BALKANS CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 101, 1 May 1941, Page 10

BALKANS CAMPAIGN

THE TIME FACTOR

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION

GAIN TO BRITAIN

LONDON, April 30,

Well-informed observers in Cairo are of the opinion that though the Nazis have gained considerable advantages from the campaign in the Balkans, the British operations in Greece have certainly upset the German time-table. It is emphasised that had Britain not undertaken the campaign, Germany would still have imposed her will on Yugoslavia and Greece and would have done so a good deal earlier.

The Germans, it is pointed out, have had to divert trbops and aircraft from the west of Europe, and this diversion has interfered to some extent with the carefully planned working of the Nazi war machine. The Germans must now restore damaged communications, and will have two more hostile countries on their hands.

Germany hoped to get steady supplies of food and minerals from Greece and Yugoslavia, but as a result of the present disorganisation she may n^ get these supplies, and may even have to provide the conquered countries with food.

Cairo observers believe that Britain may have gained as much as two months in time by her operations in Greece, and emphasise that this gaining of time is important when the Middle East is every day receiving more and more equipment and reinforcements.