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Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1942. A MOMENTOUS BATTLE.

NOTHING is better established than that the Battle of Egypt, in which the New Zealand Division is taking or is about to take an active part, is at the same time a battle in which vastly more is at stake than the fate of Egypt and the Suez Canal. Rommel’s thrust into Egypt must be considered with reference not only to its immediate objectives, but to the wartar'e that is in progress in adjacent and related areas. Taking all the visible facts into account, it is plain that the fate of the Battle of Egypt must influence greatly the total, course of the war in the immediate future.

If Rommel were able to reach the Nile Delta and the Suez Canal, lie would not only cut a vital link in British Imperial and Allied communications, but would do much to open the way to concerted Axis thrusts into the Middle Eastern oilfields, probably by way of Turkey, on the north, as well as from the south. If the Germans were able to force the Dardanelles there would be incidental consequences in a serious weakening of the Russian southern flank —a weakening that would prejudice greatly whatever prospects the Soviet forces now have of blocking an enemy advance into the • Caucasus —and the European Axis Powers would have covered an important initial stage towards that junction with their Asiatic ally on which their ultimate hopes arc set.

On the other hand, if the British and Allied forces now withstanding a tremendous onslaught in Egypt are able to hold on to essentials, and eventually to roll back Rommel’s offensive, much will be done towards upselling and defeating the total Axis scheme of aggression. Information is incomplete at many points in regard to the strength the Allies and the enemy respectively are likely to be able to bring to bear in North Africa and in other parts of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres. There is no really dependable' information as to.the extent to which the Axis Powers are prepared to attack Turkey, in a movement complementary to Rommel’s offensive in North Africa, or indeed as to the forces the Allies could throw into the scale on Turkey’s side.

It is claimed fairly, however, that in the scale on which they have taken shape and are developing, the operations in North Africa and the Mediterranean are serving the purpose already of diverting a great deal of enemy force, not least air force, which otherwise would by this time have been thrown into the scale against Russia. The far-reaching importance and significance of the struggle in North Africa and the Mediterranean and the vital issues involved stand out so plainly that it can hardly be supposed that the Allies will now be content with anything short of a policy of full-powered effort at every point at which effective action is practicable.

This should have its full application, amongst other things, to the use of the numerous forces which have been organised and equipped, but arc as yet inactive, in Great Britain. It has been, said by one overseas commentator that there is an answer to those who are demanding a second front in Western Europe now, and who urge that shipping would be employed more economically in the narrow seas between Britain and the Continent than in the 12,000 mile voyage round the Cape to the Middle East. The answer, according to the commentator in question, is that the total amount of shipping transport .available to the Allies is limited, and that there is an immediate and vital necessity of defeating the enemy in North Africa and the Middle East, whereas in Western Europe the Allies can afford to bide their time, secure in the knowledge that, day by day and week by week, their strength, relatively to that of the enemy, is increasing.

This reasoning at best is inconclusive. It ignores or overlooks the possibility that powerful Allied action in the West might contribute heavily to the weakening of the enemy and to the victory of the Allied forces in. Africa and the Middle East. It overlooks also the danger that by remaining inactive in the West the Allies may ’enable the enemy to gain such advantages in Africa and the Middle East, and perhaps also in Russia, as would offset for a considerable time to come the expansion of Allied strength in Britain and the United States. The practicability of a given operation must be determined always in light of the most dependable information and expert advice obtainable, but it is not easy to envisage considerations which would justify the Allies in holding great and powerful forces inactive in Britain while life and death battles are being fought in Africa and Russia, and. obviously are liable to extend at any time into new and not less vital areas of conflict.

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Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAITA19420630.2.4

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1942, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
817

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1942. A MOMENTOUS BATTLE. Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1942, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1942. A MOMENTOUS BATTLE. Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1942, Page 2

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