THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 2, 1941.
CHINA MAIL
WINDSOR HOUSE
EPIC OF GREECE
Sufficient has now been revealed of the Greek episode to lift the gloom, dismiss fears of catastro- phe, and weigh the gains against the losses with al more assured sense of balance. Mr. Churchill, in his brilliant speech of Sunday, did much to shat- ter the John Gordons, to restore any lagging
of British and American faith and to put the set- back in its proper pers- pective. His disclosure in the House of Commona that 45,000 of 60,000 An- zac and British troops sent to Greece have been safely evacuated com- pletes the job. Without vainglory and without! losing sight of the pain- fulness of our losses, we can cheerfully echo the 'sentiments of the Prime) Minister that "we have much to be thankful for and the Empire forces have much to be proud of."
-
PLYMOUTH, 1941.
Crucial Battle
main the same
The basic principles of war re- concentration. offensive action, security. Success
113
development of offensive
war is still dependent on the action
Beyond a doubt, our losses are infinitesmal compared with those in- flicted upon the Germans, while the evidence strong- ly suggests that the with- drawal was not necessitat- ed by the inability of the Imperial forces to carry on as gloriously as they began in their sector, but by the heavy fateful deci- sion forced upon the! get these facts, as true to-day as they were when the first cave- Greeks that their armies men clashed with club and stone, in the field, after months of heroic effort against tremendous odds, had reached a stage of
on a secure base against a well
chosen objective. Sometimes, in cutch-phrases
e flurry of new
-By Major George
and new weapons, we tend to for- Fielding Eliot
ar-
carefully Joint defence
ww
turity that, with ranged plans for with the British and Dutch, ought to be able to deal with any attempt by the Japanese to extend their power in the region
When, therefore, we find our selves with military problems to solve, we should try to solve them in the light of these principles. ex Sperineally, as we contengilate the .haustion from which necessity for the United States to of the South China Sea. But if
tions in the Atlantic undertake naval and air opera-the Atlantic becomes OLEN main
cations with Great
offensive operations, in which we must concentrate such forces as may be necessary to accomplish our objective.
well hs Britain's.
such counter-action.
with
her
of
means
the Japanese further priceless positions, but at the first sign of aggression.
West Africa A Problem Too
We have next a security pro- blem to be dealt with 111 West Africa. The Germans are adept at making flank or enveloping at- tacks, at avoiding direct assault for the indirect method which strikes with strength against weakness, which diverts, weakens and undermines. If we
engaged
be
in North Atlantic operations, they would seek to divert us in the South Atlantic. For this purpose there could be no lasting
they would need bases, and these Ocean for offensive theatre, we must realise bases could only be located in recovery. In the circum- the protection of vital communi- that its demands become primary; some of the Atlantic islands, or stances, evacuation be-
Britain, we half measures are the inevitable on the west coast of Africa with- must realise that once we have prelude to defeat, and if cruisers, in reach of the German land-air came inevitable, and the taken this decision, the North At-destroyers and aircraft carriers power. They lack the mobility Imperial army, supported lantic becomes a major theatre of are needed in the Atlantic, we
which command of the sea con- must send them there. throughout by two or
We might fers, and can use only such bases thus have to cut down, for the us they can reach and supply by three divisions of stout-
time being, the striking power of land. hearted Greek
our Pacific Fleet; which troops,
Our requirements, therefore, are that for the time being we might (1) to strengthen, We may be quite sure that every have to assume the defensive in and other means,
by supplies fought their way back to:
effort will be made by our
the British in the sea, always sufficient-ponents to prevent us from doing
op the Pacific.
their West African positions, and the Free French in Equatorial ly in command of the sit- this. These efforts are likely to take two forms: threatening Jap-
But this does not and must not Africa as well as the Belgians in uation to ensure the anese moves in the Far East, and Philippines, the Dutch
mean the abandonment the the Congo, so that there can be safety of the main body. threatening Axis moves in West dies and Singapore to the Japan to any of these areas; (2) to make East In- no chance of the Axis pushing in- Africa-coupled, of course, Never was their thin rear-widespread raids on shipping, per- ment might be tantamount to the position becomes available to the ese. The effect of such abandon- certain that no other West African guard line broken; never haps on American shipping as loss of the war, for it might cut Germans. did it falter.
off Great Britain from sources of It does not seem impossible raw materials and foodstuffs which that some arrangement could
United. could not be replaced, and might' arrived at by which the produce a complete collapse of States, could enter into an agree
Middle Eastern campaign, ment assuring the military safety with the consequent release of of the Portuguese colonial empire, German forces for concentration
that an arrangement similar to already reached with regard against Britain.
to. Greenland. Of course the Ger- Consequently we should produce mans would threaten Portugal a defensive concentration in the with direct attack, but Germany. Philippines of forces not so Im is hardly anxious for fresh mlit- mediately useful in the Atlantic ary adventures at the time, and, troops, land-based 'planes of sec-
would be less so were we to bej
Ih. ond-line, types, submarines and active in the North Atlantic. we should thoroughly co-ordinate any case, Germany will attack our plans for the defence of the Portugal when it is to Germany's at Hong Kong South China Sea with the British Interest to do so, quite regardless and Malaya, and of whether Portugal's previous at- the Dutch. It should be possible titude has or has not been "cor- to retain a sufficient naval force rect" in the Wilhelmstrasse sense in the Pacific so that, in co- of that word. An arrangement of strategic, gain. Moreover, she has staked her na-operation with British, Dutch and this sort with Portugal would give the Greeks are by notional life on the belief Australian forces, the Japanese us.positions not only in the Azores means vanquished. Greece that Britain must win in risk than any reasonable Japanese in Portuguese Guinea, on 'Africa's would be faced with a greater and Cape Verde Islands, but also won the first clearcut vic- the end, and she fights on officer would care to advise his western_bulge. tory over aggression in from Crete, secure in the thing is to make it clear to the er startling considerations, or so government: to assume. The great| These are all far-flung and rath- this war. And though. Hit tradition of a people that Japanose that we are not only they will seem to most Ameri- ler's mechanical men has watched history thr-prepared to fight any fresh aggres- cans; yet they are a part of the sion, but have the will to fight; picture of maritime security, and have clanked into Athens, ough the ages write the that any "step by step" policy of it is maritime security upon which the fight will still con- epitaphs of all its con- small advances will meet imme- the future of our people and of diate resistance, not after a long freedom in this world must be tinue. Like Yugoslavia querors.
series of aggressions have given founded,
HT
of communication,
If the cost has been
We must be prepared against great to Britain and
We ought to
to give thought, not only to con- Greece, there is plentiful centration of offensive power in cause for satisfaction in the main theatre, but to the sec-
urity of lines any study of the corres- strategic flanks, and Interests ponding cost to Hitler of other parts of the world. his Balkans adventure. Enormous casualties, dis- rupted communications,
Atlantic Must Come First
in
closure for months of the
In the Far East, the presence of Danube, and two hostile the Fleet at Hawaii and the ad- peoples to keep under, re-ila gives so great a naval super- vance guard Asiatic Fleet at Man- present a totally dispro- portionate price for the
M
Text