The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1940. ITALY'S NOW OR NEVER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 218, 13 September 1940, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1940. ITALY'S NOW OR NEVER.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Italian land forces, long assembled in Libya, are reported to-day to have moved nearer to the frontier of Egypt, though they have not crossed it. This suggests that the offensive, which was expected when the cooler weather arrived, may be near at hand. The Italians have been hampered by British attacks from sea and air, and the naval raids on Capuzzo and Bardia have demonstated that they have more than land forces to contend with. Nevertheless, they have formidable numerical strength, and Mussolini may have decided that for Italy it is "now or never." He is, after all, a partner in the Axis, and as such he is expected to contribute something of positive value to the business. His greatest "victory" tc date has been won by courtesy of the Germans, but if Germany were able single-handed to defeat- Britain such courtesies might not continue. It is therefore important that he should demonstrate, both to the Germans and to the Italian people, that Italian military prowess has not declined since the grand campaign in Ethiopia, and that his derision of the decadent democracies is well justified. Besides this necessity to act, there is the continuing temptation of the rich prize which is Egypt, and all that control of Egypt would mean.

Nevertheless, until the campaign is actually launched, there must be doubt as to whether the Italians will attempt it. Apart from its human defenders, Egypt is defended by a great natural fortress, a desert 400 miles wide at its narrowest part. It Avill be necessary for ths Italians to cross it, and to get their armoured fighting vehicles across it, before they can reach a vital spot. The least uninviting route, along the coastal belt where the road and railway run, is strongly defended by the fortress of Mersa Matruh and the forces based on it. Attempts to aid such an attack from the sea would seem doomed to failure because of the supremacy of the Mediterranean fleet. It is suggested from London that the Italians propose to advance by three routes, of which the coastal route is. one. Such an * enterprise, if it- is intended to. risk large forces, would require preparations on a scale which could not escape the attention of British scouting 'planes, and thereafter, of British bombers. But it is possible that, the Italians, rightly impressed by the achievements of the German air weapon, plus tanks, plus surprise, in Belgium and France, hope to overcome their natural difficulties by a swift advance with tanks, motorised troops and possibly parachutists. Whatever tactics they may adopt, they will encounter defending forces which have had a long time for preparation, and forces which have been strengthened recently, both in the air and on land.