Guarded Coast of French North Africa

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 109, 11 May 1939, Page 10

Guarded Coast of French North Africa

LONDON, May 1. An Italian attempt to land on the coast of Tunis would be a more ghastly failure than that made at Gallipoli, writes Mr George Steer in the Daily Telegraph. He has just returned from e visit to North Africa. France is well prepared against the type of Italian disembarkation recently tested in Albania. The whole Gulf of Tunis has been lined with barbed wire and artillery emplacements. Machine-gun posts, camouflaged with spring flowers, now adorn the whole coast. Almost war time conditions are observed every night, with lights out at sundown and a dim A.R.P. blue glow everywhere. No Arab Trouble Moreover, the Albanian coup has confirmed the 2,250,000 Arab population in Tunis in their decision to xeject Mussolini as the protector of Islam. Over 23,000 Arab refugees from Tripoli have spread stories of chiefs thrown from aeroplanes, public fiogings, and evictions of peasantry. Although these charges may not be true, they constitute tho Tunisian idea of the Duce. ( If war comes there will be no Arab trouble in Tunisia. On the contrary, Arab irregulars, officered by Frenchmen, dream of a triumphal entry into Tripoli. The French also have taken measures to control Italian residents. Advice to Italy Tremendous importance is attached by Italy and Germany to North Africa In the event of war with Britain and France, says the Romo correspondent of the Observer. This explains why the German Army chief, General von Brauchitsch, has been specially invited to Rome. It Is believed that he is advising Italy on plans for offensive and defensive measures on the Egyptian and Tunisian frontiers. General von Brauchitsch is a specialist in mechanised warfare and will visit Libya.