Lend-Lease Played Big Part In N. Africa

Northern Advocate, 29 June 1943, Page 3

Lend-Lease Played Big Part In N. Africa

(8.0. W.) ' RUGBY, June 27. The essential contribution of LendLease to the North African- triumph and the good effect it had had on the population, which might otherwise have helped the Axis, was described in Washington today by Mr. Stettinius. United States goods valued at 40,000,000 dollars have been shipped to North Africa to the end of May, he said, and an extremely high per centage of the total had been distributed by French authorities through normal trade channels, which paid back 25,000,000 dollars and were arranging to pay the rest in the near future. The programme had accomplished several purposes, including winning the good will of the people. Mr. Stettinius explained that immediately following American and British landings in North Africa, General Eisenhower and staff concluded that it was a vital military necessity to distribute large volumes of essential civilian supplies to win.the support and goodwill of millions of Arabs and French civilians who had been drenched in Axis propaganda over two years. Civil Population Helps

Conducting military operations in Tunisia the Allies faced the problem of an extremely long communication line and inadequate transportation and it was important to have the Arabs goodwill so that the natives would hinder Axis secret agents and- paratroops who might try to cut the Allied supply line from Casablanca to Tunisia. Considerable civilian labour was needed also to augment military personnel perfecting the supply line. A vital part of the Allied military programme was the creation of a Fighting French ally and for this a reasonably contented civilian population was necessary. It was a military necessity, therefore, that an influx of normally imported essential civilian goods be renewed to meet the actual needs of the civilian population and revitalise local economy. Mr. Stettinius said that the Arabs almost universally became strongly pro-Allied and greatly assisted Allied military success.