Beginning & End

Sicily began the Battle of Europe (as armies understand the word "battle"). At a time and point yet to be determined, more fighting by bigger armies in Europe will end that battle. Once begun in Sicily, that fighting must continue until soldiers in the south and in the west have carried it deeper & deeper into Europe; until, as well, the long battle for Russia in the east has also become an offensive battle for Europe.

This progression is a certainty. The timing and order of its development are highly uncertain. The timing and order, even as they exist today in secret Allied plans, are subject to change with the fortunes of war on the fringe, in Russia, in the air penetration of inner Europe, in the battle of sea supply. All predictions are idle, and they will be even more so as the armies pause to regroup, as commanders pause to reconsider, as the unforeseeable effects of the first blows sink in upon the enemy. All that the public can know is that certain objectives, certain ways of approach, exist:

>One approach to Germany is through the air, and it is being used with accumulating effect. A little-noted aspect of Sicily is that, whereas North Africa lies just behind the practicable range of present heavy bombers (with effective loads) aiming at Germany, Sicily lies just within that range. Sardinia and Italy lie well within it.

>The Allies have forces of unannounced size, composition and readiness in the eastern Mediterranean, at bases in Syria and Cyprus. One approach for these forces is through neutral Turkey to Bulgaria. Another, the only one open unless Turkey permits passage, is by sea and air to Crete, into the Aegean, and thence into Greece. In Greece begins the historic Vardar Valley route of invasion into inner Europe.

>For all military purposes, Sicily is a part of southern Italy, and Italy is one shore of the Adriatic. On the other shore is Yugoslavia, where guerrillas await the Allies. At some time and point, Allied forces moving in from the western and eastern Mediterranean will probably join. In the meantime, firm basing in southern Italy practically completes the neutralization of the Italian Navy, the reconquest of the Mediterranean and the opening of shorter supply routes for the Allied armies on its shores and in Russia.

>Western and northern Europe are also objectives, and Winston Churchill has said that the Allies' mightiest invasion weapon is being shaped in Britain, the western base. A chip from that weapon fell on Sicily last week; the blade may fall anywhere from Norway to southern France.

President Roosevelt gave Axis Europe the measure of its fate last week. In a message to Pope Pius XII, the President said that the churches and the religious institutions of Italy will be spared destruction "to the extent that it is within our power." It was a promise that nothing else will be spared.

The end objective is to destroy the German armies, the German air force, the German will to fight. Toward that end the Allies are now moving. Where & when that end will be attained, only the Germans can finally determine. It is they who must give in.

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