The Wilmington morning star., 1942-03-15
Interpreting
The War
nv KIRKE L. SIMPSON
wide World War Analyst

r.,a, before Japanese war de-
siens in the now separated Paei1lc
apd indian ocean theaters untold
s,11v ell If is clear that the Allies and
NY nuis alike are bracing for even
1aore n~ critical developments in the
n+1.ntic ,4J as spring approaches.
T,,rther United Nation retreats
before Japan in event OF successful
;"~-osions' o.-oe of Australia or India
would VI, be grave set-backs. But they
,mo,,1d not end the war. 1t still is in
the % Atlantic that the vital COM
m,1nication lines Of Allied victory
homes lie. It is there the climate
test will come.
1 Could Be Smashed
THE Axis could be smashed in
Prussia While the Anglo-American
Fellowship holds the Atlantic ship
hridee to England and to Russia
Avis victories elsewhere remain
b1,t inconclusive incidents of the
struggle.
And the dominant fact in the
Atlantic as of today is that those
communica cation lines are secure.
Neither Japan's intervention in the
Pacific nor Axis submarine raiding
in close American waters has di-
verted British American attention
from it's main task in the Atlantic.
The sea corridors to England
and to Russia are open. Heavy
conveys of war goods and of Ca
madam and American troops have
reached the British Isles through
them not only unscathed, but un-
attacked. War essentials for Russia
are flowing unchecked through the
Arctic and White sea.
Ominous Portents
These are oninous portents for
Hitler. Diversion of his U-boats
from the open Atlantic to harry
coastal shipping in American and
Latin American waters was itself
confession of their inability to
cut Allied Atlantic life lines. The
indicated concentration of heavy
Nazi surface warcraft in Norwe-
gian waters further demonstrates
that failure.
The only known element of the
|iNazi surface fleet powerful enough
to cope with Anglo-American naval
forces disposed to safeguard essen
tial traffic to England and Russia
is the battleship Won Tirpitz. She
has been spotted and attacked by
the British in Norwegian waters.
But she escaped the fate of her
mighty sister ship, the Bismarck
Had she been sunk or crippled the
most dangerous threat to Allied
Atlantic war traffic would have
been ended.
Achieve Main Purpose
Yet British planes which sighted
and attacked her achieved their
main purpose. They warded off an
attack on convoy lines that could
have been disastrous. Some reports
say the Tirpitz fled to the shelter
of Norwegian coastal waters with
out having come within 300 miles
of her convoy objective.
The Tirpitz and any other Nazi
surface craft lurking along Norway
will be hunted ships from now on
Every day sees longer hours of
sunlight to aid the search.
The air power odds must turn
heavily against Hitler as American
craft supplement Britain's plane
output unless he finds means to
break those Atlantic life lines.
British commando raiders have
dealt their hit-and-run blows along
the Norwegian coast during the
winter. Whether such raids are a
prelude to an attempted invasion
of the continental coast to set up a
second war front and satisfy grow
ing demand for an Allied attack is
doubtful.
They could, however, foreshadow
an Anglo American joint effort to
establish bases on the far northern
coast of Norway as an additional
safeguard for conveys to Russia
and on the flank of German air
and sea bases on the lower Nor.
wegian sea front. 1t is probable
that Nazi battlecraft in those wa
ters have dual mission. They are
there to block any Allied invasion
move as well as to threaten sur
face raiding of Atlantic convoy
lanes. 2