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vol. III . No . 8

Z 7 Jan . 1945

RESTRICTEDETO U.S . ARMY

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"When we emplace machine guns onthe ground floors of buildings to delivergrazing fire, we put them well back in theroom to hide the flash and muzzle blast,and place chickenwire over the groundfloor windows to stop grenades ."

* * * *

`With our mortars we use 66mm high

explosive and illuminating shells alternately.

The Jerries face in position when the

illuminating shells arc fired and heavy

casualties can sometime be inflicted with

the following round of HE."* * *

"We operate a tire, repair section to ourregimental motor park which repairs tiresand tubes that cannot be repaired by :drivers.

three days the section repaired it i tubes.The section is also responsible for evacuatingtires and tubes which it cannot repair tothe war for repair or salvage "

* * * *

"When we took Pattern, fire support camefrom one direction while the maneuvering

force came from another . The Germans`were completely surprised Several of

their selfpropelled guns were sited to meetan attack from the expected 'direction and

three of them were .caught to flank . Whenthe Germans attempted to shift to meet the

maneuvering force, an artillery battalion

caught them with `time on target' fat andInflicted heavy losses. The only American

.casualties were three, caused byfter 'mines.the town was captured ."

** *

"Troops must learn . to report and askfor counterfires against observed enemy

weapons, even though not directed at them.The Germans often cross the fires of theirartillery, mortars, machine guns and directfire weapons . Men must realize that goodteamwork in reporting them will assist theentire advance ."

* * * *

"If we approached a village and saw the

citizens proceeding with normal daily rowt, we felt sure the enemy was not

defending. If the people were indoors and

quiet, it was a sure indication the enemywas prepared to defend ."

* * * *

"When our supporting artillery fire lifted,bazookas were used to give the impression

of continued artillery fire. This enabledthe infantry to move else to the enemypositions without receiving small armsfire . "

* * * *

"A wire reel attached to a cub airplane wasused in Italy to lay wire quickly owe difficult

terrain . On one occasion wire was laid overa mountain to a point three miles away ina very few minutes, a job that would have

taken several hours by wire track.reel was designed, built , and attached to'theplane by the chief mechanic of the group 'sair section "

* * * *

"Luminous `watches or compasses are

used for communication by membersfnight patrols . The ,watch or compass isstrapped to the inside of the hand . and

prearranged signals given by opening andclosing the hand."

WHEN YOU'VE-INISHED , READING THIS COPY-f "ARMY TALK S" Pass It On

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ARMY TALKS"The purpose of the program . is to give the soldier psychological

preparation for combat, and a better realization of the import ofevery phase of his military training . Emphasis will be placed oncombat orientation. The mental and physical conditioning of theenemy, and a proper evaluation of the enemy ' s weapons andfighting qualities will be stressed . A better understanding of thebackground of the war, and the soldier's responsibilities in thepost-war world will also be developed ."

BY COMMAND OF GENERAL EISENHOWER.

(Extract from letter ETO . I August 1944, AG 35212 O pSS, Subject : Combat Orientation Program).

USSRHOW TO BLUNT

A BLITZKRIEG

T DAWN on 22 June 1941 more

A than 200 Axis divisions — sometwo million men — plunged

into a front z,000 miles broad . .theEuropean boundary of the Unionof Soviet Socialist Republics.

The attack was concentrated onthree main objectives : Leningrad,Moscow, and Kiev. In the first3o days German forces rolled towithin 125 miles of Leningrad.The Finns, supported by the Ger-mans, began a drive from the northto encircle the city . In the center,the Nazis knifed 430 miles intoSoviet territory toward Moscow.

In the south they swept into theUkraine, capturing Kiev on the way.

This was blitzkrieg in top form.German victory in the east seemed assure as the victory in the west.Many military experts gave the USSRfrom three weeks to three months.Yet six months later, in the win-

ter of 1941, the blitz had stumbled,fallen, and frozen . The Red Armylaunched smashing counterattacks.Throughout that severe winter, theywere on the offensive against theWehrmacht.

In the early summer of 1942, theGermans regained the initiative andconcentrated their strength againstStalingrad — a thousand miles deepin the USSR . If Hitler could cutthrough here, he would sever thenorth from the south and win

Caucasus oil to fuel and lubricatehis war machine.

By late August the German jugger-

naut possessed 980,000 square milesof Soviet territory ; its guns andbombers had shattered Stalingrad.With victory only a step away,German troops entered Stalingradon 16 September.

But again the Wehrmacht hadnot reckoned with Red Army cour-

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age . Soviet Armies lashed furious-ly in a spectacular counterattack.

sw ear to defend herrilliantlyexecu ted encircling movesof the Red Army made the besiegersthe besieged. Stalingrad still stood. w ith honor. ..

In this great German defeat, Hitlerlost 22 divisions, 25 generals, and330,000 prisoners.

