Evening star., 1941-06-08

Gus admiral, who does things the mar
shall would not have approved a few
months ago. The country hears of the
| new Berlin-Paris Axis and is under the
impression that this has been formed
with the full approval and consent of
! Frances last hope-Petain.
The British air attacks against SfaX,
the principal naval base in Tunisia, were
! prompted by the definite intelligence
| that the Germans were bringing troops
and long-range guns to that port to be
used eventually against the British Navy
Moreover, the British have received posi-
tive information that the Axis is organ
izing important air bases all along the
| Tunisian coast. The time may come
soon, it is feared when the entire African
coast from Sfax to Casablanca will be
dotted with German naval and air bases.
/ 1t is equally conceivable-in spite of
| the reassuring official statements of
/ Vichy's representative in Washington
that the French fleet and the bases at
Bone, Algiers; Oran and in Corsica and
at Toulon might be placed at the dis
| posal of the Germans.
| All these factors are real. 1t would
| be a grave mistake to underestimate the
Axis striking power in the air. The
British contention that the more war
material the Germans waste on costly
| conquests such as that of Crete. the more
| the German power will be drained, is
considered in most responsible military
and naval quarters in Washington to be
unfounded For the time being the Ger
mans continue to manufacture more
| than sufficient planes to replace their
! enormous losses.
Principal Test in Atlantic.
The Mediterranean has ceased to have
military importance to the British EN-
pire, since all the riparian states have
had to bow to the Reich. The London
government, however. appears to be bent
on defending Egypt, the Near East and
the rest of that section of the world with
all the might it possesses. Political mo-
tives evidently enter into the calculations
of the British government. Our people
are naturally more realistic. To the
American Government the problem is to
stop and defeat Hitler eventually. That
this cannot be done in the Mediterranean
has become obvious since the failure of
the Balkan campaign. The day may
come when the Mediterranean will once
more become an important theater OF
operations but that day is, for the time
being, far off.
In the opinion of our strategists the
principal test is the Atlantic. The de-
fense of that modern verdun-the
British IsleS-is of supreme Importance.
The battle of Crete has not proved in
the least that the Germans can invade
England by the same methods they used
in the Greek isle. There is an aviation
force in that country which is superior
to anything the Germans can put in
the air against the United Kingdom at
one time. There is an anti-aircraft de-
fense system in Britain now which is
considered by most military observers to
be highly efficient.
Japan Playing Close Game.
The chief problem is to assure con-
tinuous flow of supplies and war ma
teriel to Britain in spite of the efforts
of the Axis to prevent the ships from
reaching port. And this can be done
only with concentrated efforts of the
entire British sea power. Our patrol
vessels are already of great assistance to
the British convoy system. This assist
ance will be greatly increased in the
months to come as more war materiel Is
manufactured in this country. But
American naval strategists don't believe
in weakening the Pacific fleet to in
crease the efficiency of the Atlantic
patrol.
Japan is playing a close game and we
don't want to be caught unawares in
the Pacific. 1t would harm the cause of
defeating Hitler more than the average
mind imagines. Hence, say our strate-
gists, it is high time for the British to
look at the situation realistically. They
must know by this time that there is
nothing much to be done in the Medi-
terranean. But the fleet which Is now
wasting ng-spectacularly, it is true-its
efforts and energy in that section of
Europe could contribute greatly to the
main purpose of this war-the ultimate
defeat of the Axis.