Evening star., 1942-06-07
Preparation for Allied Invasion
OF Occupied Europe Proceeds
Six Months After Americas Entry in War
Thousands of u. S. Troops Are in
Ulster Ready for Duty
By Fred Vanderschmidf,
Wide World.

lysts are discowaging the enthusiasm
for second front-other than from the
air-in continental Europe this summer.
The question of available ships is still
debatable. Many advocates of second
front now feel they can be scfaped to-
gether. Others say we'll have an over
whelming number available; that we
might as well use what we've got now.
Only few days ago 1t. Gen. Brehon
B. Somervell, commanding the Army
service of supply, said in London that
America is prepared to send men and
materials ION large scale to European
battle 'front.' despite Australian and In
dian commitments, and that this could
be done despite the shortage of ships.
Russia Needs Material.
Russia wants a second front badly to
achieve her avowed goal of defeating
the German military power in 1912, and
II her position this summer becomes
desperate some sort of second front
may be essential but now she needs
American and British aircraft, guns and
tanks more urgently.
The main route by which these weapons
are reaching the Red armies from their
western Allies ascends the Arctic Circle
past North Cape, Norway, to ice-free
Murmansk or on east to Archangel.
Iceland, base for nearly year Of
United States forces, provides invaluable
protection for the United States-Russia
conveys for much of this route.
But Iceland Is 1000 miles west Of
North Cape, and the going becomes tough
within hundreds of miles Of the German
occupied Norwegian coast. So far shore
based, long-range NaI bombers have
been the chief hazard; Allied warships in
general have fought them of, but not
without considerable loss.
Obviously the demands Of the Mar
mansk route are heavy on both British
and United States naval power-naval
power that would be vitally occupied in
supporting the bridgeheads of western
front.
Britain's misgivings about the Mediter-
ranean and the Middle East became fully
realized only last week when the German
Marshal Erwin Rommel lashed out with
his powerful tank columns at the British
Army Of the African desert and thus
again put the whole Allied stake in the
Mediterranean basin in jeopardy again.
Mediterranean Front.
American warships are in Mediter-
ranean waters, American troops, de-
scribed officially as service personnel
acting in support of Allied combat
troops, are on Middle Eastern shores,
American ~tecnnicians are at work in
many ancient cities and towns, American
in the desert and elsewhere.
Numbers and locations, of course, con-
stitute one of the wars most closely
guarded secrets.
1t is no secret, however, that the United
States assumed the heavy responsibility
long before Pearl Harbor of providing a
complete service of supply and main
tenance for this whole vital area
1t also is no secret that the American
tanks and aircraft available to the.
British Army of the desert at the time of
the Libyan offensive late in 1941 were
pretty well used up in the ensuing dead
lock with the German Afrika Korps and
that fresh shipments have gone in, that
heavy German aerial reinforcements
have kept supply lanes open in the
Mediterranean for Axis supplies to Libya,
that Malta has taken terrible blasting,
that the Australian forces of the Middle
East have gone back to defend their
homeland and that for many months the
Germans have used Crete and other
Eastern Mediterranean bases as training
grounds for air-borne armies
Therefore it is certain that hard de-
fensive battles might be fought perhaps
on both sides of Suez, more Middle East
ern ground consolidated, before the
United Nations can devote ell their
energies to grand offensive in the west.
Always there is the expectation. how
ever, that when that western offensive
is launched the Axis can be struck with
simultaneous force from the southern
flank
On the other hand, there remains Ger
many's threat to invade England. though
this appears unlikely with Hitler's forces
so widely occupied.
80 ssss;s;ss:se. 2ETs, DN.FsN