1940-06-12 — Page 3

TA

Wednesday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH:0}}_ June 12, 1940

| MAGAZINE

PAGE

The Way to Defend Britain Against

TWO,point in France. The WO points stand out from

enemy arc conducting 11 major operation, and, so far. the Allied counter-ntincks ap- pear to be only local,

#

The notion that the thrust of the Nazi armoured divisions TUS glorified "rald" is uiter und danger- ous nonsense, Belglum and northern France are not a motor bandit's swag. They are the key points in the fate of three great Allled ~arınics;~-~~-

•

We need vitally two things to win this sleuggle. An Idea and a method. First we must grasp the fact that the war of "lines" is atit-of-date as the war of Greek phalanxes The "e" has been exchanged for the "zone." The area that yesterday was known as the rear to-day as much a battle zone as the front. There is in fact only one front, and I is that created by the mobile fort which is the tank and the armoured car.

There is only one way to cuunter this devastating idea-use tour- selves. It was a British officer who thought of it first. It was a French officer Andele Laffarius..........who in the lea of nfiltration, 1915 which the genesh of the whole thing.

THER, is actually only one real anti-tank weapon. That

Α'

·

19. an-

Parachute Troops

other tank, Why should you la. boriously it out your Infantry will anti-tank rifles? You have silll got to transport them to keep up with your adversary. The best way to do that is to put your men in a tank themselves and arm Qiem, not . with a rifle, but a cannon.

The German tanks defy most of Bur present anti-tank guns, To their surprising size and speed they add a tremendous armour. It is called "concrete-steel" and will re- xist the re of 1in. anti-tank weapons at 200 metres. This armour is mude at the Poldino-Hut factory at Kladio near Prague, and al Vilkovice In Moravia,

arc

The unfortunate Czechs labouring under Nazi domination at Lank production in three other greal centres. 1 estimate their forced output alone at 5000 lanks a year, To this tst be added the vast 'stream from the German factories,

I WILL not discuss the situation in France this evening execfit"W point out that the Germans there are subicct to attack by ale, land

Let us turn to the maiter und sea. which preoccupied another greai enemy, Napoleon, when he camped.

Fortress in

the Desert

By RONALD MATTHEWS

CAIRO.

NY troops that try to attack Egypt will have no walk-uyer. This is my conviction after two days spent at Merso Matruhi, the Anglo-Egyptian fortress which

bars the route from the coust.

into the country

From an uninstructed look at the mp you would think that the Italians could enter Egypt uny- where along the Libyan-Egyptian frontler.

This at error.

For 40 miles south of the Medi- terranean cost the desert rises to

the

a great esenrpruent & sheer, sondy cliff, 600 feet high and unscalable by the most agile tank.

Sixty miles

again .south cils descend, and another possible. way to an invader would seem open through the frontier Siwa oasis.

This is connected by a track to the Bahariya uasis, within 12 hours run of the Nile.

On a nip this, tuo, lauks vany. Bul the Siwa-Bahariya route

a desert region, Crusses

which

broad are

Then Iwere

deep trenches Inte which lanks of any imaginable size would plunge.

Within the lines of wire mud

pylons are the defensive positions of the garrison.

wandered through the trench systents and peered through the gun apertures of the Bren pill- boxes.

Each pill-bas, Incidentally, is connected by telephone with 11.Q.

I descended the root vaults of concrete underground casualty stu Ularis.

Finally I was shown the brains of the whole fortress tens of feet underground.

*

Here the sin17, nided by tele

telephonists, graphists and communicate with both the front and the cutside world.

The defensive positions SUP- rounding the hutment town where the garrison ives in petice-time are a number of separate lines.

"We'll hold them all right," a

WOULD LABX-kind to tanks as fart---anur Scottish-sergeant assured-me-

cor ignorant hikers.

the track

On either side of which guld be easily destroyed-- stretch pitiless expanses of solt sand.

Any means of transport but the camel would be bogged in a matter

of seconds.

