N.Z. TROOPS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 99, 23 October 1940, Page 10

N.Z. TROOPS

NOW AT WAR POSTS

WESTERN DESERT FRONT

BOMBS EXPERIENCED

REGARDED AS TRAINING

(U.P.A.. and Official Wireless.) (Received October 23, 2 p.m.) CAIRO, October 22. A special correspondent touring the Western Desert front visited the New Zealanders, who have discarded their j famous hats for topees. They are greatly pleased to be at war posts after long months of training. The night before the visit enemy raiders had bombed the New Zealanders' camp, but they were inclined to regard the bombs as part of their training.

Their spare time is spent in fishing, bathing, and wandering along the shore searching for wreckage which is beginning to be washed up on desert coasts.

The New Zealanders, like the remainder of the British forces, are beginning to disappear under ground. Entering each headquarters is like exploring the tombs of Egyptian kings. Tents are pitched in sandpits and sandbagged above. Even motor transports are provided with trenches. Reports of Monday's activity by the R.A.P. in the Middle East reveal that between Sollum and Boqboq a series of low-level attacks were carried out on enemy working parties and motor transport. A number of military vehicles were destroyed by fire and | others severely damaged.

In Eritrea several raids were carried out by bombers on Asmara and Gura. Tankers near workshops were hit and other bombs fell on buildings, starting fires. LAKE TANA RAIDED. Two raids were made on Bahar Dar, on Lake Tana, Italian East Africa. Bombs fell on a wharf and also on two large sheds on an aerodrome, causing three explosions. At Tessenei direct hits were registered on buildings. A Savoia 79 was intercepted over the Red Sea by R.A.F. aircraft and chased for 30 miles. The enemy bomber was last seen losing height rapidly and emitting thick black smoke from its fuselage. An enemy destroyer in the Red Sea was attacked by the R.A.F. and a direct hit was registered on its stern. In a recent engagement over the Kenya-Abyssinia frontier a South African Air Force plane shot down an Italian Caproni bomber, the crew of which were taken prisoner. A number of enemy planes over Malta yesterday made off without attempting to attack when intercepted by British fighters. A Cairo communique states that there is nothing of importance to report from Egypt, the Sudan, or Palestine. A British patrol in Kenya successfully attacked the enemy at Dukan. The enemy withdrew, leaving five killed, as well as equipment and camels. RAID ON ALEXANDRIA {British Official Wireless.) (Received October 23, 2.30 p.m.) RUGBY, October 22. A naval communique issued in Cairo states: "Early on Tuesday morning enemy aircraft again dropped a number of bombs in the neighbourhood of Alexandria. Very slight damage was caused and the only casualty was one person slightly injured."