is merchant shipping, already
earmarked for the North African
campaign and under intensified
strain by the new outburst of U-boat
warfare. German military strength
in Western Europe is assumed to be
still great, the Luftwaffe may be
boarded against just such an emer-
gency, and the two month respite on
I. the eastern front during the spring
thaws gives the Germans a precious
breathing spell. Indeed, it is by no
means certain that the German high
command may not mediate a coun-
ter-offensive of it's own in the West.
Some military observers are con-
cerned over the possibility of sud-
den German stroke through Spain.,
with or without the assent of the
Franco government, to close the
Straits of Gibraltar and threaten the
Allied armies with an attack on their
rear from Spanish Morocco. It is
against the traditions Of the German
high command to wait passively to be
hit. Yet there is the counter theory
that Western Europe is so strongly
fortified that German strategy would
welcome an Allied invasion which
would end IN a super-Dunkirk.
Inese are merely the outstanding
pros and cons OF question that can
be answered only by the course of
events. Yet its implications are 80
vital that they engross the thoughts
Of waiting world.
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