ARMED FORCES: A Ramp to the Middle East

Mellaha airfield in Libya, on the north coast of Africa, will soon be reopened as a U.S. base. Government officials reported last week that Britain, which administers the former Italian colony, has temporarily turned the base back to the U.S.

Used during World War II as an Air Transport Command base, Mellaha is strategically located for the diplomatic war in the Mediterranean. It is a ramp from which A.T.C. planes, carrying a steadily increasing military traffic, can take off to southern Europe and the Middle East. From desolate Mellaha’s three strips, it is 775 miles to Athens, goo miles to the Dardanelles, 1,300 miles to Palestine.