THE MIDDLE EAST

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21041, 17 February 1940, Page 7

THE MIDDLE EAST

IMPORTANCE OF EGYPT GREAT TRAINING CAMP MR EDEN AT JERUSALEM (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Feb. 15 Egypt has become the Allies’ greatest training camp and a springboard from which Allied forces could act if the war spread to the Middle East, says a special correspondent of the British United Press at Cairo. “In the course of a fortnight’s tour, I found British and Egyptian forces entrenched or training from the Suez Canal to the desert oases,” says the writer. “I am reliably informed that Egyptian soldiers will be used only on Egyptian soil. “ French Senegalese, Indian and Dominion forces would go into action while Egyptian and Palestinian troops would remain to guard bases. I found British and Egyptian workers building a network of new military roads throughout the desert.” A message from Jerusalem states that the Dominions Secretary, Mr Anthony Eden, arrived in a Royal Air Force machine from Cairo and was met by the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces. He was introduced to British and Australian officers, and then left to inspect the Australian camps.