DECIDEDLY BETTER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 July 1941, Page 6

DECIDEDLY BETTER

FOR TIME BEING AT ANY RATE POSITION IN THE MIDDLE EAST. MR CHURCHILL’S COMMENT. LONDON, July 15. ” I ill ink we are enHHed to say that for the time bein'. l .’, al any rale, the situation in Egypt lias considerably improved,” said Air Churchill in the .House of Commons. Ho stated lhal the heavy fighting at Sollnm and the stubborn defence of Crete had played their part in arriving til the present satisfactory position in the Middle East. EASTERN DEFENCES POSSIBLE NAZI THRUST FROM CAUCASUS. ANKARA, July 14. Mr Carl Sulzberger, correspondent of the “New York Times,” says that with Syria conquered British preparations have already been begun to defend the front from Egypt to India, particularly the Iran border, against a possible German thrust from the Russian Caucasus. The Quetta Command in Baluchistan has been considerably reinforced. The Army in Iraq has been expanded, and Turkish newspapers are hinting of war in Iran to prevent Germany from getting thse Persian oilfields. BRISK ATTACKS MADE BY THE TOBRUK GARRISON. MANY CASUALTIES INFLICTED ON ENEMY. (B>; Telegraph—Press Associal ion—Copyright) LONDON, July 15. A communique from Cairo reports a recent hand-to-hand encounter at Tobruk, in which the British forces took the enemy by surprise, captured a number of prisoners', and inflicted many casualties. This was only one of several offensive patrols by our forces. Another was so successful that it was described in an enemy communique as a serious attempt to break out of Tobruk. SUCCESSFUL R.A.F, RAIDS. The R.A.F. has carried out further successful raids in North Africa and all the bombers engaged returned safely. Yesterday the R.A.F. bombed an aerodrome building in the Tripoli area and .machine-gunned dispersed aircraft. On Saturday night many fires and explosions occurred in Bardia and Benghazi.