*

Mina Matruli, therefore, stankla at the edge of the only feasible way into Egypt, and it bars the only metal road to the East.

It is quite the friendliest fortress I have ever visited.

consisting of

The

utle

one and two-storey villas, was laid out in methodically squared streets by the late King Fad ti

Egypt's miniature Brighton.

be

It is situated on the edge of a

loggen barbour, hemned in by encireting promuntaries, and burred by a reef with single narrow entrance.

This reef is under constant ob- servation from the shore, and covered by guns.

At Funset the harbour looks much like a Hollywood representa- tion of the South Seas.

Yet up the gentle stopes from the water's edge les 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 pie, entangling dark grey strands of barbed wire are stretched,

Paralié with the barbed wire 1oom the grey coritcal-shapes-of- anti-tank pylons,

DESTROY

Ants!

Kiti ants as you do what

·Sanact path--with a rigs- (ie apcinkią së Kontingʻa-

Che Ursalad insecticide toe, har

KEATINGS KILLS

BUT IT MUST DE KEATING'S

It might be asked what would happen if an invader tried to side- step Mere Matruh by seruling troops neros the desert, to the north.

1

That is why mechanised troops are waiting in the neighbourhood ready to move at listant notice to intercept any mobile attackers.

Mechanked

craft-the crews use nautical terminology- are ready at the harbour-side.

Not far away, but equally realy, are worships.

Every day planes of the far- fun: patrols of the Egyptian fron- ther force scour the desert, watch- ing for suspicious activities.

By A MILITARY CORRESPONDENT

A long upon the hill that crowns the ancient town of Boulogne. The "Invasion of England."

Consider the parachutisis, the real . "storm troops" of this war. They are the pick of Nazi youth, PA, strong, resolute, resourceful fighters, armed with automaties that throw a bell of Are around them. We are proposing to mobilise against them a militia armed with rifle an hayonet. Why not with bows and arrows and with the Lord of the Manor mounted on one of the estate horses?

The beautiful Deory now is that on the arrival of the Invaders, we shall "ealt out the Watch" and draw a cordon around the Invaders until the Regulars conie up. Tut what we nerd are Shock troop armed with toommy-rums, who will Immediately assault and prevent sispersing. the parachutists ever

In Täcl, we should organise a nist ne of this Parashat force on the basis of the Assault Guard of the Spanish Republic; that is, polier troops of the highest quality aud trained for exactly the sort of

Could

THE prospect of

Inen

amci tanding in Britain on a scale sufficient to constitute an invasion - distinct from raids by para- chutists or other guerillas-is a disturbing thurht, but it is highly inqurtant to differentiale between "raids" azpi "invasion" proper.

Events may prove me wrong. but in my opinion Britain cannol 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- Tine of Western Europe, from the Far North down to the Bay of Bh-

cay.

In the past, many Euru- pean dictators, from Philip of Spain to Napoleon and perhaps. Hiller

have toyed with the idea

battle. A secand line would serve well enough as patrols.

Right now the troops at present training in Britain should be-form- ed into fighting units and disposedl as such. For Britain also is a "battle zone," is not just the

"rear" behind the Channel,

The country-shauld-be divided Into sectors. Strong points should he set up and connection estab- Ished. Thus it will be possible to the deal with "fitration" from air in the same way that ships can deal with "Intraktora" from the sea, that is by watertight compart- mcnta. When the enemy penetrates you simply close the. compartment affected, and then PUMP HIM OUT AT LEISURE.

Only regular troops can handle this tautic. And I point out again that this tactie is precisely the most useful that infantry can be required to master.

Let us further set about armour- “ing some trains The shipyards are capable of providing the plates sufficient for resisting the are of automalle rlles, Let

JIS create armoured train crewN, and keep Let ilem constantly under anis.

armour a host of small motor- cars and place them in the same force.

NOW for another Muslon,

Hero

1. "The parachutisis, having no base, can quickly be mopped up. We have only to put all our Fifth Columnists under lock and key and aft possible reinforcement here will be cut off." Bunk.