Never again were they able todevelop a sustained offensive . They

tried with a move toward Moscowin July 1943 but were repelled . InAugust, the whole front began tomove westward. By 7 November ofthe next year, Marshal Stalin was

able to announce that the Red Armyhad "cleared our land of the enemy".One must go back before the warto see what made this victory- posts at that time, were critical ofpossible.- the Chamberlain government for

not achieving a military alliancewith the USSR . Mr Churchill spokein the House of Commons on 19 May

AR NERVES gave peaceful-"I have been quite unable to

nations the jitters in 1938 1 939 :

understand what is the objection to

Wand 1939 as Hitler gobbled

Memel and part of Czechoslovakia.- making the agreement with Russia . . .and making it in the broad andFaced with the possibility of still

simple form proposed by the Russianfurther Nazi aggression, Prime MinSoviet Government ."

ister Chamberlain announced to theHouse of Commons on 31 March

The Nub of the Question1939 that "in the event of anyaction which clearly threatened Polish Late in August, Marshal Voro-independence, . and which the Polish shilov declared in an interview in .Government accordingly considered IIvestia : "During the staff conversa-it vital to resist with their national tions with Britain and France, theforces, his Majesty's Government Soviet delegation had argued thatwould feel themselves bound at once to be able to give effective aid toto lend the Polish Government all t r o o p them (against Germany) Sovietsupport in their power ." would have to enter Polish territory ..

Similar guarantees were given to The AngloFrench Mission did notGreece, Rumania and Turkey. agree with this thesis, and theFrance stood with Great Britain in Polish Government had declaredthese maneuvers to build a bloc of that they would not accept military"Stop Hitler" nations. help from the USSR . That made

Meanwhile the British and French military cooperation impossible ."governments negotiated to bring the Britain and France, having guarSoviet Union into the new bloc. anteed Poland's independence, apparMany British leaders, among them ently believed it inconsistent withWinston Churchill and Anthony their policy to agree to SovietEden, who did not hold cabinet troops marching into Poland. The

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with courage, with skill, with-dignity and

sparing neither my blood nor my life. . ."— SOVIET SOLDIER'S OATH

military alliance unfortunately wasnot achieved.

Late in August 1939, the big storybroke the Soviet Union and Ger-many had signed a NonAggressionTreaty. News services cabled over

a million words in one week fromEurope to America . Communica-tions services_ were so jammed thatmessages were at times ten hourslate in arriving.

The terms : were simple. Inessence, Germany and the SovietUnion would "refrain from everyact of force, every aggressive actionand every attack against one another "

and that in case of disagreement, theywould settle differences by "friendlyexchange of opinions."

How Hitler Honored the Pact

Thus insured against war with theSoviet Union, Hitler was free toattack in the west.

But he continued to establish

himself in an advantageous militaryposition in the east by taking therest of Czechoslovakia and a bigslice of Poland in 1939 His con-quest of Norway in 1940 gave himbases , useful for possible operationsagainst the northern parts of the

27 January, 1945 3

USSR . During 194041 he prevailedupon Hungary, •Rumania, and Bul-garia to join the Axis alliance, andGerman Armies were establishedwithin those nations on Russia'ssouthern flank.

Hitler was in position to strike atone of his primary objectives as setdown in Mein Kampf : - "When weare talking of more ground room inEurope, we can in the first placeonly think of Russia and the borderstates dependent on her ."

Soviet Not Asleep at the Switch

Meanwhile, the Soviets were notdaydreaming . 'We lack informationregarding critical matters related, tothe Soviet's international actionsprior to the German attack on22 June 1941," the War Departmentstates in an outline of the Campaignsin the USSR . "But it is reasonablywell established that she may haveseen a German attack coming and

have made the Nonaggression Pactwith Germany to gain time forindustrial and military preparation;that, basing her action on the sameprobability, she attacked Finland toimprove her own military frontier inthe region of Leningrad, and later

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forcibly extended her control overformer Russian .territory in Latvia,Estonia, Lithuania, Rumania, and Po-land . With the exception of Polandand Rumania all these states had

been closely associated with Germanyin the past ."

The USSR did improve her militaryposition by four moves made beforethe German attack :

First: following the Nazi invasionof Poland, the Soviets occupiedEastern Poland giving among otherreasons, the military grounds thatthe Polish state had become "a

fertile field for any accidental andunexpected contingency that maycreate a menace to the Soviet Union ."

Most of the territory taken hadbeen part of the Russian empirebefore 1917. By occupying it, theSoviets acquired 77,705 square milesto cushion to some extent theGerman attack when it came.

Second : Finland, which was used

by the Nazis as one base for opera-tions against the USSR had also beena part of the old Russian Empire.The Finns declared their indepen-dence in 1917 and the RussoFinnishborder was located some 20 miles —within artillery range — from Russia'simportant manufacturing center andsecond largest city, Leningrad.

