THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Saturday, November 22, 1941. THE NORTH AFRICAN SCENE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24771, 22 November 1941, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Saturday, November 22, 1941. THE NORTH AFRICAN SCENE

Two months ago the Nazi propagandists were anticipating a fullscale British offensive in Libya. This would be launched, they said, in the hope that German pressure on Soviet Russia would thus be relieved. London newspapers sug- { gest that the British attack now under way may be regarded as the opening up of a second front, but its real purpose may be assumed to have less to do with the creation of a diversion than with a studied plan to bring the enemy in North Africa once more to action, this time decisively. It is known that in recent months General Auchinleck’s Army of the Nile has been powerfully strengthened, both in men and in machines. There is emphasis on the fact that air support is not lacking on this occasion, as it was, lamentably, in Greece and Crete, There is evidence, too, of staff planning of the quality that distinguished General Wavell’s earlier advance over the same terrain. The initial stages of the offensive were developed so) secretly that, according to reliable reports, the enemy was taken completely by surprise, and deep penetration of the territory held by him was thus made speedily possible. Reason to suspect the imminence of a land attack might certainly have been provided in the fact that for weeks British bombers had pounded enemy bases in Libya and, wider afield, in Sicily and Italy. Those punishing attacks are continuing as the British forces press forward, while the firing power of the Mediterranean fleet is being employed to harass enemy concentrations in coastal positions. General Auchinleck is plainly leaving nothing to chance. He speaks of the adequacy of the air support available, of the strength of the armoured divisions ,under General Cunningham’s command, and of the superiority of his forces in morale. It is the resolve of the British command, General Auchinleck says, to find the enemy and fight him. In these circumstances we may await the outcome of the pending struggle with sober confidence. In the meantime there is at least one development that may be linked with the renewal of largescale military operations in North Africa. It suggests the extent to which the Government at Vichy may be prepared to co-oper-ate with the Axis in resisting the British bid for possession of that area. It is assuredly not by accident that, the removal of General Weygand from his post as Vichy’s principal representative in North Africa and commander’ of the still large French forces maintained there has coincided with the opening of the attack from Egypt. Weygand’s position has long been obscure; but, while he may have had small liking for Vichy’s policy of “collaboration” with Germany,, it has always been believed in British official quarters that he remained fundamentally loyal to Marshal Retain, There have been hints, nevertheless, that Admiral Darlan would take the first opportunity of recalling General Weygand if the situation in North Africa should develop threateningly for the Axis. That step has now been taken. The removal of Weygand from a post in which he was popular doubtless accords with the wishes of the Nazi overlords in Berlin, but it will be surprising if it does not have significant repercussions in Washington. For a long period the official policy of the United States has been to support Weygand in the hope that his great influence in North Africa might eventually be used against the Axis. This attitude was a positive factor in inducing the United States to maintain diplomatic relations with Vichy and in shaping British policy towards the shipment of American supplies to North Africa. That the State Department in Washington takes the gravest view of Weygand’s recall by Vichy is indicated in the decision, already announced, to suspend all plans for economic assistance to French North Africa and to review the entire relationship of the United States with the Retain Government. The stopping of American supplies will be a serious blow to the French North African community, which has relied in part on the United States for foodstuffs and clothing and for stocks essential to civic maintenance and agricultural production. But it is the result, and may be a permanent result, of Vichy’s betrayal of the French people, and it might yet have consequences of far-reaching importance in the development of Allied plans for the breaking of Axis power in the French empire in North Africa.