GREAT GAIN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 May 1943, Page 3

GREAT GAIN

IN USE OF ALLIED SHIPPING AS RESULT OF TUNISIAN VICTORY. EMPHASISED BY COLONEL KNOX. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) WASHINGTON, May 11. The Secretary for the Navy, Colonel Knox, told his Press conference that the victory in Tunisia will open the Mediterranean to the Allied shipping regardless of the Luftwaffe. He declined to estimate how long it would be before the Mediterranean would be opened, with supply ships operating under an Allied air umbrella based on the northern rim of Africa, but he pointed out the tremendous advantage which will result from the shortened routes to the Middle East, averaging 5000 miles. He said that the air umbrella would double tonnage that would be able to pass through. Colonel Knox admitted that the possession by the Axis of the airfields on Sicily and Crete increased the dangers of the Mediterranean passage, and he observed that possession of Sicily by the Allies would obviously be a tremendous asset. He refused to answer questions about the possibility of Allied seizure of Sicily and Crete, saying, “Now you are dealing in terms that might suggest our future plans.”