Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1941. NEXT STAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 June 1941, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1941. NEXT STAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

JXF’.ORMATION as to the conditions in which further military operations are about io be undertaken in the Mediterranean is incomplete and imperfect. With matters in that state, there can lie, or al all events should be, no question of laymen attempting' to say just what ought or ought mil. to be done. There are aspects of military policy and even of strategy, however, on which it is right, that public opinion should be brought to bear ami a good deal of sympathy is likely to he felt in this country and elsewhere in the Empire.,with I he questioning' by the public and the Press that has been awakened in Britain by 1 he evacuation of Crete.

Obviously this quest inning in no way reflects on MajorGeneral Ereyberg', the British. Imperial and Greek troops who acquitted themselves so valiantly under his able and resolute command, or the naval ami air forces which played a heroic part in helping Io defend Crete and in making the ultimate evacuation of the island possible. On the contray, words are altogether inadequate to give expression to the admiration and gratitude that are due to those who lengthened out so wonderfully a struggle against impossible odds, too many of them at the cost of life or liberty. What is being asked, however, is whether it is right or desirable that the forces of the Empire and its allies should be asked to face such an ordeal as was endured in Crete, without hope of ultimate success.

As if hears on the future conduct of the war in the Mediterranean theatre this question is of capital importance, and it is not of necessity answered by saying that the enemy must be met and resisted wherever his attacks may fall. There is such a thing' as yielding- positions that cannot be defended effectively in order to fight at greater advantage elsewhere. It has been stated that the defence of Crete was justified because disproportionate losses were inflicted on the enemy and invaluable time was gained—particularly time in which to deal with and redress the situation in Iraq. With that view accepted provisionally, there appears still to be a good deal to be said for the contention of the London “Tillies” that: “We cannot, afford in Cyprus a repetition of the events of Crete.” The Australian official war correspondent, in a. dispatch from Alexandria, has said that the campaigns in Greece and Crete were won and lost in the air and that: — The brutal fact proved in the two campaigns is that the Allied forces were without hope from the beginning, because it is admitted that there was no chance of adequate air support. . . . The lesson of Greece and Crete is that military enterprises of this nature cannot and ought not to be risked today without at least air equality or except under pressure of the most urgent need. On the facts in sight, it seems reasonable to hold that the question of defending or not defending Cyprus should be determined in light of these considerations. A great deal must be left always to the judgment of the. responsible military authorities immediately concerned, but it is not easy to imagine needs that would justify Cyprus being defended in conditions even approhehing those that ruled in Greece and in Crete. The vital and determining consideration may be the practicability or otherwise of occupying Syria. According to the Ankara correspondent of the “Now York Times,” diplomats of all nationalities are agreed as to the military necessity of Britain attempting that occupat ion. The only apparent alternative is to allow the penetration and occupation of Syria by German airborne forces to proceed unhindered. There is every indication that the Vichy Government and its subordinates in Syria, are selling themselves body and soul to the Nazi dictatorship and talk now current about, the French Cabinet having decided to defend Syria and Tunisia single-handed can only be regarded, a feebly ineffective attempt to disguise active war collaboration between French traitors and Nazi gangsters. A stage appears to have been reached at which Britain must either smash this unholy and unnatural alliance, in the Eastern Mediterranean at least, by occupying Syria, or allow the Nazis lo extend their aggression Io the borders of Palestine. In that event, apart from greater issues involved, prospects of defending Cyprus successfully evidently would not be brightened and it might even become a question whether the defence of the island was worth while.