LINE OF RETREAT

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 144, 14 December 1940, Page 11

LINE OF RETREAT

THROUGH NARROW GORGE

OFFENSIVE GATHERS

MOMENTUM

VAST BOOTY TAKEN

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.)

LONDON, December 13,

The Army of the Nile continues its advance towards Libya, driving the retreating Italians through the long and narrow gorge leading through Sollum to Bardia on the Italian side of the border. The official spokesman in Cairo stated last night that operations were proceeding most satisfactorily. The offensive today is still gathering momentum and the operations are progressing at such speed that official communiques are barely able to keep up with the news coming from the front. It is believed that the official estimate made yesterday afternoon of a total of more than 20,000 prisoners taken may well prove to be an underestimate. Certainly the British have not yet had time fully to reckon up the vast quantities of equipment and other material which they have captured. It is now estimated that the Italians who have been destroyed, captured, or bottled up number about 40,000. They include many members of the crack Black Shirt forces. Every day the. Royal Air Force retains its mastery of the air, and, with the Italian planes finding themselves unable to interfere seriously with their operations, the British planes have continued bombing and machinegunning enemy troops and positions. A special correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" in the Western Desert says that the British attacks developed along a constantly shifting semi-circle, with Sidi Barrani as the hub. From the first onslaught the

operations developed with bewildering intricacy over the whole tawny, rock-strewn desert. Individual detachments skirmishing miles into enemy territory started a series of pitched battles. It is impossible to give a coherent account of the operations till the reports are collated, but the satisfaction and optimism at desert headquarters are undisguised. RUMOURS OF FALL OF SOLLUM I UNCONFIRMED. A special correspondent of "The Times" at Cairo says that the spokesman of the British headquarters would not confirm rumours of the fall of Sollum, but as all accounts agree that the Italian withdrawal threatens to assume the proportions of a rout, it is not impossible that some of the advanced forces have reached Sollum. Some enemy aerodromes have been practically bombed out of existence, j and others can be used only with difficulty. The correspondent adds that the importance of the British victory will be founcl in the wealth of material cap-; tured. There is so much of it that the Army has not even begun to know what it includes. Its sorting and convoying is giving the Army a pretty problem, as is the question of feeding, and particularly the supply of water to the prisoners. The British troqps are carrying only sufficient water rations for their immediate needs. Even the Army commissariat is finding difficulty in coping with the sudden arrival of 20,000 empty mouths. The Cairo correspondent of the British United Press says the British advanced troops are still in touch with the fleeing Italians but must "step on it" to keep contact, because the wouldbe invaders of Egypt are now reported to be retiring in disorder, entire units abandoning materials of all kinds and outdistancing their officers. The British Associated Press says the official estimates in Cairo of the number of prisoners are most moderate. It is unlikely that many Italians have succeeded in escaping the British drag-net. >