Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1941. THE TOBRUK SALLY-PORT.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 November 1941, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1941. THE TOBRUK SALLY-PORT.

TT will no doubt be felt by the Axis forces in Libya, and parX ticularly by those of them who have spent their time in recent months in the vicinity of Tobruk, that the garrison of that port and fortress—first the Australians and then the United Kingdom and Polish troops by whom they were replaced—have departed to a serious if not reprehensible extent from the conduct of a force supposed to be beleaguered and enclosed.

Even in the months when the approach of relieving British forces was to be looked for only at a more or less uncertain future date, the Australians in Tobruk asserted themselves to an extent that may have been regarded by the enemy as quite unseemly. Not only were the attacks of enemy mechanised and other forces repulsed in a rough and deadly fashion, but the garrison pushed forward its defensive lines and harried the enemy continually in night patrols. Matters did not improve, from the Axis standpoint, after the Navy had accomplished the remarkable feat of removing the Australian garrison and replacing it with British and Polish troops. The incoming troops showed as little liking or inclination as their predecessors for passive tactics. Besides keepingpatrol and other activities going at full pressure, they made themselves familiar with the operation and management of tanks brought to them by the Navy. Although enemy divebombers were doing their worst during these tank piactices, it has been reported that not a single tank was lost.

It has been said by an overseas commentator that Tobruk was not at any stage a besieged fortress, but rather a sallyport maintained by the Navy. Full point is given to this contention by the current development of the British offensive in Libya and the active part played in it by the Tobruk garrison. At an early stage, the garrison advanced from its defensive lines and yesterday it was reported that it had captured and consolidated positions and taken 2,000 prisoners, of whom about half are Germans.

Official and other reports as yet have given only incomplete accounts of the great Libyan battle and no doubt both sides will make every effort to mask their tactical plans in secrecy until the issue has been decided. Broadly, however, it is clear that the main enemy forces are being engaged in an area extending over a distance of upwards of seventy miles, from the near neighbourhood of the Egyptian frontier to Sidi Rezegli, south-east of Tobruk. Over a considerable part of its length the battle area measures forty miles or more from north to south. On the west (that is to say, south of Tobruk) the enemy forces are enclosed, as news stands, save for a gap of a few miles.

In light of these broad facts, the value and importance of the Tobruk sally-port is indicated clearly, particularly when it is remembered that the only first-class transport route in Libya is the motor highway closely following the coast. Whatever the. complexities of the battle further east, command of this highway at Tobruk is a vital advantage possessed by the British and Imperial forces commanded by General Sir A. Cunningham. So, too, may be the opportunity of landing additional forces at Tobruk from the sea.

The Tobruk garrison, it is now reported, is on a fair way to join hands with the British, South African and New Zealand forces in the Sidi Rezegh area. The enemy forces on the Libyan escarpment are nowhere more obviously and more dangerously threatened than at the Tobruk end of the wide and extensive battle area.