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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1943-09-02, Page 7THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1943 Four Years of War Tlld foltrtlt anttivel'anry of the out - 'break of war •was on September 1st, but there was no sign of celebration in Berlin. The Germans ninst recall that the last war ended only three months after its fourth anniversary, and the parallels between 1918 and 1943 are too abvious to require nntclt elaboration. History rarely repeats itself exact- ly, but the similarity must be close ,enough to worry the Germans. Never was a more complete post-mortem than that, which Hitler and the Ger- man generalstaff conducted on the last war. Every detail was studied in order that none of the crucial mis- takes would be repeated, Never in mankincl's troubled history has there been more complete and detailed Pre- paration for a conflict. Yet when the test came Hitler, as though prodded by an unseen hand, fell into the same errors that cost Kaiser Wilhelm and his deluded people the last war. The German people must feel like movie- goers who watch a film for the second time, and must murmur "This is where we came in," The pattern of the Second World War has developed sufficiently to permit comparison with the first. In 1914 a superbly equipped and trained German army bolstered with shaky Austrian, TTurkish and Bulgarian allies made a bid for the domination of the world. It only failed to achieve victory in the first month by an eye- lash, From that time it never really had a chance of complete success, though right up, until the summer cf 1918 the Germans appeared to have the edge of the .fighting. The German analysis of the first Mir was based ou several ideas, not too consistent with one another. Hit- ler never tired of insisting that the German army was Bever beaten, but was tabbed in the back by the col- lapse of the home front under the disintegrating influence of Jews and Socialists. But the General Staff knew that the war on two fronts and the blockade had made victory un- attainable. So all German planning was designed to prevent those condi- tions from arising again, Hitler's diplomacy was designed to separate all. Germany's potential en, envies in order that they might be destroyed one by one. At the sante time he wooed htaly and Japan, powers which fought Germany in the previous struggle. The strategy met with spectacular success, The circle of anti -German powers built up by French statesmen was smashed with- out fighting. Poland was, the first to sigh a non -aggression pact with Hit- ler, Austria was terrified into submis- sion. The occupation of the Rhine- land cut France off from her eastern allies, The Ethiopian episode drove a wedge between Italy and her form- er allies. The Munich affair helped Hitler in many ways, Its, most imp- ortant result was to build distrust between Russia on the one hand and THE S]AFORTH NEWS reduced a powerful bastion of democ- racy itt the very centre of Europe and served notice on the smaller powers that Germany was all-powerful on the continent, The subjugation of Poland seethed a logical sequel, particularly when the danger of at second front was averted by the pact with Russia. Hitler argued that if Britain and Prance would not fight to save Czeohosloyakia it was not 'reasonable that they world go to war on much less favorable terms to aid Poland. That was his first mistake. He did not realise that a second Munich was tnthitticable, The Polish campaign went accord- ing to plan, though there trust have been some Heart -bursting in Germany when Russia emerged with a big aluu'e of the spoils. ,But Hitler was proved right in his belief that neither the French not' the British could do anything to save Poland, The campaign in Denmark and Norway, designed to clear the German flank, also went without a hitch. Meanwhile the Finnish cam- paign served to embitter relations between Russia and the Western powers, and might have led to war had it not been for Churchill's fore- sight. When. -the time came for the blow at the Low Countries and France it appeared that every contingency had been anticipated, The calibre of Al- lied equipment and" leadership had been exposed in Norway. German Britain and France on the other. It military leader's had figured out the weakness in the. French Maginot line defence plan, This time there was no hositant von Hinck to fumble the conquest of Paris. The Allied armies wont down like ninepins end France, the greatest military power in the world, according to the experts, fell In about the same time as Poland, The defeat of France marked the high point in Hitler's power. It was speedily followed by the German de- feat itt the aerial duel which has been called the Battle of Britain, The Bri- tish Isles, instead of collapsing as expected when France fell, stubborn- ly held out, A large part of the army was rescued at Dunkirk, and the RAF fought off the Nazi Luftwaffe in the struggle that marked the turning point of the war. It would have taken a far-sighted man to see that Hitler lost the war in the winter of 1940-41. The Balkan campaign of the spring of 1941, cul- minating in the aerial capture of Crete, seemed to show a German army as mighty as ever. But it was a mere repetition of 1915—victories without victory: Then came the desperate gambler's throw of the invasion of Russia, Had it succeeded Hitler would have been the master of enormous resources, and could have defied the rest of the world. But it didn't succeed. The United States came into the war, feebly counter -balanced by Japan. North Africa was won, and Italy was shaken to a condition like that