Daily Post - 29.05.1943, Side 2

2
DAILY POST
DAILY POST
ia published by
BlaSahringurinn.
Sditors: S. Benediktsson.
A. 1». Merson.
Offiee: 12, Austurstræti. Tel.
3715. Reykjavík. Printed by
AlþýSuprentsmiðjan Ltd.
Saturday, May 29th, 1943
The Bombing
Of Germany
One year ago today, on a
clear Friday night, 1250 bom-
bers took off from dozens of
Britain’s airfields to take part
in a raid that made history. —
For several days thereafter the
shattered city of Cologne bur-
ned, the Nazis raged, and the
world of the United Nations
rejoiced grimly.
The wilder predictions made
on the strength of that event
have not been fulfilled to da-
te. But the Cologne raid still
stands out as a turning-point
in the air war over Germany.
During the year which follow-
ed it we have come to regard
our policy of night-bombing in
its true perspective. We accept
the fact that it cannot, by it-
self, force Germany into that
unconditional surrender we
must insist upon, but it can and
will bring the day of her de-
feat much closer. News from
inside Germany detailing the
effects of these raids is very
carefully kept from us. But
much leaks out nevertheless—
through neutral sources, thro-
ugh letters taken from German
prisoners, and through infor-
mants inside Germany itself.
Above all, we have the yard-
stick of Britain’s own Blitz
with which to measure the de-
vastation we are bringing to
German cities. RAF reconnais-
sance photographs and plain
statistics provide us with the
final irrefutable proof. The
statistics tell us that Germany
has received nearly five times
the tonnage of bombs dropped
on Britain since the war start-
ed. And on the 23rd of this
month, during a single hour,
Dortmund rocked under a lo-
ad of bombs weighing more
than a quarter of the entire
amount dropped on London
during the eleven months of
the Blitz.
German industries are still
Spotlight
On German Plans In Russia —
Italy’s Present Attitude
The German High Command
is planning a frontal attack on
Moscow. Military correspond-
ents in London say that their
purpose is to split the entire
Russian army in the centre and
then deal with separate sect-
ors individually.
Reasons for this view are:
RUSSIAN AIR ACTIVITY
Russian air formations are
plastering German • concentra-
tions in an area that runs
roughly from the north of
Moscow to its immediate south
and stretches as far as Warsaw
Inside this huge triangle the
Nazis have gathered many of
the 190 divisions they have in
the east.
Baltic Sea traffic — to reli-
eve overtaxed land communi-
cations — has increased de-
spite its hazardous character.
FOURTH ATTEMPT?
The Germans tried a frontal
attack in 1941 but Von Bock
was driven back by Marshal
Zhukov on three occasions. —
Von Bock is now being ’built
up’ again. He appears often in
newsreels with Hitler.
This attack -will be a con-
centrated offensive on a limi-
ted sector. The Germans’ obvi-
ous policy is to pin down the
Russians to a specific territory.
They are taking a big risk. If
they . lose this campaign they
will lose men and material on
a scale that will make Stalin-
grad and Tunisia look like a
school boys game of Cowboys
and Indians.
* * *
COLLAPSE UNLIKELY
A neutral who was in Italy
humming throughout the land.
Millions of foreign workers
are available for the huge job
of reconstruction which must
follow every big raid. But the
human factor places the first
limit on the degree of pimish-
ment which can be borne. We
do not yet know at what stage
this limit will be reached. Yet
we are certainly drawing clos-
er to it as every month sees a
steady intensification of our
air attack on the very source
of Germasiy’s war power.
recently has told a British
newspaper correspondent that
dispatches in the British press
suggesting the possibility of a
collapse in Italy are mislead-
ing, exaggerated and prema-
ture. Air attacks are likely to
further undermine the morale
of the people, but although the
food problem is not good, it is
not so bad as popularly imag-
ined. In conversation, the Itali-
an people blame Germany for
their troubles — probably be-
cause they are afraid to blame
their own rulers. The OVRA —
(the Italian secret police) has
nearly as tight a hold in Italy
as has the Gestapo in Ger-
many. The mood of the Italian
people is one of passivity.
They are not yet ripe for re-
volution.
BRIBERY?
The neutral says that the It-
alians feel they have no alter-
native but to carry on the fight
as they do not know what
price the Allies are prepared to
offer for an uprising.
“If the Allies were to make
a tempting concrete offer, then
and only then, there might be
a chance of getting the Itali-
ans to rally and rise” says the
neutral.
THE PRESENT BLITZ
Such an offer should not be
made. If the Italians are still
passive, perhaps they will be
less so, when the present
blitz has reached its crescen-
do. The Axis nations — all of
them — have shown that they
only understand the language
of force. The days of leaflet
dropping are no more.
‘Et tu Brute’ said the French
in 1940. That must not be for
gotten. There have been evid-
ences that the Italians are not
so brutal as their bedfellows.
Reykjavik
Letter
REYKJAVfK RACES
The Horse-owners’ Club
“Fákur” is to hold its annual
horse-races on Whit-Monday,
June 14th. The prizes are to be
much higher this year than
previously, and one horse will
be able to win as much as 1250
krónur.
SMUGGLING OF SPIRITS
Reykjavik Police Court re-
cently sentenced a Greek sub-
ject to a fine of 3,500 krónur
for illegally importing 35 bott-
les of spirits.
The Scandinavian Society,
which exists to cultivate closer
relations between Iceland and
the other Scandinavian coun-
tries has now 1055 members..
The Society is proposing to
build a “Scandinavian House”"
at Þingvellir, ón the shores of
the lake, and has sought per-
mission of the Þingvellir com-
mittee of the Alþing, which
controls the Þingvellir area,
which is a national possession.
1 Year Ago Todajr
1250 RAF bombers blast
Cologne in heaviest raid of
War.
General Marshall declar-
es “American troops will
land in France.”
Most military observers
agree that “the Nazi Spring
offensive toward the Cau-
casus can now be ruled out,
as a military impossibility
for 1942.”
But that stab in the back in
1940 — by Mussolini’s govera-
ment—must not conveniently
be forgotten. People, it is said,.
get the government they de-
serve. The Italians,—bless their-
luck! — got Mussolini. They
are paying — and will have-
to pay — the price.
D. J. N.
hwedieal Aid to Russia
Remitted to Mrs. Churchill .. 10,000.00 krónur
Further Contributions:
Already Acknowledged......... 3,997.98 krónur