NAZIS ANXIOUS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 165, 15 July 1941, Page 7

NAZIS ANXIOUS

AFRICAN SUPPLIES

j Losses Make Drive On Egypt Impossible

United I>r.-*s Asxui'lntion. — Copyright. ! Ret'. 1.30 p.m. LONDOX, July 11. General Rommel's African Army,! comprising two German panzer divisions and three mechanised divisions and 13 Italian divisions, at present has insufficient suitable material for the daring, inland and southward drive against Egypt which the German High Command' planned, says the "Daily Telegraph" correspondent in North Africa. The Germans are awaiting more material, which is still slipping across the Mediterranean from Sicily to Tripoli. Losses of enemy supply ships are estimated at 25 per cent and are rising.

The Germans are very interested in the construction of a' road which the French are pushing on between Colomb Bechar, an important petrol base in the Sahara Desert, and the Niger River. The Germans demand that this route must be usable in September. This seems impossible, but the demand indicates the importance the Germans attach to effectively tapping West African tungsten, oil, rubber and cotton.

The "Daily Express," quoting a neutral source at Marseilles, says 60,000 French metropolitan troops were shipped to Morocco with the object of helping Weygand's army to meet possible American action against French Africa. The ports of Marseilles, Villefranche and Port vendre have been closed to the public for the last two weeks. The entire aviation base at Clermont Ferrand, including planes, repair equipment and mechanics, has been shipped to Morocco.