Evening star., 1940-08-11
Italy May Lose Half
OF Army in Attack
On Suez Canal
Mossed Bombing Raids
Expected to Precede
Drive on Alexandria
By JAMES ALDRIDGE.


Egypt is waiting on the doorstep for
Premier Mussolini to come and
knock at the door.
London's statements. warning the |
world of the long anticipated attack,
naturally do not surprise any one
here. 1t was known generally BY
journalists and soldiers a couple |
weeks ago and the men at the |
front, from which I have just re-
turned, have been expecting big
attack.
In what form and strength this
attack will be made Is as much
debated here as anywhere else. but
in general the fighters agree on
two things: The attack will be made
in either one or two lightning strokes
aimed to give Italy control of the
Suez Canal; the attack will be made
by powerful mechanical forces, the
italian high command being willing
to take a chance of losing half of
them.
With this as a basis, it is pos
sible to guess at the direction and
the chances for success of the COM
ing attack. The most direct route |
the italians could take to the Suez
Canal Is along the coast from the
Libyan border direct to Alexandria |
and then on to the goal. There
fore, the drive toward Alexandria |
would be the first act in this fate
full drama.
Alexandria Road Bombed.
To start this, Italy would first |
have to take the small Egyptian |
seaport along the maze of inlets
where the Libyan and Egyptian |
frontiers meet the coast. Having |
just come from this area, I know |
that Italy is making preparations |
in that direction. Their bombing |
planes paid attention to the area
every day. The road leading from |
Alexandria to the border is packed |
with bomb craterS.
Italy probably will try to take this |
town with troops from her Libyan |
forces, assisted by naval landing |
Hoping that once they take this
border town the rest will be easy, |
the Italians are counting on the |
salt-tarred road running along the |
coast toward Alexandria, The Italian |
vice consul in the area has often |
travelled on this road and his
masters know it well. 1t is good for |
about so miles. Then there are
desert tracks for about 45 miles or
more before one strikes good road |
to Alexandria.
This stretch of desert road is a !
thorn in Italys side. No motorized
unit on large scale could possibly |
make its way through this according
to any time table.
Men Will Play Big Part.
Here it is where men will play a
big part. Although Italy's drive will
be mechanical as Gelmany's was
against France, the individual SOL
dier will enter more and more into |
the conflict here. This favors the |
British, for the individual British |
soldier is believed to be far superior |
to the Italian.
To harass on large scale long |
italian columns would be contin-
uous task of the British. If they |
make the harassing bad enough, ma
ture will do the rest IN the form of |
lack of water. Supply is notoriously |
bad for anybody on the quick move !
A large supply of water is not so
much desired as a constant supply, |
and this will be big thing that |
everybody will watch.
Italy will precede the land attack
by an intense air attack, hoping to |
clear the way by razing British |
dumps, airdromes, routes and troop |
concentrations. Her Numerically |
superior air force 0taly has half the
total number of planes in Libya) |
will be Mussolini's biggest hope. If
Italy can clear the way with her
planes, it will make tollow-up by
land forces trebly easy.
British Planes Better.
The British Air Force, although |
numerically inferior, is believed to
be twice as good as the Italians,
measuring plane by plane. But
when the air activity starts here,
then one will be able to say, '"The big
attack is on its way"
The army that Italy is massing for
an attack is composed of mixed
uper-mechanized units in new-type
SlOupS. L llCo 1IOlil 1Sl1UlSll
intelligence here that the formation
of units is not the same as IL was at
the end of last year, so the possibil-
ity is that something new can be
expected. Artillery, it is believed,
will play big part and Italy's large |
number of IT'S and 75s should prove |
useful for mobile field work. How
ever, her famous heavies will be of |
little value. The rest of Italy's |
equipment for the push is unaoubt-
edly good.
Italy's attacking forces are mix
ture of the best and of the not quite
so good The rifles are generally |
old model Mannlicher Carcano 6.5 |
nm. These are clumsier and have a
shorter range than the British rifle.
Their large variety of machine guns
were we'll tried out in Spain. The
dominant model is rifle-type |
Breda 6.5 NM, which uses rife and |
machine gun ammunition inter-
changeably.
They also have heavier Flats. !