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THE TOBRUK
RAID
New Tactics
in Desert
"The Age" Special Service & A.A.P.
LONDON, fcentpmhpr 15
The Admiralty has. released the first
details of the Tobruk raid.
The report states that a small army
force was landed on Sunday night bv
light craft of the Royal Navy. Over
head it was protected by a strong air
umbrella. The force landed In the
.face of strong opposition and inflicted
casualties and damage before with
drawing. In view of the strong oppo
sition encountered the raid was not
carried out without losses, which were
to be expected.
Other British units strafed enemy
lines at El Daba. The men and ships
got away without casualties or loss.
To-day's Cairo communique reports
that our naval units returning from
Sunday's raid on Tobruk were at
tacked yesterday by strong formations
of enemy bombers. The enemy planes
were driven off by our long-range
fighters.
Rome Radio declared that the Bri
tish aimed to destroy as much as
possible of Tobruk's port installations.
A .considerable number of corvettes
and motor, torpedo boats, as weir as
submarines' were in the escort. The
violent air attack lasted from 9 p.m.
to 3.30 a.m. Three hundred bombs
were dropped, while the ships bom
barded the port and town.
The Italian communique says that
576 British were taken prisoner and
several hundred killed and wounded.
Four, destroyers, a- cruiser, a number
of torpedo boats and other small craft
were sunk and a light cruiser heavily
damaged, It was claimed.
It is unlikely that the Tobruk raid
was more than an attempt to render
the port installations useless for the
Axis. A more important and decisive
action would be impossible there at
this time, as It Is 300 miles from the
actual zone of current operations. ,
A three-dimensional attack, even
If of a. limited nature, could consid
erably damage Field-Marshal Rom
mel's largest and most advanced sup
ply base, and probably force him to
detach a larger mobile force from the
front line operations to safeguard the
coast than was hitherto thought ne
cessary.
Lesson from Burma
Though the Axis reports of the raid
mention parachutists, the official
British communique is silent on this
subject. Commentators here think
that if they were being used they
might bring German parachutists
from .Crete to the scene of action.
It is interesting to note that an
attack from the Mediterranean, is an
innovation since General Alexander
has taken over the command. This
is possibly a lesson , from .Burma,
where' 'General 'Alexander had first
hand experience' of the Japanese tac
tics of constantly landing - from the
sea at the rear of the British lines
and forcing a continued withdrawal
in order to avoid encircling manceu-
vres by the enemy.
Desert correspondents report the
advent of autumn — the best cam
paigning season. Yesterday was cool
and cloudy.
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