THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1943 THE FIRST BREACH OPENED

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24633, 12 July 1943, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1943 THE FIRST BREACH OPENED

Long prepared and long awaited, the assault on Fortress Europe has begun and a breach been made. The North African landings were seen by Mr. Churchill as the end of the beginning and now Sicily is being recognised as the beginning of the end. That is why the new AngloAmerican initiative, has lifted up hearts everywhere. The tonic is all to the good so long as it stimulates renewed effort. For this is only the beginning. A hard road lies ahead and it may prove to lie also a long road. Meanwhile the free world rejoices that General Eisenhower has made an extraordinarily good start. In major amphibious operations, the first stage is, the most difficult arid often the most costly. This stage has been successfully passed. The landings on the hostile coast were secured within 90 minutes of zero, after which the Allied forces fought their way inland. If the reports are correct that the landing operations were completed without the loss of a ship, an astounding record of military efficiency has been set. Much of the credit belongs to the naval and air superiority established in advance. The Royal Navy long ago confined the formidable Italian fleet to its northern bases and the Allied air forces by intensive bombardment of enemy aerodromes have by all accounts virtually grounded the Luftwaffe and Rcgia Aeronautica. The enemy was unable to take advantage of the wide and vulnerable target offered by the Allied warships, transports and barges and the invaders in landing were covered bv a naval barrage. A better example of shepherding would be hard to find.

Now it is for the land forces to exploit the opportunity created by sea and air forces. Eapid progress should not be expected all at once. The landing parties have to establish bridgeheads of sufficient depth to permit reinforcements of men and material to be unloaded without undue interference. Sufficient force will have to be assembled before an offensive can be mounted against the large garrison the Axis is reported to have placed on the island. The apparent ease of the landings should not yet be accepted as the measure of the enemy's strength. Although cowed on sea and in the air, he may still develop powers of resistance on the land. His best chance is now, before the Allies can stiffen their bridgeheads with reinforcements and heavy munitions. Where the landings have taken place is not certainly known at the time of writing. Reports say they have occurred at many points along 100 miles of coastline and several speak of the south-east corner of the island. The intensive preliminary bombing of the three aerodromes at Gerbini points to this locale. Its proximity to the Strait of Messina and the toe of Italy is another indication. The south-east corner offers the shortest route to a major objective, whose capture would undermine the defence of what is a very large and topographically difficult island. In area Sicily is one-third larger than Wales and just as mountainous. Its defence should be easy, if the defenders have their heart in the business. If the Axis is incapable of a serious fight to hold Sicily, it will thereby proclaim to the world its weakness and early collapse. More immediately, Allied occupation of Sicily would reinsure their convoys using the Mediterranean short-cut, expose Axis communications with Sardinia, open the Tyrrhenian Sea to Allied naval action, bring all Italian cities within closer bombing range, and provide a close base for the invasion of South Italy.

Just as Sicily is one of the keys to South Italy, so the latter holds the key of the back-door to the Balkans, by-passing the Dodecanese, Crete, and the Aegean Islands. Italy tried to blaze the trail in the autumn of 10-10, when she made her ignoble attack on Greece. These strategical implications of the Allied initiative are bound to make a profound political impression. While Spain is confirmed in her non-bel-ligerency, Turkey may well find cause to reconsider her attitude. Tints is raised the possibility of opening the Straits—by far the best: supplyline to Russia. The Soviet will surely not be blind to these wider implications in the Sicilian attack. Meanwhile it must be a real satisfaction, while she is locked in deadly struggle on the steppes, to observe that the Allies are diverting substantial Axis forces by their direct attack oti Europe proper. Flore is a

"second front" within the strict meaning of the term. Moreover, it by no means absorbs the whole of the striking power of the AngloAmerican combination. The Allies still command large concentrations, both iu the Mediterranean and in Britain, that; may any day now be set in motion to make other breaches in Hitler's Fortress Europe.