VICTORY NOT DECISIVE

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21686, 21 January 1936, Page 9

VICTORY NOT DECISIVE

♦ ITALIAN OPINION OF J SOUTHERN SUCCESS HARSH MESSAGE TO PURSUING TROOPS ~'VNITED PHESS ASSOCIATION— COPYEIGHT.) ' (Received January 20, 11.50 p.m.), LONDON, January 20. The Rome correspondent of "The Times" says that authoritative circles describe the Italian victory at Ganale Dorya as important rather than decisive. They consider that the decisive blow will be struck on the northern front. Motor transport gave the Italian pursuers a marked advantage over the flight-wearied Abyssinians. General Graziani is alleged to have sent this message to his men: "Chase the enemy; give him no rest; get your teeth into him." DIFFICULTIES AHEAD ABYSSINIAN RETREAT MAY HAVE BEEN STRATAGEM (Received January 20, 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, January 19. In the wake of the jubilant Italian claims of victory at Dolo, Sir Percival Phillips in a cable message to the "Daily Telegraph" from Djibouti suggests that Ras Desta's retreat was a tactical move designed to lure General Graziani into country where the communications can be cut. "Ras Desta is reported to have withheld his main army, as he is awaiting an opportunity for a flanking movement" states the message. "The Abyssinian losses were caused largely by massed counterattacks in the open against Ras Desta's orders. The Italian spearhead is now in country in which it is easy to harry the communications." The "Evening News" agrees that General Graziani has achieved little, and that he has possibly weakened nis position by the doubled length of the Italian line. This is intensifying the strain on communications, and has not brightened the prospects of a general advance, though it has temporarily removed the danger of an Abyssinian incursion into Italian Somaliland. The "Manchester Guardian" says that the Italians, though momentarily in the ascendent in the south, are still struggling desperately in the north, where guerrilla bands are harrying their posts. The Addis Ababa correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" says that Somali deserters from the Italian army are reaching Ras Desta's headquarters. They report friction between the Fascist militia and the regular troops, which has resulted in rioting. The Fascists are reported to be receiving the honours and rewards, while the regulars are doing the j fighting and enduring the hardships. BOMBING OF AMBULANCES DENIED (Received January 20, 7.5 p.m.) ROME, January 18. Signor Fulvio Suvich (Italian Under-Socretary for Foreign Affairs) handed to the Swedish Ambassador a formal note rejecting the Swedish contention that bombs were aimed at ambulances, asserting that the airmen aimed at legitimate military targets.