BOLD MOVE

Evening Star, Issue 24055, 29 November 1941, Page 9

BOLD MOVE

STORIES OF THE BREAK-OUT ENEMY TAKEN BY SURPRISE (Rec. 8 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 28, The move from Tobruk was so bold and the secret so well guarded that the enemy were taken completely by surprise. Strong tank formations accompanied the infantry. One of the gladdest sights the garrison had seen came on the morning of the break-out, when Tomahawks skimmed over the perimeter. The soldiers cheered. The tanks were under the command of an Iris!) colonel, who had already led two major battles in the Solium area. Leading his formation from an open tank turret and flying a large flag, he fought his way to the escarpment, beating off counter-attacks and holding the new corridor open. The tanks held their own. despite terrific enemy artillery fire. Meanwhile our guns were manned, and the gunners, stripped to the waist, with sweat pouring down their bodies, fired until the barrels were practically red hot. The Royal Army Service Corps carried on, bringing up ammunition and food. The Royal Army Medical Corps operated from zero hour to the end, doctors, orderlies, and ambulance men attending to the wounded on the battlefield and evacuating them to the roar. One ambulance had its back blown ajvay. The driver, laughing, said ‘ I am lucky that 1 had no patients. A correspondent spoke of a wounded lad from Liverpool. In reference to the attack on “Butch.” he said“ Our lads came up champion. Nothing stopped them.” A Bavarian said: “We never thought vou would break through.” While the British occupied the main attack, the Poles in the western sector attacked the Italians from the rear and then returned to their linos, bavin" with hand grenades and bayonets killed over 100 and captured some prisoners, with only one casualty.

BEAUFIGHTERS' GREAT WORK SQUADRON LEADER DECORATED (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. 10.5 a.m.) RUGBY, Nov. 28. It is announced from R.A.F. Headquarters in the Middle East that an immediate award has been made to Squadron-leader R. G. Yaxley, M.C., D.F.C., of the D.S.O. This follows the magnificent achievements of the Beaufighters in destroying at least 44 enemy aircraft since the beginning of the offensive in LibyaBOMBERS TO THE RESCUE AIRMAH ELUDES GERMAN COLUMN (British Official Wireless.) (Rec. noon.) RUGBY, Nov. 28. Shot down by German troops and captured, a lieutenant in a squadron of naval aircraft escaped when Blenheim bombers of the R.A.F. carried out an attack on the column conveying him westwards. The pilot returned to the base with a tank corps officer who escaped with him. “ 1 was flying out to identify a column of motor transport when 1 was fired upon and badly hit. I crashlanded, and knew 1 was ‘ in the bag.’ The Germans took me in a car with a British tank corps officer under charge of a German officer, and for three hours we headed west. 'Then the 'Blenheims attacked ns. It was very good, but highly unpleasant. Bombs rained down on the column hitting trucks and lorries. To make way for the wounded, we were turned out of the car, and in the resulting confusion of the raid, despite the number of Germans still around us, we walked away and laydown in some camel thorn. What was left of the column moved away without us, and wo started walking south. 1 reached my squadron on Wednesday night. Now I know what an attack by our bombers is like.” MASTERS OF THE AIR R.A.F. SUPERIORITY UNCHALLENGED LONDON. November 29. British mastery of the air in Libya is at present unchallenged. Berlin pays tribute to the “ unheard-of boldness of the low-level attacks made by the R.A.F.” An observer counted 90 and more British planes at once in the sky above him There were Blenheims. Maryland®. Tomahawks, and Hurricanes One of the most remarkable squadrons is one from the Fleet Air Arm which has destroyed at least 10 enemy aircraft. Its members have brought their naval beards and white-topped caps into the desert. A lone Norwegian fighter pilot serving with the R.A.F, in Libya shot down one plane and severely damaged another He had to make a forced landing in the midst of tho battle. He saw armoured cars coming. They turned out to belong to the South Africans, and he travelled with them in the action for three days before returning to his base. In one sector 30 men with a trench mortar captured over 300 Germans. The brunt of the fighting at Tobruk, it is revealed, was taken by a Scottish regiment. Heavy casualties were suffered by the Highlanders.