GREAT STRENGTH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20623, 26 November 1941, Page 5

GREAT STRENGTH

THE IMPERIAL ARMY HUGE AIR FLEET LORRIES, TANKS, GUNS CAIRO, Nov. 18. The British Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, General Sir Claude Auchinleck, now has at his disposal a powerful force, which is infinitely stronger than that which faced Marshal Graziani’s legions this time last year, says the war correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald. The major part of this force is composed of war-seasoned troops, and includes South Africans Avho Avrote finis to Mussolini’s East African Empire, British armoured forces, New Zealanders who fought in Greece and Crete; and Indian troops Avho took part in the campaigns in Abyssinia and Eritrea. I have spent the past few days travelling hundreds of miles across the desert, and even so I have seen only a small portion of the great Imperial Army. “Tremendous Increase’’ The most encouraging thing I noted was the tremendous increase in war material, tangible evidence of the steady flow during the past months of material from Britain and the United States to the Middle East. The desert is full of neAV lorries, tanks, and guns. There is no need for desperate improvisations this time.

Most heartening of all, is the number of new aerodromes which haVe sprung up. There seem to be aircraft everywhere. They include fighters and bombers, many of them American types. I covered a great area, but I did not see a single enemy aircraft. I did see our aircraft in numbers well-nigh incredible to one who remembers our limited air strength even a few short months ago. Value of American Aid There are almost as many squadrons now as there were aircraft a year ago. In vicious-looking Tomahawk. fighters and squat, aggressive Maryland bombers there is graphic evidence of the value of American aid. This great air fleet going to the attack is now manned by Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Britons, Canadians, Free French, and even a number of Norwegians and Americans. “We must chuck everything we’ve got into the air, and sort out what we’ve got left afterward,” a squadron leader told me, and these obviously are the tactics being adopted to pave the way for the land forces. The spirit of the troops is excellent. This is a conventional thing to say, but in this case I can speak from first-hand knowledge. I talked with dozens of Tommies and Dominion soldiers, and their morale is 100 per cent. They are all eager to get to grips with the enemy. “We want to kick the from Africa once and for all,” said a South African brigadier with a famous name. That expresses the feelings of them all.