THE SCORE IN EUROPE
SEELY, Lt. Comdr. C. S.
The Score In Europe By IT. COMM. C. S. SEELY THERE is now less reason for anxiety about our Normandy invasion than there has ever been, but even so our position in France is not yet fully secure....
...But in any case Hitler could hardly have risked a great attack on us immediately after our initial landing...
...Time now is, at long last, against Hitler and we need not sacrifice men merely to gain it anywhere...
...Serious resistance must be expected at this Konigs-berg-Warsaw-Lwow-Black Sea line, as Hitler is done for if that line is badly broken...
...I do not mean by this that the war will be over this year or next year, but no doubt it will end sooner than it would have if we had not landed in France...
...The opinions and assertions expressed above are the private ones of the writer and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Navy Department or the naval service at large...
...I think this worthy of our immediate consideration...
...We have what we needed, a bridgehead on Northern Europe, and now we can easily land our men and materials without any risk comparable with another cross-Channel invasion...
...Our chief job now is to pour men and materials into France just as fast as possible...
...He certainly could not have known much about our plans, and therefore could not have moved against us without running grave risks in other quarters...
...Warsaw is more important to Hitler than is Paris, for example, as it is the only formidable barrier on the road to Berlin from the East, where at least 10,000,000 Russian soldiers are assembling for a knockout blow...
...But time, while very important to us as far as getting our armies into France is concerned, is no longer the dominant factor in the overall military situation it was before we landed in France, and it is becoming less important as it passes...
...And it is to be hoped that we will soon give Gen...
...The Cherbourg peninsula is suitable enough, despite its limitations, to meet our present needs as a base of operations...
...If he is to overwhelm us, he certainly will have to do it very soon...
...Every day we delayed our invasion gave Hitler just that much more time to strengthen those defenses...
...The pent-up hate for the Nazis that the French masses hold can be a most valuable asset for our cause— and if we will use it we certainly can save the lives of many thousands of our men...
...However, the chances that he will be able to dislodge us are becoming smaller as time passes...
...Warsaw probably is the immediate objective of the present Russian drive, and no doubt that city will be defended at all cost...
...Encouragement—and arms—from us could quickly set in motion an overwhelming tide of vengeance against the Hitlerites, and we should take full advantage of this circumstance...
...If circumstances remain at all favorable for us Hitler almost certainly will soon have to back up to his Havre-Paris-Belfort line within the next few months...
...Of course all the really strong Nazi-held points in pre-1939 Russia have long since been retaken by the Russians, and Vitebsk presented no problem to the great army assembled for the drive westward...
...In attacking, and quickly taking, Vitebsk, the strongest point on the entire Eastern Front, the Red Army followed its general practice of attacking strong points rather than weak ones...
...A great rising of the French masses that could sweep southwestern France clear of all Nazis seems about due...
...Apparently encouragement to fight on our side is the French masses' chief need at the moment...
...The Russians are hitting hard, and seem to have utmost confidence of their ability to crack Hitler's strongest defenses...
...The Russian advance now depends more on supplies—and political-diplomatic considerations—than on Nazi resistance, and this condition probably will not change until the Konigsberg-Warsaw-Lwow line is reached...
...We can, if we so desire, now begin a war of attrition, with em-, phasis on conserving the lives of our men, and wait out Hitler...
...Hitler probably has already delayed too long his attack on us, and has allowed his one chance of pushing us into the sea to escape him...
...In any case it probably will be best for us to delay our drive on Paris until we secure all of France south of the Havre-Paris-Belfort line, and mass an overwhelming force in this area...
...We must of course do this, as time here is of the greatest importance...
...We must continue to foster this fear and keep him in doubt as to our intentions for at least a little while longer...
...It seems clear that Hitler has been afraid to weaken his defenses elsewhere, which would have been absolutely necessary if he were to assemble enough force seriously to threaten our bridgehead...
...Drive On Eastern Front If we do this we certainly will have several million Nazi-hating French soldiers on our side, who will be only too glad to do much of the fighting to wrest France from Hitler...
...Just as soon as we get our great armies into southern France—and this should not require more than a few months—we can easily by-pass this very strong "impregnable" West Wall—and leave it a practically worthless monument to Hitler's "master minds...
...Importance Of Warsaw The resumption of the Russian drive—no doubt temporarily delayed while supplies were being brought up—came in good time to aid our invasion effort...
...Obviously we must lean over backwards diplomatically to get the confidence of all the progressive-liberal-democratic elements of France, as the political-diplomatic aspects of the situation there now seem to equal the military aspects...
...It was very important that we break Hitler's Channel defenses before he finished them, and this is precisely what we have done...
...They assume, correctly enough, that if a strong point falls the weak points in the vicinity will fall of their own weight, and no time or energy need be wasted on them...
...de Gaulle the "go ahead" sign...
...Obviously, Hitler is now in trouble, and victory for the United Nations has been brought closer...
...And even if it were secure, Adolf Hitler probably still has time to seal us off (pen us up) as he did at Anzio...
...Our Job Right Now It would seem that there is now no need for risking another Channel crossing assault against new strong Nazi positions, and this is especially true against the Havre-Calais-Ostend-Rotterdam line...
Vol. 8 • July 1944 • No. 28
