"PLAIN HELL"

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 14, 17 January 1941, Page 4

"PLAIN HELL"

COLD IN ALBANIA

GRIMMER THAN IN FINLAND

ATHENS, January 6.

The war in Albania is grimmer than the Finnish war because of the absence of 'prepared warm dugouts, special stoves, and proper 'clothing, wfote the Sydney "Sun's" war correspondent in Albania, Mr. James Aldridge, at the end of last week. Along the whole battle-line the weather has taken the war into its own hands, turning purgatory into plain hell. The distances are so great that the soldiers are exposed too long to the cold, moving backwards and forwards. Frostbite is particularly dangerous because of the long periods that elapse before treatment can be obtained. To keep as warm as possible, I am applying all the knowledge I gained in Finland, but many of the young soldiers fighting here lived their whole lives in the warm Mediterranean sun, and do not know how to protect themselves. Early today I tried to travel from ■ Klisura to the Tepelini front, but I might as well have tried to walk over the North Pole, because of the deep snow and miniature avalanches. ■; As I reached a village at noon, the clouds lifted. Italian planes, taking advantage of this, came over and bombed the village, although it was absolutely empty. Movement would be swifter if it were possible to use skis, but the snow ■is too soft for that, and there are too many obstructions. Mules perish like flies in this severe cold, and present one of the saddest features of the war. They seem to know-when they are about to die, and apparently decide to die in peace. They suddenly sit down and stay there, ignoring all inducements and threats, until they become frozen images. Because I am constantly moving, I have thrown away my tin hat, gas mask, plates, and souvenirs, and put; on all my clothing, including three jumpers, two vests, two shirts, and two pairs of trousers. ... I have never been more miserable in all my life. HARDLY A SHOT FIRED. Although a desperate struggle is going on to, capture the key towns of Klisura and Tepelini, scarcely a shot is being fired, ■ because the battle is chiefly, proceeding against the weather. It is a contest in which the side holding out and enduring longest will win. • Yesterday and today I have witnessed the scenes in this weird battle, in which the only threatening sound is the roar of an avalanche rolling down the mountain in fury and whiteness. Roughly, the-front is between Tepelini and Klisura. <■ The Third of July Alpine division is stationed at Tepelini, but between them is a whole Italian artillery regiment, including at least 12 batteries, and, in addition, a Black Shirt regiment is placed somewhere between Tepelini and Berat. These troops are managing to hold on to their positions by grace of the weather. They are building rough defences around villages and in the valleys, consisting chiefly of barbed wire, and are also clearing timber to give machine-guns the maximum field of fire. Two days ago both Tepelini and Berat were under Greek shell-fire. Yesterday, after a 24-hour struggle through snow and mud, I reached the Greek positions, from which Klisura is barely visible, because of a blanket of mist, from which. the white peaks surrounding the town loomed like an island. The Greek commander declared it had been like this for ten" days, with only one clear spell, which gave the Greeks a chance to knock thie Italian positions. The road between Tepelini and Klisura was under Greek fire yesterday, but there was little traffic on it because the Italians are using the direct northern routes for supplies.

The Italian artillery is strung out in a line of villages north of the KlisuraTepelini road, along which the main duel will develop when the weather eases.- •

Meanwhile; the wait is testing the toughest physiques. Any journey longer than a. few miles becomes a barely endurable hardship.