VIRTUALLY ENDED

Evening Star, Issue 23863, 18 April 1941, Page 6

VIRTUALLY ENDED

ITALY'S EAST AFRICAN EMPIRE SURRENDER OF ADDIS ABABA ABYSSINIANS WELCOME BRITISH CONQUERORS (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 16. Describing the entry into Addis Ababa of the British Imperial forces, an event which virtually ended the Italian East African Empire, a war correspondent says: “Italian soldiers and police left in Addis Ababa to maintain order gave us the British salute, and Abyssinians flocked towards us with arms outstretched in the Fascist manner. European men and women welcomed us with occasional smiles, but for the most part they stared googleeyed at this most unwary occupation. My African servant in the truck behind mine exclaimed in astonishment: ‘ Why, they’re happy.’ Small boys ran forward to sell ns newspapers whenever one of our cars stopped. There was no trace of hostility anywhere, although the soldiers looked down on us from windows of houses, puzzled because there were no armoured cars to protect our procession.” SHORT SURRENDER CEREMONY. When the palace of the Duke of Aosta was reached the correspondent saw an Italian guard of honour drawn np and a crowd of notables assembled. “ General Mombrine, Military Governor of Addis Ababa, stood with the mayor in the middle of the doorway and received the British general. A civilian secretary came forward from the palace and helped us to spell the more difficult names of the Italian generals, and we assisted him with probable details about tho arrival of British vehicles. The surrender ceremony, when the British leader arrived, was the shortest possible. High British officers came up preceded by a squad of Italian motor cycle police. Their staffs accompanied them, but they brought no troops or arms, except one armoured car flying the Union Jack, home-made by a daughter of the former Acting Governor in Kenya, General Harrigan. LITTLE PAGEANTRY. “ The British general, after being greeted by the Italian representatives and receiving the salute from the guard of honour, went quietly to his house. The only pageantry was provided by flags. The Italian flag, which had been hauled down, was flown again in order that it could be ceremoniously struck with full honours, after which it was an extraordinary sight to see the Union Jack greeted with the Fascist salute by Italian officers and the guard of honour as it was broken at the_ top of the mast. None but the British could so unostentatiously have occupied a city which had been the object of such arduous fighting. The attitude of the Abyssinians showed that they were delighted with the British occupation. Even the Italians did not appear to mind losing the campaign in the NaziFascist war, and they were relieved at having escaped a major rising of the Abyssinians in Addis Ababa.” NO ABYSSINIAN REPRISALS. The correspondent says that later he found himself in the midst of an immense crowd of Abyssinians coming from a conference with the British general, where problems had been discussed, and the general asked the inhabitants to refrain from committing reprisals against the Italians in order to save the British forces from the necessity of spending too much energy in policing Addis Ababa, so that the fullest use of as many troops as possible to break the Italians’ final resistance could be made. Tho correspondent later drove through the streets, where, when he was recognised as English, he was received with remarkable demonstrations of thanks. Summing up his impressions of tho drive, ho says: “I have never seen emotion to compare with this demonstration. We drove off deeply moved, feeling that for one moment we stood as the personification of Britain.”

MANY GENERALS CAPTURED

LONDON, April 16. As the. British forces mop up the area within 100 miles of Addis Ababa, 1,000 Italian prisoners are passing through the city every day. The list of captured senior officers is growing formidable. In addition to' Generals Santini, Pesant, and Birigatti, the British have captured Admiral Bonetti, naval commander in East Africa, General Tessitor, commander in Eritrea, General Beggouzi, commander in Massawa, and General Course, commander in Keren. Another notable prisoner is Colonel Rolle, loader of the notorious Banda (native levies) group, with 11 officers and 700 irregulars. They were taken prisoner near the Ha wash River by two South African subalterns, one of whom is a grandson of General Botha, with only 17 men. Two bodies of the enemy, numbering 600, nervously approaching Addis Ababa with the object of surrendering, came face to face and opened fire on each other. A Cape regiment arrived and took' prisoner all except six, who were dead. A vast amount of arms, ammunition, • and petrol was found in Addis Ababa. Twenty-five warehouses were packed with materials, including clothing, tinned foods, and machinery.

WHOLE BATTALIONS CAPTURED

(British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 17. (Received April 18, at 8 a.in.) A Nairobi communique states that although Italian prisoners arc being evacuated from Addis Ababa in a ceaseless stream, large numbers continue to come in, several battalions having been taken complete. Italian native units are suffering from numbers of deserters and in one case these formed themselves into bands and are operating independently against Italian positions. Amongst the material captured at Addis Ababa were guns lost by the British forces in British Somaliland last August.

IH ITALIAN SOMALILAND

LONDON, April 17. (Received April 18, at 8 a.m.) The small coast town of Obbia, in Italian Somaliland, has surrendered, and patrolling planes report that white flags are flying over the small settlement of Ganda.