Page 439 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

EURO.IITI.AN'l'IC Ru.ATIONS 405
a much exrended air cover of ali convoys berween: che Unired Scau,•s or rhC!' Wcsc
lndics and the Mcditcrranean: rhc Wcsr lndics and thc Uniced Kingdom: Sooth
American and the Unircd J(jogdom; tbc United Kingdom and the Medirerranean;
the United Kingdom and Wesr Africa and the Cape a od Easrwards. The increased
air covcr would give much grearcr scope for evasive roureing, for more direct roures
across che middle of rhe Atlantic, and woold create insecuriry on rhe U-boau and
on ali enemy shipping. The fuelling fadlitics would enable bener use of surface
escorrs". By 17th August 1943 a military agrccmem for thC!' usc of facilities on the
islands was concludcd by thc Portugucse and British delegaces within the scope
of an anciem Anglo-Porrugoesc alliaoce. The facihties conceded were Lajes airfìcld,
Rabo de Peixe as an cmcrgency airfìcld, the pom of Ponta Delgada. Angra do Herois·
mo and Hocta. During rheir sruy, che Brirish aircraft reached almost 2~ thousands
flying hours. l chink that, ro properly evaluace che impact of this enormous eiTon
it would be worchwhilc tO rcmcmbcr rhc fìgures abour allied coonage sunk by rhe
Axis surfnce ships and U·bonts rhroughout rhc Atlancic War: in 1910 about 4 mil·
lions rons, in 1941 abouc 4.3 millions wns, in the 1942 abouc 7.8 millions tons
and from Aprii 1943 che figure dedined progressively. This involvcd greac effons
being mnde co escort convoys with surface ships and aircrnft; in order ro reduce
this effort and to incn:;1sc ics efficicncy, a poiot in che middle of Adandc was ur-
gcncly needtd.
The Americnn nmhoritics rhought chat thc agrctmcm includcd rhc use of fa-
cilirics on by nllthc nllied nir forces, which was ntlt che case. This siruation crcatcd
~ome problems nt different levels, and led to the United Stares asking for ncgoua·
tions co be opened with che Porcuguese authorìties. The virai inreresr at srake in
du~se ncgotiadons rcgarding che use of faciHties on the islands, was the rhrcat of
scopping oil supplies nnd orhcr essential era de for Porrugal, and thc: thrcat of occu-
parion: on rhc other hand rhere was rhe fear of a milicary opcration in che Pcninsu·
la by the Axis Powcc:rs and thc: necd for an agrccmcnr on t:he frontiers of Porruguesc
overseas territory after thc end of che war, specially Timor that was occupied ac
chnt cime. In the end, an agrccmcnt was rcached and the conscruccion of a new
airficld, this cime o n Santn Maria island, was srarced. By t:hc end of che v.·ar, che
American forccs crnnsfcrred co Lajes airfìcld when che Briush forces left Açores,
and in 19~ l 11 new cxecutive ngrccmem was signed by rhe authoricics ofborh coun·
tries w regulacc the usc of rhc Ponugucsc facilitics by American forces.
The diffìculc proccss of obraining the use of faciliti es in a neurral counrry dur·
ing che wur, wichout rcsorcing co an att of m!litary force. in rhe conrc:xt of a diffcr·
em bilarcral alliance (the alliancc bctween Portugal and England), produccd some
misunderstandings and disrrusc which has nor yet been invesrigarcd as far as is known.
Anyway, chese evcncs dcmonscraced rhe very high tmporrance char che Uniced Stntes
artribuced co the Açorcs Archipdago for the developmeot of its scracegy.
Thc Tehcran Confcrence was a decisive poi m for tbc 'Europcan post-war con-
figurotion of powcr and for the birth of the bipolar world. The Unircd St.1tes adopted