Evening Post MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1942. ITALY, THE HEEL OF EUROPE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 131, 30 November 1942, Page 4

Evening Post MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1942. ITALY, THE HEEL OF EUROPE

Between the fall of France in MayJune, 1940, and Russia's entry into the Avar in June, 1941, there was a period when Britain stood grimly alone in defence of the world's freedom. Churchill, during- the black hours in 1940,- anticipated such a period, and predicted that this would be the greatest hour in Britain's history. And it was. But now it can be said, with thankfulness but without boastfulness,' that, at long last, the British-Russian. American military machine is in its collective stride. The world witnesses "the end, of the beginning," and sees an American army in North Africa less than twelve months after America's entry into the war. Powerful Allied armies deploy along the North African coast, attacking from west and east the Tunis-Tripoli territory still held by the Axis.. Once North Africa is held completely by the United.Nations, the way is open for a new chapter in their offensive; and the Prime Minister in his latest utterance gives a hint of the vital part that the African continent is destined to play in the fate of Europe. In the dim past Africa, through the Carthaginians and the Moors, had classic struggles with Europe; Spain ultimately broke the Moors, Italy broke Carthage. But Italy will not again be the bulwark of Europe from 'African attack; instead, she will prove to be Nazi-Fascism's fatal heel, Not much can be prophesied in war, but that prediction is safe. , The writing already is on the wall. The Prime Minister's speech, from which we quote below, again calls the world's attention to the difference that air power means in this latest of African-European wars. Besides referring to the sea-carriage advantages of an open Mediterranean Sea —with its economy of shipping, which would be a major blow in, the critical U-boat war—he asks the world to remember that mastery of the North African shore would open up a new air front. It would help to capitalise the military advantage accruing from the increase in the Allies' aircraft production and the diminution of the enemy's.

In order to shorten the struggle, it was our duty to engage the enemy in the air continually on the largest scale and with the greatest intensity. To bring relief to the tortured world there must be the maximum possible of air fighting. Already the Germans' air force was a wasting asset. Their new construction was not keeping pace with their losses. Their front-line strength was weakening in numbers, and, on the whole, in quality, while the British, American, and Russian air forces were growing' steadily and far outweighed the German. The British and United States expansion in 1943 would be, to put it mildly, well worth watching. All that was needed Was more frequent opportunities of contact. The new air front along the Mediterranean shore, along whiqh the American and Royal Air Forces were deploying,, .ought; rtO' give us* those extra opportunities abundantly, in 1943. .. :: :

That is one of the plainest deductions from modern war experience conjoined with the Allies' potential mastery of the North African shore. An equally plain deduction is that Italy must stop heavy blows.

Spurred on. by mad dreams of imperial' glory and actuated by unbridled tyranny, Mussolini had made his choice, and the appeals of the American President had fallen on deaf ears. Now Mussolini's empire had gone, and we had over 100 Italian generals and nearly 300,000 of his soldiers in our hands as prisoners of war. That was only the beginning, and what had the Italians to show for it? Domination by Germany, a bloody struggle with the heroic patriots of Yugoslavia, the undying shame of their role in Greece, the blasting of Genoa, Turin, and Milan. One man had created and brought those miserable calamities upon the hard-working and gifted and once-happy Italians, with whose country the English-speaking world had,so many sympathies and had never quarrelled. How long must that state of affairs endure?

"It is for the forty million* people of Italy to say," added Mr. Churchill, "whether they want this terrible thing to happen to their country."

Although Italians are certain to weigh most carefully the above words, it is impossible to predict the order in which the several villains will disappear from the stage created by Hitler's melodrama. The brief story is that Hitler, would-be world conqueror, made an opening for two loot-hunters, Mussolini and Japan* It is impossible that the junior jackal (Mussolini) can remain in action after the German tiger is disposed of; but it is quite possible that the jackal will contribute in Europe to the tiger's downfall. The career of the other jackal, Japan, is another story. The mission of the Allied armies in North Africa is, first, to unite; second, to prove that in modern war, with its terrific air arm, the Mediterranean Sea is not so much a defence of Europe against a superior naval and air, Power holding Africa, as an approach and a means of invasion. The story of Crete will be retold on a much bigger scale and with a different .ending. What is said above about the new air front that is in the making in the Middle Sea is not complete without mentioning the statement of the Air Secretary, Sir Archibald Sinclair, that "one-fifth of the whole German air force which faced the Russians before the new. operations in Africa have.been moved to counter the Anglo-American offensive." In short, the Luftwaffe's Russian and southern responsibilities —never forgetting its western responsibilities—will presently be beyond its power. Meanwhile, it is the Russian and the southern fronts that have the limelight. North Africa, when secured, will not be a seat for the Allied forces, but a springboard. The war has entered upon a dynamic phase, and it would not be surprising if the dramatic events of November prove to be the precursor of still more sweeping victories.