TOLL OF MONTH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20452, 13 January 1941, Page 5

TOLL OF MONTH

TWO PORTS YIELDED NEARLY 80,000 MEN BARDIA 44,000 TOTAL HUNDREDS OF GUNS (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Jan. 13, 11.50 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 12. While awaiting further developments in the Tobruk area, the British public is well content to take stock of what the British Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, General Sir Archibald Wavell, and his men have achieved in a single month. The British forces have auvanced miles, capturing two ports with the shipping in them. They have completely destroyed five Italian divisions and three Blackshirt brigades, inflicting losses totalling in killed, wounded and prisoners nearly 80,000, including 3500 officers.

A Cairo communique issued yesterday stated that the Italian casualties at Bardia, incapacitated and captured, amount to 2041 officers and 42,027 men. In addition the British forces captured or destroyed 367 medium and field guns, 26 heavy anti-aircraft guns, 60 light guns, 13 medium tanks, 117 light tanks and 708 transport vehicles. Lack of Maintenance The high degree of unserviceability in the equipment and more especially in the mechanical transport, resulted largely from the British bombardment of Bardia, but also showed complete lack of maintenance during and after the Italian rout from Sidi Barrani. It was authoritatively stated in Cairo yesterday that since December 9 the war material captured from the Italians in the Western Desert includes 41 medium and 162 light tanks, 589 guns, over 300,000 rounds of ammunition, over 600 machine-guns, 700 light guns, 11,000,000 rounds of small arms machine-gun ammunition and 1700 lorries. The British United Press correspondent with the British forces in Libya states that practically all the prisoners taken in Bardia were white.