Evening star., 1943-06-18

Major Eliot Argues Need
For Teamwork by All Forces
TOWN Quick -cheop' Victory
BY Maj. George Fielding Eliot.
Unity Of purpose and effort, imple-
mented by unity of command and in
spired by unified will to win is the key
to victory in modern war"
That sentence was written in 1910. 1t
was contained in the report of one of our
ablest observers with the British forces,
an American air officer who has subse-
quently held high command in an active
sector with splendid success. 1t is a
serA;nce that we should all keep in mind.
1t means just one thing-success in wa-
depends on successful teamwork.
We shall never have an end, right up
to the day Of final victory, of recipes and
schemes for winning that victory cheaply
and easily. 1t will not be won so, and
there is danger in trying to make people
think that somehow there is a get-rich-
quick road to an end which, in fact, will
only be attained at the cost of blood,
sweat and tears.
I refer in particular, of course, to the
enthusiasts who insist that decisive VIC
tory over Germany can be obtained
merely by stepping up the scale and
extent Of the strategical air attacks now
being made against that countrys indus
trial centers. Very few experienced air
officers believe that air power can win by
itself without actual invasion of German
territory by land armies. But there Is
room for wide divergence of opinion as
to the extent to which air power can
prepare the way for invasion and, conse-
quently. as to the proportion of our total
available resources which should be put
into bombardment aviation as against the
equipment of ground troops and the
building of ships of war.
I think, however. that we need not be
greatly concerned about these professional
differences of view. Adequate machinery
exists for their thorough discussion and
for the reaching of sound decisions based
on factual evidence. It is when the con-
troversy is taken up by civilian enthu-
siasts that 1t becomes, in some of its
aspects disquieting.
The reason for this is that it is natural
enough for American families whose
young men are now in the armed forces
IN QpNonf vIytt tIryIf TIM
oft-made assertion that there is a quick
and easy road to victory which will not
entail heavy loss of life. Should this view
come to be generally accepted, the reac-
tons might be serious when events bring
a deluded people face to face with the
grim realities of war.
So we might, for moment, Just look
at some Of the latest fallacies that are
being banded about. The trouble with
most of them is that they rest on modi-
cum of fact and that wholly unwarranted
conclusions are drawn from the facts as
stated
Thus take the statement that Pantel-
leria was reduced by air power alone.
Actually Pantelleria was isolated by
combination Of air and naval power and
was battered into submission by air
bombing plus certain amount of naval
bombardment. When it surrendered, its
garrison and civil population had been
without food and water for three days.
Why? Because food and water could not
be brought to them from Sicily, either by
air or by sea. Under the circumstances.
any garrison might well have given up.
Landing parties were actually approach
Ing the island when the surrender took
place. The prospect of having to fight of
these landing parties, under the circum-
stances, was just more than the garrison
could take.
Obviously, we have an interesting les
son here on the subject of the reduction
OF small island strongholds when we can
establish complete control of the sea
around them and bring overwhelming air
power to bear on them.
We may be able to apply these lessons
elsewhere-in the Aegean Sea, for ex-
ample. or in the Pacific, or in the Bay of
Bengal. But just as obviously, these
lessons apply with much less force to
the problem Of conquering large islands
like Sicily or Sardinia, and they apply
hardly at all to the problem of invading
continental country.
The essential element in the reduction
OF Pantelleria was blockade. In this case.
the blockade was complete; the enemy
garrison was entirely isolated. 1t had no
resources OF its own, not even an ade-
quate water supply. The bombing only
hastened an end which was inevitable
the moment the fact Of isolation was
established. No such result can be ex-
pected by similar means when applied to
great continental area like Germany.
External blockade weakens Germany by
depriving her of overseas sources of raw
materials. Internal blockade-the inter-
ruption Of internal communications and
the destruction of industrial facilities by
strategical airpower-still further weak
ems Germany by reducing the effective
ness OF her means of making war; that is
by reducing the extent to which she can
translate raw material into fighting
power. The application of blockade paves
the way for assault, and makes assault
easier, reduces its cost.
But for final victory, both types of
pressure must be applied, the one work.
inp with tho othe,. fou,ar vi %bo oox.~..~