MODERN AIRFIELD

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 11, 14 January 1941, Page 7

MODERN AIRFIELD

CAPTURE IN LIBYA

DESULTORY BARRAGE AT TOBRUJC

ATTACK DRAWS HEAR

TROOPS ON THEJR ISGIS

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Cwpo'right.) (Received January 14, 8 ajm.) LONDON, January y& The Tobruk correspondent >o£ the. British United Press reports that the R.A.F. has eliminated Italian j air bases for 70 miles beyond Tolwuk. The Italians have attempted to sftrafe the troops besieging the town, .but have been driven back. The capture of El Adem gives the R.A.F onei of the finest airfields in Libya. It was completed last October and is jas modern as any aerodrome in Europe. El Adem is five minutes' flight from Tobruk and can accommodate thrjee squadrons. ; , The Italian artillery fire frotrri Tobruk has slackened, and the; British guns are maintaining a desul-j tory barrage before the final pne-; paration for the infantry attack, fon which the British troops are on their*: toes A Cairo communique states: "There is no change in Libya.. In the Kassala and Gallabat sectors active patrolling continues and we have inflicted casualties on the enemy. There is nothing to report on the other fronts." The possibility that the state of affairs in Abyssinia or the recent British capture of El Wak impelled the

Italians to evacuate the post of Buna— in Kenya, close to the Abyssinian frontier —is being discussed in military circles in London. The reoccupation of Buna by the British after its evacuation by the Italians took place on January 9.

LONDON, January 13

A correspondent with the British forces in Libya says .that the Italian artillery fire from Tobruk is slackening. British gunfire, on the other hand, is continuing its terrific barrage prior to the final assault. The correspondent adds that the aim of the Italian guns is wild, probably due to the fact that there are no Italian planes to spot for them. The British fire, however, aided by aircraft, spotters, is proving deadly in its accuracy. The concentration of British Imperial forces for the assault is continuing.