London, Mar. 7.
HE coup of the Royal Navy against the Lofoten Islands and the review of the army's progress by the Secretary of State for War, Captain David Margesson, in the House of Commons yesterday, featured prominently in editorials of the London press today.
Recalling how the losses of equipment in France and Belgium had been recouped in the past nine months and the forma ion of new armies proceeded fast and far, and that a still fuller use of man-power was contempla.ed. "The Times" ba "It is surely remarkable that nine months after the momen'! when, in Captain Margesson's phrase, our position was unenviable,' we should have torn the Talian empire to pieces and at the same time should be welcome ing. rather than dreading, me prospect of an assault by the main enemy upon this island.
"The army is get ing into its stride. With the Greeks, it has begun to dissipate the miasma of Axis invincibihy on land. It has still to measure itself on anything like even locally fair terms with the German army, but the vidianes over the Halians have been won by its own skill and daring in both strategy and tac des. +"Macmnery to meet an invasion has proved by recent exercises we be ready," "The Times" adds.
'The "Manchester Guardian" declared: "The pleasant fact of the success in the Lofoten confuses the German description of the raid as senseless.' But there is more in it han material damage. Germany reveals fears by saying that we are seeking to impress remote and ignorant' people. Tt is. of course, just this work of impressing' Europe that makes actions of this kind so valuable for us and so upsetting for he Germans. The capture of ten 'Quislings' and the opportunity given Norwegian patriots to escape with us and fight for freedom, is bound to encourage those left behind in Norway.
"Another good these raids do is to bring home to Germany the vast coast she has to defend. She cannot be strong everywhere, and these daring raids remind of i: embarrassingly."—Reuter, se Vessel From Far East Said Sunk New York, Mar. 7. Axis warcraft were reported by maritime circles today to have sunk the British freighter Speybank, 5,154 tons, en route to Boston and New York from the Far East.
It was stated that the freighter was carrying a cargo of rubber, tin, hemp, sugar and burlap loaded at Calcutta and worth US$1,000,000. It was assumed that the vessel was sunk in the Pacific, but no details could be obtained United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.