MAGNITUDE EMPHASISED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 31, 6 February 1941, Page 9

MAGNITUDE EMPHASISED

AGORDAT VICTORY

DEFENCE BY CRACK TROOPS

LONDON, February 4. The magnitude of the British victory at Agordat deserves emphasis. Agordat has been the centre of Italian civilisation in East Eritrea and has been a big military and air base since the invasion of Abyssinia. Its defenders included the crack Second Italian Colonial Brigade, with light and medium artillery, under the command of Colonel Lorenzini, who is regarded as among Italy's" most brilliant soldiers. The British commander tried to push armoured units to the east to cut off Agordat from Asmara, but was forced to admit that the ground was too difficult. A Scottish battalion reinforced by Indians was therefore sent to Cochem Hill, overlooking Agordat ifrom the east. They endured a 48----hours inferno of fire, fighting four and a half Italian battalions. I The constant heavy artillery fire | made it most difficult to supply them, and the position looked bad till British armoured 'cars'3 supported by a famous British regiment made a successful atttack against the prepared defences running out from Cochem Hill. Later an Indian regiment, with orders to take and hold their objectives to the last man, stormed four smaller hills east of Agordat. Simultaneously the Royal Air Force spotted a strong Italian column coming in from the east, and British armoured units and infantry attacked and knocked out in a few minutes 11 tanks—half the enemy's force. | The Italians then retired from the impregnable height of Laquetat to south of Agordat. A swift attempt was made to cut off the retreat of the enemy from Agordat itself, but the Italians were too quick and slipped out in the darkness over the secondary road to Asmara. The British keep biting into the out resistance. The Italians suffered very heavy losses, those killed and taken prisoner exceeding 2200.