GREEK OFFENSIVE

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 November 1940, Page 7

GREEK OFFENSIVE

NAVAL BASE THREATENED ITALIAN “SURPRISE PUSH” , [by- CABLE. —PRESS ASSN.—COPYRIGHT.] LONDON, November 28. The latest reports from Greece suggest that the Italians are making a desperate attempt to hold a limited area of Albania in the north, and that in the south the Greeks are threatening the Italian naval base of Santi Quaranto. The Italains are reported to have shifted this base to the extreme north. Even Valona is not regarded as safe and most of the naval supplies are said to have been moved from there.

The Rome correspondent of the British United Press says it is admitted in Rome that the next Italian offensive against Greece is not expected to start before January. Thousands of reinforcements are preparing behind a new defensive line. Officials declared that the new push would not be a blitzkrieg, but a “surprise push” revealing a new type of warfare. „ - The Athens correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that the remnants of two Italian divisions on the coastal plain are still in a critical position. The Greeks drove back Italians attempting to resist beyond Delvino, while Italian bombers in this sector ineffectively raided bridges on the road to Janina.

The military correspondent of the Greek newspaper “Athinaika Nea” declares that Field-Marshal Badoglio, Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Army, arrived at Tirana on Tuesday and conferred with several high officers. Marshal Badoglio aims to regroup the Italian armies along a new defence line, but .as a result of the course of operations this regrouping appears impossible. The Italian retreat is becoming a race for the sea. The latest communique issued by the Greek High Command says that Greek troops are continuing successfully their action in Albania. Greek aircraft successfully bombed enemy communications, troop columns and batteries in action. The Italians bombed the islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, and Crete, killing some civilians. Reports of the fighting on the Albanian front state that a big battle seems imminent as the Greeks converge on Argyrokastron. The Italian Commander-in-Chief in Albania (General Soddu) is reported to have ordered that Argyrokastron be defended to the last. Italian “batttie police” are being employed to halt the retreat by shooting deserters and panic-stricken soldiers.

MANY DESERTIONS LONDON, November 28. A message from Belgrade says that more than 1000 Italians and Albanian conscripts on Tuesday deserted into Jugoslavia near Dibra. Ten Italian tanks were surrendered near Lake Ochrida. British and Greek airmen are excelling themselves in sowing confusion among the retreating forces.It is confirmed that a considerable number of the' Albanian conscripts are mutinying and deserting to the CJreeks* According to Italian Air Force prisoners,' Signor Mussolini is bitterly critical of the inefficiency of the air operations in Albania. Airmen who operated against Patras, Corfu and Janina were reservists recruited from the civil air line, Ala Littoria, who are well acquainted with Greece, but some regular Italian Air Force pilots in mistake bombed Monastir and other Jugoslav districts. Italian officers captured on the central front complain that their cavalry cut their own first line, and it also appears that Italian artillery was ordered to fire on- its own infantry to prevent the retreat. Major Ali Mehmed, a leading Albanian officer, who fled with King Zog, is reported to have ’landed in Albania by parachute, well supplied with money. He quickly rallied tribal chieftains.

ADVANCE CONTINUED ATHENS, November 28. Latest reports indicate that the Greek army is continuing to advance in Albania, despite Italian rearguard actions. Official circles maintain the reserve which has characterised their predictions in the past few days. ITALIAN CLAIMS. (Recd. Nov. 29, 11.20 a.m.). LONDON, November 28. An Italian communique Says: On the Greek front, Italian troops of the Eleventh Army yesterday successfully counter-attacked at several points on the front. Several hundred planes co-operated, and bombed the Kozane and Florina aerodromes.

BRITAIN AND ALBANIA. RUGBY, November 28. A message from Lord Cecil, broadcast to the Albanian people, read: “Of all the outrages on neighbouring nations committed in recent months by the totalitarian governments, none has been worse than Mussolini’s sudden and treacherous attack on your country. For a time, and despite your courageous defence of your liberties, the Italian hordes were successful, but be well assured that Nemesis awaits the Fascist tyrant. It would be fitting that our Greek friends, who are also fighting for freedom, should with you and the British, help to strike the first effective blow. Whether or not that alone will bring Mussolini to the ground, in any case the friends of liberty in Britain will insist on the restoration of Albanian independence, and will promote by all the means in their power, the prosperity of your heroic country.

EFFECTS IN EGYPT MUSSOLINI RIDICULED LONDON, November 27. The Cairo correspondent of “The Times” says that the Greek successes are producing tremendous repercussions in the Near East. They have swung the weathercock in Syria to such an extent that the Vichy Government has appointed a .new High Commissioner (M. Chiappe) in an endeavour to stop the rot, while all Egyptian qualms about an Italian invasion are now dispelled. In- * stead of being something in Egyptian popular imagination, Signor Mussolini is now a mere figure of fun. The question is naturally being

asked whether the Greek victories should not be followed up by fresh blows against the Italians in Libya, but it is not easy to give a positive answer, because - the Libyan campaign, fought across an almost waterless desert 300 miles wide, creates special problems and invalidates various general principles applicable elsewhere. After Italy’s entry into the war, the British forces were at a disadvantage in maintaining advanced positions on the far edge of the desert. It is no secret that General Headquarters were delighted when Marshal Graziani relieved them of part of the disadvantage by advancing to Sidi Barrani, where he now seems stuck. The British Commander-in-Chief (General Sir Archibald Wavell) may be forgiven if he thinks twice before deciding again to accept the initial disadvantage by taking the offensive. Royal Air Force units sent from Egypt to Greece are employed as advantageously there, if not more so.