Evening star., 1941-12-28

history OF the human race.
Even now the sun never sets on Il
island and every inlet on the globe is
potentially battle area. The so-called
first World War was local by compari-
son; it was fought mainly in Europe and
on the Atlantic. Operations elsewhere
were subsidiary and were terminated be-
fore the last stages of the war.
The problems that the two conterees in
the White House had to solve were pri-
marily naval and ultimately military.
German Army Must Fall.
The stroke that will end the war is the
destruction of the German Army; no
other triumph will bring peace, and after
that has been achieved. all other tasks
can be accomplished with relative ease.
Sea warfare, however. presents the
main problems at this time: Who will
command the sea forces? How will they
be co-ordinated? For what will they be
used? Where will they fight?
There is little need just now to clarity
the question of leadership on the land.
There is no combination of Allied armies
fighting on the same stalemated battle
front as in the 1914-1918 war.
The Russians are battling on their
2.5OO-mile line alone, except for some
help from the r. A. F. The British
Commonwealth troops compose nearly all
the democratic forces in Africa, the
Near East, the Middle East and the
MALAY Peninsula. Free French. and
Ethiopians are giving valuable support,
but not in sufficient numbers to have any
claim to the overall command. The
Chinese have little foreign personnel
on their front.
On the sea, however. where the United
States and British Navies already are
operating side by side, some method OF
co-ordinating activities is essential. The
movement of the navies back and forth,
from one of the seven seas to another,
the concentration of sea power in one
area, the withdrawal from another
all presuppose some joint use of the two
fleets, which would require that the or
ders come from a single authority.
Fleet Mergers Unlikely.
Allied navies could be subject to the
same weaknesses as Allied armies:
l. The lunctures of the lines of Allies
are regarded by tacticians as their weak
est points.
2. The operations of Allies are likely
to reflect their national interests; in the
1914-l918 war, the French were prl-
marilv concerned with blocking the road
to Paris, the British with preventing
the Germans from reaching the North
Sea.
g. When a supreme Allied commander
Is appointed, one nations general or
.admiral still may thwart the generals
simos plans by appealing over his head
to his own government. Gen. Pershing,
for instance, in this way prevented Cen
eralissimo Foch from infiltrating Amer
lean forces into the depleted ranks Of
the British and French; he insisted on
the American forces fighting as unit.
Merger of units of the British and
American fleets is not considered likely
by military observers. DetachmentS OF
one nations fleet may act as a unit in
conjunction with elements from the
QUIET lldllOll o, Dul dll dIlClLp " az POOAAii6
probably would result in confusion, since
the methods, tactics and Technology of
the two fleets differ in many respects.
Bases of one nation have to receive spe-
cial equipment and material before they
can service the ships of another. And
. tars or bluejackets could not man the
vessels of their allies without long pc
riod of special training.
The United States already has unified
the command of its fleet in both oceans,
When President Roosevelt appointed
Admiral King as commander in chief of
the United States Fleet, he gave him
control of all the American warships
af1oat.
No One Mans Job.
Prime Minister Churchill shortly after
beginning his talks with the President
put an end to speculation about placing
one man in charge of all the Allied land
and sea forces. Replying to reporters
questions at a press conference, he re-
marked that there's never been man
born-even Napoleon didn't know any
thing about aviation-who could assume
the functions of a world commander in
chief. Mr.. Churchill did not, however
rule out the possibility of unified fleet
command.
The Prime Minister explained tha
there will be a broad blocking-in OF thu
main plan of strategy by the principal
personages, and this plan will be turned
over for execution to the military au-
thorities of the various countries in
volved. This sounded in line with re-
ports from informed sources here and in
London in the past two weeks that the
high strategy would divide the world
into a number of regions, each with Its
own high command, linked by su-
preme council Presumably the COM
manderS in each area would be OF the
nationality chiefly concerned-the Rus
slams on their front, the British in
Africa and the Near East and Middle
East, and the Americans in the Philip
pines and the Eastern Pacific.
At any rate, the main problems OF high
strategy at present are naval-indicated
for one thing, by the presence of "a
naval officers. as compared with fivs