Surprise Package for 1942?

Hitler, who loves surprise, might surprise the world this spring and summer by striking west instead of east. He might attack Iceland, or Ireland, or Scotland, or England.

Success in any of these attacks would do two things which Hitler has always felt it necessary to do: they would protect his rear and divide his enemies. Before he turns his full attention to Russia, he might think it wise to try to eliminate the growing threat from the British Isles. He might think it not only wise but necessary to intercept the flow of goods from the growing arsenal of the U.S.

This spring would be a ripe time. The move would be unexpected. The British, grown relatively relaxed about invasion, are quarreling among themselves about the heavy defeats they have suffered abroad. They have come to think of the U.S. and Russia as the source of eventual victory, instead of relying on themselves, as they did in the Battle of Britain.

There are some plausible clues that Hitler is planning another Crete in the west: 1) the whole German battle fleet, now a formidable weapon, is assembled between the Hook of Holland and Trondheim, Norway; 2) the British claim (probably extravagantly) that half the fighter strength of the Luftwaffe is drawn up near the invasion coast; 3) Germany's best Field Marshal, Gerd von Rundstedt, has been sent to France; 4) Petain is out and Laval and his Anglophobes are in; 5) British experts say that Germany has been building gliders and transports all winter long. Perhaps these things had no relation to each other; but perhaps they did. Hitler might. . . .

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