THE WAR IN REVIEW
THE WAR IN REVIEW DESTRUCTION from the air—the most deadly and methodical destruction ever worked out by science—rained on continental Europe this week, shaking the very foundations of the massive...
...Other military spokesmen estimated that the Allies would hurl 2,000,000 men agaihst the continent and the blow would fall this month...
...Charles de Gaulle, the French leader, announced that France wished "direct, practical cooperation" with the western powers and a permanent alliance with "dear, powerful Russia...
...The main force, the German radio blared, would strike across the Channel with simultaneous thrusts hitting southern France, the Balkans, and Italy...
...Having protested in vain against the British ban on communications in code to and from the United Kingdom, the Committee suddenly anounced that discussions between the Allies and the French on the administration of liberated areas of France would not be continued...
...In China the Mikado's invasion troops were expected to take the Peiping-Hankow railroad, having cleared more than 100 miles of the line since the offensive was launched there Apr...
...Moscow Objects The uncompromising attitude of Moscow on this issue drew a round of protest from United States Congressmen and Senators, who in a series of speeches in both houses of Congress marking the 153rd anniversary of the Polish constitution, called upon Russia to abide by the terms of the Atlantic Charter in respect to the Polish dispute...
...Millions of Allied troops, crowded into Britain's 94,227 square miles with the normal British population of 48,000,000, waited tensely for the momentous call...
...In the Pacific war, the sea fighting in the southwestern islands was still going in favor of the Allies, with American naval units smashing at enemy strongholds in the Carolines...
...Dear, Powerful Russia' The French Committee For National Liberation was back in the news, too, with its usual political troubles...
...Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who commanded the German forces in North Africa and is now responsible for the defenses along the invasion coast, told the Germans that invasion "must be reckoned as imminent...
...The British announced that Mohandas K. Gandhi, powerful Indian nationalist leader imprisoned 21 months ago to quell independence uprisings throughout the sub-continent, would be released immediately...
...In Berlin the jittery Nazis continued to predict the time and place of the Allied landings and to assure their people as well as the rest of the world that the fortress was impregnable...
...The War Of Nerves Rages On both sides of the Channel, the propaganda specialists—the high command in the war of nerves —were waging a furious fight...
...Empire Solidarity Meanwhile, the turbulent politics of Europe shared some of the spotlight focused on the invasion and air offensive news...
...Bombs dropping at the staggering rate of two tons for every minute of the day and night plastered the rail-roads, airfields, industries, and coastal defenses and spread destruction and chaos throughout the mighty continental bastion...
...Called for the purpose of shaping empire policies during and after the war, the assembled delegates heard Prime Minister Winston Churchill declare that the empire "should put itself solidly on the map, and make all the watching world realize it stands together...
...Strict censorship of all news from India makes it impossible to obtain facts on the situation there, but some observers concluded from the sudden manner in which the Indian leader was freed that the political unrest, shrewdly exploited by the Japanese, had become so alarming that the decision concerning Gandhi could no longer be avoided...
...As the raids grew in number and intensity, the world waited anxiously for the first flash that the great invasion was underway...
...D-Day," they knew, might come tomorrow, or the next week, or the next month...
...The demand for unconditional surrender was cited as one of these problems requiring "further study for the establishment of concrete conditions to define the necessity of either complete adherence to this principle or some letup from it in connection with some countries...
...The long-smoldering Russian-Polish dispute popped suddenly back into the news with reports that Moscow has flatly declared that it will not consult with the Polish government in London concerning civil administration of Polish territory when and if the Red Army retakes the land from the Germans...
...Though British officials insisted that the Indian leader was being granted his freedom because of his critical physical condition, it was noted that reports spoke of an imminent conference between British representatives and Gandhi in an effort to' marshal India behind the Allies...
...Meantime, the Soviets themselves had something to say about the Atlantic Charter...
...The Charter, the article asserted, "formulated correctly" the general principles of peace, but new problems have risen since it was drawn up...
...In a special article The War And The Working Class, influential Soviet trade union journal, objected to the frequency with which the Atlantic Charter is being brought into the debate concerning territorial adjustments in Europe...
...Furthermore, the Russians will raise a Polish government from the ranks of those who stayed in Poland when the present government fled...
...Land fighting, however, seemed to favor the Japanese...
...Most prominent among these developments was the conference of Prime Ministers of Great Britain and the four dominions of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Union of South Africa...
...But they were sure that if it was to come at all, it would come this year...
...The next day Gen...
...For these were the blows calculated to prepare the way for the greatest mass movement of men and materials in all history...
...One should protest energetically against any attempts to begin discussions which would aid Hitlerite Germany or the reactionary Polish emigre government in London," the article said, but then continued to say that the Charter should be kept open for discussion...
...THE WAR IN REVIEW DESTRUCTION from the air—the most deadly and methodical destruction ever worked out by science—rained on continental Europe this week, shaking the very foundations of the massive fortress built by Adolf Hitler...
...Gandhi Goes Free The enemy was still mounting strong offensive blows in India and the British admitted this week that they found it necessary to give up a western Burma supply base to carry out a "readjustment of our positions...
...The landings, according to the Germans, would be under cover of an "enormous air umbrella," and would be so powerful that "it will be impossible to prevent establishment of bridgeheads—so that fate of the invasion will depend on battles between the invasion forces and large (German) reserves...
...But most significant news from India was of a political nature...
Vol. 8 • May 1944 • No. 20