USSR Tries Negotiation First

The Soviets negotiated with theFinns from 11 Oct until 30 Nov1939 to change that boundary line.The negotiations failed and warresulted. Finland was defeated afterthree and onehalf months of bitterfighting. The peace settlement gavethe Soviets a 3oyear lease on the

Hango Peninsula for which they paida yearly rent of $160,000 (Theyconstructed a naval base there .)Finland also ceded the shores . ofLake Ladoga and the KarelianIsthmus near .Leningrad plus some

border territory in the north about6o miles from the Murm ansk railroad.The Soviet forces evacuated Petsamo,

leaving the valuable nickel mines ofthat area in Finnish territory . Thetext of the treaty signed 12 March1940 states that "the safety of theircities particularly Leningrad, Mur-mansk and the Murmansk rail-road . . ." was assured the Soviets.

The territory gained by the treatyprovided a buffer area where theRed Army held out against Finnish

and German troops for 36 daysafter the Nazi attack in 1941 . Lenin-grad, although besieged until 24 Jan1 944, never fell.

Third : In June 1940 the SovietGovernment occupied the BalticStates, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithua-nia . They too had been a part ofthe Russian Empire before 1917.When war came, the onrushing .

Wehrmacht was delayed 59 daysbefore the Red Army withdrewfrom this area . The naval and airbases built there were used tohammer German shipping in theBaltic Sea.

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Fourth : Rumania was forced tohand .over Bessarabia to the SovietUnion on z6 June 1940. Bessarabiawas a part of the Russian Empirefrom 181z to 1856 and again from1878 to 1918, when it was seized byRumania, an act which the SovietGovernment never recognized.

The addition of this territory alsodelayed the German advance intoRussia for over a month after thefirst attack on 22 June 1941 . Is wasnot until 22 July that the German

communique could claim `Bessara-bia is completely liberated from theenemy."

Defense in Depth

Territories the USSR acquiredafter September 1939 served as apart of the buffer area where Sovietfrontier troops absorbed the initialshock of the German attack . Theseterritories were a part of the space

which the Soviet exchanged for thetime she needed to bring her armiesup to maximum strength.

German tactics were the same asthose used in previous campaigns :find a weak spot in the enemy's lineor create the weak spot with artilleryand divebombers . . .break through

with a spearhead of mechanizedforces followed by infantry . .fan outbehind the enemy lines, encirclingand chopping up enemy forces.

• To meet these tactics, Red Armydefenses were planned in great depth.Soviet frontier armies retreated andmerged with forces further behindthe front . As the Germans advanced,the enlarged group of Red Army

men retreated still further and mergedwith more forces behind the front.The retreat was marked by bitterfighting all the way In this manner,the bulk of the Soviet forces escapedencirclement, inflicted terrific losseson the enemy. The further the

Germans advanced, the stronger

27 January 1945

became the forces opposing them.On occasion, the direct line of

retreat might be blocked, but withvast space at the Soviets' disposal,lateral maneuver was still possible.Red Army forces which were isolatedwere reinforced by organized guerrillafighters . Together they harassed theGerman rear.

The Soviets estimate that theGermans sustained casualties equiv-alent to at least 3o full strengthdivisions, as a result of guerrilla

warfare . The guerrillas capturedtowns, smashed railway junctions andairfields, and struck at the enemy'sstore of supplies . Such action re-duced German mobility, for mobilitycan be developed only from aprotected base.

Soviet cities were made intofortresses to stop tanks, absorbbombs and afford protection for

the infantry . Smolensk held up theNazis for 70 days on the road toMoscow . Stalingrad, besieged forsix months, was never taken.

Germanstyle blitzkrieg demands acontinuous unlimited offensive, whichstrikes and if repulsed at any point,strikes elsewhere . The USSR's dis-tances made such procedure difficult.

The Red Army

The "defense in depth" principle isgood in theory, and it worked inpractice . Because the Soviet Union hadthe space and because of the qualityof the Red Army — its men andleaders — who put it into operation.

The provision of good officers wasa difficult problem for the USSR.

"They started from practicallynothing 20 years ago . The Russiansfully realized this weakness andstarted large and fine schools forofficers," according to Lt Gener-al Martel, military analyst forthe London Evening Standard . If"winning battles" is evidence of

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an officer's training, then thoseschools 'did their job well.

The Red Army long ago abolishedthe system of electing officers . Salut-

ing, once forbidden, is now required,and officers are strict disciplinarians.The Army is so organized that

beneath the Supreme Command area number of front commanders.Each front commander may directthe operations of two, three, four orseven armies, depending upon thelength of his battle line and theimportance of his sector.

Generally speaking, a ColonelGeneral comm ands a front, a Lieuten-ant General commands an army, anda Major General commands a division.

