Evening star., 1942-02-02
Ice and Snow Raise
Barrier 10 Nazi
Move on Turkey
Northern Syrio Suffers
Stormiest Winter in
Quarter Of Century
BY EDWARD KENNEDY,
Wida NnSlA Mani


BY EDWARD KENNEDY,
Wide World News.
TURKISH-SYRIAN FRONTIER,
Feb. 2.-Northern Syria lies blan-
keted in snow and many Of its roads
are impossible in the coldest, storm
lest winter this region has expert
enced in a quarter Of century.
Across the frontier rise Turkeys
Taurus Mountains. great glaciers
whose passes are so full of snow that
all traffic except by rail Is blocked
and even train service frequently
is suspended.
The Sicilian gate through which
Alexander the Great and other
conquenors entered Syria will be
snowbound many weeks more, and
when the snow melts there will be
mud to make movement almost i'm
possible for more weeks.
Nature Provides Wall.
Thus while the bulk Of British
forces are occupied in the Libyan
desert, nature has for the time being
provided a supposedly impregnable
wall here in the North.
Every one here agrees that no
army, however strong. could cross
Anatolia before May, and the most
reliable information on German
activities in Bulgaria makes the
British believe Hitler can not launch
an attack on Turkey before June.
German troops at present IN Bull
garia are not crack fighting units
bust mostly wearied convalescents
from the Russian front.
But almost every one agrees the
attack eventually will come. And
every one believes when 1t comes the
Turks will resist and play their fuu
part on the Allied side.
Flow Of Materials.
With the present flow of materials
into the Mid-East, the British will
have much more here with which
to meet any offensive.
Syria is held mainly by Aus
tralian troops, veterans OF last
winters campaign across Cyrenaica,
Of Greece, Crete, of the Syrian cam
paign and the defense of Tobruk.
These form the backbone OF the
9th Army in Syria.
There are also Free French and
British here. Farther east in 1rak
and Iran the Middle East's 1000
miles of northern frontier is held
by British and Indian troops.
Build New Defenses.
The Australians have not been
idle during their well-earned rest
period. They've been building tank
traps. concrete pill boxes and other
projects to strengthen the Middle
East's northern defenses. They've
also been training for the type of
warfare this region calls for. Ski
troops and mountain detachments
have been formed.
To the big, husky soldiers who
form the Australian battalions, the
Syrian respite has been a treat.
Most Of them had never seen snow
before.
When Aleppo had a snowstorm
for the first time in 20 years, the
Aussies stationed there rushed out
with glee, somewhat surprised to
find snow was Just what they had
ina agined it to be. They built snow
men and there was a SNOWFALL battle
with the Spahis and also few
friendly duels with townsfolk.
Drop Food to Outposts.
Snow was less romantic, however,
to those in small mountain stations,
many so isolated it has been neces-
sary to drop food and mail to them
by plane. Others have been reached
by ski patrols.
Motor vehicles are useless in many
mountain sections and big Perch
eron horses which the French
brought here draw supplies to them.
Syrian defense lines make use of
hills atop which the crusaders built
their castles. These great ruins
command valleys through which, in
those times and today, any invading
army would have to pass.
Since it is known the Germans
have many invasion barges in
Greece, precautions also have been
taken to meet any attempted land
ing from the. sea. 1t is considered
more likely, however, that sea at
tack would come in the Smyrna re-
gion to complement a land thrust
at Turkey.
Australians Morale Good.
With their own country in danger
Of attack for the first time in his
tory, the Australians naturally are
concerned and would rather be
fighting in the Pacific area in de-
fense of their native soil. But this
has not affected their morale and as
long as they are kept in the Middle
East they will fight to hold this
frontier as gallantly as they fought
at Tobruk and in Greece.
These Australian shock troops,
who have been in the thickest of the
fighting in the Middle East cam
paigns and suffered total casualties
of 10000, are depending on Britain
and the United States not to let
Australia down.