BLANKET OF SILENCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 July 1942, Page 3

BLANKET OF SILENCE

OVER VITAL STRUGGLE CALM REPORTED IN CAIRO & ALEXANDRIA. SOME AXIS ALLEGATIONS OF PANIC. LONDON, June 29. A blanket of silence covers the vital Battle of Egypt. The only news is coming from Axis sources, except for care-fully-phrased dispatches from correspondents which do not reveal details of the territorial changes. The correspondents state that the battle is raging over a wide area south-west and south-east of Mersa Matruh, and the full resources of Britain’s desert arms, consisting of British, Allied, Dominion and Indian forces, have been mustered and are attempting to wear down the Italian and German strength. Conditions in Cairo and Alexandria are now reported to be normal. The Berlin radio declared that half of the British garrisons in Syria and Lebanon are going to Egypt. Special detachments of British sappers are ready to blow up Alexandria’s port installations and fleeing civilians are jamming the roads from the city. Information indicates that the enemy has suffered heavy casualties in the battle. He has now reached a point something like 1100 or 1200 miles from his main base at Tripoli, over which distance he has brought everything he could, as well as what he brought from Benghazi. He now has to face a plain barely 50 miles wide, and in this area the Allied forces are concentrated with their armour and guns.

MERSA MATRUH EVACUATED BEFORE AXIS ARRIVAL. EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES REMOVED. (Received This Day. 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, June 30. ' Reuter’s Cairo correspondent states that British forces, equipment and supplies were evacuated from Mersa Matruh on June 28, a day before the Axis occupation. AXIS FORCES NOW ABOUT 90 MILES FROM ALEXANDRIA. LONDON, June 30. The Germans, thrusting deeper into Egypt, have passed El Daba, and are now about 90 miles from the naval base at Alexandria. El Daba is 70 miles east of Mersa Matruh. A mixed German division is continuing to feel its way along the coast. WORRYING EFFICIENTLY MR CHURCHILL’S PRIORITY LIST. WASHINGTON, June 30. Mr Churchill told friends here last week that he had so many worries he was forced to set up a personal priority system. Only those with the top priority could claim his interest. He explained, “One day Kharkov has number one priority, the next day Egypt.” “In that way,” said Mr Churchill jokingly, “I can worry efficiently.”