Soviet papers do not inform theirreaders, as does the U .S. press, ofthe tastes, hobbies and other detailsof the personal life of generals,statesmen and others . "Routine in-formation that in_ many countries is

so harmless that it is published inthe daily press, is considered a mili-tary secret in the Soviet Union,"reported American newspapermanWalter Kerr. "It took me eighteenmonths in Moscow to learn thatZhukov was married and that . hishome was in the capital ."

Generals From the Ranks

It is known that the Red Army'sleaders come from many nationalgroups, for the Soviet Union, likethe U .S, is a "melting pot ." TheRussians are the majority people inthe USSR, so they have produced themajority of leaders ; but Ukrainans,Cossacks, Georgians, Jews and Sibe-rians are also high ranking officers.

Almost all the generals are sons ofpoor people, workers or peasants.They served as privates or corporalsin World War I and are young men

on the average . Fortysix yearoldMarshal Vassilevsky, Chief of theGeneral Staff, is the son of a Volga

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peasant. The former factory worker,Marshal Zhukov, at the age of 48commanded the troops which de-stroyed the German Sixth Army atStalingrad . The Red Army's greatestauthority on artillery, peasant bornMarshal Voronov, is 44. Gener-

al Chernyakhovsky who worked asa farm laborer and later was in thevanguard of troops that stormedKiev, Zhitomir and East Prussia,has reached the ripe age of 37.

"It was not in organization that Ifound the real strength of the Red A r-

my ; nor did I find it solely in the youthof its generals, its manpower or mu-nitions," says Walter Kerr in his book,The Russian A rmy "I found itsstrength in the fighting heart of its sol-diers, in their training, their disciplineand the civilian strength behind them ."

Soviet GI Gripes Like Ours

The men of Russia have alwaysbeen magnificent material for anarmy . An incident reported by aBritish newspaperman demonstratesthe toughness of the Red Army men.The reporter saw an infantry battal-ion file past a dump of z5pounderammunition. Two shells were load-ed on each man's back in additionto his normal load. The mud was

very deep, transport could not move,and a shortage of artillery ammuni-tion at one point had to be relieved.

"The Red Army man mumblesblack imprecations under his breathabout the Military Patrools, whenthey pick him up for carrying a largepackage on the ' street, or for having'his garrison belt buckled on thewrong side . He makes the same

gags about evinya tushunka (a cannedpork preparation) that we makeabout spam . In training, he hatesobstacle courses and extended orderdrill . In combat, he curses theeasy lot of the Red Air Force menand the Red Tank Corps men . The

27 January, 1945

flyers and tankmen wear special capsalso 'dress uniforms with snappy

white skirts, and black ties and,just as in our army, they are openlyenvied as 'the glamour boys whoget everything'.

Combat Tips a la Russe

"A standard part of the basictraining for all ground troops is arecorded radio lecture by Lt GenV .I . Chuikov, one of the heroes ofStalingrad, on how to behave duringan offensive .-: 'Let . your attack be a

headlong one, says General Chuikov.`Get to the, enemy in one leap. Inopen spaces, ' where the enemy istarget firing, you must take shortruns singly, jump up in a trice , andforward like an arrow . It is impor-tant to .give ,the Germans no time totake aim ; run for two or three sec-onds and then drop to the ground . .Camouflage yourself. Take cover.Do not get separated from yourtanks . 'Fire at _ ' enemy antitankcrews and wipe them out : Beforeattacking an enemy trench, throw allyour grenades into it first . . Do notbe afraid of enemy tanks . Whenthey approach get into a hole andstay there. Our own tanks andantitank guns will take care of them.

Yourjob is to wipe outthe infantry' .”Supporting the army is the RedAir Force, the Navy and the Marines.In all of -these organizations asfighters, snipers, pilots, nurses andengineers are women of the SovietUnion. The number of women in,the armed forces and the size of theSoviet fighting organizations aremilitary secrets known only to a

few. leaders of the USSR . Togetherthey make a real fighting combination.Modern wars are not won by

officers and men of armies ; the totaleffort of all the people` of a nation isnecessary for victory . The late Wen-dell Willkie, after visiting the Eastein

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Front in 1943, said, "I realized moreclearly than ever before that inRussia the phrase, `This is a people'swar' has real meaning. It is theRussian people in the fullest sensewho are resolved to destroy Hitler-ism . What they have been throughand what they face in the months aheadcannot fail to stir any American ."

Over 20 m illion people wereevacuated eastward as the tide ofGerman invasion swept forward.What the people could not take withthem, they destroyed . It was noteasy, but homes as well as barns and

unmovable equipment went up inflames . Orchards were choppeddown. Livestock was killed or driv

Kuibyshev as the Germans nearedthe capital city, found traffic so heavywith evacuated plants and theircrews that a 36hour trip took sixdays . The removal of the machin-ery from one Dnieper plant alonerequired 1,400 freight card. It wasas if the steel mills of Pittsburgh, thetextile mills of New England, andautomobile plants in Detroit andCleveland had to be moved toKansas City.

