Wednesday, "HONGKONG TELEGRAPH—————— June 12, 1940.
MAGAZINE
PAGE
The Way to Defend Britain Against
The welter in France. The enemy are conducting 1 major operation, and, so far, the Allied counter-attacks ap- pear to be only local.
XWO points stand out from
D
The notion that the thrust of the Nazarenoured šlyisions was Florißed "rald” Is uller and dancer- ous monense, Belgium and northerni France are not a motor bandit's swag. They are the key points in the fate of three great Allied armlen,
*
We need vitally two things to win this struggle. An idea and a method. First we must prasys thr fact that the war of "lines" is as but-of-date as the war of Greek The "ne" has been phalanxes. exchanged for the "zone." The area int yesterday was known as the rear is, to-day as much a battle zone as the front. There is in fact only one front, and it is that created by the mobile fort which is the tank and the armoured car.
There is only one way to counter this devastating iden-use it our- kelves It was a British.officer_wha thought of it first. It was a French officer, Andrio Laffargue, who in the Ides of Infltration. 1015 got which is the genesis of the whole thing.
THERE is actually only one real anti-tank weapon. That is,
2.11-
Fortress
Parachute Troops
other tanık. Why should you la- boriously fit out your infantry with anti-tank rifles? You have still got to transport them to keep up with your adversary. This best way to de that is to put your men in a tank themselves and arm them, not with a rifle, but a cannon.
our
The German tanks defy most of To present anti-tank STELIOL their surprising size and speed they add a tremendous nemour. It is called "concrete-zlezl" and will rc- Rist the fire of 14in. anti-tanic al 200 metres. This armour Weapons is made at the Poldino-Hut factory at Kladno near Prague, and at Vilkovice in Moravia.
The unfortunate Czechs are labouring under Nazi domination at tank production in ihree other great centres. 1 estimate their forced output alone at 5000 tanks a year. To this must be added the vast stream from the German factories.
I WILL not discuss the niluation in France this evening except to. point out that the Germans there are subject to altack by air, land Red Sea. Let us turn to the matter which preoccupied another great enemy, Napoleon, when he camped
in the Desert
By RONALD MATTHEWS
CAIRO.
ANY troops that try to attack
Egypt will have no walk-over. This is my conviction after two days spent at Merso Matruh, the Anglo-Egyptian fortress
which bars the route Inlo the country from the cous),
From an uninstructed look at the map you would think that the italians could enter Egypt any- where along the Libyan-Egyptian frontier.
This is an error,
For 10 miles south of the Medl- lerranean coast the desert rises to
a great escarpment-a sheer, sandy ellit, 000 feet high and unsealable by the most agile tank.
Sixty
the
miles south again cliffs descend, and another possible way to an inveder would seem open through the frontier Stwa oasis.
the
This is connealed by a track to Bazarly onsis, within I'
hours' nin of the Nile.
On a map this, too, looks easy. But the Siwa-Bahariya route crosses
which a desert region.
would be as kind to tanks as Dart- moor
is 20 Ignorant hikers.
On either side of the track- which could be easily destroyect stretch pitiless. exparises of soft sond.
Any means of transport but the cel would be bored in a matter of reconcis."
*
*
Mersa Matruh, therefore, stands ut the edge of the only tensible way to Egypt, and it bars the only metal road to the East.
It is quite the felendliest fortress
I have ever visited.
The little town, consisting
one and two-storey villas, was laid
out in methodically saunted streets
by the lute King Fuad to be
Egypt's miniature Brighton.
broad are
Then there
deep trenches into which tanks of any imaginable size woukt plunge.
Within the lines of wire and pylons are the defensive positions of the garrison.
1 wandered through the wrench systems and peered through the gun apertures of the Bren pill-
boxes.
is
Each pill-box, Ineldentally, connected by telephone with H.Q.
1 descended the rool vaults of concrete underground casualty sta- long.
Finally I was shown the brains of the whole fortress tons of feet underground.
*
Here the sta, aided by tele- giphists and telephonists, can. communicate with both the front and the outside work).
