Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 November 1942 — Page 7

FRIDAY, NOV. 20, 1042"

TUNISIA IS KEY IN ALLIED PUSH

Capture by Allies will Fatal Blow to Rommel

Army in Libya. |

By WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS

Scripps-Howard Foreign Editor] WASHINGTON, Nov. 20.— The next few days may well’ be among ‘the most decisive of the entire; war. The shqwdown for Tunisia appears to.be at hand. The net result of our

whole North African campaign depends on the outcome. If the allies can take and hold

Tunisia, the axis will have been F

dealt a blow from which it mass ou . never recover. If] the axis comes!

out on top, the | :

fruits of our vic-

tories in Morocco, | |

Algeria and Egypt |

will be drastically]

reduced.

Tunisia, as this

writer reported at | the outset, is the | key, to they pres-, > ? ent situatidn in Mr. Simms the . Mediterran-| ean. The Germans and Italians are | already in Sicily and Sardinia, less | than 100 miles away on the other side of the sea lane. If they can! now get a stranglehold on Bizerte! and the other bases’in Tunisia as well, the allies can no more use the short cut to Suez and the Middle East than they could before .the occupation of Algeria and Morocco. |

| Blow to Rommel fs

If we take Tunisia, the plight of}

Marshal Rommel's forces in Libya |: will be hopeless. The ‘A. E. F. cant’ advance on Tripoli from the west | * while the British keep driving them | ‘ on from the east. But if the]. axis can hold Tunisia, it ‘'will}: have driven a wedge between! : the Amerjcans and Tripoli, and: the British will find it difficult:

if not impossible to take Tripoli, |

from their bases in Egypt. From Alexandria to Tripoli is approxi- |

- | mately 1500 miles.’ From th

nisian border it is hardly 2

President : Roosevelt afd Prime!: Minister Churchill have chxarly in-|:

dicated that the primary p

of the North African occupatio |

--to provide a jumping-off place for|:

an invasion of Italy and southern] Europe. With the axis firmly established .in Tunisia, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, invasion of Europe by

that route would be almost, if not|:

quite, as difficult as it would be from across the English channel,

Holds Fate of Turkey

There are indications that the fate of Turkey may also hinge onj. Tunisia. Some 500,000 German and! :

Bulgarian troops are reported to be!

on the Turkish border and along| the Bulgarian coast of the Black]. sea. And Hitler, more than ever, is|:

said to have his eyes on the oil: fields of Mosul ‘and the other’ ad- I vantages of the Middle East. ; |:

Deprived of most of the oil he |® had hoped to obtain in the Cau- § casus,-and with the still richer fields | of Transcaucasia apparently out ok

reach, he may try to get at Syria, Iraq and Iran via Turkey. Success |

in that direction would menace:

Suez.

invasion with all its might is re- | garded as certain. But she is poorly | armed, compared with Germany, | and hence would have to gely on the United States and Great Britain |

for help. Much, therefore, depends : on whether this help could reach]

her via the 5000- mile Mediterranean | short cut or would hav 14, 000 miles around South Aah.

Moslems Respect Power

Failure to win the race for Tunisia |

would be disastrous morally as well | as strategically. Not only would it! throw cold water on the blaze of | enthusiasm our successes in North | Africa have already kindled in

Europe, but it would play havoc : with our prestige throughout the :

Moslem world. ¢

The Arabs and other Moslems seth great respecters of power. That is |: * one reason why Rommel's sudden]: and dramatic defeat of the British |: and his rapid drive on Alexandria |; fhurt the whole allied cause so: badly}. By the same token, Britain's |

present smashing defeat of Rommel | |

and our swift occupation of Morocco and Algeria have boosted |} united. nations stock all the way| }

_ from .Casablanea to Calcutta.

SHRINE 6 TO HOLD

ANNUAL FESTIVAL

The annual fall festival of In- |i

dianapolis Shrine 6 will be held || tomorrow evening in Castle hall, 230 | i .

E. Ohio st. Supper will be served

Jat. 3 p.m, | i Mrs. Grace Miller, general Shire’

man, will be assisted by Mrs. Rose : Eckenrode, Mrs. Anna Cary, Heze : Clark, Mrs. Dora Kelly, Mrs, Eva ¥ Morgan, Mrs, Nettie Betterly, Mrs, |: " Blanch Wurz, , Mrs. Babel Baugh, |. Mrs. Evelyn Rorhef, Mrs Mathildi |:

Tschudi, Mrs. Dessa Mae Frank, and Mrs. Goldie Schlegel.

L. S. Ayres & Co. glee club will | :

sing. i 9

CHORUS TO PRESENT |

Y. M. C. A. PROGRAM |

The Indianapolis male chorus will give a program of patriotic, classical and’ spiritual songs at the Y. M. C.

A’s weekly community sing for N

service men at 5:30’'p. m. Sunday at | the Central Y, 310 N. Illinois st.

, John Byron Moudy is directqr of]:

‘the chorus and Miss Leora Crum-

rine, accompanist. - The’ chorus is |:

composed of 20 local businessmen,

' singing together for their fourth|: :

season. The original group of 40

men has been depleted by raembers |:

entering the service.

0. E. 8. TO MEET Cumberland chapter 515, O. E. S.,

will hold a stated meeting at 8 p. m. |

Wednesday at-the Cumberland Ma- | sonic hall. Mrs. Kathryn Berry is , worthy matron and William Bos-

. well, worthy patron.

That Turkey will resist German|

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