While the British forces in Libya are making preparations for the final invasion of Tripolitania, during which time there must necessarily be a lull in hostilities, British and Ethiopian forces are active in north-east Africa. In Eritrea after the capture of Agordat the next point to be dealt with was Keren, which has natural defences the surmounting of which may take some time, The town it is reported is already invested on two sides, but its general situation is such that, if the Italians do decide to make a stand there, they may prove somewhat of an obstacle.
In Abyssinia, Ethiopian troops which have been under training by the British for some months past, and are now under British leadership have been making considerable headway in the Gendar and Amhara areas, north and south of Lake Tsana, with the result that they have penetrated deeply into the country, and are now within 150 miles of Addis Ababa, which means that, since they started the invasion less than a month ago, they have progressed nearly two hundred miles from the western border of Ethiopia. This has been done through exceptionally rough country, where there are still very few roads and where the going has been very difficult.
In addition to the Ethiopians who have received training in modern warfare, the natives are reported to be rising in the wake of the invaders, and what may appear now to be a movement of comparatively few men wil in the course of a few weeks develop into a regular torrent of onslaught on the retreating Italians. Indeed, with comparatively little more progress in Gendar and Amhara, domination of the Italian roads connecting Addis Ababa with Eritrea will come under British control, making the withdrawal of the Italians more than a little difficult, and forcing them to depend upon the Addis Ababa-Jibuti railway which in all probability is even now the main thoroughfare for the transport of Italian men and materials to the coast.
Further south along the Abyssinian-Kenya-Italian Somaliland border, movements have not been so rapid. It will be remembered that shortly after Italy entered the war, Italian forces sought to drive southward into Kenya, and did indeed make some progress until held up by the difficulty of the terrain, and the growing resistance of the colonial troops who had retired to places more conveniently to be defended. Since then they have been very considerably reinforced, have driven the Italians out of the positions they captured, and have in turn been able to commence an invasion of Italian Somaliland.
In that territory the British appear to have got as far as the Juba River, which runs Parallel with the border, but some twenty miles inside. Here the Italians might be able to make a stand on the east bank of the river, though if the report is correct that the Italians have been driven out of Mfudu, then it may be possible for the British easily to force passage across the river.
That the British are moving as rapidly as possible may be taken for granted, for the quicker they can clear up the situation in north-east Africa the sooner will they be able to transfer their forces to Egypt in readiness to reinforce the opposition to any attempt which Hitler may seek to make in the Near East. From the scanty reports to hand it seems as if the Italians in this portion of Africa have been making a sturdier fight than their compatriots in Libya, though it must be admitted that isolated units in that area particularly at such places as Giarabub are still holding out against the British forces which have invested their positions. That will avail them little in north-east Africa, for supplies are the deciding factor, and as these diminish the possibility of continued Italian resistance must dwindle accordingly.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.