Evening star., 1942-09-02
Rommei Strikes

Although it Is still possible that
the current fighting on the Egyptian
front is an Axis reconnaissance in
force to test out the strength of the
British lines, the evidence seems
clearly to indicate that Marshal
Erwin Rommel is starting his long
expected big push for Alexandria and
the Nile. His operations, begun Mon
day just before dawn, were two-fold
"a strong infantry attack near the
center, followed by an even stronger
tank attack on his extreme right
flank, where the hard surfaced
desert plateau ends in a wall of
eroded limestone cliffs overlooking
the salt bogs and quicksands of thes
impossible Qattara Depression.
Rommel, "the Desert Fox" chose
Enthusiastically favorable moment.
A waning moon filtered tricky light
through the haze of sandstorm
which likewise obscured visibility
when night gave place to day. This
natural "smokescreen" enabled his
tanks better to maneuver through
the British mine fields and make
gains which Cairo admits to be nearly
ten miles. That is not good omen.
Aside from the danger of a success
full fanking operation which might
roll up the thirty-m mile British line
between the Qattara Depression and
the seacoast, the depression itself
does not extend much further east
ward. And once beyond that natural
barrier, Rommels tanks and trucks
bearing motorized infantry could fan
out across the rocky desert which lies
between the battle front and the Nile,
only about 100 miles away. Further
more, Rommel recently is known to
have received a large force of crack
paratroopS, which could easily be
waited across the desert and dropped
in unpredictable places close to the
Nile Valley.
The hour is thus a crucial one.
The British Army simply cannot
afford to retreat without giving Rom
mel the mouth of the strategic bot
tleneck which has kept him confined.
Therefore, it must stand and fight,
doing its best to plug the gap which
the German tanks have just forced
at the end of the line. The supreme
test in the Egyptian campaign is
thus presumably at hand.
The outcome of the present strug-
gle will depend largely upon the rela-
tive success of the "quartermasters'
battle" which has gone on uninter-
ruptedly for the past two months.
Ever since the temporary stalemate
arrived at in June, both sides have
strained every nerve to bring up
fresh men, equipment and supplies.
At first, the British probably had the
edge, because they could draw on
their nearby armies in Palestine and
Syria, but the long pull tended to
favor Rommel, because he could get
aid from Crete, Greece and Italy,
only few hundred miles away,
whereas aid to the Imperial 9th Army
from Britain or America required a
14,O00-mile journey around the tip
OF Africa and up the Red Sea. For
some time it has been believed that
Rommel was piling up his strength
faster than the British in Egypt, and
his present striking force is assumed
to be over 100000 combat troops with
at least 700 tanks. No figures have
been released on the strength of the
9th Army, which is highly composite,
consisting of British and Dominion
troops, Indians. Poles, Free French
and sizable contingent of American
air and tank soldiers.
Both sides we'll know the magni-
tude of the stakes, so furious strug-
gle is certain if the main battle really
has been joined. Winston Churchill,
after his recent visit to the Egyptian
front, publicly pledged that it would
be defended as 'stanchly as the soil
of Britain itself. The strategic fate
of the Near East thus seems to hang
in the balance.