With the whole of the French coast now in enemy hands, the task of the Royal Navy in keeping open Britain's lines of communications has been made infinitely more difücult, and news of the sinking of more liners li Wellington Star, reported yesterday, m: fortunately be looked for. Until the attitude of the French navy has been made clear, it will be impossible to compute how much extra strain the collapse of France will put on the British fleet in the Mediterranean; but there can be little doubt that even if the French fleet refuses to submit to the humiliating terms dictated by the Totalitarian Powers, the French bases and airfields which have been made available in the western Mediterranean will give Italy striking points she otherwise would never have possessed. From the Spanish frontier to the border between Norway and Finland, the European coastline is held by the Nazis, In that immense distance there are innumerable points from which the Nazis can launch attacks against British shipping by both oversea and undersea craft. The deep fiords of Norway offer good cover for even the largest of the Nazi warships, and from them they might be able to raid the northern shipping routes to the British Isles. Constant patrols by the British have so far been able to prevent this. and it is felt in informed circles that it will continue to be prevented. The ports of Holland can be used for attacks by light craft, but the fact that the continental shores of the North Sea are now in one Power's hands has eliminated Allied merchant shipping from that area, nullifying the value of the ports from the point of view of a possible blockade of Britain. But the loss of the western French ports must inevitably increase the navy's responsibilities. The convoy system has hitherto proved admirably effec tive in combatting submarine attacks. Convoys, however, have been employed only in danger areas. When merchant ships have passed the zone in which they might have been attacked, the escorting warships have been released to turn their attention to other convoys. The danger zone has now been greatly extended, and it is probable that many more warships will be needed for convoy work than was previously the case. The strength of the navy is sufficient for the tasks imposed, but there can be little doubt that it will be severely taxed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.