Evening star., 1941-09-23
AIDING Russia

Over in Britain this is Tanks for
Russia Week." during which every
tank produced in the United King
| dom will be earmarked for the Rus
sian front against the German
| invaders. Here in America, our
Government is actively engaged in
eXpediting supplies to the Soviet
Union. The British Supply Mission
headed by Lord Beaverbrook has
arrived in Moscow to canvass the
situation thoroughly with the Soviet
government, while a similar Ameri-
can mission headed by w. Averell
Hartman repeatedly is on the way.
All this underScoreS the impor-
tance of aid to Russia, emphasized
by the grim turn of events, including
the fall of KieV, the German drive
to the Sea of Azov, and the tighten
ing coil around beSieged Leningrad.
Three months of ceaSeleSS battling
on a gigantic scale have seriously
depleted Russia'S immense stocks of
war equipment, while many of its
centerS of industry have fallen, or
seem about to fall, into German
hands. Without adequate equipment,
RuSSia's abundant man power will
be unable to stand up against the
onrush of the powerful German war
machine.
The real problem in aid to Russia
is not so much production as trans
portation. Washington and London
agree that, while the diversion to
Russian uses of war materials origi-
nally destined for Britain'S armies
may handicap British strategy, eSpe-
cially in North Africa, this is far
outWeighed by the risk of Russian
collapse, which might even force the
Soviet Union out of the war. The
urgent question is, where and how
the abundant stream of supplies now
earmarked or in prospect can be
delivered to Russia in time to avert
possible disaster.
A glance at the map will reveal
Russia'S perilouS geographical iSola-
ton from the outer world. The
normal avenues to European Rus
sia by water are the Baltic and Black
Seas. Both have been Theoretically
sealed by the Axis powers. The sole
remaining water route is via the
Arctic Ocean to Murmansk, an ice
free port, and to Archangel on the
White Sea, this latter port being
closed in winter by ice. Both are
served by railways, but the Muir
mansk line already has been cut
by the German Finnish campaign
against Leningrad, while the ap-
proach of winter will render the
Archangel line a negligible factor
until spring.
During these critical months,
therefore, supplies must be brought
in via Asiatic Russia. This, in prac-
tice, means the old route through
VladivoStok and over the Trans
Siberian railway, and the new route
just opened up by the Anglo
occupation Of Iran The Iranian
route is the quicker and more feas-
ible in winter 1t includes both rail
and highway communications. Its
drawback is the preliminary long
water haul from both Britain and
the United States, clear around
Africa or across the Pacific and In
dian Oceans. That means long
voyages and difficulties of unloading
at small Iranian ports. However, it
seems to be the most feasible method,
particularly for bulky equipment
such as tanks.
The least difficult aspect Of the
problem is airplane deliveries. Long
range bombers can be flown in via
the Arctic, from both Britain and
America. The same is true of the
ferry service" across the South At
lantic to West Africa and thence
over the Dark Continent and the
Middle East. This, however, does
not apply to fighter planes, which
cannot make the longer water hops,
and it is fighters rather than bomb
erS which Russia needs the more