The force was large enough, it is el ar, to oblige the British to withdraw, Moreover, we must assume that the Axis generals would not have dared undertake the offensive unless they felt confident that their lines of supply from Europe would remain open, All the indications, therefore, are that the Axis has succeeded in throwing a durable "bridge" across this portion of the Mediterranean, Since British naval forces are immensely superior here, the bridge obviously is under a roof of aviation, under the protection of which the Axis has transferred its armoured divisions and is keeping them provisioned from the European side.
There have been suggestions in some reports that the Germans merely "shooked" or "slipped" through the British blockade. Such secret and uncertain transport—with the doors of reinforcement closed behind them —is unthinkable, given the German capacity for careful planning in advance. But even apart from this consideration, the supposition of hit or miss blockade-running does not stand up,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.