FIGHT FOR ELBASAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 December 1940, Page 7

FIGHT FOR ELBASAN

GREEKS’ FURTHER CAPTURES ITALIANS CONTINUE RETREAT [by CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] LONDON, December 9. The latest Greek communique says that actions against the Italians on the various fronts have been crowned with complete success, and that the Greeks have occupied important .new strategic positions on Albanian soil. On the northern front, the battle for Elbasan was resumed yesterday morning with undiminished violence, in spite of gales and snowstorms sweeping the Kamna and Mokra mountains. The Greeks are reported to have taken a key village against desperate resistance, and two Greek regiments are said to be storming other positions opening the way to Elbasan. The main body of the Italians, according to an observer at Lake Ochrida, is. still falling back on Elbasan. The Italians now hold only secondary roads in southern Albania and one minor road in central Albania between Valona and Tepeleni, says the Athens correspondent of/'The Times.” The Athens correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says,that.General Metaxas, the Greek Prime Minister, is the author of the whole Greek plan of I operations and is also the. directing 1 master-mind.

A report from Struga, in Jugoslavia, says that British and Greek bombers are reported to have destroyed one-third of the buildings in Durazzo on Saturday, and also to have hit petrol stores. It is stated without confirmation that Greek advance units have occupied the village of Gjinari, within nine miles of Elbasan. Refugees are crowding to Tirana, where conditions are chaotic and a grave danger of epidemics exists.

ARGYROKASTRON’S FALL.

LONDON, December 8.

The sirens of all ships in the Piraeus, the harbour of Athens, joined in the ringing of the church bells in Athens to-night in celebration of the Greek occupation of Argyrokastron. •: Great crowds gathered in the streets of the capital, cheering the King and the Prime Minister (General Metaxas), who, in making a brief speech, declared that the fleeing Italians were unable to maintain a unified front. Crowds carried British bluejackets shoulder-high. The Greeks delayed the occupation of Argyrokastron for tactical reasons while their , forces pushed on among the mountains north-east of the city. Argyrogastron, the capital of southwest Albania, was the base from which-, the Italians began their offensive in the Epirus sector. ' All along the line the retreating Italians are setting fire .to . military depots in a desperate attempt to prevent material from falling into Greek hands. Nevertheless war_ supplies captured by the Greeks are increasing each day. .. .. .. The latest capture is a destroyer, which had put into Santi Quaranta harbour after she had been, hit twice in an . attack by „ Royal Air Force bombers two days-previously. Italian troops are retreating from Argyrokastron and Santi Quaranta by two roads towards Valona, where ships are being sent to carry the wounded back to Italy. Bad weather has slowed up the Greeks in the north, but last night it was reported that they had reached Lin, three-quarters of the way along j Lake Ochrida. So rapid has been the, Greek advance that hostages taken by ■ the Italians have been freed by the| Greeks.

TWELVE BATTERIES TAKEN., , (Recd. Dec. 10, 2 p.m.). LONDON, December 9. After the capture of Argyrokastron, the Greeks are advancing cautiously toward Himara, threatening the flank of the Italians retreating from baranda. Italian rearguards are stubbornly resisting the Greek push fiorn Argyrokastron, and are making an effort to lure small Greek detachments into positions, where they would be vulnerable. ■ . Details of the occupation of Argy rokastron show the Greeks triumphed only after hard fighting on the outskirts. The war material captured is reported to include 12 complete batteries of artillery. Bitter fighting is reported from the central front, where Italian resistance is increasingly fierce. “The Times’s” correspondent ar Koritza says: Italian morale is a PP a |" ling. Along the front, it was possible to behold machine-gun nests, which any British company could have held for a long time, abandoned by the Italians, sometimes without figntmg. I’ne Greeks are expert at mountain warfare, of which the Italians evidently understand surprisingly little. The Greeks, even in the front line, are bedginning to recognise the amazing results of R.A.F. activity, of which the most impressive evidence is the almost entire absence of enemy air activity on the Koritza front for several Imprisoned Italian officers and soldiers say that the war has been Mussolini’s great mistake. They do not know the cause of the war, or why they are fighting.

ITALIAN CLAIM (Recd. Dec. 10, 11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Dec. 9. An Italian communique admits the withdrawal from Argyrokastron, without loss of men or material. R.A.F. BOMB VALONA.

■ LONDON, December 8. The Royal Air Force is still backing up the Greeks, and . yestei day Valona had its thirteenth raid, pressed home in spite of bad weather. All bombs fell within the target area. There was heavy opposition from fighters, one of which was shot down. Bombers also attacked enemy shipping on the southern Albanian coast, and a hit was scored on the stern of one ship. TURKISH PRESS. ISTANBUL, December 8. 1 Two Turkish newspapers, the “Tan Tasviri” and the “Efkar,” have been suppressed indefinitely for publishing a cartoon and an article that was insulting to Italy. N.Z. RAILWAYMEN. WELLINGTON, December 9. The Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) announced to-day that two officers