Evening star., 1942-06-19
Crisis in Libyu

Another of those strangely sudden
shifts of fortune that characterize
the war in North Africa has taken
place. Having lost their main de-
fense line, the British have delib-
erately split their forces. The main
body is retiring toward Egypt, leav-
ing a presumably adequate garrison
at the key port Of Tobruk. The
British retreat probably will continue
until they reach the naturally strong
positions on the Egyptian border.
Thus, the situation of a year ago
will be virtually duplicated, with
Tobruk besieged and the main armies
facing each other along the Libyan-
Egyptian frontier.
The rapid success of the Axis
drive, begun only three weeks ago.
has taken most observers by sur
prise. The reason for it. however,
has just been disclosed by the British
themselves. And it is another feather
in the cap of that military genius,
Marshal Erwin Rommel. Out of his
seemingly inexhaustible bag Of tricks
he has juggled new combination of
weapons that proved too much for
his opponents.
Here, briefly, is the story. When
the British launched their successful
attack last November which drove
Rommel from Eastern Libya and
raised the siege of Tobruk, they
owed their success chiefly to heavy
tanks mounting unprecedentedly
powerful guns. These tanks, with
heavier armor and superior fire
power, easily routed the Axis ma
chimes But Rommel meditated con-
structively on his defeat and soon
thought up a better one. Instead of
trying to get still heavier and bigger
gunned tanks, he evolved a combina-
tion of medium tanks and equally
mobile anti-tank guns so powerful
that they could pierce the armor of
the British mechanical monsters.
With this new combination, he ran
circles around the British tanks, put
most of them out of action, and left
his opponents with nothing but re-
serve tanks still more inferior.
In desert warfare, the tank is the
queen of battles without adequate
tank strength, infantry is helpless
in open country. Therefore, the
British have had to retire to their
fortified positions at Tobruk and
along the Egyptian border, where
their heavy artillery can cope with
tank charges. -
While the British have unquestion-
ably suffered bad defeat, they are
by no means routed. The open
desert, like the open sea, means al
most nothing in the strategic sense.
Even If Tobruk should fall, the Brit
ish defenses in depth along the
Egyptian frontier are so strong that
they have never yet been pierced.
Furthermore, Tobruk stood an eight
months siege by the redoubtable
Rommel himself without being taken
And the arrival of the recent convoy
at Tobruk should have amply sup
piled the garrison for a second Or
deal. Not unless Rommel should
quickly succeed in reducing that
fortress will the situation begin to
look really serious. That would mean
not only clear communications for
an attack on Egypt but also siege
artillery much heavier than any pos
sBsed by the Axis in North Africa
before.
This setback in Libya ties up large
British forces just at moment when
they may be needed elsewhere in the
Near East, and presumably it will
have some effect upon Turkey and
other Near Eastern peoples. 1t is to
be hoped that reinforcements of men
and equipment are at hand to re-
dress the balance without loss of
time.