BRITISH ACTION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 October 1941, Page 6

BRITISH ACTION

IN SUPPORT OF SOVIET DEFENCE OF CAUCASUS Anticipated by London Newspaper TASK FOR AN IMPERIAL ARMY WAR CABINET’S REPORTED PLANS (By Telegraph. —Press Association. —Copyright.) (Received This Day, Noon.) LONDON, October 27. _ Dramatic new moves by British and Dominion troops iiuo Russia, to assist the Soviet forces to defend the Caucasian oilfields, may provide the answer to the present public , clamoui for the opening' of a second front by way of direct military aid to Russia. The “Daily Sketch” understands that the War Cabinet is confident that the plans it has made will show that it has taken all the possibilities of a second front into account, and that the present situation is being’ exploited to the full. Russia’s decision to withdraw troops from Iran will alter the balance of forces in the forward area of General Sir A. Wavell s command. It was taken after full consultation between General Wavell and the Russian staff. (An earlier message stated that the reported withdrawal of Russian troops from Tran was denied). The “Sketch” says the British move to counter the Nazis would not wait for General Rundstedt to swing- down his forces towards the Caucasus, but presumably would forestall such an attack.

The Associated Press of Great Britain Teheran correspondent says General Wavell has available Indian reinforcements for the Russian army in the Caucasus equal to the expedition sent to Greece last spring'. Sixty thousand troops in Irak and Iran can be sent northward if the German progresses towards the Caspian Sea and turns towards Baku. Heavy deliveries of American warplanes to the Middle East ensure better air support for this potential expeditionary Jorce than was available for the forces in Greece. The British United Press reports that considerable quantities of railway equipment will reach Iran in November and will continue to arrive until March, thus making it possible to send supplies to Russia 4n increasing amounts. Sir Godfrey Rhodes, who is in charge of British transport across Iran to Russia, said at Teheran that the immediate objective is the despatch to Russia of 3,000 tons of goods daily. The first consignment of supplies to Russia has already passed through Iran. The importance of the Middle East front to the Empire is emphasised by Major-General J. F. Fuller in the “Evening' Standard.” He claims that the lesson of Gallipoli would mean that a force of three million men, with three million in reserve, would be necessary for an attack on six points of the Western front. “While the Germans are fighting in Russia,” he says, “we should place a million men on the- roads and railways of Iran, Iraq and Syria and across the Caucasus, to develop a system of communications so powerful that when the all but inevitable Middle East clash comes, we will at least be better placed from the viewpoint.of mobility than the enemy. It is also essential that we regain command of the Mediterranean. This means the conquest of Libya, right to the Tunisian border. It is not manpower, but machine-power that wins battles, but it is manpower that prepares the way for winning. The great masses which India can supply and our 250,000 captured Italian navvies should be in the rear with picks and shovels, and the combat host (which can be supplied from Britain and the Dominions) in front, armed with tanks and planes.”