Evening star., 1941-01-07
Base Bombed Again;
1000 Foscists Out
Of War, English Soy
ey the Associated Press.

ey the Associated Press.
CAIRO, Egypt, Jan. IAN r. A.
r. communique announced today
that British troops thrusting deep
into Libya had reached Ell Adem,
the airport for Tobruk, and there
captured 40 Italian planes which
had been damaged by previous Brit
ish bomb attacks. The Italians had
abandoned the airport. Ell Adem is
only Is miles south of Tobruk.
Tobruk, 70 miles west of captured
Bardia. is the next major Italian
stronghold in the path of the British
advance, and armed patrols were re-
ported already testing its defenses
as Gen. Sir Archibald P. Wavell
sought to keep Italy's North African
Army on the defensive.
(The forces which reached FL
Adem presumably were mechan-
lied units reported in London to
be now in contact with the outer
defenses of Tobruk" Pointing out
that the coastal road all the way
across Libya to Tripoli is vulner-
able to sea attack. official quar-
tiers there said Italy's remaining
Hibyan bases were being forced
constantly to shift westWard0
Tobruk Bombed Again.
Tobruk itself was bombed again
Yesterday, as we'll as Martuba and
the port of Derna. still farther west
the communique said
Bombs fell along Tobruk's water
front and on military targets within
the town, it reported, but full de-
tails of the damage could not be
observed" One Italian plane was
shot down and another probably
destroyed" it said.
Military circles here estimated
that approximately $4,000 Italian
troops were concentrated at Tobruk,
which is about 10 miles west OF Bar
dia and strategically important be-
cause its harbor is one of the best
on the Libyan coast. The approaches
to the harbor were said to be already
barred by the British fleet.
n DIl lllSll ISA SOiiAAA&
nique merely said of Libyan develop
ments, Operations toward Tobruk
are proceeding satisfactorily
The Tobruk defenses. hastily
strengthened while the Italian sui
eide garrison" at Bardia fought to
delay the British drive to the west,
were said to consist of two lines of
Notifications, with the outer ring
approximately 25 miles in circum-
ference. 80
Reinforcement Doubted.
British quarters expressed conf
dence that these Notifications could
not Withstand three-way batter
ing from land, sea and air such as
Sir. Archibald is prepared to give
them. These sources also saw small
possibility that Marshal Rodolfo
GRAHAM could reinforce the Tobruk
garrison.
In the first place, they declared,
the Royal Air Force now is master
of the air in North Africa, while
practically every yard of the coastal
road from Tobruk to Tripoli-a mat
ter of more than TOO miles-is vul-
nerable to the guns of the British
Mediterranean fleet.
In the second place, it was said,
the Italians-through their reverses
at Sidi Barrani and Bardia-have
lost at least half the guns, supplies,
munitions and motor transport IA
cilities with which their North Afri-
can army was equipped at the outset
Of the campaign.
Moreover, the British suggested,
Marshal GRAHAM may hesitate to
move troops from Western Libya to
defend Tobruk because of the pos
sibility of attack from the French
territory in TuniSia on the west.
Weygand Has Large Force.
Gen. Maxine Weygand, the French
commander in North Africa, is
known to have a sizable, well-armed
force at his disposal, and the posi-
bility frequently has been suggested
that, should German demands upon
the French government at Vichy be-
come too exacting, he might re-enter
the war and strike a blow at the
axis in Libya.
Some sources here suggested that,
while Tobruk is the next logical
British objective, Sir Archibald
might attempt a 25O-mile dash
across the desert sands south of
Tobruk to strike at the big Italian
base at Bengasi.
British patrols were said to have
been operating south of Tobruk even
before the fall of Bardia, and there
was some speculation that the army
Of the Nile might push along to
the west across the desert while
holding Tobruk in a state of siege.
.(Continued on Page A-4, Column IL