ITALIAN FABLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 October 1940, Page 5

ITALIAN FABLES

IN ADVANCE OF BRITISH REPORTS OF NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS IN MEDITERRANEAN. DELAYS THAT CANNOT BE AVOIDED. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, October 17. Commenting on the fact that distorted Italian versions of naval engagements in the Mediterranean are usually available some time in advance of reliable British accounts, “The Times” says this is unavoidable. “Nearly all these engagements have taken place in close proximity to Italian bases in the central Mediterranean, and since they have commonly ended with the Italians returning at high speed to their fortified bases the enemy has been in a position to get his account on to the wires and broadcast to the nation within a few hours. “On the other hand, the British Commander-in-Chief does not usually arrive at his base until some days afterward when the whole operation on which he has been engaged has been completed. He could only give an account before that by sending a long wireless message while still at sea — a procedure which would be of assistance to the enemy. The public will be content to accept the delay in the knowledge that when his report is eventually received it will contain facts and not fairy taes.”