The USSR in wartime is governedby a strong hand. Elections aresuspended. All orders come from

above. Everything that is said ordone is designed to m eet, first,

the maximum needs of the

in the war, if civilians had to die ofstarvation in order to keep the armyin the field, they died, as in Lenin-grad. It was not that the govern-ment wanted it nor that the peopledid . It had to be that way if theSoviet was to survive.

The slogan is "Everything for theFront."

The only civilians in the SovietUnion who escape mobilization forindustry, agriculture, transportationor employment in some governmentservice are children under fourteenyears of age and physicallyhandi-

capped men and women . Everyoneelse is subject to call . Literallymillions of children fourteen, fifteen

en on ahead . The nighty DnieperDam, symbolizing industrial prog-ress, was blown up to prevent theGermans from using the electricitywhich it produced . Hitler found therich Soviet breadbasket empty and

army and, then, the absoluteminimum needs of the

civilian population . Early

and sixteen years old are mobilizedinto employment in trade schools.There they work six and seven

the earth scorched. -German efforts to convert mines`,.

oil wells' or factories to their needswere discouraging. The populationwhich remained not only would not

cooperate; but they sabotaged the:Germans in `every way possible ..Workers by days were guerrillafighters by night .

A Whole Nation MovesPractically no machinery had been

left for Hitler to convert to hisneeds . The big factories of the

Kharkov, Moscow, Leningrad andRostov areas were moved eastwardout of danger.

V .N . Obraztsov, Director Gener-al of Traffic, USSR said . ``We hadto cope with the biggest populationmovement in history of evacuees,and whole industries to beyond the"Volga, to the Urals, to Central Asia,and of troops with their vast equip.meat. to the front." American cor-respondents leaving Moscow . for

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hours a day at factory benches,making submachine guns, hand gre-nades, mortars and parts . Otherchildren of fourteen to sixteen aremobilized for work on the country'scollective farms, wherever they areneeded most.

When the war broke out, allcivilian construction was stopped.The government, for example, stop-

ped work on the Palace of theSoviets which was to have been anenormous steel and concrete building,taller than the Empire State Build,ing . The war found its substruc-ture completed and its steel girdersin place up to the fifth story . Thiswas a great Soviet dream, but anorder . was issued to tear it down

and use the structural steel formilitary purposes.

The pressure is on the civilian allthe time . If he does his workwell he is paid for it, though thereis little he can buy for his money.If he does his job poorly, there is an

investigation to determine whetherthe reason is unwillingness or plainincompetence . . Housing conditionsare deplorable ; homes are cold;new clothing is needed — these aresacrifices for the army.

"The people of the Soviet Union,men, women, and children alike,have made the war with Germany a'people's war'," says our own War

Department . "No government couldhave secured such enthusiastic obe -dience to orders and such eager ini-tiative on the part of a whole peopleunless the people themselves hadfound that they had something worthfighting for, worth dying for . ifneeds be. It may have been theirold love for their soil. It may havebeen their devotion to the Soviet

regime— the first in Russian historyto show any great concern for thepeople's welfare ." Wise men willprobably agree that it was both.

The retreat of industry to theeast is only a part of the story of theSoviets' industrial effort for victory.

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;The total factory outputof CzaristRussia _on the eve of world War Iwas about the same as that of theUS during the years when Thomas

Jefferson was President . At thestart of the present war, Sovietindustry was producing twelve timesas much. Long before the Germansthundered across Western Russia,many industrial centers had been builteast of the Ural mountains, farfrom the reach of grasping Germans.

Democracies Pledge Aid

Nevertheless, the heart of Sovietindustry was in the west . ' Fiftypercent of her food, steel and castiron had been produced there . Fortypercent 'of the Soviet output ofcoal and machine tools and twentypercent of her oil had come fromareas overrun by Hitler's forces.

Realizing the USSR's desperate

need for supplies, Prime MinisterChurchill declared on 22 June 1941that Any marl or State who fightsagainst Nazism will have our aid ."The United States 48 hours later alsopledged every possible assistance tothe Soviet Union in the war againstGermany.

Great B ritain rendered valuable aidto the Soviet, particularly in the

way of finished munitions, and theUnited States shipped almost sixbillion dollars' worth of Lendleasesupplies to the Soviet Union duringthe first three years of the war.

The ace of fighter pilots, Lt ColAlexander Pokryshkin of the Sovietair force shot down 48 of his 59 Naziplanes in a Bell Airacobra . It wasone of the 11 ,000 planes we havesupplied. From Oct 1942 until July1944 we sent 3,079,000 tons ofwheat, flour, canned meat, cannedmilk and other foodstuffs to theUSSR . In the first six months of1944 alone, we supplied 84,000 mili-tary motor vehicles, along with

aluminum, .railroad rails, telephonewire, chemicals, and medical supplies.We dismantled, remodeled and movedbodily into Russia a tire plant capable

of producing a million tires a year.American shipments to the USSRnow average about 300 milliondollars per month, or about 27 per-cent of the LendLease materialswhich we provide to all Allies.

