May 21.
This last week-end has been the most striking of the whole war and it has seen developments which may have a profound effect upon the battle which has now been raging for the past eleven days. As it was pointed out in this column yesterday as being likely to occur the Allied command has effected the withdrawal of forces in Belgium giving up about three-quarters of the territory that nation, wiping out an inconvenient salient, and shortening lines. The orderly manner in which this has been done, probabi ly some days before it would have become actually necessary, indicates that this has been carried out according to plan, and net because of any pressure on the part of the enemy. Coincident with that withdrawal huge reinforcements, British as well have French streamed across France into the battle area, and while it would be premature state that the German drive into France has been definitely halted there is every reason to believe that it has been slowed down.
That has been due as much to the enormous. amount of damage which has been inflicted upon the rear, and supply positions of the Germans as to the frontal resistance which the Allies have now shown themselves in a position to offer. Fifty miles from their bases, and dependent upon roads which are' continually. under the "strafing" of the Allied air force which is covering itself with glory there is every appearance that the German military machine has overrun itself, and that, until it can establish new bases, and protect them more effectively against Allied attentions, there is every pwbbability that the general situation will become more star and that the Allied forces will soon be in a position to Iaunch counterattacks. One such has apparently taken place, and the French tank corps went into action on Sunday with the result that not only were the Germans. forced to retreat to a maximum distance of miles, but the towns of Lo Cateau and Landrecies have been reoccupied,- and positions on the Oise between Maubeuge and St. Quentin maintained. The Allies are still Yang way from reducing the bulge between Sedan and Maubeuge, which is thirty miles deep at its greatest depth but the fact that such a success has been obtained must be more than a little heartening.
The appointment of General Maxime Weygand as commander-in-chief of the French Forces, will be welcomed as indicating a change in the Allies' strategy. It is thought that General Weygand is better tilted despite his age to carry out the more dynamic policies for which the Prime Ministers of both the principal Allies are n such determined support. Whether the change over from passive resistance to the German onslaught to active and determined counter-attacks was the first fruit, of the change in command is not clear, but, coming so closely to it, it supports the belief that General Weygand lost no time in getting into action. Tu any event what happened on Sunday clearly demonstrated that the Ger= man highly mechanized onslaughts can be met and thrown back. The relinquishment of three-quarters of Belgitim, and with it the greater part of the Belgian coast brings Germany all the closer to Britain. It is doubtful whether it affords the enemy any greater advantage than the carlier gain of the Netherlands' coast, and in any event it has to be remembered that enemy air bases in Belgium, and Holland bring the German air force within an equally short striking distance from Britain while they can also be attacked from the Allied bases in France in exactly the same manner as German bases all the way to Hamburg can te thoroughly bombed as they were over the week-end. In this connection it is important to note that the Allies have learned the lessons of the German invasion of Poland. Theve the Ger~ mans succeeded in defeating the Poles by means of vast air attacks which completely disrupted Polish communications and rear positions. They have not up to the present been able to do the same thing to the Allies because the larier are possessed of air forces which have clearly demonstrated superiority of man and machine, if not yet in numbers, and to a very large extent neutralized what the Germans hoped to effect behind the Al-ied lines by doing precisely the same thing to the German rear.
Politically the feature of the week-end was the first broadcast made by Mr. Winston Churchill to the nation, and the Empire since hho succeeded to the control of the Empire's destinies. It is_a speech which should be read by every Briton, and every Ally. Indeed it would not do"the Germans any harm if they read it themselves, for every word, every sentence is inspired' with that determination to accept any and every sacrifice to ensure that the Allies shall emerge successful in this the most dreadful of wars which the world has ever seen. It is diMeult to express in words the sublimity of what is going on; the Allies unaided except by their kith and loin in the great Dominions and the wide Empires which rest beneath their shields in combat with, as Mz. Churchill s0 aptly describes it, "the foulest, and most soul-destroying tyranny that has over irkened, and stained the pages of history." Of particular interest is the frankness with which Mr. Churchill describes the position as it was at the time of his broadcast. There was not the slightest attempt to gloss over the successes which the Germans have gained. On the other hand his listeners were taken as fully into his confidence as military exigencies permitted and that in itself will prove a valuable factor in maine taining the moral of Great Britain and her Allies. In this connection it is as well to remember, when endeavouring to assess the possibilities of the position, the Prime Minister's assertion that only'a very smal) part of the French army has been engaged up to the present, and only a very small part of France invaded. On the other iand there is all the evidence necessary to show that practically the whole of the enemy's specialized mechanized forees have been thrown into this battle-—to support the great gamble with which' Herr Hitler hopes fo secure an carly termination of the war, and that exceptionally heavy losses have been inflicted upon them. The time is not yet to be too optimistic over the situation, but it is clear that it has features about it which do justify rather more hope than was the case towards the end of Inst week. It to be expected that sudden changes. such as that which occurred over the week-end will manifest themselves many times before the final result is ascertained, but at the moment there is certainly no substantial ground for pessimism.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.