A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 8, 4 October 1941, Page 8

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Near East Activities CONVOY ATTACKED All the signs point to another winter campaign in North Africa, and it may well be that the initiative will be taken once again by the British Army of the Nile. For several months the enemy has been engaged in building up his strength in Libya by transporting reinforcements and Supplies from Italy. The insecurity- bf. his lines of communication has been evidenced by the numerous successful-attacks made on his convoys by' British, submarines and aircraft and by the continual activity of - R.A.F. bombers against Tripoli and Benghazi and the aerodromes and supply bases between the latter port and the Egyptian frontier. Nevertheless, the enemy doubtless has managed, to get a considerable number of troops across the Mediterranean, as well as supplies and equipment.

Western Desert On the British side there has been a ceaseless flow of troops and supplies to the Near East. Speaking on June 10, Mr. Churchill said the large forces which were occupied in the conquest of Abyssinia were now set free, with an immense mass of transport, and large numbers were then on their way or had reached the Delta of the Nile. If a second British campaign against Libya is in near prospect, the resources of General Aucbinleck will be far in excess of those at the disposal of General Wavell less than a year ago.

Speaking in the House of Commons on August 6, the Lord Brivy Seal, Mr. Attlee, said that day by day and week by week, tanks, guns, aircraft and other supplies continued to arrive in the Near East and our reorganization and training for the “next forward move” would go on. A great fact that differentiated our situation from that of last year was the vastly increased scale of assistance which we were receiving from the United States. Out in the Western Desert the vigour of our fighting patrols on the Libyan border and at Tobruk was keeping the enemy in such a state of continuous nervousness that he had to illuminate the ground by night with searchlights. Mediterranean Convoys

Most of the sea traffic with troops and supplies for the Near East goes by way of the long route round the Cape of Good Hope, but from time to time great convoys from Britain are taken ( through the Mediterranean, under the protection of powerful naval escorts. The passage of such convoys through the narrow Sicilian Channel is invariably the occasion of attacks by enemy aircraft operating from near-at-hand bases in Sicily. The first time such an attack took place was last January when the Mediterranean Fleet was covering the passage of a convoy conveying important supplies to Greece. The aircraftcarrier Illustrious was hit several times by bombs and went into Malta for repairs. The cruiser Southampton was also hit and set on fire and subsequently had to be abandoned and sunk. The convoy was got safely to its destination.

Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, commanding the Western Mediterranean naval forces based on Gibraltar, has been responsible for the success of the convoy operations in that sea. Last week he carried out another successful operation of the kind. On this occasion the battleship Nelson received damage from a torpedo which slightly reduced her speed but caused no casualties. One merchant ship was damaged and finally had to be sunk after her crew had been taken cff. This is believed to be the first loss of its kind since the Mediterranean convoys were started. Übiquitous Ships

It will have been noted that the redoubtable Ark Royal was with the convoy and flew off a squadron of bombers escorted by fighters when the elusive Italian Fleet was reported to be at sea. 'This aircraft-carrier has a remarkable record of service during the last two years. The Ark Royal was with Admiral Somerville’s flag when his force put to sea from Gibraltar to head off the Bismarck and torpedoes dropped by her aircraft hit that ship in the evening of May 26. The fact that H.M.S. Ne’son is now in the Mediterranean is a reminder of the übiquity of British battleships in this war. Until relieved by the King George V last year the Nelson was flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet. At the time of the operations against the Bismarck it was revealed that the Rodney, sistership to the Nelson, and the Ramillies were among British battleships engaged in the protection of Atlantic convoys. It will be recalled that Ramillies was in WeUington at the beginning of last year, a few months after seeing service in Norwegian waters. One of the first missions of the King George V was to carry Lord Halifax, British Ambassador to Washington last year. The Warspite which saw service in Norwegian waters last year and subsequently flew the flag of Admiral. Sir . Andrew Cunningham in the Mediterranean, was recently reported to be refitting in a United States port. H.M.S. Nelson H.M.S. Nelson, which was launched in September, 1925, and completed in June, 1927, was the first British battleship to take the water for nine. years after the launch of the Ramillies in 1916. The Nelson,, which has a normal displacement of 33,950 tons on a length of 710 feet, and a breadth of 106 feet, is armed with nine 16in. guns in three triple turrets, 12 6in. guns, six 4.7 in. anti-aircraft guus, IS machine-guns, and two 24Mn. torpedo-tubes. She. has a designed speed of 23 knots; it is said that her oil-fuel consumption at full power is 16 tons an hour. At the time the Nelson and Rodney were completed it was said that “one way in which they made their mark in the history of naval construction was that while all previous battleships were built by men who had to imagine what a naval action would lie like, these ships had beeu designed to meet the requirements of a naval staff who were seeking to put into them the outcome of their war experience.” The only effect of the torpedo hit received by the Nelson was to reduce her speed. Her underwater protection is said to be most efficient, the usual external bulges having been replaced by an internal system developed from long experiment It will be recalled that the German battleship Bismarck received five hits from torpedoes during the pursuii in the Atlantic and it took two more to put her down after she had been silenced in action. The battleship Marlborough which was torpedoed in the Battle of Jutlaud in 191 b, remained in action and did not return to port till 36 hours later.. In dock it was found that the explosion had torn a hole 70 feet in length and 20 feet in width in her hull. —(S.D.W.)