Where Armies Defy Fleets

Hokitika Guardian, 8 June 1922, Page 4

Where Armies Defy Fleets

(By Vice-Admiral G. A. Ballard, C. 8., late Director of Operations Dhision, Admiralty War .Staff),

“Bertinax,” referring in the' Kobo do Paris to the new strategic conditions of the Dardanelles, sets forth the views of a military critic to the effect that a fleet cannot control a narrow waterway commanded by the artillery ol the bordering States. And this critic would he perfectly right if he had not extended his views to include the Straits ol Gibraltar, which never have been, and Hover can he, effectively closed to the passage of ships except hy ships. Of all the waterways in the world carrying a heavy volume of traffic in normal times, none is more completely dominated fr in the land--thanks lo the surroitn ling topography-—llian the Dardanelles; aml no fleet, however powerful. eon id hope In hold this strategic nitd i oiunu’i'cial route open in the lace of the opp siiinu of a well-cquipp-d sirin’, n'ceupying the land, even on oil.' side, if supported hy aircrnlt. The greatest difficulty tlml was experienced hy our ships when trying to force this defile in 1915 was due to the pres nie id mashed batteries, hidden in the- folds of lhe surrounding hills, which could liol he located and replied to To some extent the deadly cfleet of these I, levies and their immunity iron; lotr.iii fire was due to our lack of aircraft lor reconnaissance and spotting work; Lilt even if the Allies arc hi-Uor oqnipped for future contingencies in tint respect than they were in 191-;, the Turks will probably h- better equipped also with a lighting air force to ilrivi (,(• rcroimoi irvrs.

I ideas, therefore, the Gallipoli Benin ida is in future to he held by ar. overwhelming combination of longrange artillery and aircraft, it cuniiii 1 afford an adequate cover to traffic in the Dardanelles, which mint he liable to complete s'opjiage from Asia Minor ii the "do-militnrised” area on that side of.the .Straits i.s invaded. Whctfi'-r tin Bowers concerned can ensure that that area will remain inviolate. ci.lv a soldier can say, hut all his l ory makes it clear that where a legion is exposed to Turkish attack something more than a paper guarr.nte is necessary fo its safety. Even if the Dardanelles were sale fur tire passage of ships, however, there would stiil remain the question *nf the Bosphorus. It would appear to he forgotten in

some quarters that the two are merely different sections of the passage from the Mediterranean to the Blacl; Sen. To h-avr I) to a! " if 1 lie Bosphorus enLirel.x in Turkish hands without any ivs'iricth military i'ortii'u ation ami al tie sane tin - io s aiion a large lei-ec on Oil ; Ido of the Oarchiuelles is almm as us fill a pro, ee-.ling as spendiiijr money mi tv-pniriiig hall a . bridge for the use of trallie ami leaving the olhor half in ruins. "With lailh sides of the Bosphorus in their poss esion Jhe Turks will control the sole route in ami out of the Black Sica, its decisively as More ; and if we at temp; to restrict their' power by threatening Constantinople with bomhfn dm. il! by a'fleet they can make a most cllocLire reply l;y turning loose a dozen submarines in the Sea of Marmora. if they are not allowed to posc.") these directl.v themselves, there is nothing to prevent them from having I hem secretly Imilt at Sebastopol' or Niknluicff by agreement with their Bolshevist friends. We are rapidly returning to the conditions of 191 I 'so far ns the situation is concerned at the. strategical point which Napoleon cnee declared should give the possessor the empire of the world.