NEWS OF THE WEEK UT HILE the apparently inevitable fall
of Tobruk hangs fire a not unimportant and not wholly successful naval en- gagement in the Mediterranean is reported. In so far as the convoy which was being attacked got safe to its destination in Greece the enemy attack failed, but damage and casualties to the new aircraft-carrier Illustrious,' the 9,000-ton cruiser ' Southampton,' and the destroyer ' Gallant ' can hardly be con- sidered negligible, though there is so far no indication of how serious the damage. in each case is. The attack on January loth was made in the Sicilian Channel, between Sicily and Tunis, by two Italian destroyers, one of which was sunk, and large Italian and German air-forces, of which at least twelve machines were shot down and more damaged. The engagement is in- teresting as evidence of the fact that the Luftwaffe has definitely gone to the Regia Aeronautica's rescue at some cost to itself, for apart from the German machines shot down in the sea-fight nine aircraft, thought to be German Junkers, were destroyed when the aerodrome at Catania in Sicily was bombed on the night of Sunday-Monday. Important news seems likely to arrive from both the Libyan and the Albanian fronts at any moment, for the fall of Tobruk and the capture of the garrison isolated at the oasis of Jarabub can be safely counted on, and the important Greek success in the capture of Klisura on January loth should lead quickly to the fall of Tepelini and an imminent threat to the port of Valona, which the R.A.F. have been bombing almost daily. The question of whether to push beyond Tobruk and if so, how far will involve important decisions. It may be wiser to turn attention to Abyssinia and Eritrea—and Greece.
