SOVIET VIEW

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 261, 22 January 1941, Page 6

SOVIET VIEW

VICTORIES IN EGYPT IMPORTANCE OF. THE NAVY Russian military experts, discussing the Middle East victories, consider that, although they cannot be described as turning-points in the war, they are likely to provoke art energetic reaction by Britain's enemies. Colonel Pop oil writing in the Red Star, the official organ of the Soviet Army, states that, as a result of the victories in the Western Desert, the danger of an invasion of the Nile Valley disappears for the present. He adds that their significance lies in the considerable Italian losses, which tangibly chance the relation of the forces, rather than in the territorial gains. Colonel Vasilief. writing in True!, discusses the possibility of a Ger-, man invasion of Britain, and estimates that the Germans need to land at least 40 or 50 divisions. "Under the present conditions, with British mastery of the sea, and Britain not crushed in the air. this is a task of exceptional difficulty," lie says, "Evaluating the situation in the Anglo-German theatre of the war, one must conclude that, no matter wliat methods of warfare the Germans employ, the struggle will remain of a protracted character." 1