NAVAL BASE TAKEN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 49, 7 December 1940, Page 5

NAVAL BASE TAKEN.

SHORT BUT FIERCE FIGHT.

GREEKS ALSO GAIN ELSEWHERE.

LONDON, December 6,

It is,stated that the Greeks entered Santi Quaranta at 8 a.m. yesterday, after a short but fierce fight. They captured 125 prisoners and a considerable amount of materials, and hoisted the Greek and Albanian flags on the Prefecture building.

Off Santi Quaranta on Wednesday an Italian destroyer was bombed by British aircraft and direct hits were scored. It is believed that this destroyer was there t° evecuate Italian officers and their documents, while the rest of the defenders of Santi Quaranta were left to take the longer and more perilous road to Valona Following the capture of Premeti, in the central sector, the Greeks occupied further peaks in .the, Mokra mountains. Some positions changed hands several times, but the Greeks eventually considerably improved their strategic position in that section. The Italians*-' hopes of preserving the second of three lines of defence southeast of Premeti are gradually lingThe British and Greek Air Forces are complete masters of the situation.

Greek . successes north of Pogradetz are also very important because they should enable them to cut off ;;he enemy’s retreat.

The Greeks last night' drove the Italians at bayonet point from Frasheri, in a mountain range north of Premeti.

Describing the advance in the central sector, a Greek spokesman said that the Italians had been shelled with six heavy guns captured by the Greeks, and hundreds of prisoners had been taken.

The Athens radio, announcing the capture of villages in this sector, emphasised that heights which had beep taken were of supreme strategic importance.

The Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that .Britain is equipping a large part of the Greek Army to withstand the winter in the Albanian mountains. Britain’s effective resistance is still largely aerial, buta steady stream of material is flowing into Greece from Egypt. Greek naval personnel will be warm in strong British hoots, thousands < f pairs of which have been dispatched from the Middle East, while Greek soldiers are using British blankets. Since the recent urgent dispatcli of anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, Britain has also' been sending big quantities of barbed-wire and sandbags. Hospitals are being established and badlyneeded medical supplies are pouring across the sea.

POSITION IN ALBANIA.

MILITARY COMMENT IN LONDON IMPORTANCE OF LATEST LOSS.

(Received This Day, 10.1.5 a.m.)

LONDON, December 6

Commenting on the position in the Albanian theatre, military quarters in London incline. l to the view that the reason for relatively inextensive advance in the northern sector is due more to the nature of the country over which the fighting is taking place than the strength of Italian resistance. In this sector the exact position of the advanced Greek troops is not certain but the line appears to run north northwest of Pogradotz toward the village of Rajan, which is about 10 kilometres west of Moscopol. It is certain that at least 15 officers and 200 men, as well as eight guns and fifty machine-guns were captured there. The Greeks in this sector experienced the stiffest resistance yet offered. During the last day or two fighting has been taking place in snow.

As regards ihc centre sector the mili-

tary commentators are: unable to give the detailed line of advance as there are merely tracks without any named roads by which to fix positions. The most pronounced advance is on the Epirus front, where Permeti has been captured and Delvino is in Greek hands. Military circles in London, commenting on reports that Santi Quaranta lias fallen, state that this town, which the Italians used as a port and which stands on the junction of the coastal road to Valona and lateral roads, was of great importance to the Italians, who are now deprived of the opportunity of sending reinforcements moving south. Wild mountainous country, some 15 miles wide and 40 miles deep, separates these roads and the Italian General Staff now will suffer the disadvantage of having fully to make up its mind which part of the front it desires to reinforce while the troops are at least 40 miles away from their objective.—British Official Wireless.