The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1941. CREDIT BALANCE AT CRETE.

Evening Star, Issue 23908, 11 June 1941, Page 6

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1941. CREDIT BALANCE AT CRETE.

Basixg his remarks on detailed information available to him, Mr Winston Churchill, in his House of Commons reply to the debate on Crete, was able to give convincing reasons why that hectic campaign was a worth-while contribution to the Allied cause. He explained that the fighting there could be regarded only as a part of the struggle in the Middle East, and that the margin by which it had been lost had not been great. According to Ins figures, the British and Dominion losses totalled 15,000 in killed, wounded, missing, and prisoners. The Germans, on the other hand, suffered huge loss of life. Out of their total of 17,000 casualties the killed and wounded amounted to 12,000, and it is known that 5,000 were drowned while attempting a seaborne invasion., When it is considered that the enemy’s air-borne troops and parachutists, so many of whom were lost, would bo highly-trained men whose services were no doubt intended for a wider and more important field of operations, it will bo readily understood that the Nazis will have received a shock they did not bargain for. Apart from the details given by the British Prime Minister, it has been widely realised that the action has thrown Hitler’s war machine out of gear, for in the meantime it was possible not only to clean up llashid All’s revolt in Iraq, but also to organise the British and Free French forces for the timely advance into Syria. The fact that this is the first time we have been able to take the initiative against Nazi pressure by land may be regarded as a healthy sign, and a good augury for the longawaited turning of the tide.

In the air the German losses were tremendous for such a brief campaign. No fewer than 180 bbmbers and 250 transport planes w’ere accounted for, and it needs little imagination to arrive at an accurate estimate of what this means at a stage of his south-east adadvance when Hitler is about to face a strongly-reinforced Royal Air Force in the Middle East with more convenient bases to work from. There are grounds for believing, moreover, that thero is some truth in current cabled reports that the Axis bases in the yEgean are beginning to feel the pinch in the matter of petrol supplies. The desperate manner in which the Fulmer is hurling his forces into the fray offers a vivid suggestion that his success depends on a speedy victory. It is reported to-day that the Germans and Italians are “ scrambling for. ships in which to carry petrol to their JE gean air bases, where thenstocks were depleted during the Crete campaign.” The Nazis’ scheme for the conquest of Palestine and Egypt has most likely been based on obtaining quick possession of the Iraqi oilfields. Here again, they have been thwarted, and largely by reason of the gallant resistance' by our men in Crete. It would be only a foolish type of optimist who would underestimate the strength, of the forces and resources left to the determined and desperate aggressors, but it is clear that the situation would have been infinitely more critical from the British point of view had Hitler been allowed to proceed with the next stage of his campaign without the necessity to wage the fierce Battle of Crete.