Evening star., 1944-10-18

trips. we passed close to an island
on which, two days before. the Ger
mans had large coastal guns from
which we anticipated trouble. The
guns were silent. We don't know
whether they were abandoned by
Germans or were subdued by spe-
cial British and Greek forces op-
Grating from the Peloponnesus.
Area in British Sphere.
This is a British operation. It
appears that Greece and the rest of
the Eastern Mediterranean is a Brit
ish sphere of operation, just as
South France was an American
sphere. 1t is true, however, that
large proportion OF the material re-
lief being brought in by this expe-
dition is American in origin.
Our nonmilitary purpose is a dou-
BILE one: First, to preserve order and
make it possible for the Greeks to
settle their own political affairs
quickly and peaceably; second, to
do what we can to relieve this
country.
1t should be understood that the
bringing of adequate relief to Greece
is not an overnight job. The harbors
must be de-mined and the installa-
tions repaired before much of a dent
can be made in the requirements of
even the more accessible regions. A
difficult transport problem then
must be solved before food and sup
plies can be moved inland to the
remainder of the population.
An additional hard truth is that
the quantity of available supplies is
limited at present. 1t doesn't appear
likely at this crucial stage OF the
war we shall be able to pour into
Greece Immediately enormous
amounts of material help which the
overall situation undoubtedly calls
for. But We are here to do what we
can now and to lay groundwork for
what will have to wait until tomor-
row.
Came Prepared to Fight.
At the time Of embarkation for
this sea borne invasion" we did not
know what kind OF a situat ton we
might be stepping into. 1t was un-
derstood Ghat the Germans intended
to evacuate the African Peninsula
and the idea was to arrive as closely
on their heels as possible Since the
formation, moving and landing of
an expedition like this one necessar-
lily is matter requiring several days,
the wheels had to be set in motion
before the enemy was known to have
pulled out.
Therefore, we came prepared to
light, although it was hoped that no
fight would be necessary.
The night we came aboard ship.
the rumor went around that Athens
was free of the Germans and was
under the control of Greek patriot
forces. This rumor was later SUBJ
stantiated by ships radio. Before
that we were astounded to hear, on
the same radio, Gen. Wilson's an
nouncement to the Greek people that
we were on our way 1t gave us a
queer feeling. after all the secrecy
surrounding our movements, to hear
that calm voice telling the world
Sought to Avoid RiOtinx.
Little by little, however we were
able to piece the picture together
from radio broadcasts. Athens had
been cleared of Germans and Gen.
Wilson had made his broadcast in
order to persuade the Greek popu-
lace not to become involved in civil
conflict before our arrival.
Finally. we learned yesterday
morning that psrachutists, VINO had
been scheduled originally to land at
about the same time as the sea-
borne troops, had been dropped in
the Athens area ahead of sched-
ule, for the same purpose Corre-
spondents covering this operation
are here only by the skin of their
teeth-having missed their orig
inal boat bv II hours following a
mad 24-hour drive to the scheduled
port of embarkation.
Public relations officers, reacting
brilliantly in this crisis, rushed
them across country in q specially
chartered train with the right of
way over all other traffic, to another
port, where they caught the Ajax
just as she was about to put to sea.
Tree Pests Electrocuted
TOPEKA, Kans. P.-Phil Zim-