NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE capture of Tobruk—and, indeed, the success of any enterprise Sir Archibald Wave11 may set his hand to— has been so much taken for granted that the importance of the actual event may be assessed liiwer than it merits. The loss to Italy of thousands of prisoners and vast stores of material is another grave blow to her tottering fabric, and the acquisition by the Navy of a port serviceable in the way that Bardia was not will considerably simplify both naval strategy and the problem of the supply of the army. At Tobruk the advance may very well for the moment be halted, for there is activity in every other field of the African battle-ground. The recapture of Kassala and the pursuit of the Italians into Eritrea, the skilfully organised guerilla operations in Abyssinia, and signs of movement on the Kenya front, suggest the possibility of a great converging movement designed to clear the Italians out of all African territory except what they still hold of Libya. While this is in progress there may be no great advantage in undertaking anything in the Tobruk area beyond the necessary work of consolidation. Both Fleet and Army may have new calls on them. One of the numerous rumours regarding the Hitler-Mussolini meeting is that the actual capture of Malta has been agreed on. In Greece, brilliant as the continued successes of the indomitable Greek army have been, any support that we can provide is needed, for a small country has not inexhaustible supplies of ammunition, and it is important to accelerate the retreat of the Italians to the utmost before possible German re- inforcements reach them. General WaveII may have difficult and far-reaching decisions before him.
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