Evening star., 1941-02-24
I. THE WAR IN GREECE
By LELAND STOWE.

UP and slapped DOWN. OHucr Illc
co-ordinated blows of the inspired
Greek Army and the extraordinarily
effective squadrons of the Royal Air
Force from the British Middle East
command, the "invincible legions"
of Fascism had already lost the AL
banian War. The fierce froSts OF
the Albanian winter alone saved
them from complete disaster, and
that seemed merely postponed.
Adolf Hitler was the only person
who could reverse this decision.
Today the situation is much the
same, save for one big difference:
Mussolini's colossal blunder has
compelled Hitler to take very long
risks in the one region where he
has most wished to preserve tran
quility-in the Balkans. II the
Nazis complete their occupation of
Bulgaria and attack Greece on her
northern Thracian boundaries, Ger
many will once more be fighting a
war in the West and a war in the
Southeast at the same time.
Two-Front War a Gamble.
Will Hitler embark on the danger
GUS gamble of two-front war? II
he does this at the expense of the
gallant little Greeks, what are their
chances of holding out? Can Hitler
somehow put the breath of life back
into the strawman of italian Fas-
cism?
Before discussing present actual
tiles and immediate possibilities of
the Greek struggle, it may be well
to recall the apparently hopeless
outlook for Greece the first week of
the invasion last November. At that
time, there was scarcely military
expert in the Balkans who gave the
Greeks a chance of stopping the
Fascist invaders. Nobody believed
in the Greeks-except themselves
But the Greeks believed. And that
little item, the item Of an entire
peoples moral fiber. made all the
difference in the world.
Greeks Full of Confidence.
Every Greek we met was as full
of confidence as David. sorting out
his stones by the brook and going
forward to fight Goliath. The
Greek simply knew they could lick
Mussolini's rhetoric-fed division,
and that was that. If the enemy
had been German regulars. they
would undoubtedly have felt less
confidence, but they would certainly
have fought with the same kind of
superb courage. Freedom is some
thing which Greeks have always
been willing to purchase with their
blood. They don't expect to get it
or keep it in any other way.
Just before leaving Greece I had
a half-hour conversation with the
late premier, Gen. John Metaxas
This was the first time, I believe,
that he had received a foreign cor
since the war began. 1t
was New Year Eve and two remarks
which he made then impressed me
particularly.
mo, I don't deserve any credit for
deciding to resist" Gen. Metaxas
said 81 knew that any Greek, from
any part of my country and from
whatever walk of life. if he had been
in my place at that moment. would
have taken the same decision.
knew that no Greek could possibly
surrender his freedom without hav-
ing fought to preserve it. That's
why it wasn't difficult to decide. For
the Greek people, there was no
other course"
Death Only an Episode"
Premier Metaxas spoke very
quietly. Then he added: After all,
for us-who are Greek Orthodox by
religion-death is only an episode. +"
These words have re-echoed in my
mind ever since. On every sector
of the Albanian front, everywhere
behind the lines and from Salonika
to Thebes and Athens and Patras,
1 have encountered only one kind
of Greek. They are men and women
for whom freedom is life and death
is only an episode.
People of this caliber are rare in
the modern world. You NAV saw
that even their magnificent fight
ing hearts may not suffice, if they
must combat Fascists and Nazis at
once, and of course. this possibility
cannot be discounted. But there
are several respects in which the
Italo-Greek conflict has differed
from previous totalitarian aggres-
sions. geographically, the Greek
Albanian war theater is almost an
other Switzerland compared with
Holland, Belgium and Flanders.
These uninterrupted mountain
ranges are formidable obstacles for
mechanized infantry to pierce or
conquer. The Nazis have never con-
fronted terrain like this, except in
Norway, and there the snow-capped
mountains were not defended by a
people with a great fighting tradi-
ton, nor by an aroused and pre-
pared nation.
British Rush in Aid.
In Greece, too, the British did
everything which they failed so
fatally to do in support of the Nor
wegians. The British moved with
speed and determination. Within "a
hours they had senior air officers
of the Middle-East command in
Athens, comforting with Gen. Me-
taXas and his general staff. Within
48 hours-instead of never, as in
Norway-they had r. A. F. bomb
ers established on Greek soil and
raiding Italian ports.
In Greece, British aid was swift
and it has been ver-increasing
This is why the Anglo-Greek war
effort has established front lines far
inside Albania; why an Allied front
of great offensive and defensive
potentialities has been consolidated
where it is a perpetual threat
against Valona and the remainder
of Italian-held Albania.
Now Mussolini is reported to be
marshaling 100000 or more troops
in Central Albania, hoping to
launch a counteroffensive to re-
trieve the shattered prestige of Fas-
cist arms. To prepare for this, ne
has had to stop sending reinforce