Isles Of The Mediterranean Are Invasion Stepping-Stones

Taranaki Daily News, 22 March 1943, Page 3

Isles Of The Mediterranean Are Invasion Stepping-Stones

Air power is attacking vital defence zohe Air offensive iti the Mediterranean is bringing fresh names into the target list. The isles of the midMediterranean are coming into the role forecast by them by Nazi geopolitical writers — intellectual forej runners of German imperialist expansion. To-day these islands are strongholds of Axis Power from which the enemy must eventually be shifted to make them stepping stones for the invasion of Europe from the south.

Largest Island. At the present time particular attention is being paid to Sicily — by a stroke of retributive justice by aircraft from Malta. Sicily always has played a dominating role in Mediterranean warfare. With an area of 9900 square miles and a population of more than 4,000,000, Sicily is the largest and most populated island in the Mediterranean Sea. The Italians have turned the island into a military base of first importance. Travellers who visited Sicily in recent years report how the quiet life in the ancient cities had changed. Every where new military barracks and homes for defence workers had been built. Italy's main naval bases on Sicily are Palermo on the north coast, Catania-Augusta on the east coast, and Trapani in the west. Palermo, Messina, and Agrigento are important military centres. Large aerodromes have been constructed near Palermo, at Catania, Syracusa, and Comiso (south coast). The number of air bases on Sicily has been largely increased since Italy entered the war. After Italy's defeats in Libya, the German Luftwaffe took over command of all Axis air forces on the island.

Volcanic Island. Pantelleria, 40 miles from the Tunisian coast and 150 miles from Malta, had been a forgotten and lonely spot until Signor Mussolini broke traditional friendship with Great Britain. In 1935 the Fascist general staff decided to fortify the small volcanic island, 2500 feet high, which dominates the narrow channel between Tunisia and Sicily. In 1937 Pantelleria was declared a military zone and aeroplanes were forbidden to fly over it. Pantelleria, however, is not a second Malta. It has no natural harbour and its anchorages are exposed to enemy attack. The geological structure of the island has not allowed the construction of large airports. Pantelleria is only a centre of hydroavions which put down on its small lake. On the other hand, the island's coast contains many hiding places for ttalian and German submarines.

Sardinia and Nelson. The smaller Italian island of Sardinia (9300 square miles and 1,000,000 inhabitonts) was considered by the Italian High Command as a defence base against France. Sardinia covers Italy's westem flank a narrow channel of only seven miles, the Straits of Bonifacio, separates Sardinia from Corsica. Sardinia has already played an important role in the naval history of the Mediterranean Sea. It was in La Maddalena, small island port north of the Sardinian mainland, that Admiral Neslon and the- British waited for the French fleet coming from Toulon, and eyentually defeated " it' at Trafalgar. To-day La Maddalena has again become the main Italian naval base on the Sardinian north coast. Italy also Cortified Cagliari, capital of the island, on the southern coast, and the small islands of Sant' Antioco and San Pietro at the south-western end of the island. Terranova, located on the east coast of the island and facing the Italian mainland, is another naval and air base. After the defeat of France, Corsican defence bases had been disarmed under the supervision of Axis corhmisisons, and Corsica therefore was unable to offer resistance to the Italian invaders. Italian troops probably will content themselves with the occupation of the main French bases at Ajaccio (west coast), Bastia (east coast), and Bonifacio (south coast), and they are not likely to enter the macchia (Corsican mountains) in the interior of the country, where they face Corsican guerrilla warfare.

Spanish Balearics. According to the blueprints of defence in the Western Mediterranean the Spanish Balearic Islands enter into Axis calculations. Signor Mussolini has several times undertaken to establish Italian bases on the Spanish Balearic Islands. In 1926 he concluded an agreement with the onetime Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera giving Italy the right to occupy the Balearics in time of war. The Spanish Republic repealed this treaty, but when General Francisco Franco and other Spanish military leaders revolted against the Republican Government, Italian air forces arrived in Mallorca. Diplomatic negotiations eyentually resulted in the withdrawal of Italian ( military forces from the island, though Italian civil air companies used Mallorca as a landing place for the line Rome to Cadiz. Strategically, the most important island of the Balearic group is Minorca. During the eighteenth century Minorca was three times in British possession, and they transformed the excellent harbour of Mahon into a strong naval base. Port Mahon and its fortress, La Mola, have since been occupied by Spanish troops. Recently the fortifications have been modernised and numerous coastal bat- | teries and anti-air craft guns set up.