7 "Fuly 28, Two incidents during the past week are deserving of some attention, the frst and probably most important was the successful convoy of men and materials through the trans. apparently were unable. to it, hard though they tried. H.M.S. Fearless, 'a' destroyer, was lost, and a cruiser and another destroyer. damaged, while "one" merchant vessel was damaged, though. able to carry on.
The Malians attacked for two days. with aeroplanes, E-boats and submarines and it Goes not say much for their ability that they were unable to-do more damage thay they did. On the other hand the absence the remnants of the Italian Navy from the scene must be attributed either to a reluctance to leave the comparative safety of port, or a fear that the British fleet in. the' Mediterranean might "be able to cut them off, if they yielded to the temptation which the convoy must certainly'have been, Any. convoy. travelling west to east in the Mediterranein. or vice versa must of necessity pass through very narrow and dangerous waters, and it speaks well for the seamanship of the mercantile marine as well as of the Navy that so important a movement could have been carried out with such success. The Italians. appear afterwards to have attacked the harbour at Valetta, apparently in an endeavour to destroy the damaged cruiser and destroyer which are thought to have taken refuge there. The attack was beaten off with the loss of a dozen E-boats, though the Italians report some explosions which they attributed to the "intrepid faith" of the Italian seamen, whatever that may mean, The incident of the Scharnhorst is not al~ together pleasing. After months of bombing by aeroplane at Brest it was believed that the vessel must at any rate have been disabled sufficiently to Keep her where she was. 'The Germans by a trio of eamoufage of very considerable ingenuity were able to hide "the fact that the Scharnhorst was no Longer at, Brest,' though it speaks well for those reading the photographs taken by the RAF, that the device was quickly recognized and a'search for the real Scharnhorst quickly undertaken. The fact that the Scharnhorst was found at la Pallice, two hundred miles south of Brest, and near La Rochelle, and the speculation that the - cruiser ' was apparently preparing to make a sortie into the Atlantic indicates that the damage done the vessel during the repeated bombings Brest could not have been aa serious 4s was originally believed, but It is oped that the fatest bombing will have the effect of keeping her immobilized for some time' to. come.
It fs more than satisfactory to learn that the RAF, were not for long deceived by th Ingenious tick of the Germans, The search for the real Scharnhorst was not long before it-was successful. It would have Undoubted= ly aroused very considerable criticism if the German cruiser had been allowed to regain the high' seas, though it might. then' have been possible for the British 'Navy to have put her where the Bismarck 1s now resting. 'That might, however, have been at the. ex: Bente "of number' of mercantile vessels which the 'British are naturally reluctant to lore. Ifthe German warship' can be. Kept at la Pallice, repairs "may be dificult to amy out for' there are few if any facilities for that type of work at the port where the "Scharnhorst Was finally "discovered, hose two ineidens may not of themselves the eificieney of the Navy and the TAY. 0 great ey are. sting testimony. to pate
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.