The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-10-09
interpreting
The War
BY ELTON c. FAY
Associated Press War a,.,

The Lies have been hacki,,
GermHy's West Wall for rpe,s
seeking a decisive breakth,,'
into the inner Reich before whit, ~
The armies in the Aacber :,
tor, in Holland, at Metz, now H., wy
smashed their way well fo,% nsN
of the positions of early Se assa
Der when the vanguard of ta psn y
lied forces racing across F,,1 A'
came up to the outer zone a, ' y
Siegfried Notifications. 0'
Moreover, at least two str.,.
factors tend to support the ,h, ssa
Of preaching enemy resistance w
fore winter-a preponderanc. :,
manpower and a still gray. "
massing Of air power.
Even the total mobilizatior =,
human resources order in w.
Reicn-the mastering in O, ~
old. the halt and the lame, h
sufficient to match the mannoms
that the United States, Crs S
Britain, France and the low cn, s
tries can throw against the sar-
son Of the West Wall. The Wei,M
Of bonbs falling on the enemy !,
home and at the front mc,,,,
steadily as more planes and a,'
men arrive overseas and new Il,
fields appear in France.
May Win Race
These are encouraging indiu,
tons that the Allies may win n,
race against winter and into N,
Reich-but does not alter the tar
that for a month, while summr
moved into fall, Allied prosreu
was generally immobilized.
What caused it?
First, the enemy succeeded IN
reaching his West Wall ''fustes
with the mostest," or as Seer
tary Of War Stimson puts it hs,
been sufficiently successful IN
raising additional recruits and re,
facilitating the withdrawing ar.
mics to have strength for initial
defense of the West Wall" Thu
Allies, when they broke out d
their beachhead area and began
chewing up enemy armies with
racing armored columns, had mop
ed they would reach the West Wal
before its standby garrison could
be augmented. That was a hop,
and a gamble; it didn't work.
Battlefront reports have men
toned the appearance on the west
ern front of some German dvi
sions known to have been pre-
viously on the eastern front. Tdl
suggests that the Germans, dis
covering the pressure somewha
lessened at the center of the east
ern front while the Russians sau
increasing attention to the Bali,
and Balkan areas, found it pos
sible to transfer a few division,
to meet the western offensive.
Situation Improves
Second, the Allied offensive has
been handicapped since the out
set by. the lack of disable big ports
through which supplies and rem
forcements could be moved. This
situation is improving slowly and
will improve swiftly once the lp
proaches to the port of Antwell
are cleared of the enemy.
Third, prolonged periods Of bad
weather have harassed the Allies
in the air and on the ground. Ths7
have superiority in aviation and
in armor, but murky skies an:
mud react against both. The enc
my takes advantage of thss
meteorological interludes to con
solidate his positions and move W
supplies.
To say that the Allied cam
paign is behind schedule Nigh
not be true. Rather, the situatl0l
may be that part of it is lltt'
ahead Of the original time table
There seems every reason Il
believe that, geographically, tn
campaign unfolded in France al;
the low countries about as IN
planners intended, that the enenl
was driven in the direction and
the places expected.
The. forward movement Of ln'
main front, however, may nav
been faster than anticipated, fasI
er than the planners estimate
when they considered logistlcs-
which is defined as getting 'a'
right number Of men at the rlgn
place with the right equipment Il
the right time.