31. In these dangerous circumstances most valuable and heartening assistance, of great importance for future campaigns, came from the French. General de Gaulle, who had organized the Free French movement in Britain, had already in July received the adhesion of the New Hebrides; now at the latter end of August came the more important territories of the Chad, Equatorial Africa, and the Camcroons. In this way, the Allies were assured of a continuous territory across central Africa, over which the preparation of air and land routes was promptly begun.
32. With other French territories and forces relations were not so happy. The naval superiority of the enemy in the Mediterranean was already serious enough, and it was impossible to risk its being further reinforced by important units of the French Fleet. The operations against French forces to make these units inoperative were a sad necessity brought about by the refusal of the French in North Africa to give any adequate guarantee that their vessels would not eventually fall under the control of the Germans or the Italians. The attempt to complete this process by the seizure of Dakar was, however, a failure.
33. The more immediate threat to Egypt had been from the west and the first great victory of the British and Allied land forces against the Axis was won in this theatre. General Waveil’s offensive began in the last month of the year, and the great victory at Sidi Barrani enabled the British at home to read for the first time heartening accounts of booty captured and prisoners taken. By February the advance had taken in Tobruk and Benghazi, including, that is, the fertile north-east of Libya.
34. At the period when the Battle of Britain was in full swing it must indeed have been hard to make the decision to reinforce from the pitifully inadequate stocks available the resources of material in the Mediterranean theatre. Nevertheless, during the autumn of 1940 reinforcements, not only of men but of weapons too, did in fact reach the Middle East, and they were sufficient, in the hands of the magnificent forces from Britain, India, Australia and New Zealand, and under the inspiring command of General Wavell, to turn the scales. The forces engaged do not seem great at this period of the war, but no more amazing achievement has been seen during the whole war than the elimination of the Italian East African Empire and the breaking of the first threat to Egypt by forces who from first to last were heavily outnumbered and out weaponed. By the end of March 1941, Eritrea had fallen, the final victory being the scaling of the mountain fortress of Keren by Indian units. By the following month, Addis Ababa was freed, the first capital to be loosed from Axis domination. The end of the year saw the elimination of the last Italian forces in this area. At sea the Royal Navy, numerically inferior though it was in the Mediterranean, adopted a vigorous offensive policy; having failed to bring the Italian Fleet to action, Admiral Cunningham sent his torpedo-carrying aircraft against it in Taranto harbour, with notable results.
