NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 113, 15 May 1941, Page 10

NOTES ON THE WAR NEWS

THE ROLE OF VICHY

KEY TO NEXT MOVE

DEAL WITH HITLER

In no war in the past has the use of propaganda to cover plans . and mislead the other side been so marked as in this war. So many "stories" are put out about coming operations in this or that theatre of the war, 2 about the terms of alleged agreements between Towers, and a host of other aspects, that people are naturally puzzled and reduced to a state of general scepticism about anything but actual facts and events. All this is "the fog of war" in a far wider sense than the term meant in other wars. Then it referred to tactical operations in the field and at sea, but now it spreads over almost everything, so far at least as the enemy is concerned. In many instances it has proved a most effective smoke screen to conceal plans of surprise. What Does Hitler Get? What, for example, is Vichy doing now? Today's news announces that Hitler's "demands" have been accepted by the Vichy Government in return for concessions which alter the terms of the Armistice of June, 1940. The concessions are reported to be "the liberation of Paris" and the restoration of large areas of France, making the total under the Petain regime four-fifths of the whole and leaving Germany the coal and iron mines, ports on the north and west coasts, and all river mouths. What exactly does Hitler get for his share of the bargain? This is what everybody would like to know, but little that can be regarded as absolutely authentic has come out of the fog. The new arrangement has been regarded as. a further step along the path of collaboration with Germany. Mr. Eden spoke on the subject in the House of Commons, but, apart from a tacit admission that the Germans had been sending "small torpedo-boats" down the Rhone to the Mediterranean, contented himself with a general statement that he could hardly believe the French people were prepared to help the enemy. Help in the Past. Unfortunately there are growing reasons to bel^ve that the Vichy Government has already helped the enemy very materially in allowing at least the use of French African territorial waters for the safe passage of the German expedition to North Africa which succeeded in recovering Benghazi. The account of the Lisbon correspondent of the "News Chronicle" in a London cable today is both particularised and circumstantial. The concluding paragraph is worth quoting:— Ships from France and Northern Italy at night crossed west to Bizerta to avoid British patrols which were watching the Sicilian Channel from the east side. By this means 124 ships reached Tripoli, using French territorial waters. This confirms the deduction that this was the only way so large a force— 35 000 is mentioned—with armoured equipment could have reached Africa from Europe. On an earlier occasion, it should be mentioned, land batteries on the coast of French North Africa opened fire on 1 British destroyers endeavouring to stop a French convoy— as they had a right to do—for examination for contraband. After making every allowance for the weakness of the Vichy Government in the face of relentless German pressure and the presence of two million French prisoners of war in Germany, the patience of the British Government has been strained'to the limit. If in addition, as is stated, the concessions France has made in the interests of "collaboration include the use of French railways to transport German troops across France to the Spanish frontier as the first step to an attack on Gibraltar, and the use of French aerodromes in Syria to threaten Turkey, Irak, Palestine, and the Suez Canal, it is hard to see what greater harm France could do to the cause of democracy, short of a declaration of war. Even that would at least clear the air and allow Britain to take such steps as the situation demanded. German Plans in East. As it is, the Germans are reported fc the Budapest ' correspondent of _ the "New York Times," on the authority of German military men, to be massing forces on the Turkish frontier in Eastern Thrace and in the Greek islands m the Aegean Sea, ready for a new offensive through Turkey and across Syria into Irak for the oil and towards Egypt to drive, the British from North Africa. The correspondent says that the few remaining neutral diplomats in Belgrade are convinced that the Turks will submit. This opinion may not'be worth very much, but there is also the report that Rudolf Hess in his first interviews in Britain "indicated that the question of full German partnership with Russia might be the chief motive of his behaviour." There are also other rumours of a coming meeting between Stalin and Hitler and Mussolini. It is not suggested that these are anything more than rumours, but they do show the general uncertainty that makes it so difficult to forecast events. What has already happened in the war is mostly the unexpected, and experience has taught the necessity of being prp pared for any emergencies. Ready for Emergencies. In the Middle East the British Imperial Forces should be ready for emergencies. It seems unlikely that if German penetration into Vichy Syria by air or other means begins to constitute a threat, the Imperial forces will" remain passive. On that point German penetration into the Balkans prior to the attack on Greece should be a sufficient lesson. In Palestine the British are in a far better position to take effective action than they were in Greece. It is the enemy who will have to use air or sea routes, and these are commanded by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. But in spite of all the reports there is almost an equal chance that the enemy will prefer to strike at the Western Mediterranean through Spain. America's Attitude. In either event, or if a simultaneous attack is contemplated, the . United States Government appears to have taken the opportunity through its ambassadors at Vichy and Madrid to warn the respective Governments of France and Spain of its strong attitude of disapproval. There is also of the policy of shipping munitions from America to the Middle East through the Red Sea. Meanwhile, the Itaio-German- advance in Libya is at a standstill, the defences of Tobruk have been greatly strengthened, and the danger to Egypt from that side has been greatly reduced. The gradual petering out of the war in Abyssinia should add to the forces available for other operations in the- Middle East. The position therefore may be regarded _as generally satisfactory*'