THE WAR IN REVIEW
THE WAR IN REVIEW THE SENSATIONAL Crimean drive of the Red Army, which' at mid-week had pinned the Axis invaders to the Black Sea at Sevastopol, and mounting preparations for the second front this...
...In the European war, the big news^—with exception of the continued Russian gains—was made by political developments related to the expected continental invasion...
...He predicted that heavy new blows will be struck within the next few months...
...King Victor Emmanuel announced that he would abdicate in favor of his son Crown Prince Humbert on the day that the Allies enter Rome...
...Henri Giraud, whom the United States sought to promote, was retired from active participation in French affairs by the Committee last week...
...For re-enforcements from the Indian army he must either deal directly with London or with Viceroy Wavell and Gen...
...Charles de Gaulle, leader of the French Committee of National Liberation, from dominating French affairs...
...It is for that reason, according to usually well-informed Washington observers, that President Roosevelt is sending Vice President Henry A. Wallace to China—to bolster official morale in Chungking...
...Adding to the general cheerfulness of this picture was a hopeful statement from Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet...
...Meanwhile, the Allies seemed to be yielding in their widely-criticized policy toward the Italian government...
...THE WAR IN REVIEW THE SENSATIONAL Crimean drive of the Red Army, which' at mid-week had pinned the Axis invaders to the Black Sea at Sevastopol, and mounting preparations for the second front this week tended to obscure less spectacular but important developments in the war against Japan...
...In preparation for "D Day," Britain and the United States were cracking down on neutral countries trading with German...
...Sweden was warned against exporting further war materials and there were reports that relations with Turkey, Eire, and Spain would be tightened...
...To the discontented millions the Japanese held out' promises of liberation from "British exploitation" and the establishment of an independent government under Subhas Chandra Bose, well known Indian nationalist leader who has chosen to throw in with the Japanese...
...The London Daily Observer pointed out that "we know virtually nothing of what is going on inside India, thanks to the effective clamp exercised by the New Delhi censors...
...Confusion In India In contrast to this more cheerful side of the Pacific war, sobering reports from the Southeast Asian theater indicated that the campaign in that area was being seriously bungled...
...This dispute over basic strategy and the general delay in operations have caused grave concern in China...
...It was at the population of India that the enemy was directing a powerful propaganda offensive...
...Allied military leaders, seeking to stem the enemy smash through India's eastern gateway, were conscious that behind them lay a vast population seething with hatred for British rule...
...Sir Claude Auchinleck, both of whom demonstrated shocking incompetence in dealing with the emergency in North Africa...
...News of the island warfare in the Southwest Pacific continued good, as pressure against Japanese positions throughout the whole, area tightened and prospects that new and decisive blows were in the making mounted...
...De Gaulle, under the terms of the Allied plan, will govern the civil affairs of liberated France until the French can choose their own government...
...At midweek the cabinet of Premier Badoglio's government had resigned and the King had requested him to form a new one, including in its membership representatives of the six Italian liberation parties...
...Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, commander of the Southeast Asia theater, has no authority over ground forces in India...
...King, who is known fdr the extreme caution and restraint with which he appraises military events, declared that Japan's war fleet is so badly damaged that she never can hope to make up the losses...
...Dwight Eisenhower...
...Noting the strict censorship imposed by the British authorities and recalling that the same tactics were used during the famine which recently ravaged great sections of India, observers concluded that the situation was far more serious than the complacent statements of officials would indicate...
...While the United States regards the opening of supply routes to China as a means of equipping and activating its great manpower reservoir, the British regard the Burma campaign as secondary to retaking Malaya, Singapore, and other imperial possessions...
...Although the Japanese offensive into India seemed to be making better progress than the Allied drive into Burma, it was the political, not the military, phase of the campaign that was causing greater concern...
...Soothing messages which bear all the marks of censorious emasculation are causing more disquiet than news from the front...
...British Censors Clamp Down This confusion is further increased by a basic difference in strategy between the United States and Britain...
...Censorship was so severe that British correspondents in India were on strike, refusing to write anything until an investigation had been made by authorities in London...
...Outstanding among these developments was the Associated Press story that defeated Germany would be ruled by a joint committee of Americans, Britons, and Russians, with supreme authority resting in the hands of Gen...
...The press in London, meanwhile, was waging a bitter campaign of protest against the action of the British authorities in India...
...Moreover, the situation is further complicated by a conflict of authority and command...
...The plan, according to the Associated Press, was revealed in broad outline after it was learned that the United States had lost its fight to prevent Gen...
Vol. 8 • April 1944 • No. 17