of Austria in 1918, But now it is even worse. The Red army, far from the r"7:N....a SURRENDERS TO CANADIAN COMMANDER Major General G. G. Simonds. (extreme right) comm ander of the Canadian troops in Sicily, accepts the sur- render of Italian General Achille D'Havet, commander of the 206th Coastal Division, (with wedge cap). General D'Havet was awarded ti,e military cr-iss fa the tirst Great War, presented by the late Duke of Connaught, AGREEIVIENT REACHED AT QUEBEC Quebec, — Plans for continued prosecution of the war have been completed at the Quebec Anglo -t7, S. confer- ence and another meeting will probably be bold before the end of the year. President Franklin 1) Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill; with Prime Minister W. L, Mackenzie Iiing, discussed the progress of the war before writers and cameramen at a press conference on the terrace of tiro citadel, BUSMAN'S HOLIDAY FOR WRENS Three former members of the CBC, now in training with the woman's division of the Royal Canadian Navy, paid a visit to the Halifax studios re- cently. Happy as could be its their new service, the trio nevertheless said it was like old times to see the familiar mike. Left to right; Delores Tingey (National Office), Marie Cronin and Marie Elder (Toronto Studios), collapse of 1917, presses against the Germans, while Allied air power lays waste Berlin. As the Germans see their satleiites faltering they must remember how the fall of Turkey and Bulgaria presaged the collapse of their own land, Canada's Most Universal Garden is in Ottawa Many countries of the world hay made a contribution to a special sec tion of the Central Experimenta Farm, Ottawa. It is the Dominion Arboretum and Botanic Garden, oper ated by the Dominion Department e Agriculture. This seoion of severs acres on the east side of the farm property overlooks Dow's Lake, an extension of the Rideau Canal, and a fertile stretch of country to the south and a slice of the city of Ot- tawa to the north, including the broad Ottawa river am the pictur- esque towers of the Parliament build- ings and neighboring office blocks, This Arboretum is really a museum of living plants and is maintained to provide information to the public on the many phases of botany, the science of plants. It was founded in 1886 by Dr. William Saunders, first Director of the Dominion Experimental Farms at the time of their establishment in 1886. Since that time a collection of about 5,000 species and varieties of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants has been accumulated. These have been made not only from Canada but from many far corners of the globe. The Arboretum presents an opportun- ity for nurseynten, gardeners, stud- ents, scientists and the general pub- lic to see in one place a large number of the plants which can be grown under the climatic conditions of Ot- tawa and provides material for a variety of scientific investigations. The information acquired in the past 57 years is valuable to horticulturists in advising gardeners as to what species may wishstand the northern winter, As this collection is the most northerly assemblage of its kind in North America it is of particular im- portance. During peacetime this Arboretum carried out a seed exchange with over 200 similar institutions in many different parts of the world, Through this means, seeds of plants growing in Ottawa were distributed to the Empire and foreign countries; and seeds of many rare species and varie- ties received in return, The Arboret- um services as a plant introduction service, obtaining seeds of orna- mentals, fibre plants, forage plants, oil plants, drug plants, and then dis- tributing these to agricultural scien- tists making special studies of these particular types of plants. These new introductions may be of use in the breeding of a new fruit or a new for- e age crop that is eventually multiplied and distributed to the public. One 1 outstanding example of an early in- troduction made by the Dominion Arboretum is the Siberia Pea Tree, P Caragana, which is now widely grown, especially in Western Canada. The parents of many thousands of Caragana hedges and windbreaks are still growing in the Arboretum. Recently a new nursery has been established which contains about 2,500 varieties of unusual trees, shrubs, and herbs. These will event- ually be added to the permanent col- lections. Many thousands visit the Dominion Arboretum each year, and authentic information on many different kinds of plants and problems relating to them is sent out in answer to in- quiries from all parts of the Domin- ion, It is also a favorite retreat for those who want a spot "far from the madding crowd:" Oats, Barley Stocks An All Time Record At the close of the 1942-43 crop year (July 31, 1943) new high levels were reached in the carry-over of wheat and coarse grains, with an all- time record for oats and barley. The wheat carry-over is estimated at 601.000,000 bushels, compared with 423,000,000 bushels in 1942„ and 480: 000,000 in 1941. These totals include Canadian wheat held in the United Sktates. In the case of oats and barley the 1943 carry-over greatly exceeds any- thing on record. The carry-over of oats is estimated at 149,000,000 bush- els, compared with 28,000,000 in 1942 and- 41,000,000 in 1941. • The barley carry-over is placed at 69,000,000, compared with 10,300,000 bushels in 1942 and 1941. Want and For Sale ads, 3 weeks 50c. Duplicate Monthly S tat'V!!' n 8'. nts is We can save you money on 3111 and Charge Forms, standard sizes to fit Ledgers, white or colors. It will pay you to see our samples. Also best quality Metal Hinged Sec- tional Post Binders and Index The Seaforth News PHONE 84