The Invasion of Egypt
The Italian invasion of Egypt from Sollum along the Mediterranean coastal route is doubtless planned to synchronise with the projected invasion of Britain. The advancing army at this stage has not been seriously resisted. Its advance guard, consisting of light and medium tanks with supporting artillery, has been subjected to harassing action by small British armoured forces and has been heavily bombed from the air. The points at which the Italians will have to encounter stern resistance lie ahead of them, and as they move they are lengthening their communications and making them vulnerable to flank attacks by mobile land forces on the south and the Navy on the north, to say nothing of the R.A.F. from the air. Whether this invasion is to develop into a major operation and to be followed up by attacks farther south remains to be seen. The British have prepared their plans, and the Egyptian Army will play its part if it appears that Egypt is seriously threatened. In the Mediterranean the Navy has the mastery, and recently, as Lord Caldecote revealed, swept it from end to end for six days without encountering any naval opposition.
