Sunday, November 17, 1940

BRITAIN SMASHES THE ITALIAN NAVY... For the past three days the British attack on the Italian naval base of Taranto has been front-page news. And it’s no wonder the British are blowing their horn. According to Thursday’s New York Times, British torpedo bombers sunk half of Mussolini’s six battleships during the initial all-night raid and otherwise did extensive damage to other ships of the Italian fleet docked there. While the British fleet’s air arm pounded Taranto, British surface vessels intercepted and destroyed three of four Italian supply ships in a convoy in the Straits of Otranto, located between Italy and Albania. The Royal Navy also heavily bombarded the Italian-occupied port of Sidi Barrani, Egypt, and apparently sank two supply ships headed for Libya. But according to official and press accounts in London, the Taranto bombardment dwarfs every other blow struck against the Italians so far in this war.

I believe this is the first time airplanes have sunk a modern battleship. That’s pretty significant in itself. This surely also has significance for the Greek military, who are no doubt buoyed a great deal by the way in which Prime Minister Churchill has carried out his promise to use Britain’s ships and planes to help the Greeks in every way possible.

...AND THE GERMANS PULVERIZE COVENTRY. Lest anyone imagine the Nazis’ war-fighting power has diminished, Thursday’s shattering all-night air raid on the British midlands city of Coventry created "scenes of ruin never before equaled in England in this ruthless and devastating conflict," writes Tania Long in Saturday’s New York Herald Tribune. The Germans claim they dropped a million pounds of high explosives and 60,000 pounds of incendiary bombs – and for once, they might not be exaggerating. Some 1,000 casualties have been reported. The New York Times account by Raymond Daniell emphasizes the destruction of the lovely fourteenth-century St. Michael’s Cathedral, "one of the finest examples of perpendicular architecture left in these islands." The Times notes that though there was much damage to homes and businesses, the factories of this compact city of 250,000 didn’t seem to be especially targeted. Apparently this wasn’t a military raid at all, but instead a grisly taste of revenge for the R.A.F.’s attack on Munich during Hitler’s speech there a week ago Friday.

Yes, there’s been good news lately, but it has mainly to do with the fight against Mussolini’s hapless Fascists. As long as Hitler’s men have the ability to wreck a British city in this manner, seemingly on a whim, it’s impossible to say the war against Germany is being "won" in any sense.

WHAT NEXT FOR THE AXIS? Last week the Germans feigned disinterest in Italy’s invasion of Greece, claiming remarkably that the Greek war was not a Nazi concern and that there’s been "no change" in Greek-German relations. But now, the war chiefs of Germany and Italy, Keitel and Badoglio, have suddenly convened in Austria for unspecified "military planning," writes Louis P. Lochner of the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Hector Licudi of the International News Service reports that Spanish Foreign Minister Suner "suddenly" left Madrid Thursday night for talks in German-occupied Paris. The I.N.S. cites rumors that "some momentous understanding may be concluded between Spain and the Reich."

This has revived talk that an Axis pincer movement is afoot in the Mediterranean, in which German troops would plunge southward through Spain to seize Gibraltar, while fresh German-Italian forces add punch to the Italian offensives against Greece and Egypt. E.R. Noderer writes in Saturday’s Chicago Tribune that the abrupt twin conferences "gave rise to a belief in Berlin that the military activities of the axis powers will liven up soon." And the Spanish press talks about a new Axis campaign to "clean up" the Mediterranean.

All this is probably true. I can believe that the Germans are secretly enjoying Mussolini’s reverses along the Greek front, where the Greeks have now encircled Koritza, the Italians’ biggest land base in Albania, and have completely driven the invaders from Greek soil. But surely the Fuehrer’s not enjoying it this much. The Fascist debacle on the Greek border now threatens to give Britain important new naval and air bases in the Balkans, and to deal a crippling blow to Nazi designs on the Dardenalles.

WHAT NOW FOR WILLKIE? Ernest K. Lindley writes in Friday’s Washington Post that the liberal positions Wendell Willkie staked out during his presidential campaign could now make him a big help to the Roosevelt Administration if he continues to be a major player in Republican politics --

"If Willkie stands by his foreign policy, there may be occasions during the next few months when he will have to line up with the President against many members of his own party. In the domestic field, also, while he worked both sides of the street in the campaign, after the manner of the most experienced professional vote-getters, he is definitely committed to support of various New Deal reforms, including the farm program, against which many Republicans have voted. If the Republicans in Congress feel themselves bound by Willkie’s campaign pledges, many of the controversies of the last seven years will be a closed book. But if they don’t, will Willkie, through such means as he has, bring pressure on them? If Willkie remains an active force, as he evidently hopes to do, he may find it necessary to choose between his principles and an attempt to represent the opposition. He may find it necessary openly to clash with prominent leaders and powerful groups who worked for his election."