STEEL RING TIGHTENING

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 309, 30 December 1940, Page 7

STEEL RING TIGHTENING

Surrender Or Be Slaughtered

ITALIANS' CHOICE British Naval, Land And Air Pressure On Bardia (United Pre*s Association.—Copyright.— Reed, noon.) LONDON, December 29, i .IJ® j teel p ng is B . t , ea^ il .y drawing tighter around Bardia, says ?nnnn y T?T Ca,r ° «>rres P ondent. Th* garrison of 20,000 is completely trapped and must surrender or be slaughtered The British Army blocks the land routes out of the town and the Fleet blocks the sea entrances. Each night the fleet pours in high explosives and fire bombs. The harbour district and the waterfront are now shambles. Added to all this is the continuous bombing by the R.A.F. The director of Count Ciano's newspaper, •'Telegrapho," Signor Ansaldo, declared m Rome that Bardia was not a bastion as the British claimed. Its desperate resistance was explained by reasons of morale and because the soldiers were irritated by enemy boasting after the capture of Sidi Barrani. The Italians also regard the port as a prop during the fluctuations of the fortunes of the war in Libya. An Italian communique reports increased artillery and patrol activity on the Bardia front. It claims that lightning Italian columns, manoeuvring in co-operation with the air force, destroyed some British armoured cars and says the enemy bombed some Italian localities in Ethiopia.