The Wilmington morning star., 1944-11-06

The War
BY ELTON C. FAY

Associated Press War Avail,
Since the Allies landed in NJ.
mandy five months ago thew t ,.''
thrown an average Of more a..
1900 tons of shells a day at ~.
enemy. az No
There, in one item alone. j, :.
example of the immensitv ~ a, !"
Allied supply problem and ,no a'
er reason why new deem w,tu'
ports, such as Antwerp, are na. e'
ed urgently. ''eeo'
The Allies have, and have ~,
for weeks the city of Antu rs.a
and all its port facilities, left wiz
tually intact when the cern, VIZ
fled the city in haste. ''''
Channel Silted
There is, however. extrsn,.
doubt that big cargo carrrin .
ships will be able to use the noss
IN awning like the near future
Reports from overseas saw tss.
the ship channel is heavily siltea
with its present use confined =.
shallow draft vessels. The t.'I'
of dredging out the channel win
be one of weeks if not montb.
it is feared.
Until that is done. the tbir,
greatest port in Europe will n.
of only limited use. 1t follows tb..
any full-size, sustained Allied n.
fensive' on the critical nortber,
end Of the western front will bsv.
to depend in large measures nm
supplies coming in through distant
Cherbourg and whatever Other
french ports may be restored n
use in the meantime.
How long an intensive push
against siegfried Line will bsve
TO be sustained before a break
through is obtained is matt,
of debate among military men,
There are those who maintain
that the western defenses of Gey.
many are brittle. They base tbj,
belief to some extent on the age,
Of prisoners taken by the Allies
which show that the garrison in.
cludes groups both below and
above the accepted brackets for
efficient combat forces. From
this they deduce that the sub.
stantial portion of all Germany,
manpower is at the perimeter Of
her defenses and that if those de.
lenses crack the breakthrough
will be deep and decisive.
Needs Great.
There is no inclination, however,
to discount the fact that whatever
the nature of the West Wall gar.
rison, a vast amount Of munitions
and men will be needed to thrust
through these formidable de.
lenses.
The 1,800-ton daily average for
artillery ammunition is only part
of a long list Of daily needs Of
a force estimated by Prime Min.
lister Churchill to be as high as
5000, 1000 men. Based on est.
mates by government agencies for
a smaller force of men, the food
for such a force might run TO
more tnan 10000 tons a day, Fuel
for a multitude of combat and
transport vehicles and the huge
Allied air force runs into fantastic
figures. Ordnance and vehicles
wear out or are damaged in COM
bat and these heavy items mus
be moved into ports and trundled
all the way across France.
To these normal daily NEEDS
OF the armies must be addea SuA
greater tonnage if stockpiles are
built UP for launching an all-0h
offensive.
The Germans strategy Of deny
ing use of ports to the Allies has
paid off until now. They desi'
to project the war to next Sprng
hoping that meanwhile sonle'nnss
anything will turn up-a new aa
decisive weapon, a schlsm W.
tween the Allies. The weather Oil
the northern front grows WolS
but actual weather conditions S4
are in the future. There Is ny
reason to believe that an hIA.'
blow cannot be struck before WIZ
ctr.
Whether this is possible ~
parently depends in a large "
gree on what progress IS hl'"
=. e,,pto1,, nTODIeII.