OPERATIONS IN AFRICA

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23194, 4 December 1940, Page 9

OPERATIONS IN AFRICA

RAIDS ON ITALIAN BASES ASSAB HEAVILY BOMBED LAST MONTH (Received December 3, 9 p.m.) LONDON, December 2. Fighter aeroplanes of the South African Air Force, which encountered three Caproni bombers, shot down one and damaged the other two. A communique issued in Cairo reports that British troops ambushed some Italians at Gallabat, capturing one officer and nine men. In Royal Air Force raids in the Eastern Desert, a large number of enemy aircraft on the ground at Benina were attacked. Two Italian bombers were destroyed and two others were severely damaged. Enemy troops and motor transport on the Metemma-Gondar road, 10 miles west of Wahni, in Ita'ian East Africa, were machine-gunned and bombed by the Royal Air Force. Four direct hits were registered on motor transport, and heavy casualties .were observed as a result of the machinegunning. , , ~ Further south a successful raid was carried out on a camp at Mubba, where a number of fires resulted from direct hits bn barracks. A camp at Nagila, containing several battalions of colonial troops and Blackshirts, was attacked. Fires were started and much damage was done. . No Royal Air Force aeroplanes were lost in any of these operations. Aeroplanes from Aden raided Eritrea and Abyssinia 50 times in November. Assab was ■'•aided 30 timesl Jne series of attacks against Assab lasted for 36 hours. . All the aeroplanes operating in November returned, although they flew thousands of miles in difficult conditions. . , . An Italian communique issued tonight claims that the Italian bombers partly destroyed the French battleship Lorraine during a raid on Alexandria on November 30. Two other ships were set on fire and customs depots destroyed. Enemy aeroplanes bombed Kassala, Burao, Assab, and Metemma. A number were killed and wounded. , ... , The Rome radio stated that a British bomb dropped in a recent raid over Turin exploded yesterday, killing three and injuring six. PROTEST TO ITALY BOMBING OF CITIES IN EGYPT (Received December 3, 9.30 p.m.) CAIRO, December 2. The Prime Minister of Egypt (Hussein Sirry Pasha), in a speech in Parliament, said that Egypt had protested

against the Italian bombing of Egyptian cities. Egyptian air raid casualties since June 12, when the first bombing 9ccurred,. total 155 killed and 425 injured. All were civilian casualties.