A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 37, 7 November 1942, Page 6

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Success Jn Egypt MAY LEAD TO DECISIVE VICTORY . Calling his troops to h supreme effort as he saw the Axis line beginning to give under the tenacious assault of the combined air and land forces, Gen-' eral Montgomery, according to the 8.8. C., said: “The enemy is beginning to crack. Complete victory is almost in sight, and we have a chance of putting the panzer, army in the bag. We will do so.”

The cracking is in progress, and Montgomery’s men are on their way to putting Rommel’s men in the bag, but, as a 8.8. C. reporter has carefully pointed out, there is much heavy fighting to do before it can be said they are bagged. The magnificent work of the Eighth Army’s infantry and artillery having paved the way, it now remains for the Eighth Army’s armoured force to set the seal. The Enemy Retreat

Airmen returning from strafing and. bombing the fleeing enemy forces say that the retreat is taking on the nature of' a rout, with disorder the rule along the one line of withdrawal, the coastal road to- Mersa Matruh. Our armoured forces have to try to bring these disorganized'forces to battle, and Rommel is endeavouring to cover them with a rearguard screen of anti-tank guns and tanks. It would appear that Rommel contemplates a withdrawal at least as far as Mersa Matruh, for airmen have reported that the extensive fires in the Fuka area have not been entirely caused by our air attacks, but have been partly due to the demolition work of the German troops, anxious not to leave supplies and ammunition for the Eighth Army to convert to its own use. Mersa Matruh might provide Rommel with terrain suitable for a stand, even a temporary one such as the Eighth Army made on its way back to El Alamein a few months ago.- Apart from this, he is not likely to attempt a stand till he reaches Solium and “Hellfire” Pass. Graziani proved the fallacy of attempting to stand at Sidi Barrani, and Rommel is not likely to fall into the same trap. The Air Battle

One of the features of ithe battle has undoubtedly been the great part played by air t co-operation. The first stage of this came in the clearing of the Axis air forces from the air—the Obtaining of absolute local air superiority. This was done by aerial combat in the first place, and secondly by destroying the enemy planes on the ground. The preliminary figures of tile fighting show that each of these methods accounted for about 300 planes. These very figures show the immensity of the airbattle. One commentator suggests it was comparable to stages of the Battie of Britain.

Having attained local air supremacy, the second phase of aerial co-operation began. The enemy was attacked by bombing and by ground strafing. Assisting the intense ground barrage of the artillery, the air arm forced the enemy troops to haunt their slit trenches and dugouts, and “softened” them’down for the penetration tactics of our infantry, who advanced under an. almost unparalleled creeping barrage. 'So did the air forces assist the break-through. Now they have a new task. The enemy is on the run aud our armoured forces are after him. Tlte Air Force, still in almost undisputed possession of the skies above, have a wonderful target in the congested traffic along tile coastal road. But they have a task far more important than that of killing men’and-destroying transport all along that road of Axis torture. If the aircraft can succeed in stopping, or even slowing down, the head of the retreating columns, the armour of the Eighth Army will receive the opportunity it has been waiting for, and the total smashing of the Axis force will be attainable —after heavy fighting. Discussion of what this might lead to might well be left till the smashing bus been accomplished, but a quotation from the Rome broadcasts about the battle is not out of place. “The British offensive,” Rome says, “aims at completely chasing the Axis out-of Africa and reopening the Mediterranean to i he British Fleet for an eventual attack on the European mainland.” That may tie so, but a lot of water would have to flow under the bridge before an attack on Italy could 'be prepared. General Smuts may have a similar idea when in his congratulatory message to General Alexander he hopes the final dimension of the victory will make it the turning 'point of the war.