THE MIODLE EAST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 June 1941, Page 6

THE MIODLE EAST

CAMPAIGN MUST BE CONSIDERED AS A WHOLE Mr Winston ChurchilFs Survey ATTEMPT TO HOLD CRETE DEFENDED FACTORS OF PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.50 a.m.) RUGBY, -June 10. Replying in the debate in the House of Commons on the wai situation, the Prime Minister (Mr Churchill) said any criticisms which might be offered would not only be accepted but would be welcomed by the Government. He pointed out that full explanations could jiot be given without revealing valuable information to the enemy. The Battle of Crete was only one part of a very important and complicated campaign and a vast scene, which should only be surveyed as a whole, ought not to be exposed and debated piecemeal. In a general survey of the war, Mr Churchill added, there were all sorts of considerations about gain and loss of time and its effect on the future, as well as the picture of the distribution of resources to meet the calls made on them. Dealing with criticism about the number of anti-aircraft guns available in Crete, Mr Churchill said the number of guns, their disposal and their disposition had been considered. A great number which might have been employed in Crete had been mounted on merchant vessels, “to beat off the attacks oi Fcckewulf and Heinkel aircraft, whose depredations had been nctab'y lessened thereby.’’ Home defence also had to be considered, as well as the length of time taken to reach the Middle Ecist round the Cape. “No one, I venture to submit, can be a judge of whether we should run more risks, or expose ourselves to heavier punishment at home for the sake of fortifying multiplying Ci etan airfields, without having a full and intimate know edge of all our resources and making a survey of the various claims upon them,’’ said Mr Churchill. When the Greek Government invited intervention, steps were, however, taken to defend the anchorage at Suda Bay and to develop the nearby aerodrome. The greatest available number of anti-aircraft guns was supthese being diverted from other strategic points. In the result, the Nazis found that they had to make a major effort. As far as anti-aircraft guns were concerned, although the production of these weapons was large and expanding, every one vzas competed for by rival claims, which were massive claims. It had to be remembered that at the beginning of the war, Britain was short of every essential supply, especially tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and anti-tank guns and that the equipment of the Army was then of the most meagre and deficient character. Although the output of anti-aircraft guns was rapidly expanding, Britain was still incomparably inferior to Germany in the numbers at disposal for the defence of captured aerodromes. After dealing with transport problems, Mr Churchill gave an assurance that everything had been done to build up the largest possible Air Force in the Middle East.

SERVICE CHIEFS AGREED Turning lo the question of co-opera-tion between the Services, Mr Churchill stressed the closeness of contact between the chiefs of the Navy, Army and Air Force. He said no disagreement had arisen between them. Recapitulating the events leading to the evacuation of Greece. Mr Churchill said it was clear that the next assault would be an air-borne invasion in Crete. The decision to fight there was arrived at with the knowledge that air support would be at a minimum. This, fact was the foundation of a difficult and hard choice, but what would havd been said if Crete had been given up without a fight, and what would happen if the enemy were allowed to advance unopposed and over-run every place which cannot be held for certain? “One would have to ask oneself,” said ,Mr Churchill “can-one ever be sure?” Already the Germans had gained very easy victories. Many countries had been beaten without offering much resistance. It was not only time that was gained by strong opposition, but the important principle of stubborn resistance to the will of the enemy. ANATOMY OF BATTLE “Let us look at the anatomy of the Battle of Crete undertaken in these> bleak circumstances," the Prime Minister continued. "We hoped that 25,000 to 30.000 good troops, with artillery in proportion and tanks, aided by Greek forces, would be able to destroy the parachute troops and glider landings of the enemy and prevent him using airfields or harbours. The Army was to destroy airborne attacks while the Navy was to destroy seaborne attacks, but the action of the Navy in defending the northern sea approach without adequate air defences was bound to be very costly. This battle can only be judged in relation to the campaign as a whole.”

“FOUL PROPAGANDA” Dealing with details of the troops engaged in Crete, Mr Churchill regretted that the brunt of the Middle East fighting had fallen so heavily on Australian and New Zealand troops. German propaganda had tried to make much of this. “I was glad to see,” he added, "that Mr Menzies on Sunday night’dealt with this foul propaganda as it deserves. There have b.een, in fact, during 1941. almost as many British’as New Zealand troops engaged in all operations in the Western Desert, Greece and Crete, and our losses during this year compared with the number:.; engaged, are slightly heavier for the British than for the Dominion troops. In Crete the numbers were almost exactly equal and the British losses were slightly heavier. Out of 90 000 lives lost in the war so far, which number excluded civilian casualties, at Home and abroad, at least 85.000 came from Britain. Therefore I repudiate the German taunt, both on behalf of the Mother Country and New Zealand.” The British and Imperial casualties in Crete, killed, wounded and missing, Mr Churchill stated, numbered 15,000 and 17.000 were got off. About 5,000 Germans were drowned and at least 12,000 killed and wounded in Crete. In addition the Nazis lost 180 fighters and bombers and at least 250 troop-carriers. “I am sure it will be found,” Mr Churchill said, “that this sombre and ferocious battle, which wast lost, but by no great margin, was a battle worth fighting, and it will play an extremely important part in the whole defence of the Nile Valley throughout the present year.”

Mr Churchill said the decision to withdraw the aircraft was made by the Commander-In-Chief in the Middle East on the recommendation of MajorGeneral Freyberg. Turning to the question of Syria, Mr| Churchill said that up to the present the advance in Syria had been progressing with very little opposition and favourably. He added that Britain had. no territorial designs there or elsewhere in French territory. When intervention was decided on, the position had very nearly gone, as the German poison 'was gradually spreading through the country. The advance seemed to be encountering little opposition. PRODUCTION & SEA . WAR Mr Churchill gave good news of war production, stating that in guns and heavy tanks the monthly production for the first quarter of 1941 was fifty per cent greater than the last quarter of 1940. Cf the Battle of the Atlantic, he said that May was the best month for some time, and during' that month 257.000 tons of enemy shipping were sunk or scuttled. Summing up the situation, he said Iraq had been regained and Syria entered. “Our front at Mersa Matruh is unbroken and the defensive line there is stronger than ever. Our forces which have occupied Abyssinia can now sc- set free, with an immense amount of transport, some already is on its way to the Delta of the Nile. “It would be unfair, wrong and silly, especially in the middle of an advance which so far has been crowned with remarkable success, to select the loss of the Crete salient as an excuse and pretext for branding as a failure the great campaign in defence of the Middle East, which so far has prospered beyond all expectation and is now entering upon an even more intense and critical phase.”

BRITISH TROOPS

CIOSE APPROACH TO SYRIAN CAPITAL WITHDRAWAL OF GERMANS REPORTED. AIRMEN & ARMY SPECIALISTS.(Received This Day. 11.45 a.m.) LONDON. June 10. It is authoritatively stated in Cairo that the British troops are under ten miles from Damascus. Vichy officially admits that the British are 18 miles from tire capital. It is stated officially in Beirut that French planes from North Africa have arrived in Syria. It is learned in Ankara that members of the German Air Force and Army specialists, numbering 1,700, scattered throughout Syria, have been ordered to retire from the country, because Berlin is convinced that the British invasion is not merely a political gesture and military bluff. It is claimed that the German evacuation can be completed without difficulty, although considerable equipment might be lost if the British advanced rapidly. German diplomatic circles in Ankara told the Associated Press of Great Britain correspondent that no German soldoiers will be sacrificed in Syria. “We are leaving it to the French,” the diplomats said.