In The Mediterranean ITALY THREATENED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 6 December 1940, Page 3

In The Mediterranean ITALY THREATENED

Recent events in the Mediterranean are of far-reaching .significance, and have completely changed the situation in that important area of war. Three months ago the British forces on the Libya-Egypt border withdrew from Solium to Mere a Matruh in face of the Italian advance. At the same time Italy was doing her best to overawe Greece, and early in October German troops were moving into Rumania and occupying the oilfields. The Rumanian dictatorship became completely submissive to German behests, and markedly unfriendly to Britain: and Bulgarian Ministers were visiting Berlin. Everything seemed to point to an imminent move by Italy against Egypt and Greece, and by Germany against Turkey.

Britain’s Reply The threatening situation was met promptly by Great Britain, who reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet by wlmt Mr. Churchill described as “our most modern and powerful ships” (doubtless the five new battleships) which practically doubled the strength of our naval forces in the Middle East. Great convoys of ships carrying troops and munitions of all kinds were rushed out to Egypt, both through the Mediterranean and round the Cape of Good Hope, an'd similar convoys have been going out ever since. Britain’s military strength in Egypt today is vastly greater than it was three months

During September and October Italy was striving hard to overawe Greece and at the same time preparing for an attack upon her. In the light of what has happened since, It seems fairly clear that Mussolini expected little resistance, if any, from the Greeks, specially in view of Germany’s threatening activities in Rumania. In The Aegean Sea A glance at the map will show how valuable would be, from the Italian point of view, the possession of Greek air and submarine bases on the mainland or in the Aegean, either for operations against the British Mediterranean Fleet or to put pressure ou* Turkey. It is true that Italy already possesses the Dodecanese for this purpose, but that archipelago is somewhat distant and isolated, and she might at any time find herself in difficulties about its petrol supply. Had the Italian move against Greece gone according to plan and she had gained possession of the mainland and the Aegean Islands, Italy would have been in a strong position indeed. The Island of Crete lies like a long breakwater across the Aegean Sea and is linked to the coast of Asia Minor by the Dodecanese Islands. The possession by the Axis Powers of the Grecian Archipelago would have barred the way to the Dardanelles and constituted an advanced base for operations against Egypt and Palestine-Syria. Remarkable Change The dramatic happenings of the last month and the present victorious advance of the Greeks in Albania have been a severe blow to the Italian plans and the situation is developing ever more favourably to Britain. The coup at Taranto decisively altered the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean. Britain, not Italy, has gained the strategic bases in Crete and elsewhere in the Aegean Sea, and the Dodecanese Islands are isolated and threatened by our forces. The recent naval action near Sardinia implies that the seriously depleted Italian fleet has abandoned Taranto as its main base in favour of a far more westerly situation. This move leaves the British Mediterranean Fleet much more favourably placed to cut Italian sea communications with Albania and North Africa. In fact, Italy with her depleted strength in capital ships, has virtually resigned mastery of the Mediterranean to Great Britain. For nearly three months the Italian army commanded by Marshal Graziani in Libya has remained quiescent at Sidi Barrani. It may be doubted whether he will undertake any offensive against the British forces, even as an attempt to offset the serious reverse to Italian arms in Albania. The Italian communications along tlie Libyan coast are constantly harassed from the air and have been heavily shelled by British naval forces. The bombing of Benghazi and Tobruk by tlie R.A.F. must have gone far toward denying the use of these ports to Italian transports, especially in view of the fact that British submarines make the sea passage from Italy to Libya a risky business. British Air Offensive Since the beginning of October, the great damage wrought at Benghazi and Tobruk has forced the Italians to direct the majority of their transports carrying troops and supplies to Libya to tlie port of Tripoli. The crossing from Sicily to this port is much shorter than to Benghazi and Tobruk and the route is partly protected by minefields. On the other hand. Tripoli is more than 500 miles from the Egyptian frontier where the supplies are needed. The long haul by road makes the transport costly and slow. But even this route is not safe, since British planes have made several heavy bombing raids ou Tripoli. At the same time important military ports in Italy have recently been feeling the increasing strength of Britain’s air forces in Ihe Mediterranean. Naples on the west coast and Brindisi and Bari in the southern Adriatic have been intensively bombed and much damage done to oil supplies and other important objectives. A few days ago, too, R.A.F. bombers heavily attacked Catania and Augusta in Sicily. As British strength develops further, Italy, especially the southern portion, will fee] more and more the weight of attack from the air. Position Clarified Had Italy’s projected coup against Greece succeeded, it i*> probable that Marshal Graziani would have attempted an offensive against Egypt. It cannot be doubted that possession by Italy of Aegean bases would have created a perilous situation for Turkey, especially if Bulgaria had followed Rumania’s lead. And jieril to Turkey would have represented peril to the Suez Canal, because it is Turkey’s independence of the Axis which has combined with the presence of air forces in Palestine to save Syria from Italian domination. The heroic resistance of Greece and her brilliant counter-offensive against Italy, coupled with tlie immense improvement in Britain’s position in Eastern Mediterranean, have largely cleared the air in the Southern Balkans. Bulgaria’s attitude to the Axis Powers has stiffened perceptibly and Turkey has shown unmistakably that she is prepared to resist aggression with all her available and potential strength.— (S.D.W.)