Jan. 18, The sinking of HM, Southampton, and the damage to the Illustrious from a bomb in the Mediterranean have been seized upon by the Halians as an opportunity to give themselves a frst class victory, for their news agency has the hardihood to claim that during the past six days the following British naval vessels have either been sunk or damaged:—four submarines, one battleship of £1,000 tons, three cruisers, two air craft carriers and three destroyers.' The lie is such a big one that even the German propaganda machine has up to the present been unable to swallow it, and that, as it is already well known, likes its lies on. the magnificent scale. That the combined German and Italian aeroplanes did secure some small success against the British Navy in the Mediterranean it would be idle to deny, but the loss of one cruiser, and damage to an aiteraft carrier, which was not enough to prevent her reaching port under her own steam, hardly provide enough ground for jubilation, The fact of the matter is that Mussolini has been badly in want of a success to proclaim to his very war weary people, and the endeavour transform a comparatively minor operation into a resounding triumph clearly demon-strafes the length to: which absence of any success on Iand is foreing him.
The appearance of the German atr arm in the Mediterranean had been expected for some time. That was obviously the reason for the transfer of German aeroplanes to Ballan bases, and it is to be believed that the Germans and Italians will endeavour to do from the air what Italy has been unable to do on the sea, namely, gain control of the Mediterranean. It is anticipated that the struggle will become more important as the weeks puss, for only by cutting the British route "through the Mediterranean, and dividing the British lect in that sea can there be any possible hope of giving any real assistance to Marshal Graziant's forces who are in such dire straits. But it is one thing to make the.attempt, and something entirely different to prosecute it to a suecessful conclusion, and the enemy attempt to secure command of the air over the Mediterranean-will-be very sternly fought by the substantial air forees which the British already have on the spot, The Aghting which has been going on in Libya clearly shows that the R.A. were in command of the air, even though it was quite easy for Italy to reinforce her machines on the spot by flights from southern Italy and Sicily. It may be that. German rein= forcements will tend somewhat to redress the balance, but the undoubtedly superior British mach ities and pilots will ensure that very large numbers of German planes will be required to do so. If that Teads. to. a ion of German alr activity over need be no occasion for surprise.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.