Show Changes Twice Daily

Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt last week assured themselves of a rather fabulous place in history. Having conferred in Washington, they revealed their thoughts to their peoples, and all was optimism, the glowing promise of a second front, the growing power of the United Nations. But the musical accompaniment of their duet was a bombardment of bad news, some of the worst news since the fall of France. In historical retrospect their third war meeting was now destined to make them out either a pair of zanies who did not know what time of day it was, or a pair of courageous statesmen with confidence in their own acute judgment.

Sipping water from a glass, champing a dead cigar, Winston Churchill flatly told Congressional leaders that Egypt would hold; Alexandria and Suez would be held. There was other reassuring talk. The Congressmen left, radiating optimism. Next day's headlines: ROMMEL 60 MILES IN EGYPT. Next day's: ROMMEL 100 MILES IN EGYPT. The Congressmen began to wonder.

Undeterred, Churchill and Roosevelt offered encouragement also to the Pacific War Council. Chinese Foreign Minister T. V. Soong was once again assured that his stubbornly fighting country would get all possible help. The Council's members, not all of them such chuckleheaded politicians as they looked in their official photograph, exuded optimism freely at the meeting's conclusion.

Wary, wise Russian Ambassador Maxim Litvinoff sat in on at least one matinee discussion, emerged poker-faced. He was probably the only person outside the Big Two who was told all that had been decided. For the details remained secret. On Winston Churchill's return by bomber to Great Britain, a joint statement, finally recognizing the bad news pouring in, was issued:

"We have taken full cognizance of our disadvantages as well as our advantages. We do not underrate the task. Transportation of the fighting forces, together with transportation of munitions of war and supplies still constitutes the major problem. It can be said that the coming operations, which were discussed in detail, will divert German strength from the attack on Russia."

This got the actors safely offstage, with a roll of second-front drums. The resumption of British mass bombings on Germany, the appointment of Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower to command the U.S. forces in the "European theater of operations" added to the effect. The professional criticism of the performance would be written in this summer's war communiques.

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