DESERT FIGHTING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23699, 4 July 1940, Page 8

DESERT FIGHTING

News from Army headquarters in the Middle East describes a type of operation in which British forces have had a wealth of experience in the past. On the Libyan frontier, in the desert which forms the western bastion of Egypt, British and Italian troops have been in contact and in action from time to time ever since the state of war with Italy began. An official summing up of the situation says the British are fighting a very successful guerilla campaign under conditions which do not allow the employment of forces on Euro-

pean lines. That is to say, there can be no advance in huge strength such as Germany employed to overwhelm France. Past experience suggests that the type of fighting which the nature of the country dictates will make heavy demands on the endurance, tenacity and initiative of the troops. A despatch from Cairo shows how initiative was speedily displayed by the British forces, how they demolished barriers and penetrated enemy territory deeply. Now that the enemy is throwing in heavier detachments, the same tenacity and endurance which marked past campaigns in this desert area in Sinai, Palestine and Mesopotamia will be forthcoming. No knock-out blow may be possible in the desert area, but British prestige can, and will, be upheld.