The Ypsilanti daily press., 1944-12-02
Observations
Is Huge Offensive
by Allies Europe's
Final Battle?
BY HELEN EssARY

Behind-the-scenes military opin-
Jon in Washington is that the pres.
ont gigantic offensive against the
stubbornly-fiehting German armies
may be the last great struggle of
the European war.
It is. they say. too early to pre-.
dict and too early. indeed, TO be
publicly optimistic.
But once across the Rhine, the
terrain is better for armored war.
fare. With the Siegfried bastion
broken. the road 10 Berlin may be
shorter than was anticipated
month ago.
Once across the Rhlne-a terrific
hurdle-there is the Black Forest
10 the south. extending from Frei-
burg in Baden 10 Heidelburg, with
Vienna beyond Munich, and Berlin
far 10 the.north.
And above the forest tanks may
find the level plains for a sweep
into the heart OF Prussian Germany,
II supply holds up and the Germans
are sufficiently bled white and
disorganized.
There is likelihood that the Ger
mans will make one final desper-
ate stand before the gates Of Ber.
lin. But their battle would be a
hopeless gesture.
Adolf Hitlers super-h!ghway sys.
TEN. criss-crossing Germany the
"autobahnen'- begun to haunt
him as no other single construction
feat during the heyday OF the Nazis
could possibly plague him.
Recent dispatches from the west.
ern front say that German troops
lined Hitlers four.lane highways
between Aachen and Cologne, via
Eischweiler
Behind this seemingly innocent
military item is the story OF Hit
ler's construction Of the vaunted
"auobahnon" road plan Of super
highways.
n he Nazi books, these four and
fiye.lane ribbons of concrete, form
ing a veritable labyrinth OF roads
throughout the Reich, were to be
used for Germanys highly-mobile
army.
For a while, the Nazi plan worked
perfectly. In a matter OF hours,
German legions rolled into the Su-
detenland, Czechosloyakia, Poland,
the Low Countries, and then deep
into France.
Now the plan is working in re-
verse. The Nazis' fayorite tactical
military maneuyer-the strategic
retreat can be executed with
considerable dispatch. But the
areas for retreat are rapidly re-
sembling the ken OF a cornered
fox.
And Adolf HITLER can thank,
among other things. his famed au-
tobahnen for making backward
movement possible, but It must be
a bitter pill when he considers that
the Allies can make good use OF
them to speed the march to Berlin.
Electric and gas domestic refrig-
orators and domestic washing ma
chimes have been made subject to
spot authorization" procedure for
limited civilian production, but tAis-
doesn't necessarily mean that they
will be flooding the market soon.
War Production Board officials
point out that the spot authoriza'
ton provides for civilian output
only when it is not in competition
with essential war production.
The last loophole through which
employers could give an employe
"a little extra" without the permis-
sion of the War Labor Board has
been closed. options TO purchase
stock or other property will be
deemed - salary payment from
now on, the Bureau Of Internal ReT-
enue announced.
The giving OF options had be-
come a frequent remuneration to
executive employees, the bureau
said. The option itself could be sold
for cash or exercised.