Evening star., 1941-03-02
BY MAI. GEORGE FIELDING
Eliot

The situation now developing in
| the Mediterranean and the Balkans
is an object lesson in the value of
sea power in modern war, and Of
the relations between sea power
and land power-including, Of
course, land based air power.
The collapse of France seemed to
| leave the Allied cause in the Eastern
| Mediterranean in desperate straits.
| The great French Army in Syria,
of which so much had been expected,
disappeared from the board. The
Turks, the Egyptians, all the Near
East, wavered and trembled at the
distant rumble of NaZi drums. In
Libya, the armies of Marshal Grazi-
ami were poised for a spring at the
. Suez Canal, the rounding OUT of
Tthe new Roman Empire in Africa.
The Balkan Peninsula seemed open
to German conquest at Hitler'S will.
But there was one element which
the axis lacked-command of the
sea. Their scattered forces in Italy,
Libya, East Africa and the Dode-
canese were linked together by sea
communications which they did not
control. The italian fleet proved it.
self wholly inadequate for this mis-
sion, the sole reason for its exist
ence. British sea power, on the
other hand, not only was able to
maintain its predominance in the
Eastern Mediterranean, but was able
to assure the reinforcement of Egypt
Take Advantage of Opening.
Slowly British land and air power
in Egypt grew; while axis air power
proved unable to offset this British
sea command. When. Mussolini
made his egregious error in attack
ing Greece, the British, poised to
strike and possessing the mobility
conferred on them by their sea
power, were able to take instant ad-
vantage of the opening. They es-
tabltshed themselves in Crete, cut
7 ting Graziani's communications and
gaining base from which Italy it.
self could be harried.
Then the reinforced army of the
Nile fell on Graziani's army and de-
stroyed it; Immediately thereafter
the Italian holdings in East Africa
were invaded at a dozen points.
italian Somaliland is already Brit
ish, all the minor gains of italian
arms have been reversed, Eritrea
is half occupied, Ethiopia is being
! recovered. All this is due basically
| to the command of the sea, which
permitted British land and air re-
| Inducements to reach Gen. Wavell,
| while denying reinforcements to the
| Italians in Africa.
Now new phase of the struggle
is beginning The army of the Nile,
and its air command, have regained
| comparative freedom of action This
| they can exploit by reason of the
British command of the sea. It is
a situation charged with profound
menace not only to Italy, but to the
axis cause in general, and it has
compelled Hitler to take drastic
measures to meet 1t: measures which
he takes with almost visible reluc-
| tance.
Nazis Reinforce Italians.
LII OluCI W lloJuC against d pOS-
sible British descent on Sicily, he
| has had to send considerable Ger
man forces into that island and
Southern Italy; more, he has had
to make sure, by the presence of
German troops, against any Italian
collapse and suit for peace. He
has had to use German air forces to
enable the Italians to reinforce AL
bania-which they were almost un-
able to do by themselves.
| He has had to move in the
Balkans, eliminating in the forcing
of Bulgaria into the axis, which
may yet involve him in the dreaded
war on two fronts, and which cam
not be acceptable to Moscow even
though Moscow may be in no posi-
ton at the moment to oppose them
actively. The Germans have even,
at what cost we do not yet know,
managed to get few German mo-
bile elements into what remains of
Italian Libya, in a desperate effort
somehow to immobilize the army Of
the Nile, in whole or in part.
On the other hand, the Italians
make no progress in Albania and
are clearly being confronted with
ever-increasing British air forces,
the Turks, obviously reassured, are
for the moment at least standing
firmly with Britain, the Dodecanese
| Islands appear to be seriously en-
dangered; and British sea COM