POLICING” BAY OF BISCAY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 5 August 1941, Page 5

POLICING” BAY OF BISCAY

NAVY NOW ABLE TO DO TASK EFFECTIVELY RESULT OF U.S. OCCUPATION OF ICELAND (Rec., 11 a.m.) New York, Aug.. 4. One major reason for the United States’ occupation of Iceland was the great aid this would give Britain in combating the U-boat menace. The weakest spot in the British defences is in the waters off the French coast along the Bay of Biscay, where the Nazis have established a number of submarine bases, says the "New York Daily Mirror.” Owing to the enormous depth of these waters it is impossible to lay anchored minefields to prevent the submarines getting to the Atlantic. The only alternative was a constant naval and air patrol. but Britain lacked sufficient destroyers for the job. Since the United States' occupation of Iceland. plus a patrol between Nova Scotia and Iceland, Britain is enabled to divert sufficient war vessels and planes to effectively police the Bay of Biscay.—