A GRAPHIC STORY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 43, 1 December 1941, Page 5

A GRAPHIC STORY

TOBRUK GARRISON RELIEVED.

LONG ISOLATION ENDED.

THE NEW ZEALANDERS’ PART. (Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.) CAIRO, Nov. 28. The Tobruk garrison and the New Zealanders have turned the tables on General von Rommel. On Wednesday, in a rapid advance to Gambut, the former headquarters of the Afrika Corps, the New Zealanders covered 30 kilometres .along the escarpment, took Balhamel, and recaptured Sidi Rezegh, where the bitter tank battles of last week had been fought. Simultaneously, the Tobruk force, which had already torn up all the enemy minefields on the south-east corner of the perimeter and carved a corridor 10 kilometres out to the southeast, now turned south-west and broke through six kilometres further, to seize El Duda, another tank battlefield. To do. this the Tobruk garrison launched armoured forces of a size unexpected by the enemy.

Both the New Zealanders and the Tobruk garrison were engaged in sharp fighting on Wednesday and Thursday, but the issue was never in doubt. Already Engaged. At the rear of the Afrika Corps, its dumps and supplies of petrol have been completely destroyed by the advance of the Imperial infantry, and further British tank forces are ready to administer the coup de grace. South of Gambut, General von Rommel seems to have formed up the surviving vehicles and transport of the Afrika Corps. These have already been engaged by the British armoured forces, which four days ago were “annihilated” by an Italian official communique. Advancing eight, miles through the three divisions which encircled them, the garrison forced a gap 300 yards wide to shake hands with the advance units of the New Zealanders, who had fought their way 100 miles up from the Libyan frontier. The advance by the Tobruk garrison was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment, and a feint .attack by the Poles. The Poles crept to the rear of the enemy positions, killed more than 100, and brought back prisoners. One officer wounded was the only Polish casualty. Meanwhile, sappers crept through the wire and placed eight bridges over an anti-tank ditch on the western perimeter. Over went the tanks, the clatter of their tracks and the roar of their engines drowned by our gunfire and the counter enemy barrage. Skirl of Bagpipes. The assault on the strongest enemy position, under a screen of tanks, was entrusted to a famous Highland regiment. Highlanders moved forward more than 1000 yards in the face of intense fire and literally smashed their way to victory. By the .afternoon, our force had captured five enemy positions, broken a German infantry battalion, and taken its commander prisoner. Artillery fired without cessation. Along the Bardia road,, the enemy plastered shells, and from Bardia itself, the famous “Bardia Bill,” a French gun manned by Italians, hurled projectiles at the shattered remnants of the town. The Highlanders had suffered in the initial struggle, and it did not seem possible that they might be able to go forward to another assault without .a respite. They were bloody, dusty, and tired. But, as they paused in the midst of the battle, they heard a sound that sent them on with new life—the skirl of the bagpipes. At the first post the Highlanders captured a pipe-major played them on. With wild cheers they dashed forward like men inspired. The Advance from Tobruk. At the end of the first day, the position, of the force advancing from Tobruk was satisfactory. They had not reached the rendezvous on the escarpment, but were only four miles from it. With the second day of the fighting, the artillery battle reached a pitch of intensity i*ivalling that of the previous. day, but the advance continued and by 3 o’clock two more enemy positions weije captured. The rendezvous with the relieving army was at El Duda, a point on the escarpment. After a quiet night, the advance, was resumed on the third day. Meanwhile, the corridor was strengthened, and the enemy mopped up. More than 1000 prisoners, 50 per cent. German, were already in the cage in Tobruk. After five days’ fighting, on November 26, the signal came through that the New Zealanders were about to make contact. As the first New Zealander shook hands with a British Tommy, who had fought his way out, Tobruk’s nine months’ isolation was at an end.

A later communique reports that south-east of Tobruk, the combined British and New Zealand forces are now forging their way westward in the face of determined opposition. At the same time, east of their point of junction, enemy detachments, still in considerable strength, are being engaged.