GUARDED COAST

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 11 May 1939, Page 10

GUARDED COAST

FRENCH NORTH AFRICA TUNIS FORTIFICATIONS IMPORTANCE TO THE AXIS GERMAN GENERALS TOUR LONDON, Ist May. Au Italian atempt 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 iust returned from a 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 TROHBLt Moreover. the Albanian cc*u;j ha- confirmed the 2,250.000 Arab population in Tunis in their decision to reject Mussolini as the protector of Islam. Over 23.000 Arab refugees from Tripoli have spread stories of chiefs thrown from aeroplanes, public floggings, and evictions of peasantry. Although these cnarges may not be true they constitute the Tunisian idea of the Duce If war comes there will be no Arab trouble in Tunisia On the contr»?y 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 Rome correspondent of the ‘Observer.’’

This explains why the Ge”:nan Army Chief. Generel 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