Evening star., 1954-08-09
Sands Shift for Britain Along the Suez
BY John G. Henry
Sfar stnff corresnondanf

1SMAllllA, EgypG-lG W0ulQnC take
as much as an old-fashioned atom
bomb to wipe out this oasis city In the
center OF what has been for the past
three years the most disputed piece Of
desert In the world. But even II one
had been dropped for the purpose Of
destroying the civilian headquarters Of
the Suez Canal Company and the mill
tary headquarters Of the British Army
and the Royal Air Force in the Middle
East. 1t would not have assured the
crippling Of either Of these operations.
For the canal-and the military zone
along it which Britain has now agreed
to transfer to Egyptian maintenance
and operation extends for more than
a hundred miles from Port Said, the
Mediterranean Sea terminal. to Port
Suez, the Red Sea terminal. Described
contempttlOuSly- while in the blueprint
stage-by Britain'S Lord Palmerston as
IAN Arabian Nights dream Of pouring
water on the desert" the canal today is
the most heavily travelled waterway In
the world Fortunately for Britain, an
other of her 19th-century statesmen,
Prime Minister Disraeli. had greater
vision than Palmerston and the London
SOVCI1L1 was dUlC LII 1910 W UUy
still cheaply an important share in the
ownership Of the canal. Stock is widely
held today-F'rench interests are in the
majority on the board Of directors
but the original 99-year concession
given by the Egyptian government ex-
pires in 1868.
Almost from the day Of purchase,
Britain recognized the canal as its
lifeline of empire"--tie short passage
between the United Kingdom and what
are now the Commonwealth states Of
Asia and the Southwest Pacific. Ac-
cordingly, British military strength has
been deployed along the waterway
through all Of those years-reaching
its peak for time Of mot peace, not
war" during this past two years of
violence and controversy. With the
agreement for evacuation now signed.
an estimated $4,000 troops with air.
craft. stores and varied supplies are
to be moved out during the next 20
months. Paradoxically, this strength
has been built up not so much as q
defense for the canal itself-it was
out Of operation during long periods
OF World War II and probably would
be so in another world conflict. It
was built up instead as q military
nerve center"-accessible by land, sea
and air-from which to stage, first, a
defense for the entire Middle East and,
second, defense of the northeast cor
ridor into the whole of Africa
In turn, however, this concept of how
military power may be employed in
a next war has been changed by devel-
opment Of atomic and thermonuclear
weapons, to provide one Of the several
reasons for the British decision to evac-
uate the base. The maintenance Of
large forward garrison areas may be
too inviting a target to an enemy.
Another admitted reason is that too
many Of Britain's best troops are here
now-and too few at home. And finally
probably the most forceful reason of
all is that both justice and expediency
demanded British agreement to end it's
military occupation Of Egypt-with the
assurance that the base may be re-
occupied under certain circumstances
Of war and the likelihood that Egyp-
tian cooperation would be greater and
more freely given.
An inspection of the base area re-
quireS travel by air, by road and across
hard-sand trails Of the desert. This
reporter was one of four American
correspondents received by the British
command at headquarters, nearby
Camp MoaScar, and given a concen-
trated oral and visual briefng.
The Middle East Command Of the
Raj, largest overseas operation Of
Britain's air arm, had its semiannual
command conference here during the
very days the Anglo-Egyptian agree
ment was being worked out finally in
Cairo. Top brass was in from Alden,
Kenya, Libya. Jordan, Iraq, Cyprus
and the Persian Gulf and the emphasis
given to correspondents by the brief
ing officers was on the flexibility of
this portion of Britain's fighting
strength. With certain landing and
servicing facilities in the zone assured
under the agreement, the Raj plans
to deploy most of its present strength
to these other command areas.
A fight over the zone-rnade in an
Raj twin-engine Devon transport
provides an idea Of the vastness of the
area and the variety of facilities which
were left from World War II and have
been expanded in the years since. From
Ismailia southwark to Port Suez, the
desert along the west bank Of the canal
is dotted with large and small install
lations- -including Deversoir, an air
field used by the American Air Force
in the last war and now operated as
fighter base; Fayid and Shallufa,
major air terminal centers; a half
dozen ammunition dumps, depots and
workshops. and finally the oil refiner-
les and docks of Port Suez. Most Of
the shipping In the canal moves in
conveys, one going north while an
other assemblies at Port Said to come
south. The flags of virtually all mari
time powers are represented in the
traffic
A measure of British determination
to hold the zone if that had been the
decision-or II it had resulted from q
breakdown Of negotiations with the
Tie 1nI T.