A COVETED ISLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 April 1941, Page 6

A COVETED ISLE

CORFU CENTRE OF STRATEGY.

IMPORTANCE TO BRITAIN AND GREECE.

Dividing the blue walers of the lonian and Adriatic Seas is the lovely island of Corfu, which Mussolini now covets as a strategic base. To obtain it he is prepared to go to almost any lengths to provoke a quarrel with Greece (writes A. V. Fatseas, in the “Sydney Morning Herald.”) Fascinating in its natural beauty and thrilling in its mythical as well as its real history, this sun-bathed Greek island constitutes today a spot which, if occupied by Italy, would tremendously augment, her strategical position in the Mediterranean. It is chiefly for this reason that Corfu is as important to Britain as to Greece.

The Power commanding Corfu would be in a position to control the whole lonian Sea, and, if that Power be Italy, I England’s position in the Eastern Medi- | terranean would be dangerously threat- | ened. Italy would have a sea wall right from the Adriatic to the strong-ly-fortified Dodecanese Islands. But Corfu, or Kerkyra, as it is called in Greek, is not only a place of strategical importance; it is an island of rare charm, where Nature has been so prodigal as to make it one of the selected holiday resorts for the royalties and celebrities of Europe. Its history goes back to the time of Homer. It is generally believed that Kerkyoa is the island of Phaecon, of which the great poet speaks in his "Wanderings of Odysseus.” The island abounds in vegetation, grapevine plantations, olive groves, and maize-producing farms . Lakes are to be seen here and there, while rivers, bays, coves, impressive cliffs, and picturesque mountains and valleys complete an exquisite landscape. It was in these surrundings that the Empress Elizabeth of Austria chose to build her famous villa, Achillion, which, after her death, was bought and used by the German Kaiser. Corfu is one of the seven lonian islands, which, thanks to the generosity of Great Britain, are again a precious possession of Greece. For. although it may not be generally known, the islands up to 1864 had been possessions of England. They were presented to Greece in that year as an exceptional gesture of British friendship on the occasion of the .ascension to the Greek Throne of King George I. the grandfather of the present King of Greece.

Traces of British occupation are still to be found on all the islands, such as school buildings, some of which are still in use for educational purposes.

An interesting aspect of the life of these islands is the notable aptitude of the people for music and their good singing voices. On Corfu and Tomte (Takynthos) especially a person who cannot play an instrument or sing is considered to bo very ignorant. Remarkable also is the fact that these islands should have been the birth-places of so many men of literary, professional and political distinction (the kite Premier of Greece. General Metaxas, was born on Cephallinia).

The population of Corfu is 115.472, of which 35.221 reside in the capital. The island has progressive educational facilities, including libraries, a military college, and a school for the teaching of foreign languages.