LOSS OF HARAR ANOTHER BLOW TO ITALY

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 157, 29 March 1941, Page 11

LOSS OF HARAR ANOTHER BLOW TO ITALY

(By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) ;'ft ■ ( Received March 28, 9.15 p.m.) LONDON, March 27. Hardly pausing as they swept through the key Eritrean fortress of Keren, captured early today, British armoured units are pursuing the fleeing defenders in two directions. One formation has pushed along the road to Asmara, the capital, and the other raced along the Mogarreh Valley, north-west of Keren, where its members are now rounding up Italians opposing the British left flank. The fall of Keren, at the end of the stiffest battle in the African •ampaign, is one of the heaviest blows Italy has suffered; yet it was only one of several bitter pills the Duce today had to swallow. Harar, second city of Abyssinia, has also been captured and, on the opposite -ide of Abyssinia, African and Belgian troops have taken Gambela, thus bearing the Baro salient (western Abyssinia) of enemy forces. In London it is realized that despite the tremendous importance f the Keren victory, the campaign in East Africa is not completed, but t is considered that the fall of the whole of Eritrea may be imminent. A special Cairo communique announcing the fall of Keren and Harar says that after heavy fighting for nearly a fortnight, under the most difficult physical conditions, but admirably supported by the R.A.F., Imperial forces have again defeated numerically superior enemy forces. The military and air forces of the Empire have co-operated n the capture of Keren which, with its 10,000 inhabitants, of whom 1000 are Italians, lies in a rocky fastness 4000 feet above sea level. The country round Keren has been described by experienced Indian \rmy officers as worse than anything to be found on the North-West Frontier of India.

Keren is some 75 miles from Asmara by motor road and a railway. Military experts regarded it as an almost impregnable bastion, and it was defended by 60,000 or 70,000 crack Italian metropolitan and colonial troops and some of the best artillery in the Italian army. The enemy put up the strongest resistance that the Imperial forces have met during the African campaign.

British armoured units entered Keren at 7 a.m. today after an artillery barrage lasting an hour. The Italians are streaming in the direction of Asmara and are being heavily shelled and bombed. They are also under fire from British infantry holding the encircling heights. The Italian casualties at Keren run into thousands. The Italians launched 12 counter-attacks during the 48 hours before the capture of the fortress. They suffered heavily when they left the protection of prepared positions and scrambled over crags to try to storm British positions, held largely by Indians. The Indians beat back each attack and many Italians fell into ravines and down precipices.

J Indian and British troops, forming ‘ the spearhead of the assault, prepared ! the way by sealing almost perpendicu- ' lar cliffs hundreds of feet high. Then, after a stiff fight, they reached points 1 overlooking the Italians and hurled ; hand grenades at the gun positions. They had to subdue three formidable peaks before they could command the : escarpment. i The final shelllug completely shattered the Italian resistance. Armoured units crept unopposed! past a deserted : road block, then after entering the i town split up. One formation pushed oh along the road to Asmara and the other raced along the Mogarreh valley, north-west of Keren, where it is now rounding up the Italians opposing our left flank. It is estimated that at least 1500 Italians were taken prisoner. Skill and Courage. The first attack launched a fortnight ago showed the difficulties the Imperial troops were up against, and the success of this second assault is a triumph for cool British skill and courage. Many of our troops have been on the peaks round KSren during the past fortnight. Among the hundreds of prisoners already brought in are men from crack regiments, a whole brigade headquarters, and a colonel of the Bersaglieri. British and Indian troops, whose individual courage and tenacity alone made possible the first penetration, were able to take possession of important positions overlooking the town by scaling the steep escarpment. They were met by hand grenades and trench mortar fire, which the Italians, with the obvious advantage of occupying positions along the cliff edge, preferred to employ rather than the rifle or ma-chine-gun. Though the enemy losses were very severe, the Italians fought better at Keren than at any other stage of the African campaign. Their morale weakened, however, under the continuous bombardment from the air and the relentless pressure of the military forces. Six Weeks of Siege. The fall of Keren, which was announced in a special communique from Cairo follows six weeks of fierce moupnt'ain fighting. After the fall of Agordat and Barentu at thebeginning of February the Italians put up strong defensive positions on the peaks round Keren, where the road from Agordat to Asmara passes through a gorge between precipitous slopes. Slowly but surely British and Indian troops, with powerful assistance from the Royal Air Force, drove the Italians back. Another cohimn approached from the north, assisted by Free French units. Thus Keren was hemmed in on three ! sides. There were long artillery duels. ( J and 10 days ago the real battle began. Harar, the fall of which was also 1 announced from Cairo tonight, is in 1 south-east Abyssinia between Jijiga s and Diredawa. It has special associa 1 tions with the Emperor Haile Selassie. f one of whose sons is the Duke of Har- 1 ar. It is the second city in Abyssinia S and lies on the slopes of a hill some c 5000 feet above sea lewfl. r