Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1941. IN NORTH-EAST AFRICA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 146, 2 April 1941, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 1941. IN NORTH-EAST AFRICA.

To the British Empire and those nations and peoples who still cling to democratic ideals last week was indeed an inspiring one. Together with the coup in Yugoslavia and the most decisive victory in the naval engagement in the lonian sea was the continued advance of the British , and Allied forces in Eritrea and Abyssinia. The capture of Keren, the fall of Harar and the occupation of Diredavya are stages toward the fulfilment of Mr Churchill’s prediction that Mussolini is fated to see the Italian Empire in Africa torn to shreds and tatters. The debacle in North-east Africa is in a sense more destructive of national prestige than the ignominious showing in Libya, because when II Duce tnade his swoop on Abyssinia he painted for his people rosy pictures; of the dazzling destiny before them as possessors of rich territory overseas. Ihe successes achieved by the Allied forces are important, opening up, as they do, the road to the heart of the country Italy is now striving desperately to hold. The near approach of the rainy season may cause a postponement of further advance, but nothing can prevent the ultimate complete occupation of all of Mussolini’s treasured areas. The operations at Keren in themselves show the relentlessness of the pressure brought to bear on the Italians when once the time was opportune for the advance. The investment and reduction of this stronghold, better garrisoned and more resolutely defended . than any the British forces have attacked in the eastern theatre, extended over some seven weeks. In contrast with the Libyan campaign, where speed was the keynote, where lightning thrust and swift pursuit cast the enemy' into hopeless confusion, the capture of Keren demanded patience and tenacity for the conquest of formidable natural defences, strongly held. The. contrast between the campaign in Libya and that in the North-east is instructive and heartening. In the Western Desert General Wave,ll and his army showed how they had learned the war of movement, how on those stony desert ways they could equal and even better the lightning thrusts of Hitler’s divisions glong the flat paved roads of Flanders. Keren has shown that the Empire’s forces, British, . Indian and African, have not lost their old virtues of dogged determination and unflinching courage in the methodical reduction of strong points. But though in this way the story of Keren is as heartening as any in the course of the African campaigns, it would be unwise to assume that there will be an immediate collapse of resistance in Eritrea. It is pointed out by military observers in London that a large proportion of the Italian garrison was able to get out of Keren and, though probably they are not in good shape, there js no military reason why they cannot hold fighting positions near Asmara. What can be confidently expected is that, with the Royal Navy cutting off communications by sea, the plight of the Italians must become progressively worse, so that even the most valiant efforts they may be capable of cannot avert their final overthrow.