Evening star., 1944-08-16
European War Seen
Approaching CIimox
Overall Design of Allies Now
Disclosed, Says Writer
BY David Laurence

DiSSAOoSdS Odys VihGI
BY David Laurence
The overall design Of the war in
Europe today begins to form . pattern
which 1t has not been possible to dis
close for many months heretofore.
The censorship bureau here began
asking the press last winter to avoid all
speculation as to the places where land
ings might be made on the continent Of
Europe by Allied armies. Certain OBJ
Jectives were obvious but even q discus
sion of the obvious was barred for Sc
curity reasons.
Today the world knows that the Al
lied forces have landed in Southern
France and that their objective Is to
join up with the forces in the north and
drive the Nazis out of France back
toward Germany. But it is apparent
that, with Russia pressing from the
east and a bigger and bigger Allied
army pressing from the west, the Nazis
cannot maintain the luxury of garrisons
in Norway or Finland or in the Balkan
States-they must withdraw that man.
power for use in the defense of Ger
many proper.
Two Ways for War to End.
There have always been in the minds
OF officials here two possible ways for
the war in Europe to end-one by an
internal collapse due to impaired morale
inside Germany, and the other a
straight-out military victory. The first
could happen any day, and the second
could mean a prolonged conflict, espe-
cially If list-ditch resistance were de-
termined on by the Nazis.
There is growing possibility that
Cross between the two points of view
may be realized. In other words, it
would not be surprising If the German
military leaders found themselves in an
untenable position with respect to Hitler
on the one hand and the Allies on the
other, and hence, instead of a last
Ditch resistance in the orthodox sense,
there might be a state OF military
anarchy created which, in turn, could
force the collapse of German morale.
Certainly the best arguments that
could be made for the collapse of Ger
man morale are those which are being
made in the territory of Northern and
Southern France today. News of the
exploits OF our armored forces under
Gen. Patton must have reached the
German people and certainly the Ger
man high command knows all about
them.
When panic psychology starts, all the
secret police in country cannot stop
1t. Military men here, however, are
still confident Hitler will hold the peo-
pie intact by stern repressive measures.
But the breakup of a nations morale
is unpredictable and follows no set pat
tern. When 1t comes, nobody knows
just what started it or what specific
factor brought it about.
The invasion of Southern France is 4
historic military achievement. 1t indi-
Gates possible juncture between the
Allied armies fighting in Italy and those
IN France. 1t will bring also to French
territory tens of thousands of French
| troops who have been trained in North
| Africa to help in the liberation cam
paign.
| Moving Toward Climax.
There is no longer a need for our
troop concentrations in North Africa.
The Allies have been moving to Corsica
and Sardinia steadily during recent
months, and now the manpower and
equipment which was engaged In the
North African campaign will be moved
northward through France. In this
way, Allied manpower and equipment
are being welded together into q sin
gle army west of the Rhine while the
Russians sweep onward through Po-
land, with the prospect of q further
juncture with Allied troops and liber-
ated peoples in the Balkan areas.
The possibility of uprisings in Yugo-
slavia and Greece which may be as
sisted by Allied armies Is prominent
in the picture of events to come.
Along with the remarkable work being
done by the Navy in the landings in
| Northern and Southern France and by
the infantry and armored forces in the
interior OF France, it is significant that
the air power Of the Allies does not di-
minish its intensity at all. The fact
that strategic air bombing can 60 on
even though large numbers OF our plane.
are necessarily being used to support
ground troops, is an evidence Of the
enormous number of airplanes put into
combat by the United Nations.
The war certainly is moving toward
a climax. Internal confusion and exter-
nal confusion must inevitably bring a
revolution inside Germany or else the
surrender of large groups of divisions
which find themselves in untenable DO
sitions. The end is approaching.
Reproduction Rights Reserved)
A More Detailed poIirv'