ENEMY PLANS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 August 1940, Page 5

ENEMY PLANS

ATTACKS ON ENGLAND & EGYPT

MAY BE CO-ORDINATED.

VIEWS OF BRITISH WRITER.

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, August 11.

The possibility that the Italian attacks in north Africa are to be coordinated with a German attack against England, is discussed by the wellknown writer, “Strategiens,” in the "Sunday Times.” “It seems imperative for the Germans that they must defeat us, and that in the immediate future,” he writes. There were still 10 or 12 weeks of good campaigning weather left, and the German General Staff always worked with plenty of time to spare. It was thus highly likely that the Germans were setting the stage for an attack. An attack on Egypt would undoubtedly cause anxiety, and the launching of such a movement would suggest that an attack on Britain would itself be imminent.

Preparations for an attempted invasion by the Germans were to be seen in the concentrations of barges and shipping and the accumulation of guns on the Channel, the writer said. However, he discounted the probable effectiveness of a German plan to clear lanes across the Channel for their own vessels by the use of massed artillery. “We may be certain that the exact time and force of the blow would be kept secret,” he added. The “King-Hall Newsletter” says that Britain must not rely too much on the delivery of enormous quantities of aeroplanes and other military materials from the United States in the next few months. The layman could hardly appreciate the immense amount of preparatory work necessary before American production could reach its peak. For instance, no fewer than 2400 separate drawings were necessary for the design of a light tank. Another development in the United States had been the fact that Admiral Standley, former Chief of Naval Staff, had supported the advocacy of General Pershing that some 50 over-age American destroyers should be made available to Britain.