INVASION ROUTE TO U.S.

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23318, 2 May 1941, Page 9

INVASION ROUTE TO U.S.

.TRANS-ARCTIC FLYING ' WASHINGTON. April 11. There are only two possible route! for invasion of the, United States from Europe—one by way of Iceland Greenland, and Canada, the second by way of the western coast Of Africa .. and South America. While the possibility of overseas raids, on the American coasts cannot be ruled out, the United States Fleet, air forces, and coastal defences make any large-scale attack on the United States of America impracticable. After the invasion of Denmark, the* local administrative council in Green* land resolved to take over the powers , of the Danish Government, although at the same time it adopted an oath * of inviolable loyalty to King Chris* ' tian.X. Both Canada and the United States expressed particular concern for the future of Greenland; which was te* garded as coming within the .scope of the Monroe Doctrine, President Boosb* velt asked the American Red Cross to provide; supplies,, for the Greenland settlers, and a proposal'that the Uni* ted . States of America should buy, Greenland: was tabled in the Houae ox - Representatives. . . . The Governor of Greenland; M, Eska Brun, paid a visit to the United States to discuss trade matters, and an agree*, ment was reached between the United States, Canada, and the . local Graen* land authorities, wherebvit was ax* pected that the safety of; the’ important Greenland cryolite mine would be ensured, end that the Greenlander*, would receive adr-uate suroUes of provisions:, , ■ - , ~/ , . The cryolite mine at Ivigtut has . been operated for . several decades by an' American company. Otherwise, American econorpic interests in Greenland are slight

The “Icy Mountains” Greenland is in a position to play a unique role in the development at trans-Arctic flying. ‘Die practically level top of its ice cap—the only large survivor of the last ice age l left in the Northern Hemisphere—forms a continuous and nearly perfect emergency landing field 1500 miles long and up to 600 miles wide. „ However, this is not without its drawbacks, for the fact that the Ice cap forms a high plateau facing toe sea inevitably causes it to assist in toe formation of local gales along to* coast. •. The most direct routes from Chicago and other western cities to Paris, London, Berlin, and Moscow lie across Greenland. , ' . .. . Although Greenland is 84 per cent, snow-covered in midsummer, the snowfree 16 per cent, amounts to some 130,000 square miles, an area larger than that of the British Isles. Greenland’s largest snow-free region is at Its north tip—the northernmost region in the world. In summer, this land, named after Peary, who discovered it, is green with grass _ and bright with flowers, and is inhabited by numerous birds, insects, and mammals. The birds migrate south each autumn, the insects survive as eggs that germinate in the heat of the next summer, while toe mammals stay the year round. Greenland occupies an area of 840,000 square miles, and has a population of about 16,700, of whom 400 are Danes and the rest Eskimos or persons of mixed descent. The bulk of toe population live in toe west coast, where sheep breeding is the;principal Occupation. Iceland; the Faroe Islands, and Greenland all have strategical importance in relation to the control of the North Atlantic waters. British troops landed in the Faroes on April 11, 1940, afew days after the German invasion of Denmark, and in Iceland on May 10, to ensure the security of the country against German invasion. The Kingdom of Iceland is not part of the Danish Empire, but a sovereign State. It is, however, linked to DenMark, first, by the personality, of the ; King of Denmark, who also bears.®* ~. . title of toe King of Iceland, and. sec- ?- ond, .under the terms of to* ACt et Union of 1918. %, * "-I^-