RUSSIAN PLANES FOR GREECE

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 107, 1 November 1940, Page 7

RUSSIAN PLANES FOR GREECE

(Received November 1, 9 a.m.)

LONDON, October 31

Salonika reports that in the past few days 134 Soviet warplanes are reported to have arrived, in Greece in conformity with a recent Russo-Greek agreement. Forty-five are bombers and the remainder fighters.

LONDON, October 31

The official Soviet news agency has denied a report made earlier today that between 120 and 150 Russian military planes arrived in Greece from the Soviet Union during the past three days.

A PLAGE TO STRIKE

THE NAVY'S SEARCH

VALUE OF SEA AND AIR POWER

BLOWS AT ITALY

(British Official Wireless.?

(Received November 1, 12.45 p.m.)

RUGBY, October 31

Listeners to the 8.8.C. war commentary tonight heard with interest the former First Sea Lord, Lord Chatfield, answer his own question, which came towards the end of his address. "What will be the effect of our Fleet's responsibilities of implementing our guarantee to Greece?" he asked.

"Obviously," he said, "that will be considerable. "The Greek navy consists of a cruiser, 23 torpedo craft, and six submarines. They are well trained and will play a part alongside ours. Italy, by invading Greece through Albania, can maintain her armies by the short sea route across the Adriatic —not an easy sea for our fleet to operate in—but always there are possibilities of night actions. If Italy plans to extend her operations by sea to the Greek islands, our Fleet may be given that opportunity to strike which it has waited for. The laws of strategy teach you your enemy's weak spot, and those sea and air forces we can spare from the defence of these islands against Germany should enable us to strike some violent blows against Italy.

"Italy's objects may be to divide our military forces so as to weaken our resistance in Egypt. But our sea and air power will be of more value to help Greece than a large army sent to Salonika, with all that that would mean in transport and supply. The waters of Greece are no new battleground for us. Thanks to Greek hospitality, our Navy for years has exercised there. Her harbours and islands have valuable strategic points which are well known to our sailors, and which we shall doubtless use. But one must remember that bases cannot be improvised as simply or as rapidly as before, for they have to be defended against air and submarine attacks.

"It is too early in Italy's new adventure, however, to discuss such matters," Lord Chatfield said. "Obviously, I cannot give you a comparative statement of the forces in the Mediterranean, but we have concentrated there a Fleet under Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham which is able by its efficiency to contain the Italian fleet, to guard the Straits of Gibraltar and to hold the Straits of Gibraltar, and to protect the Suez Canal. Fighting in the narrow waters of the Mediterranean, the Fleet has had gradually to take measure of its Italian opponent, his navy, his air force, and his submarines, testing their fighting capacity."

There Lord Chatfield left it

Minister for Co-ordination of Defence during many arduous months before Mr. Chamberlain's resignation, it is significant that Lord Chatfield began with the assertion that the "laws of sea power have not so far been vitally modified by submarine warfare." He added, however, that, having lost the ■Channel ports, enabling the enemy to mount coastal batteries at the narrows, the passage of convoys there, from being a routine traffic problem, had become a naval operation. Lord Chatfield continued immediately, however: "Nevertheless, our trade continues to flow along this route, which the enemy has done his utmost to deny us."