Donald M. Nelson, former chair-man of the American War ProductionBoard , reported after his visit to theUSSR in October 1943 that wherever

he went he found "deep appreciationof the part which American materialhas played in aiding the Soviets tostem and drive back the Naziinvaders ."

The USSR did not rely only onaid from abroad . Industrial retreatbecame industrial attack. Almost assoon as the last German soldier. hadbeen forced out of a town by the

Red Army, the rebuilding of thattown and its industries began.

The Kiev correspondent for theSoviet War New s reports that inless than a year after the liberation ofthat city 242 factories were working.In the first nine months of 1 944,those factories supplied the army andthe home front with 16o million

roubles' worth of goods.

Scorched Earth Blooms Again

Smolensk was liberated 26 Sept1943 . "Immediately after the expul-sion of the Germans, the people ofthe region set to work to restoretheir towns and villages," reports thecorrespondent from Smolensk.They restored to working ,

order.113 factories, and set up 43 newfactories turning out over 400 prod-ucts . The 'peasants in • the area notonly restored 7,140 collective farm s,but reached the prewar level forwinter and ' spring sewing ."

In Kharkov -A "grindinglathe fac-

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tory began to produce lathes while thewalls were still going up and long be-fore the roof was on IIvestia writesthat in Kharkov "freed a year ago,24b industrial enterprises are pro-ducing for the front ."

When possible, Soviet engineersarc bypassing the lengthy processof tearingdown a badly damagedstructure, salvaging the material andrebuilding . They are trying to makeuse of sections of building stillstanding. At Stalino, a huge brickwall that was leaning 35 degrees out

of line was straightened . Sectionsof plants weighing many tons havebeen levered or "craned" into posi-tion.

The instances of rebuilding whichhave been cited are not exceptions;they can be multiplied many timesover.

The Soviets' ability, to supplytheir armies is partly due to the hard

work of scientists . Some food wassupplied from the Arctic Circle,because Soviet scientists developedseeds which could grow that farnorth. New methods of hardeningmetals were discovered when theGermans took over the raw materialsused in older processes.

One of the most important "sup-plies" in time of war and one whereSoviet scientists have made an out-standing contribution is in the fieldof m edicine . United States SurgeonGeneral Parran said, "among the

recent contributions of Soviet medi-cine can be mentioned pioneer workon transfusion of blood and bloodbanks ; transplantation of cornea,nerves, and other tissues . .Sovietmedicine has also had large expe-rience in extensive public healthprojects ; in the prevention and eradi-cation of malaria, typhus, tularemiaand venereal diseases ."

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W ORKING TOGETHER . IN WAR AND PEACEThis is a war of 37 nations united Although differences exist between

against a common enemy. Victory the forms of government in thein Eastern Europe is being achieved United States and the USSR, both

by the people of the Soviet Union; governments are opposed to thewe have a sm all share in that triumph. fundamental Fascist ideas on whichTheir victory in turn is helping us Germany has operated : (1) the masterto win in the West. Whoever race, (z) the State is all important,pushes back the armies of the Axis (3) lebensraum, and (4)' desire toanywhere, advances the cause of dominate the world.libertyloving people everywhere.

Marshal Stalin declared on 7 Nov Four Fallacies of Fascism1944, "The troops and Navy of ourAllies accomplished a mass landing Master race ? If the US is aoperation on the coast of France that "melting pot", then the Sovietwas unparalleled in history for scope Union is an electric mixer." Scien-and organization, and overcame the tists have counted 189 "races" inGerman fortifications with consum the USSR . Under the Tsars, manymate skill. . .There can be no doubt of the racial minorities were perse-that without the opening of the cuted . Today in the Soviet Union,Second Front in. Europe which holds there is no such thing as racialas much as 75 German divisions, our discrimination in practice or introops would not have been able to theory . The people. of each "race".

break the resistance of the Germanhave been encouraged to retain their

forces and knock them out of the own language, customs and individSoviet Union in such a short time. uality and to educate themselves

and develop the economic wealthFronts of Equal Importance of the area in which they live.

