NEAR SUEZ.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 558, 23 November 1915, Page 7

NEAR SUEZ.

STRONG BRITISH CONTINGENTS. SUGGESTED OFFENSIVE DEPRECATED. PARIS, November 2L The "Temps" says the strong British contingents collected near the Suez Canal are credited with the intention of taking the offensive in Syria, via the Sinai Peninsula; Such an expedition is unlikely to be sue- . cessful, as it must cross 450 miles of broken country. ; The forces, which would be used up on the way would in themselves be sufficient to conquer Syria at one blow if they were landed at Alexandretta. By making the Suez Canal the starting point the expedition would repeat . the mistake made at Gallipoli in at- . tacking the southern end of the Peninsula. There are considerable British reinforcements in Egypt, many of which could be borrowed for Salonica without endangering the Suez Canal, and used in Serbia. In this way they would afford a better guarantee for British possessions, because the enemies which may threaten these are in Serbia, m where they mustxbe beaten, in order to bar the road eastward.