Italians surprised in the Desert

9th December 1940: The British, outnumbered in the desert, offer limited expectations for their offensive - claiming it is just an 'important raid'

The Italians were not even aware that 48 Matilda ‘infantry’ tanks had arrived in Egypt, much less that they were in a position in the desert to launch an attack. They had no guns capable of penetrating the thick armour of the slow tank.

When the Italians had invaded Egypt in September, they had moved forward some 60 miles and then established a series of…