The defensive positions sur- rounding the hattmeil town where the
lives Barrison in peace-time are a number of separate Tipes,
"We'll hold them all right," a dour Scottish sergeant assured me. It might be asked what would happen if an invader tried to side- step Mersa Matruh by sending troops across the desert to the north.
That is why mechanised troops ure waiting in the neighbourhood ready to move at instant nolice to intercept any mobile attackers.
Mechanised
craft-the Tight crews use maatical terininology are ready at the harbour-side.
Not far away, but equally ready, are warships.
Every day planes of the far- Bung patrols of the Egyptian fron- tler force scour the desert, watch- ing for suspicious activities.
By A MILITARY CORRESPONDENT.
so long upon the hill that, crowis the ancient town of Boulogne. The "Invasion of England."
Consider the parachutists, the real "storm troops" of this war. They Fit, are the pleķ of Nazi youth. strong, resolute, resourceful fighters, ored with automaties that throw a belt of fire around them. We are proposing to mobilise against them and a militia armed with rife bayonet. Why not with bows and arrows and with the Lord of the Manor mounted on one of the estate horkes?
The beautiful thenry now is that on the arrival of the invaders, we shall "call out the Watch" and draw a cordon around the invaders until the Regulars come up. Birt what we need are shock troops armed with tommy-guns, who will Immediately pasaull and prevent the parachutists ever dispersing. In fact, we should organise a first Bae of this Parastot fores on the basis of the Assault Guard of the Spanish Republic; that is, police troops of the fighest quality and tralued for
this sort exactly
Could
THE prospect of
of
:
afmed Incu landing in Britain on a seale sufficient to constitute an invasion as distinct from raids by para- chutista or other querillan-is a disturbing thought, but it is highly important to differentiate between "ralds" and "invasion" proper.
Events may prove me wrong, but in my opinion Britain · cannot be "Invaded" as long as we retain command of the sea. This Is equally true whether the invader were to make his jump-off from any point or points along the coast- line of Western Europe, from the Far North down to the Bay of Bis- cay,
In the past, many Euro- pean dictators. from Philip of Spain to Napoleon and perhaps, Hitler himself, have toyed with the idea
专
Esitle. A second Ino would serve well enough as patrols.
Right now the troops at present training in Britain should be form- ed into fighting units and disposed as such. For Britain Kixo 1x n "battle zone," it is not just the
"rear" behind the Channel.
The country should be divided Info sectors. Strong points should be set up and connection estab- Ibied. Thus it will be possible to deal with "Infiltration" from, the air in the saine way that skips can deal with "Infiltration" from the sea, that is by watertight compart- ments. When the enemy penetrates you almply close the compartment affected, and then PUMP HIM OUT AT LEISURE.
*
Only regular troops can handle this thetle. And I point out again ikat this tactic is precisely the most meful that infantry can be required to master.
Let us further set about armour- ing notne trains. The shipyards are capable of providing the plates sufficient for resisting the fire of automatic rifles. Let 115 create armoured train crews, and keep them constantly ander arms. Let
us armour a host of small motor- cars and place them in the sanie force.
NOW for another illusion, Here It is, "The parachutists, having no base, can quickly be mopped up. We have only to put all our Fifth Columnists minder lock and key and all possible reinforcement here will be cut off." Dunk.
Parachutists can do sustained by trann-carrying aleplanes. And by trains of gillers, of the kind em- ployed by the Nazis in the Oghting along the Albert Canal, Six to eight men can be carried on every gilder, and six to eight gudern can be towed. While the German hakeS were in Germany this manoeuvre was attended with far too much risk. Established on the French
the consis diminished.
*
risk la drastically
Ask
It is not easy to eject men armed with automatte weapons oure they
· are entrenched in a house. any G-man. Indeed we migld well obtain from the United States both advice on this problem and arms.
In 1916 she hundred men locked themselves In the Dublin Post Ofee. They had only elfies. They held the post for five days 'and were ejected eventually by artillery. Six hundred Nazl parachutisis would hardly be disposed of in five days if they were allowed to run Joose in Eire to-day.
