FORT CAPUZZO

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 278, 24 November 1941, Page 8

FORT CAPUZZO

LITTLE LEFT INTACT

ROMAN EAGLE AS SENTINEL

Vivid recollections of his visit to Port Capuzzo early in February of this year are retained by Major G. R. Blackett. M.C., officer in charge of No. 1 (Auckland) Area, who was at that time on a tour of duty in the Middle East.

It was during the first 395 miles of the trip that he and his party travelled through a blinding sandstorm. During the 14J hours spent hi covering this distance from Cairo to Sidi Barrani, the force of the stormcarried grit was such that the paint was cleaned from the mudguards, leaving them like polished steel.

The route taken was past the pyramids and along the Desert road to some 10 miles outside Alexandria where the coast road was struck. The road itself, though metalled, was then badly worn. Sidi Barrani was reached after passing through El Daba and Mersa Matruh. That night the party slept at Sidi Barrani in the shelter of old barracks that had been the target for fire by vessels of the Royal Navy. Following about four hours' sleep, they moved on to Solium, travelling past the famous Hellfire Pass, which is now being stormed by Empire troops. Covering Four Acres The country approaching Solium Major Blackett described as being level desert, and after climbing the escarpment a short distance out from the desert post Fort Capuzzo was reached. Situated on the tableland, the fort covers sOme four acres. "The fort had been heavily shelled, for it was practically only a lot of rubble, said Major Blackett. "To me it seemed that the fort had been built of mud rubble to resist raids by the Senussi, and it was quite deserted." At that time the British troops were attacking Bengasi. Photographs taken by Major Blackett at various angles, show at a glance the extent of the damage caused by the shelling, for there is hardly a part which is intact. Seen from the roof of one of the buildings which escaped complete destruction, the ruins of the wnite-walled Oriental village stretch out to the flat, open desert. Masonry and clay brickwork are piled together in huge heaps and the white walls are bitten by the thousands of shots that have been hurled into this outpost of Libya.

Standing almost directly in front of the fort is a huge stone column surmounted by the Roman eagle with wings poised. Though the bird itself has apparently escaped damage, the marks of battle are evident on the circular stone column on which it is mounted and on the broad foundation which is the base

Mass Of Wreckage

The havoc that can be wrought by artillery is depicted clearly in one photograph taken through the door of a building and showing a mass of wreckage in which beams, girders sacking and wire are mixed inexplicably in the hotch-potch of a junk pile. Compared with the Sinai Desert where he saw service during the Great War. Major Blackett said that the going in the desert round Fort Capuzzo would be easier for the troops, the sand being firmer. However, the grit in evidence in the Western Desert would make sandstorms much more unpleasant.