EGYPT IN PERIL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 July 1942, Page 3

EGYPT IN PERIL

NEED FOR MAXIMUM EFFORT. STRESSED IN LONDON. LONDON, June 29. The “Daily Mail” says: “The news graver every hour. The Eighth Army has become too weakened to be risked in defence of any fortified line against such forces as Rommel commands. The loss of Mersa Matruh is a serious blow, and no doubt it will yield the Italians and Germans additional booty and also a water supply. “The conflict, for the moment, is swaying all one way, but the pendulum may yet be stopped. The loss of Egypt would be such a catastrophe to the United Nations that we may be sure the utmost efforts will be made to save it, and we may hope that sufficient reserves in men and material are being brought up to enable a strong and successful counter-attack.” The military writer for “The Tinies” says: “Mersa Matruh does not necessarily constitute our last effective defence position, but its speedy fall is a bad omen. It may well be that our forces are compelled through weakness to avoid a major tank battle for the time being, and this exposes the other arms to crushing attack. “That Alexandria and the Suez Canal are imperilled is almost incredible in view of the vast numbers of men and quantities of material that have been sent to Egypt, but that is what we have to contemplate.”