DESERT PATROLS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 250, 4 August 1941, Page 5

DESERT PATROLS.

LONG-RANGE GROUP AT WORK. ITALIAN FORTS RAIDED. ■ N. LONDON, August 2. Some details of the activities of one of the most romantic fighting units of the Imperial Forces—patrols of the long-range desert group, which helped to destroy numbers of Italian garrisons holding the line of communications between Abyssinia and Libya have now been given. After the first pioneer trip by a patrol in two light cars led by an officer explorer, who probably knows more about the uncharted desert than any other man alive, a great sea of sand whs crossed for the first time in history by military forces. Three columns of fully laden trucks " crawled hundreds of miles over ridges to make the journey, often sinking axle-deep in sand. The patrols separated and set off into different parts of enemy territory to spread confusion and terror among the surprised Italians. They pounced on enemy lorries, capturing very useful official mail, and destroyed arms dumps and burned an enemy bomber which had been left uninjured on a landing ground. One party coming back from a minelaying expedition, appeared suddenly before the gate of a fort. A sleepy sentry assumed they were Italian cars, and he was silenced before lie learned better, Three shells were fired into the mud walls of fort. The astonished Italian garrison dashed hotfoot out of the back door, whereupon the patrol dashed inside, removed all the fort’s armament and then disappeared into the desert again. Another party set off from Cairo — a selected patrol of New Zealanders and officers and men from a brigade of guards—to raid Mazook, 1200 miles from Cairo. They had arranged to meet and duly did meet a Free French detachment, who came by camel from another direction. When eventually they bore down on tlieir objective, the Italians were taken completely by surprise. Again the sentries made the mistake at first of raising their hands a few minutes the fort was blazing to the British in the Fascist salute. The action was shorf and fierce. In fiercely. Aircraft and stores were destroyed and prisoners were taken. On the following day, the force moved on to the next post, but the garrison there had learned wisdom. They marched out en masse to surrender, with drums heating and banners flying.—British Official Wireless.