Hitler Invade
Britain?
ever many of these he might be able to land.
Tanks,
heavy artillery and mechastised equipment would be needed by the intruders to save Hietuselves
from destruction capture, still more to enable them to advance intand. These impedi- menis must be brought across in
omparatively large
ships, and
or
they could be put ashore only by the aid of dock facilities, crimes,
ele.
Huge quantities of on its
were
leen. to date, paltry. If the Fleet
" compelled operate in * waters much nearer the main German air bases, such as the Flanders coast or the Dover de- ale, ile. we might suffer heavier losses, but that remains to be proved.
Yes,
as long as that Fleet remmins undefeated the German dietator cannot attempt a proper invasion oversens without Incur- ring risks from which even his self-confidence must flinch.
From the days of Ancient Home down to our own time history has shown no single Instance of suc- cessful invasion by sea in the teeth uf a superior enemy fleet. This is
A rule to which not a single important exception is on record. The sequels to Napoleon's descent on Egypt, to Hoche's expedi tion to Bantry Bay and to the Italian attack on Lissa oll ended in lisaster to the aggressor.
Hector Bywater!
and
of subjugating Britain by invading her. Philip tried the plan. gvery schoolboy knows the fate of his "Invincible "Armada."
*
Napoleon kept for months a huge army sprawled along the. French Chanel const, ready to cross in "In-tolloin 1938, but try us he -might be could not flout-the-inexor- able laws of geo-naval strategy, for between him and England lay the British Fleet those distant, alor-battered ships on which the Grand Army never looked, stood between it and the dominion of the world."
Not even litler can evade those laws. The parachutists and "Fifth Columnists" Hay
local create havoc and
but such confusion, sporadic uperations cannot, accord- ing to all the leachings of history. be decisive.
Modern warfare has assumed a phase which makes real
a
ip- vasion of this country more dif- felt than ever. An invader would require more than troops, how-
Says No
various forms, munitions and 'sup- ples would also be essential, and they could only be brought over in the needful volume by surface malıdı Meanwhile what would
The British Home
Fleet and its attached squadrons and flotillas at least three limon more numerous tham Hiller's whole naval force- and the R.A.F. and the Fleet Air Arm be doing?
Even Hitler must gain at least temporary or local command of the sea before he can invade us in decisive force. He has no visible or imaginable prospect of galning his such
his command. Thanks to adventure in Scandinavia his fleet has, to quote or Prine Minister's phrase, suffered "massive muttla- tlun," which the utmost exertions of his shipyards and arsenals can- not make good this year or next.
The
air tutal results of his
Fleet have offensive against our
Dogmatism ita pitfall into which nu serious commentator on war- fure should full, but when a rule mus demonstrated its absomte flexibility-over-the-whole-
--span; nf. world history as we know it, one may be pardoned for accepting it as unbreakable-though I agree that the air has introduced an en- tirely new factor which might con- ceivably upset all previous enteula tlons.
I venture to predict that__no German milltary force, other than parachutista or individual sabo- teurs, will be seen in Brillah soil in this war as long as the Allied flects remain virtually intact and their armies undefeated. Even in the latter contingency there is no reason why British territory al:ould be violated by a German army with the consent of the British Government and people.
save
It is situuled on the edge of a WARSHIPS OF THE GREAT POWERS-IV....... JAPAN
lagoon "Harbour, hemmed in by
encircling promontories, and barred
by reef with a single narrow
entrance.
This rect is under constant ob- servation from the shore, and covered by guns,
At manset the harbour looks much like a Hollywood representa- flon of the South Seas.
Yet up the gentle slopes from the water's edro lies a chain of defences sweeping in an 11-mile circle round-the town.
Key points are now constantly manned.
Across the desert, which is here like a mud plt, entangling dark grey strands of barbed wire are stretched.
Parallel with the barbed wire loom the grey conleal shapes of anti-tank pylons..
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