DESERT RAID

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 6, 18 October 1940, Page 3

DESERT RAID

TAKING OF A PRISONER.

SURPRISE FOR ITALIANS.

NEW ZEALANDER TAKES FART

(N.Z.B.F. Official News Service) WELLINGTON, October 15

This is an account of a raid that actually occurred on the Libyan frontier on the night of the 22nd-23rd August, 1940.. A battalion, of a yery famous English regiment received the following orders: “Information respecting the enemy is urgently required. A prisoner will be taken. The enemy were the Italians and the area from which the prisoner was to be extracted was North of Capuzzo along the road to Bardia. The raiding party consisted of one officer and fourteen, other ranks. A New Zealand officer was attached to the regiment at the time and managed to persuade the battalion commander to let him go too. The raid was to be a silent one, there would be no artillery barrage, no other help. It was expected that they would be able to capture one of the cyclists who had been noticed to travel along the road, or failing a cyclist, a driver of one of the eneriix. motor vehicles which were known to use this road by night. > Identity Marks Removed. The preparations for the road were simple enough. Sandshoes were worn instead of the usual heavy military hoots. All means of identity were removed from the tunics. Pockets were emptied of any papers which might in the event of capture, tell the enemy the unit opposite them. Steel helmets, rifles and bayonets, two M.E. Rifles and two machine-guns and an anti-tank rifle these were the armaments. At seven o’clock ip the evening the small party paraded. Each man was searched to see that no evidence o identity had been overlooked. the rifles and machine-guns were tried as a last precaution. All was well foi whatever the gallant little party had to face. Half-an-hour later, seated in four military trucks, the party started off to the accompaniment of ■ “Good luck and happy hunting”, and similar words of cheer. At the top of Hallaya Pass there was still too much light to allow the little party to go further in the meanwhile. They halted for half-an-hour by which time the light had deepened. On they went to Fort Musaid, then they turned west for another mile and a half. Leaving tlie trucks here they silently advanced on foot each man experiencing the tense feeling of a fast approaching crisis. Suddenly one man , noticed movement to the rear of the party. Cover was taken and quietly the officer investigated the position. There was nothing. On went the party when another member noticed the movement on -the flank; again a false alarm. Gap in the Wire. The barbed wire which the Italians had erected as a protective screen was then reached. Two men who had been detailed for the job crept forward and cut a gap sufficiently wide for the small party to pass through. When this passage had been negotiated bearings were checked and the party went on in the direction they had decided to follow. The bitumen road Was reached and tho party divided itself into two, one party on either side connected only by a taut piece of wire stretched across the road to trip up the expected cyclist. For one long hour the party waited listening intently for an approaching enemy. None came, only the sound of distant voices and some bumping on the ground broke the silence.

It was decided to go on. The party was called together and they silently inarched towards the triangle made fcy the Si Aziez-Capuzzo-Bardia roads. A dark shadow appeared on the flank. It was a hangar. The party surrounded it. Not a sound was heard within. They listened intently. Only the breathing of the raiders could be heard. The hangar was empty. Imi Touch with Enemy. As the party re-assembled on one side of the hangar the sound of digging and movement could be heard clearly. It came from the direction of the locality to which the party had decided to go. As the area of the triangle was reached a sentry was seen standing on the Si Aziez Road on the left of the raiders. Another sentry was noticed ahead and then some large lorries standing within the triangle were revealed in silhouette. A group of the enemy could bo seen. There appeared to be about one hundred and fifty of them.

As the party crept up to the Si Aziez road a sergeant and two men with a machine gun were left behind as cover. The rest moved forward. How silently they moved. Their objective was the men, working on the Bardia Road. About 20 could clearly be seen laying stones on the edge of a trench. . One man unwittingly helped the raiding party for he was smoking a cigarette. Closer and closer crept the party, till they were so close that it was obvious that the enemy must soon see them as the moonlight was reflected on the white steel of the fixed bayonets.

The signal was given. Every man rose to his feet and with rifles thrust forward, bayonets gleaming in the light, they rushed forward as one man. A yell of surprise from the enemy, a few hurried rifle shots, and the party was at their throats. Rifles barking, and bayonets thrusting did their deadly work; hands were soon held high m pure fright. Bedlam in the Night. Bedlam supplanted the quiet of that Egyptian night. All was contusion among the enemy. The British party pursued, and pursued relentlessly, the purpose of their raid. The slightest resistance meant instant death, there was only one thing to do, to flee or o surrender. . . While some rounded up several prisoners, others spent the few brier minutes" in protecting their capture by bring and bayoneting on either flank. A large dugout was noticed; into this jumped one of the raiders, a man in bed, clearly an officer, sprang up to col-

lapse back with a sigh as a bayonet ended his earthly cares.

The signal was given to the party to retire. A field gun was noticed quite near and a decision had to be made whether it should be destroyed. To have pushed a bomb down its muzzle would take time and the Italians might rally and prevent. the taking of the prisoners. So it was decided to return with the prisoners and leave the gun. Italidnls Return Fire. As the party was returning an enemy machine-gun opened fire. It was firing high. One of the prisoners made a cry to give the Italians the proper direction. He was dealt with. The Sergeant left behind to cover the retreat attempted to open fire but the machine-gnn jambed. The enemy fire was getting perilously close. Back went the sergeant with his file of men carrying the machine-gun. The enemy were now pouring in a deadly fire and the sergeant halted and this time the ma-chine-gun spoke its deadly messages. Two magazines were emptied at the Italians. Back, back went the party, forcing the prisoners along. Through the narrow gap in the wire all passed and then came quiet. The enemy ceased firing. The rest of the journey Was uneventful. The lorries were reached, those prisoners who had been wounded were attended to and the party reported back to their battalion commander to receive eongratuations on a job well and gallantly done. Later it was learjjt that much valuable information was secured from the prisoners. The New Zealander was Captain T. C. Wallace of the 2nd N.Z. Divisional Cavalry Regitneht.