Evening star., 1941-11-23

The British offensive IN Nortn Africa
Is announced In London as a major
operation 1t is predicated on the IN
telligence that the Axis high command
has been compelled since the outbreak OF
the Russo-German war to withdraw
substantial portion of Its forces, leaving
only covering troops to hold the Libyan
front
Should this major offensive be sue
cessful, the expected Axis operations In
the Eastern Mediterranean will be serl-
ouslv hampered and the situation of the
Reich will be less favorable than the
German high command expected a few
weeks ago
That Berlin is concerned over the
African development has been illustrated
by the removal of Gen. Maxine Weygand
from the African pro-consulate.
Gen. Weygand is an honorable man.
He pledged himself to Marshal Petain
to keep North Africa French; he did
not want the British there any more
than he wanted the Nazis. When Hitler
decided that he might have TO use
Tunisia and Algeria as bases in event
Libva we're lost, he demanded and forced
the hand of Marshal Petain TO remove
the intransigent Weygand from the
African post. Now there will be no
one man with full power in that region.
L. S. Action Releases Ships.
The Mediterranean situation which
prompted the British to take the initi
| ative in North Africa has been mat
| ter Of major concern TO the LONDON
| government.
The enthusiasm with which the British
greeted abrogation Of essential parts OF
| the Neutrality Act is due partially TO
| the consideration that henceforth ships
| fying the Stars and Stripes will travel
from the West Atlantic to the British
| Isles. enabling many British Warshlps
! TO be transferred to the Mediterranean,
which within the next few weeks may
replace the Russian front in Importance.
| Sinking of the aircraft carrier Ark
ROYAL, damaging Of the neWly-repalred
! bdttlesnip Malaya, and other less spec
4 tacular activities of Axis submarines IN
/ the Mediterranean are not casual opera
/ tions prompted by the desire OF the
! German government TO do something
spectacular to counteract the failure OF
the German Armies on the Russian
front. Naval experts consider them as
preliminaries of the battle of the Medi-
terranean.
Reports reaching Washington from
varied sources indicate that the Ger
mans and Italians have been girolng
themselves TO eliminate the British
from the Eastern Mediterranean, to
| invade Syria and Palestine-and pos
sibly Turkey-to get to the Mosul oil
I fields
British Arms Reinforced.
There is powerful British force IN
the Mediterranean today. The losses
sustained last spring have been re-
| placed New ships have Joined Admiral
Cunningham's forces. Some Of the
battleships and cruisers which were
badly shot up during the disastrous
Balkan campaign have been repaired
Planes from British and American fac
tories have reached British Mediter-
ranean bases and additional ant-air-
craft guns have been rushed from the
United States TO British stations. In
short, the British have not been sleep
ing since last summer. when the Axis
powers were compelled to slow down
their activities because of the war
against Russia. They have prepared for
their first major encounter with the
Axis powers.
But general stats are never satisfied
and the British are no exception. They
believe that Britain must put into this
developing struggle against the Axis
and its associates the maximum effort
Of which she is capable. Otherwise the
Germans will have a good chance of
breaking through to the much-coveted
oil regions Of the Near East Unless the
British Navy rules supreme in the Medi-
terranean the Axis powers may succeed
According to the best available in
formation-and this is not always re-
liable-the German Admiralty has de-
tailed about one-fourth Of its submarine
strength-about 100 Uboats-to the
south This includes the South Atlantic
where they act as raiders. The bulk ot