FEELING GROWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 142, 17 June 1940, Page 6

FEELING GROWS.

FAITH IN ALLIES.

DEFENCE STRENGTH.

POWERFUL AIR FORCE.

BARRIER OF DESERT WASTES.

The spotlight of international affairs turns to Egypt, as the Abyssinians take up arms against their Italian conquerors and Libya gathers her resources for a struggle with the Allies. According to the cabled reports, the Prime Minister of Egypt has announced that diplomatic relations with Italy have been severed, and that if Italy bombed Egyptian towns or ports, Egypt would declare war.

Egypt's status and her relations with the British Empire are of particular interest at the present time, as is also her defensive capacity. Egypt was originally part of the Turkish Empire, but a few months after the start of the last Great War a British Protectorate was declared and the Khedive was deposed, the title of Sultan of Egypt being conferred upon Hussein Kami!. On his death in 1917 he was succeeded by his brother as Sultan Fuad. The Protectorate was terminated in 1922, and the Sultan was proclaimed King. Treaty Ratified. The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of Alliance, which is the basis of the present status of Egypt, was signed and ratified in 1936, to continue for 20 years. Under its terms the military occupation by British Forces was terminated, the special British interest in the defence of the Suez Canal zone was recognised, and the administration of the Sudan remained in accordance with the arrangement resulting from the Condominium Agreements of 1899. The present ruler is King Faruk 1., "who was born in 1920.

Egypt i s n °t defenceless. She has her own army, trained by British instructors to handle complicated mechanical arms. Service is nominally compulsory on all Egyptian subjects between the agee of 19 and 27, the recruits required each year being selected by ballot. According to latest reports, the strength of the army is 40,000, supported by important concentrations of British and Allied troops, including New Zealanders. In addition there are Australian and Allied troops in Palestine, which could be released for service in Egypt if required. A.I.F. Headquarters. Egypt is the headquarters of the Middle East Air Command, and in accordance with the 1036 treaty expansion of this arm of defence has been rapid. Early this year there were over 400 British pilots stationed in Egypt. There is a squadron of Westland Lyeanders and many Gladiators and Miles Magisters. No doubt the strength of this force has been substantially increased in recent months. Royal assent has been given for B-A.F. ranks, and similar uniforms have been issued.

There is no Egyptian navy in the proper sense of the term; there are three small cruisers belonging to the coastguard, and four vessels under the Ministry of Communications, while the different Government Departments possess steamers on the Nile for inspection purposes. < Pride in Allies. When Var broke out there was no question of the direction in which Egyptian sympathies lay. There was a marked change in the attitude to Great Britain. There was a recognition of the fact that but for the British Navy the fata of Albania might have been the fate of Egypt. "For the first time I have seen cinema audiences applaud displays of British military end naval strength," stated a British writer in Egypt. "They speak proudly of 'our powerful ally.' There have been military parades in Cairo and Alexandria and the British troops taking part in these parades were loudly cheered.

"When I talk to Egyptians I find them anxious, but the conversation always ends with, 'Of course, England will never let anyone touch Egypt.' If the speaker happens to be a Copt (an Egyptian Christian), he adds that God will confound the dictators and preserve Egypt."

"Egypt may not be entirely calm," the writer concludes, "but she is prepared to defend herself and, with the help of England and her Allies, still offer as tough a problem to-day ae. she did to Napoleon, whose towers for the storage of grain still dot the desert-horizon of Cairo, the only monuments #o that dictator's mania for world empire." Strategic Importance. Egypt's position at the corner where Africa joins Asia is of such strategic importance that even if the' Suez Canal did not exist, her territory would always be coveted by any greet Power aiming at naval supremacy in the Mediterranean, African colonies, or mid-Eaetern commitments.

The fortunate side of her situation is the 130 miles of desert on her eastern frontier and the 400-odd miles of wilderness to the west, which provides a fairlyeffective barrier to invasion from Italian Libya. "Fairly effective" is used advisedly, for, with the general advance in efficiency of aircraft and motor transport, the difficulty of crossing a sandy, waterless desert decreases from day to dey.