MEN & WEAPONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 July 1942, Page 4

MEN & WEAPONS

IN DESERT CAMPAIGN BRITISH MINISTER’S SURVEY IN HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATE. DEFENCE OF GENERAL RITCHIE. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.55 a.m.) RUGBY, July 1. Mr Oliver Lyttelton, Minister of Production, making the first speech on behalf of the Government in the House of Commons no-confi-dence debate, discussed production problems and examined the causes of the Libyan setback. He said we had made a tactical mistake in being over-enterprising in the operations south of Benghazi in the situation then existing; secondly, Crusader tanks were unsuitable in desert conditions; thirdly, the German tanks were superior in armament and range of weapons. Mr Lyttelton said he placed the third factor last because the German tanks had been reduced in numbers and the British tanks had a faster rate of fire. The present battle had been commenced with a considerable, but insufficient, number of General Grant tanks, with cruiser tanks mounting two-pounders, and, at the beginning, a small number of six-pounder anti-tank guns on field mountings. There were many moie of the later 25-pounders, which had proved a deadly anti-tank weapon. Referring to criticism of the lack of dive-bombers, Mr Lyttelton said the British now had air ascendancy in more than one theatre, and expected to turn dive-bombers to good account. These aircraft had already reached one theatre and others were on the way. Still more would be delivered during the next few weeks. He also said that dive-bombers would not have helped in the Desert campaign, because it was difficult to select enemy tanks in the battle area, and also difficult to bomb columns, because they were not concentrated. Mr Lyttelton declared that from accounts he had received there was no reason to suppose that General Ritchie had not manoeuvred his armoured divisions, or that he had .maintained a passive attitude. Neither was there any evidence that General Ritchie ran into an ambush.