"But it is equally indubitable that State is all important ? Some,without the powerful offensive oper people profess to see strong likeness ,ations of the Red Army in the between the Soviet and Nazi formssummer of this year, which held of government because each permits,as many as zoo German divisions, but one legal political party, each

the forces of our Allies could not have uses propaganda and secret police.coped so quickly with the German However, the goals of the two governforces and knocked them out of ments are poles apart . The monopCentral Italy, France and Belgium." oly of the Communist Party is

The Soviets realize as we do that imposed to protect the interest ofvictory will not be won in the East the comm on people against those whoor West until the armies of Germany had formerly advantage of them.have been beaten into unconditional Its purpose is the welfare of thesurrender . Marshal Stalin concluded people, not the welfare of the state .`

his address, stating that one final In Germany, dictatorship sacrificed'

mission remained to the Red Army, the people's welfare to the goal of pre-"to complete, together with the armies paring Germans for aggressive war.of our Allies, the defeat of the German To illustrate this fundamental differFascist army, to finish off the Fascist ence, the Soviets have encouragedbeast in. its own den ; and to hoist trade unions ; Hitler destroyed unions.the flag of victory over Berlin." Russia adopted the e eighthour day

27 January, 1945 13

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action co preserve peace ; Trotsky,leader of the "world revolutionists,"was exiled in 1927 . . .Russia acceptedthe KelloggBriand Pact to outlawwar in 1928 . . they joined the Leagueof Nations in 1934 and supported allattempts at disarmament . . they abol-ished the Comintern (the Commu-nist International) in May 1943 . InStalin's words, "We have no ideasof imposing our regime on otherpeoples . ' . Our aim is to help liberate

and later reduced it to seven (until them from Nazi tyranny and then

the danger of war ,was immediate); to leave them free to live in their

the Nazis lengthened the working own lands as they wish ."day long before the outbreak ofwar . The Soviets granted equality We Can Settle Differences

to women—they work as farmers, The forms of government mayengineers, heads of industries ; the differ, but the Allies are united in theFascists compelled women to give up war against Fascist Germany . Prob-jobs on the theory that woman's lems will arise among nations asprimary job was to produce children. they arise among the people ofThe number of Soviet men and one nation . The Allies have had

800 women in colleges increased by

certain disagreements about the warGer- percent from 1914 to 1937 ; inmany, the number decreased by

which they have settled . We areworking together for victory in the

more than 50 percent from 1932 to east and .west ; will we be able to1937 . Before World War I, only work together for victory in peace ?33 percent of the people of Russia President Rooseve lt, Marshal Stalincould read or write . Today practically and Prime Minister Churchill gaveeveryone has been taught to do so. this answer to that question at the Te

Lebensraum ? Stalin declared in heran Conference, 1 December 1943 :1936, "We want no foot of foreign "We express our determination that

territory." In area, the USSR is as our nations shall work together in thelarge as all of the US, Canada and war and in the peace that will follow.Alaska ; it covers onesixth of the "A s to the war, our military staffsland surface of the earth . Like the have joined in our roundtable disUnited States, it has nearly every cussions and we have concerted ourthing and lots of it—space, iron, plans for destruction of the Germancoal, electric power, oil and grain. forces . We have reached complete

Rule the world ? The early lead agreements as to the scope anders of Comm unism in Russia, advocat timing of operations which will beed world revolution . Communist undertaken from the east, west and

policy was modified in 1927 by Stalin, south. The common understandingwho believed Russia 's most impor which we have here reached guar-tant contribution to socialism lay antees that victory will be ours.not in revolution but in building "And as to the peace, we are suresocialism successfully at home . The that our concord will make it anSoviet Union became one of the enduring peace. We recognise fullystrongest supporters of cooperative the supreme responsibility resting

14 ARMY TALKS

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upon us and all the nations to makea peace which will command goodwill from the overwhelming massesof the peoples of the world andbanish the scourge and terror of

war for many generations."With our diplomatic advisers we

have surveyed the problems of thefuture. We shall seek the coopera-tion and active participation of allnations, large and small, whosepeoples in heart and in mind. arededicated as are our own peoples,to the elimination of tyranny andslavery, oppression and intolerance.We will welcome them as they maychoose to come into the world familyof democratic nations ."

At Teheran, American, British andSoviet leaders renewed their deter-mination to carry on the fight againstFascism to speedy and unconditionalsurrender of the common enemy . Inaddition they laid the groundwork

for organization of peace, and statedthat it was their common intention tomake renewed aggression impossible.

"" We Can Do Business

with Russia "

It has been recognized that certainproblems cannot be settled at thepresent stage of the struggle, socomplex are the military, politicaland economic issues interwoven inmodern total war. Questions ofboundary lines, of trade routes andpostwar economics cannot be sepa-rated from, military issues, but at thesame time cannot be solved until the

.

pattern of Fascist defeat has takenclearer form.

Eric Johnston, president of theUnited States Chamber of Commerce,frankly told USSR leaders when hevisited Moscow, and further empha-sized it when he returned to theUnited States, that differences whichmay persist in economic and polit-ical systems need not endangergreatly expanded trade relations ..

Other unfinished business includesthe organization of internationalcontrol for postwar commercial airtraffic, and the exertion of balancedpower on the Security Council .*

Marshal Stalin has summed upthese conferences and their resultstersely and frankly :

"The surprising thing," he says,"is not that differences exist, but

that they are so few, and that as arule in practically every case theyare resolved in a spirit of unity andcoordination among the three GreatPowers "

* See ARMY TALKS, DUMBARTON

OAKS, Framework for Peace, 1 6 Dec . 44.

