Where?

The Channel was kinder now. The crosscurrents and races of this turbulent moat are never still, but the long winter storms were over. The fresh wind still snatched spindrift from the whitecaps in the narrows opposite Dover, as it did beyond in the North Sea, and around Cape Breton in the rough Bay of Biscay. But in the fjords, in the bays and river mouths, the way was smoother. Along the flat sand beaches and the rocky cliffs, around the peninsulas, along the marshes and the dikes the invasion season had begun.

The most widely heralded invasion in history must still achieve surprise. Barring unfortunate accidents, it probably will-- for, theoretically, the attack can come anywhere along the 2,000 miles of coastline of the northwest shoulder of Europe, some 350 miles of coastline in the Mediterranean. Certainly the initial attack will be not one but many thrusts. Some will be feints, a few, or perhaps one, the real thing. But the field of Allied choice can be narrowed, the best bets noted.

Imperatives. Invasion chiefs will be limited by certain invasion imperatives. To land troops they need beaches (ruling out cliffs, bluffs and marshes). The beaches must be near or at invasion "musts": ports, which must be promptly taken to anchor the first links in the chain of supply. The ports must have roads and rails to extend the chain with the advance; and should be close to England.

At Least Nine. The best answers to these needs lie across the Channel on the coast of France, from the Brittany peninsula to the Zuider Zee--a stretch ot 700 miles. At least nine ports fit the invasion requirements :

P: St.-Nazaire--at the mouth of the Loire River on the underbelly of the Brittany peninsula; apparent best attack--landings west, then take the city from the rear.

P: Lorient--German submarine base some 60 miles west of St.-Nazaire; landings feasible on both sides.

P: Brest--major port protected by permanent forts and an unusually rocky coastline. Possible landing beaches are southward across the bay; the most obvious attack would be from the Lorient area.

P: Cherbourg -- major port on the tip of Cotentin (or Norman) peninsula sticking north like a thumb toward Britain, 80 miles across the Channel. It is heavily fortified and protected by the German-held Channel Islands. Beaches on both sides of the peninsula are limited by high cliffs.

P: Le Havre -- one of the great ports of France, at the mouth of the Seine. Direct attack could come from excellent beaches on the north side.

P: Dieppe -- Allied testing ground in 1942 when Commandos landed on good beaches but could not get their men and tanks past overpowering German defense. It has a 1,700-yd. beach, blocked by a formidable barrier of cliff.

P: Boulogne--small port commanded from cliffs which run through it; many beaches, but they are studded with dunes which would impede vehicles.

P: Calais--the port nearest England (21 miles away). Cliffs touch the shore, but there are suitable beaches to the north and south.

P: Dunkirk--first-class port with excellent beaches which served the British in the retreat of June 1940. Canals are hazards, defensive flooding is possible.

The ports of Belgium and The Netherlands have special flood defenses which must be balanced against the broad, inviting beaches--once popular bathing resorts. Belgians said last week that the Germans had already flooded a five-mile strip curving horseshoe-shaped behind the frontier; inundations were reported in The Netherlands. But these low moats are not impassable to modern armies.

Kolossal. No fools, the Germans have had four years to weave natural defenses into the most kolossal lines Nazi brains and slave labor could devise for just these areas. Underwater mine fields, underwater obstacles, land mines, wire entanglements, tank obstacles, concrete bunkers, stationary and mobile weapons with lines of fire cleared, interlaced and accurately ranged --all these are to be expected.

Against this deep, interlocking defense, Allied leaders are assured of air superiority, have prepared plans and new weapons, studied the hazards from photo maps constantly renewed by roof-skimming reconnaissance pilots, elaborated by underground intelligence. Against the harrowing thought of repulse, Allied leaders can, and probably have weighed the fact that in the last analysis no fortified line is impregnable. On the eve of the greatest over-water assault ever projected, that is a comforting thing to remember.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.