Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-03-27


dress last night:
I hope you will not imagine tina
I am going to try to make som
extraordinary pronouncement to
night and tell you exactly Row al
the problems of mankind in the wa
and in peace are going to be solved
I only thought you would like m
to have a short talk with you abou
how we are getting on and to thanl
you for all the kindness with whicl
you have treated me in spite of m,
many shortcomings.
1t is year almost to the da,
since spoke to you on broadcas
here at home. This has been q tim
of disappointments as well as sue
cesSes, but there is no doubt tina
good news has far outweighed tn
bad and that the progress of tn
United Nations towards their goa
has been solid, continual and grow
ing quicker.
The long and terrible marcl
which the rescuing powers are max
ing is being accomplished stage b,
stage and we can now say not onl
with hope, but with reason, that W
shall reach the end of our journe,
in good order and that TRACED.
which threatened the whole worlt
and might have put out all it's light
and left our children and descend
ants in darkness and bondage per
haps for centuries --that tragedy viii
not come to pass.
He is a rash man who tries tt
prophesy when or how or unde
what conditions victory will come
Victory Assured.
But come it will-that at least i.
1t is also certain that unity O.
aims and actions and singleness o.
purpose among us all-Britons a.
home and our Allies abroad-wil
make it come sooner.
A year ago the 9Th Army, which
had marched $500 miles across the
desert from Alamein, was in battle
for the Mareth Line and the Isl
British Army and American Army
were beating their way forward tc
Tunisia. We were all confident OF
victory, but we did not know that
in less than two months the enemy
would be driven with heavy slaugh-
ter from the African continent
leaving at one stroke 235,OO0 pris-
oners and dead in our hands.
Since then the successful cam
paign in Sicily brought about the
fall of Mussolini and the heartfelt
reputation by the Italian people
of the Fascist creed
Mussolini indeed escaped to eat
the bread of affection at Hitler S
table, to shoot his son-in-law and
help the Germans wreak vengeance
among the Italian masses whom he
had professed to love and over
whom he had ruled for more than
20 years.
Fate Is Terrible.
This fate and judgment more
terrible than death has overtaken
the vaingloriouS dictator who
stabbed France in the back and
thought his crime had gained him
an empire of the Mediterranean.
The conquest of Sicily and Naples
brought in their train the surrender
of Sardinia and the liberation OF
Corsica, an island which had beer
expected to require for themselves
a serious expedition and a hare
campaign
We now hold one-third of the
mainland of Italy. Our progress ha.
not been as rapid or decisive as We
hoped I do not doubt we shall be
victors both at Anzio bridgeheao
and on the main front to the south.
ward and that Rome will be rescued
Meanwhile, we have swept out OF
the struggle Sc Italian divisions ano
we are holding in Italy, for most
part in close action, nearly Is divi-
sions and noteworthy part of the
German Air Force, more of whom
can bleed and burn in the land OF
their former ally while other and
even more important events which
might require their presence are i'm
pending elsewhere.
We have been disappointed in the
Aegean Sea and its many islands
which we have not yet succeeded
In dominating.
Setbacks Are Offset.
But these setbacks in the Eastern
Mediterranean are offset, and more
than offset, by the panic and frenzy
which prevail in Hungary, Ru-
mania and Bulgaria, by the con-
tlnued activities of Greek guerrillas
and above all by the heroic struggles
of the Partisans of Yugoslavia under
the leadership of Marshal Tito.
In the Near and Middle East we
have certainly travelled a long way
forward from those autumn days in
l94O when we stood all alone-when
Mussollnl was invading Egypt, when
we were driven out of British Somal-
Hand, when all Ethiopia was in
Italian chains and we wondered
whether we could defend the Suez
Canal, the Nile Valley, the Sudan
and British East Africa.
There is much still to be done in
the Balkans and the Eastern Medi-
terranean. But here again I do not
doubt the task will be finished in
workmanlike manner.
We who dwell in the British Isles
must celebrate with JOY and thank
fulness our deliverance from mortal
U-boat perils which deliverance
lighted the year which has ended
When I look back on the s.
months of this hard and obstinate
war which makes ever more exact
ing demands upon our life springs
OF energy and continuance, l still
rate highest among the dangers we
nave overcome the U-boat attacks
upon our shipping, without which
we cannot live or even receive the
help which our dominions and our
grand and generous American ally
have sent us.
Other Deliverances Noted.
But there are other deliverances
which we should never forget. There
was the sea mining peril which
doomed so large in 1889 and which
has been mastered by superior SCI
ence, ingenuity and by the often