"What about Siberian bases for attacking Japan? Vladivostock

lies at the end of a long supply line which is particulary vulnerablefrom Khabarovsk down . The Japanese Army has 500,003 troops

deployed all along this supply route . If we or the Russians were touse these bases to bomb Japan, the bases would be made useless andRussia would be involved in a two-front war . Russia is engaging themain Nazi strength, and a two-front war for Russia would diminish thepressure on the worried Nazis and endanger the plans of our own army ."

-- From the W .D . film, "War Department Report' ."

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NEWSCOPE" WE HAVE RETURNED "

The battle for Leyte and Sam arIslands in the Philippines began on

20 O ctober 1944 and ended on25 December. The Japs lost 2 ,74 8planes in defense of the two islands

and suffered 117,997 casualties asagainst American losses of 11,217.

Persistent efforts to reinforce hisgarrisons on L eyte indicates theenem y's determination to fight an

allout battle in the P hilippines.A pparently, the basis of Tokyo's

strategy is that in a war of attritionthe "soft" democracies can be bled

into a stalemate.

From the Japanese point of view,

the Philippines present a good bat-

tlefield for this purpose : (1) Theirlifeline from Japan to M anila is

comparatively secure from air attacknow that United N ations' airfields

in Southeastern C hina have beencaptured.

(2) Enemy supply routes through

the interior waters of the P hilip-pines are guarded by a welldevelopednetwork of air bases (see m ap .)The A llies have been attacking this

line and have taken a heavy toll oflives and ships, but Japanese men andsupplies are getting through.

Plenty of Japs

(3) The Japs can risk manpowerlosses. They have 4,000,000 soldiers

in the field : 2,000,000 in China,

the remainder scattered throughoutSoutheast A sia and the Philippines.

In addition, 2,000,000 reserves athome are fully equipped, trained andready to move . Beyond that, 250,000

reach draft age every year. (Japa -nese war dead since 1937, less than

1,000,000 .)

(4) Jap factories produce abo ut

1,500 planes a month . That is morethan the Allies are shooting dow n,

as yet.

(5) Lack of roads and railroads

favors entrenched or retreating Japs.

In the 7,000 islands which m ake upthe Philippines, there are but 85 a ir-

ports, a scant 15,000 miles of highwaysand less than 1 ,000 miles of rail-

roads . Mo st of these facilities areon Luzon, a single northern island

about the size of V irginia or Ohio.

On the other side of the slate :

United Nations' Navies are annuallysending 1,500,000 tons of the enemy'sshipping to the bottom and he pro-

duces only r,000,000 tons a year.Increasing B29 raids on aircraft fac-tories will lower plane production.

US landings on the southern partof Mindoro Island on 15 Dec furtherendan ger the enem y's Philippinesupply line ; four beachheads secured9 Jan on Luzon endanger Jap controlof all the Philippine islands . Japaneseair and manpower losses in the defenseof Leyte are but a taste of what they

mu st expect after com bined USBritish pow er released by victoryin the W est is concentrated in the

Pacific.

SORRY ! We received so manyentries in the ARMY TALKS

Contest that the judges weresnowed under ! All we can get them

to say right now is, "Too manyand too good!" They promise to

have the winners soon, however,

and the annoucement will be made

in ARMY TALKS, 3 February.

LISTEN : Tune in your American Forces Network for a dramatized version of the week's ARMY TALKS.Time : 1030 Saturday, 3rd February, 1945.

Printed for H .M . stationery Office .

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AIRFIELDS

f11 )' H EL D- BY JAP S

LUZON

ell

mac - -

Q0

JAPANESEINTERIOR - LINE

OF SUPPLY

PANAY

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W HEN a Mark IV suddenly turns a ,corner and starts in your direc-tion. . .when Jerry MG crossfire opens up . . .when you h it a booby-trappedtown . .brother, it 's too late to get out Field Manual Umpteen dashUmpty-Umph for a refresher course . You ' ve got to act — but quick !

That means starting now ! Every week battle veterans are giving youthe benefit of their experience, learned the hard way — to help save YOUR

life! Read them . Re-read and discuss them . When the time comes to act,you'll know more about what to do, how to do it.

Read Combat Tips " on the inside front cover of ARMY TALKS every

week. Ask your Information and Education Officer for back issues withfeature combat articles . Read " The Old Sergeant' s Corner " and the battlestories in WARWEEK, the supplement to STARS AND STRIPES.

Ask your I & E O fficer to see his copy of BATTLE EXPERIENCES -- freshaccounts of latest enemy tactics from all fronts in the ETO.

These combat aids are straight stuff . They're not meant to entertain.They're not funny . They 're published TO SAVE LIVES . Make it a point toread them regularly.

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Army Talks ~ 01/27/45