NEW ZEALANDERS TAKE CAPUZZO

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 51, 24 November 1941, Page 7

NEW ZEALANDERS TAKE CAPUZZO

Brilliantly Controlled Offensive LONDON, November 23. While terrific tank battles in Libya were continuing nearby and far to the west of Capuzzo, that frontier fortress has been occupied by New Zealanders. , The battle of north-east Cyrenaica is by no means over yet. The enemy, as last night s Cairo communique stated, have recovered from the shock of the original surprise and there must be further hard fighting before the full results can be assessed. - Four simultaneous actions are being fought in different parts of the front. Following upon early tank fighting in which, according to an authoritative Cairo estimate, the Germans lost fully half of their tanks and three times as many as the British, the German mam forces which have been cut off are desperately trying to regain contact with the others. An American report says that the remnants of some German panzer units from the Bardia sector have apparently succeeded in joining up with their forces south ot lobruk. A strong force from the Tobruk garrison, reinforced by recently arrived tanks brought up by sea, is going on with an assault which has brought them some miles beyond the perimeter defences. On the last report they were approaching contact with the British force which captured Rezegh. Reports show that the British continue to rule the air oyer Libya. Reuter’s Cairo correspondent says that the battle in Libya is likely to go down in history as one of the greatest ever known for the strategy and tactics employed. AU Egypt is eagerly awaiting the news of the latest phase, which it is believed will outshine all previous communiques.

(British Official Wireless.) Received November 23, 7 p.m. RUGBY, November 22. The main tank battle is proceeding 45 miles west of Capuzzo, with the enemy trying to get away westward. - The initiative throughout has remained with the British. General Cunningham set out to destroy the German armoured forces, and he is doing it. An agency message from Melbourne quotes the A.I.F. leader and Deputy Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, LieutenantGeneral Blarney, as saying that the destruction of half of the enemy’s effective attacking strength means that Britain has won the land battle on which the result of the whole offensive hinges. Informed quarters in London interpret the Cairo statement that half the German tanks are already destroyed as meaning half of the total German tanks in the field in North Africa. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Alexander, opening the Surbiton “Warships Week,” said that though he was not able to give any information about the fighting in Libya additional to that already received from Cairo, he could confirm from such signals as he received that things were going very well.