With the German forces maintaining their pressure all along the line from the Channel to the French eastern frontier, it is apparent that the extra efforts which they have made between Rouen and Vernon, north of Paris, and from Crepy to Fore en Tardenois to the east bring the danger all the closer to Paris. Judging from the various reports to hand it seems likely that General Weygand will fall back on Paris which may become the centre of a new defence line stretching along the Seine, and the Marne affording a natural obstacle against which it is believed the Germans will expend their last efforts in this present attack. For the moment the Germans appear to be endeavouring to entrap large Allied forces in the area north and north-east of Paris, but it appears unlikely to succeed because the two arms of, the pincers have not bitten deeply enough into the Allied position to prevent the orderly withdrawal which it is reported is already proceeding. The evacuation of Paris by the majority of its residents has been carried out in a manner least calculated to hinder the movements of the Allied troop: and the French Government apparently ex pects that the capital will, unless a miracle occurs, be invested on at least two sides. That is an unfortunate event which may have to be faced, for with the completest recklessness Herr Hitler is throwing eve thing he has into the push on Paris, and it will not be until the German forces are more completely exhausted than they are reported to be at present that any counter-stroke is to be expected from the Allies. It must here be emphasized that, despite the masses of men and material flung against them, the Allied line has not broken, remains intact, and that a determined rear-guard action is being fought in a manner which does them infinite credit. Consequently, if during the next few days the present gradual retreat continues it need be no cause for surprise, and the situation though serious may rightly be regarded as by no means desperate.
It is as well to face the possibility that the enemy may reach Paris in the comparatively near future, and to face the prospect now is largely to discount it. If they succeed in doing so, they will have paid an enormous price for it, for to the grievous losses inflicted upon the Germans during the Bat-
ormous casualties inflicted upon them in this rearguard action from the Somme, which, if anything, has been sterner than any seen up to the present in this gigantic struggle. To place Germany's casualties in the neighbourhood of a million is, in the circumstances, no exaggeration, and the only question is as to how long the German high command can continue to sacrifice men in this wanton fashion. It has been suggested that Herr Hitler will seek to make good the wastage by calling upon Italy for reinforcements. It would be an enormous blow to his-pride to be compelled to do so, but the man is a callous realist, and might very well swallow his pride and adopt such a course. The prospect of the Italians being called upon to replace German cannon fodder, which is all the German soldier amounts to in the eyes of the German command, may not commend itself to the Italians, but they have been plunged into this struggle right up to the neck, and it is only in some such sacrifices in the German interest that they can have the slightest hope of emerging victorious. If Herr Hitler believes that the capture of Paris will bring France to her knees he is suffering just ore more illusion. The French perfectly well realize what defeat would mean for them. They have seen it in Czechoslovakia, and in Poland, and they fully realize that a German victory would bring about the same conditions for themselves. That Herr Hitler may make a peace offer with the idea of detaching France from Great Britain is to be expected. That move will fail for the French are determined to fight on until their beloved soil is freed from the hideous thing which has been launched against them, and the British will continue and increase their assistance.
And what is more, should the unthinkable happen, even that will not mean the end of the war. Great Britain will fight on to the y last ditch. It may be argued that against a combination of Germany and Italy ultimate defeat would be certain, but that is by no means clear, The British fleet, very little damaged since replacements and additions, have restored the comparatively small losses inflicted upon them, together with the ditional vessels which are to be purchased from the United States would still be in a position to command the seas, and without that the Rome-Berlin Axis can never hope to win the day. The war can still be prolonged until economic exhaustion, to which Italy is even more vulnerable than Germany brings victory to the Allies. It is the fear of that eventuality which has caused Herr Hitler to embark on the most costly attack! the world has ever witnessed, in the endea our to win a victory in the field. Neither he nor Signor Mussolini can face the prospects of the lengthy war upon which the Allied Government have insisted ever since the outbreak of hostilities, and the present race against time which is proving so costly to Germany, and which will prove equally expensive to Italy, is the only means by which the two dictators can hope to extricate themselves from the toils which they have brought about them, These are dark days indeed, but they offer no justification for pessimism. The equally dark days in the early part of the last war must be remembered, and it was only by the exercise of that dogged determination, inspired by complete faith in ultimate victory which enabled the Allies to hold out utu the corner was turned and the glorious aspect of approaching victory became visible to tired e That same determination, that same remains undiminished by the hard blows which the Allies have endured. They are fortified by the knowledge that they are fighting in a righteous cause, and that if they fail, and fail they will not, Europe will be reduced to a state of chaotic anarchy in which European civilization as it is known today will inevitably disappe: That will not occur; the ineffable spirit of France and the dete: mination of Great Britain will see to that Economic Replacements The military situation around Paris and the prospect of the loss of the French capital are naturally occupying the minds of all the Allies and their sympathisers to the excl of nearly everything else. The fact remai ever, that the military gains made by the Nazis are less important than the economic losses they might have inflicted in the occupation of valuable industrial areas and the destruction of some of France's greatest motor manufacturing plants. As in China, so in France: it may sometimes be better to sacrifice space to time. The American pledge to put all the material resources of the United States at the Allies' disposal nullifies the French losses. For whatever cise may be imagined. it is not to be thought for a moment that the industrial plants will have been seized by the Nazis in any other te than in ruins, and they will need months, if not years, before they will prove an asset to the invaders. In the meantime, if the Citroen plant is put out of action, the Allies can now rely upon the output of the Ford plant in De-trait: il the Renault factory is razed, the Allies can get replacements for their mechaniz~ ed units from the numerous factories in America which can turn out material which is equally as gocd. In short, the American pledge has made it impossible for Hitler, by means of disrupting the Allies' munitions centres, to cause the same shortage to be felt by the "opponents of force" as is likely very soon to cripple his prodigally-conceived Blitzkrieg. Germany has no inexhaustible resources to fall back upon. On the contrary, the Nazis' new partner is more likely to be a drain on the already severely strained resources of Hitler than anything else. Hitler may be able to over-run a large part of France, but by doing so he adds to his responsibilities and does not help in meeting the severe economic problems are atising i rear. To the French it is torture to see parts of their beloved country ocpied by barbarian hordes. But they and their Allies can rest assured on at least one point that they will never be starved of the necessaries of war—that arms, planes, ships, food, medical aid, and the thousand and one things essential, will be forthcoming as a result of the pledge made by President Roosevelt at Charlottesville. Even without this pledge, defeat for the Allies, with their huge empire and its resources, would have been impossible. But with the pledge, the certainty of ultimate victory is doubly assured, Eight Came Back Some remarkable stories of individual heroism and endurance during the first Allied evacuation of Norway are coming to hand with the London papers which have just arrived. They prove—if anyone except Hitler and Mussolini ever needed proof—that the charge that the Allies are decadent is ridiculous. There is a story how eight Britons belonging to a northern regiment, finding themselves stranded Nor-wa; scrounged" a 2,000-ton ship and, with the help of two Norwegian petty officers, sailed it successfully to Scotland. These men had been cut off from the main body of their unit, which was dispersed by heavy German bombing. They, therefore. missed the transport which bore their comrades away from the scene. The story does not mention who owned the ship they "scrounged;" but presumably it had been left abandoned for the Germans to seize when they arrived. These eight youths thought otherwise, however, and the two Norwegians, one of whom they met by chance on a beach, agreed with them. Hence a voyage which must take rank with any ever made from the home of the Norsemen. Another story tells how several
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.