NEWS OF THE WEEK N OTHING can detract from the brilliance
of the co- ordinated strategy, by land, sea and air, which led to the fall of Bardia last Sunday. General Wavell's dispositions attained their success so flawlessly and punctually that they seemed almost effortless. The best commentary on his achievement is the fact that operations which resulted in the capture of over 30,000 prisoners caused the victorious force less than 600 casualties. What the Italian casualties were, apart from any wounded among the prisoners, is not yet known. The outstanding features of the Bardia battle were the failure of the Italian fleet to interfere in any way with the bombard- ment of the port, the failure of the Italian Air Force to inter- fere with any effect with the Royal Air Force bombers, and the failure of the Italian land forces outside Bardia to make any attempt to relieve it and of the Italian land forces inside Bardia to make any attempt to hold what was semi-officially and grandiloquently described as " a bastion of Fascism." The Fascist commanders there, as opposed to the generals of the regular army, appear to have distinguished themselves by deserting their posts and their colleagues. The fall of the port presents both General Wavell and Marshal Graziani with difficult problems, the one having to decide whether to attack, and the other whether to defend, Tobruk seventy miles further west along the coast. All the signs are that the British com- mander, despite the need of overhauling his mechanical transport, and the danger of doubling the length of his com- munications, has resolved to strike the Italians again before they can rally. Our patrols are already beyond Tobruk, cutting it off from the west, and the story of Bardia looks like being enacted again, with the same result.
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