25 APRIL 1941, Page 13

STRAIGHT NEWS FROM LIBYA

Stu,—Your efforts to give" us straight news are more necessary than netIt is difficult to know what to think of official and other efforts in this direction lately. A short while ago some of us were not surprised to learn that German reconnaissance units had contacted our own troops at El Agheila. That is nothing, said officialdom- iest ma or three hundred Germans on bikes. Where were the Secret Service? Suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, "Benghazi has been evacuated." Of course it had, and for the soundest of military reasons. But there was a clash shortly after, and we were reported to have lost 2P00 prisoners. Again officialdom at pains to point out that they Isere not really soldiers, just maintenance personnel! More impor- tant, of course, than ordinary soldiers, as any soldier knows. Our withdrawal continued. Then it was discovered there were i,600 „German armoured vehicles in the district, increased since to two mazer divisions. Oh well, says Lord Moyne in the House of Lords, is extremely doubtful if such a force can be supplied by only a 'lie road 600 miles long. Then, as if to insinuate .difficulties, the Germans were being supplied, only in small quantities of course, by air. That will be more and more the normal as the war goes on, of cl'urse. Now we come to the -valedictory announcements. Appa- matlY it doesn't matter so very much after all if we lose Greece and LiVt, &c., &c., there is still this country left. I suppose the next Q'le of argument is that if that goes there will still be America left, aarl after that—oblivion. No feather explanations after that will be thankfully necessary. -

Do press for the truth in all matters, and save us from all this dis- sembling. And let us really be up and doing with the war, and when we let our Foreign Minister loose again, let us not give him such wide powers, for the exercise of them recently has undoubtedly jeopardised our position in the Middle East.—I am, yours faithfully,