Evening star., 1941-02-24

LELAND STOWE.
saved from his own folly, and how
far will Hitler intervene?
To begin with, 1t should be stated
that the ground war in Greece and
Albania has been fought entirely
by the Greek Army and nothing
else. AS long as I was in Greece
I never saw one company of Brit
ish infantry anywhere nor a single
British soldier within hundreds of
miles of the front. Maybe that
situation has changed in the past
five or six weeks, and If so, it Is
likely to be of considerable historic
Importance.
Two things, I think, are very
clear: In order to stage a counter
offensive in Albania. with any
chances Of success, Mussolini will
need the help of several hundred
NaA warplanes, or a simultaneous
German attack on the northern
frontiers of Greece-and perhaps he
will need both. In word, the war
Hitler's wal instead of Mussolini's.
That is now happening. 1t is the
only way in which the Greek people
could be robbed of their nobly
earned victory-but even against
such odds the world may still be
surprised. That may not seem likely,
but it Is something which should
not be rejected as a possibility.
Too Early for Offensive.
1t would seem a bit too soon to
expect either a Fascist counter
offensive in Albania or a Nal inva-
sion Of Greece through Bulgaria.
February is known as the most terri
BILE month Of the year in the Alban-
ian mountains. Flying conditions
are usually impossible and fighting
conditions little short of that.
March, with its snow and floods and
slush and mud Is also exceedingly
bad for infantry operations-some-
thing which also applies to the
Thracian frontier region where the
NaZiS may strike. In March, air.
planes would be able gradually to
operate with more and more free
dom over both the threatened areas
But there still remains about a
month during which either Fascist
or Nazi drives would risk begging
down at the start.
This means that some three
months will have expired since the
Italo-Greek war became stalemated
by ice and snow just in front Of
Tepeleni. Since mid-December the
aspect of the entire Mediterranean
conflict has changed enormously.
Mediterranean Picture Changed.
The Italians have been routed in
Libya and all threat to Egypt and
the Suez Canal has been removed
British forces in the Middle East,
both in men and in airplanes and all
kinds of equipment, have grown tre-
mendously. British ability to aid the
Greeks has increased in proportion
Realizing fully the inevitable crucial
test of the coming spring. both the
British and the Greeks have been
preparing feverishly.
No war correspondent knows, or
would be free to tell, how much Brit
ish war material has been poured
into Greece in the last two months
Every one knows, however, that the
amount must be very considerable
and that the British have far more
to spare for their Greek allies than
they had last November. 1t is also
certain that great deal of work has
been done on Greek airfelds during
these winter weeks, that Greek aerial
defenses have been vastly strength
ened and that Greek communica-
tions have been bolstered by the
arrival of hundreds of trucks.
These changed conditions may,
or may not, be sufficient to main
tain the Anglo-Greek foothold on
the European Continent. Winston
Churchill is not a man to abandon
this strategic foothold easily, nor
would the recent visit to Athers by
Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell appear to
indicate any such thing.
Other Questions Important.
Even so, a combined Fascist-Nazi
attack on both the Albanian front
and the Thracian border might be
more than could be withstood in
definitely. But this speculation is Of
entirely secondary Importance beside
two other matters:
/. What would NaZi invasion of
Greece do to Hitler's prospects in the
major war theater, which is the
Western front?
2. Would a German occupation of
part or all of Greece begin to be
worth what it would undoubtedly
cost?
In regard to question No. l it
appears most probable that the
Nazis cannot go all-out against
Greece and hope to conquer her
swiftly without adjourning indefi-
nitely their much-prophesied in
vasion of the British Isles. The ter
rain is too difficult. The Greeks are
too tough. The possibility of large
British support on the Greek main
land and from the sea is too I'M
predictable.
No "Crushing" Superiority.
To be sure of success the NaZis
would have to employ huge quanti-
ties of warplanes. Despite all the
tall stories about Germany's Crush
ing" aerial superiority the Nazi