OFFENSIVE AGAINST SUEZ

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21992, 18 June 1941, Page 5

OFFENSIVE AGAINST SUEZ

Nazi* Have Huge Army Massed (Rec. 2 a.m.) NEW YORK, June 17. Germany has massed an army of 500,000 men in Libya for a major offensive against the Suez Canal, according to the Lisbon correspondent of the “New Yprk Post” who spent a long period in Rome. The force is said to consist of 25 divisions, all motorised. From the existence of five panzer divisions he estimates that Germany has 2000 heavy and light tanks in Libya. So many tanks have been assembled in Naples that the docks cannot hold them and hundreds lie along the beaches. The German heavy tanks usually Weigh 36 tons. They are unwieldy in the desert but it is almost impossible for lighter tanks to stand up against them. The principal lesson of the blitzkriegs has been counter-attack with equally heavily armed columns as the only effective defence. Anti-tank guns and fixed defences are insufficient. Observers are hopeful that General Sir Archibald Wavell's air strength is sufficient to cope with the German offensive. It is believed that the Germans Will again rely on Stukas to provide a mobile barrage, but for the first time in the war they will be opposed by fast fighters adequately based.