Parachutists can bò sustained by troop-carrying airplanes. Anil by trains of gliders, of the kind em- ployed by the Nazis in the fighting along the Albert Canal-Six to eight- men can be carried on every gilder. and abxx to eight gilders can be lowed, While the German bases were in Germany this manoeuvrC was attended with far too much risk,

French Established on the coasts the risk is, drastically

minished.

It is not easy to efect men armed with automatic weapony pnee they are entrenched in house. Ask any G-man. Indeed we might well obtain from the United States both advice on this problem and arms,

In 1916 six hundred men locked Post themselves, in the Dublin .Ofier. They had only elfles. They held the post for five-days-and---- were'elected eventually by artillery. Stx hundret Nazi parachutisty would hardly be disposed of in five days if they were allowed to run lonse. In Eire to-day.

Hitler Invade

1

Britain?

ever many of these he might be able to hned,

and

Tanks,

artillery heavy mechanised equipment would be Reeded by the intruders to save. themselves from destruction cupture, still more to enable them to advance inland. These impedí- ments must be brought across in

ships, comparatively large

and they could be put ashore only by the aid of dock facilities, cranes. etc.

Huge quantities of oll 18 its

faen, to date. paltry. If the Fleet

were

to operate compelled waters much nearer the German air bases, Flanders. coast or ille,

We

might

but that

335

in main the

de-

such the Dover suffer heavier remmais to be Yet as long as that Fleet Temains undefeated the German dictator cannot attempt a proper invasion overseas without incur- which oven his ring risks from Peif-confidence inust inch,

From the days of Ancient Rome down to our own time history has shown no single instance of sue- cesstul invasion by sen in

the

teeth

of a superior enemy fleet. This is

to -rule

which not 'u

a

single important exception is on record. The sequels to Napoleon's descent on Egypt, to Hoche's expedí- Ben to Bantry Bay and to the Hallan attack on Lissa all ended in disaster to the aggressor.

Hector Bywater Says No

of subjugating Britain by invading her. Philip tried the plan. and every schoolboy knows the fate of his invincible Armada,”

Napoleon kept for months a huge army sprawled along the French Channel coast, ready lo cross in int-button boats, but by as he might be could not flout the inexor able laws of geo-noval strategy. -for-between him and England lay the British Fleet-those distant, storm-battered chips on which the Grand Army never looked, stood between it and the dominion of the world."

Not even Hitler can erado there laws. The parachutists and “Fifth Colunmists"

local may create huvot and confusion, but such sporadic operations cannot, accord- ing to all the teachings at bistury, Le decisive.

Modern warfare bas' Asstaned a a real in- plase which makes Vaston of this country more dif

tul Umn ever. An invader would require more than troops, how-

various forms, munitions and sup- plies would also be essential, and they could only be brought over in the needful volume by surface ships, Meanwhite, what would the British Home Fleet and its attached squadrons and Rotilas at tea three limes more numerous than-Hitler's-whole-roval-forec and the R.AF, and the Fleet Air Arra be doing?

Dogmatism is a pitfall into which no serious commentator on war- Face should fall, but when a rule has demonstrated its absolute in- Bexibility over the whole span of world history as we know it, one may be pardoned for necepting it

unbreakable-Though

free

that the air has introduced an en- tirely new factor which might con- reivably upset all previous enteula-. tions.

Or

no

1 venture to predict that German military force, other than individual sabo- parachutists his

teurs, will be seen on British soil, In this war as long as the Allied Beet: remain virtually intact and

Even Hitler must gain at least, temporary or local command of the invade us in sea before he can deve farve. He has no visible of gulving or imaginable prospect, such command. Thanks to adventure in Scandinavia his fleet hus, to quote our Prime Minister's base, tffered "massive mutila- tion." which the utmost exertions of his shipyards and arsenals 'can- not make good this year or next.

air of lis The total results offensive against our Fleet have

eir armies undefeated. Even in the latter contingency there is no reason why British teratory should be violated by a German army the mave with the consent of British Government and people.

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