Evening star., 1944-08-28

1t is no longer necessary to reserve
judgment on the magnitude OF our
Allied victory in the West. The
optimistic view has now become the
reasonable one. In General Eisen-
hower'S words, the elimination of. the
German Seventh Army as fighting
entity, together with elements of
the Fifteenth, "has decided the
battle of France" and from this
point on our forces will advance in
exorably-and not improbably WITH
great speed-upon the borders of the
Reich, with Luxembourg. Alsace and
Lorraine apparently scheduled to be
combat areas in the very near future.
In fact, as the situation looks to-
day, the liberation of the whole of
France, except for mopping-u oper-
ationS. seems so close to realization
that there is not a little reason to
regard the present. phase of the
fighting as the immediate prologue
to the battle of Germany For it is
not only in the northwest that the
enemy has been chopped up into
small Writhing pieces. The forces
sent pouring out of Normandy early
this month have crossed the Seine
at several points on either side of
Paris and are not merely headed
northward against the flying bomb
SlfoC il, tho Doc Co1oi,
are also driving deep into the north
eastern part of the country directly
toward the Reich.
The distance between these latter
elements and General Patchs Amer
lcan-French troops smashing up
swiftly from the south, between the
Rhone and the Swiss border, is only
200 miles at most. At any moment,
therefore, junction may be ex-
pected. cutting France in two and
bearing out the confident prediction
OF General Sir Henry Maitland Will
son, Allied Mediterranean COM
mander in chief, that General
Patch's drive will result in total
destruction of the German Nine
teenth Army" Hitlers southern de-
fensive force. In the circumstances
it does not seem over-optimistic to
regard full French liberation as a
development likely to be realized
perhaps as early as September 6. or
go days after the first Canadian
British American landings in Nor
mandy. There is a possibility, of
course, that the enemy, as in 1914-18,
may yet be able to make a stand
along such rivers as the Somme,
Marine, Aisne and Meuse, but con-
sidering that his casualties have
exceeded 100000 in France since
D-day and that this is war of
mighty movement by land and air
and not an old-fashioned war of
position, his chances in this respect
seem rather remote.
Summing up the enemy's predica-
ment against the Allied forces that
have swarmed out of Normandy
since July 81. high British field
officer declares that what there is
left of the Germans in Northwest
France is hanging like meat on a
butchers hook waiting to be cut
down." Actually, the words seem to
be applicable to the general situa-
ton, and not merely to one segment
of the French battle. For on all
fronts since the beginning of our
offensive in Italy last May II, Nazi
casualties have been reliably esti-
mated at over 1000, 900 men in killed,
wounded, prisoners and missing
These losses, coupled with those
suffered previously and coupled also
with such developments as the de-
fections of Romania and Bulgaria,
are so tremendous that it does not
appear too much to say that the
whole of Germany is now on
butchers hook and that it may not
be very long before it is cut down
entirely. In any event, the immen-
sity of our victory in France makes
it as certain as anything can be in
war that the Nazis are in their last
days.