A SECOND FRONT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20619, 21 November 1941, Page 5

A SECOND FRONT

CIRCLING MOVE STRONG BRITISH FORCE BIGGEST AXIS HAS KNOWN (Reed. Nov. 21, 9 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 20. Precise details of the Cyrenaica advance are not yet available, but communiques indicate a wide encircling movement, almost exactly paralleling General Sir Archibald Wavell’s drive of last year. London morning papers emphasise that the Cyrenaica advance opens up a second front. The Times’ military correspondent says the depth of the advance and lack of opposition mean that the British forces advanced not through but round the enemy’s inland flank. The real battle will come after this move is completed. It may even have begun by now. The Daily Mail’s military corres- . pondent says the offensive is a grand opportunity for the heroic Tobruk garrison, who may attempt a southward move to link up with the British forces driving from Sidi Omar. A Cairo communique of yesterday stated: “So skilfully had our fighting troops been insinuated into their occupation areas and so good were the arrangements for deception and camouflage, coupled with the support of the air force, that enemy observation and interference from the air prior to and during the advance yesterday were negligible. By evening, when it was raining heavily, our forces had penetrated over 50 miles into enemy territory. Little or no opposition was encountered yesterday. The operations to-day continued according to plan.” Storm Over Battlefield As the troops waited the order to advance, the storm burst over the battlefield. For a time, says the Daily Express’ correspondent, it was impossible to distinguish between the noise of high explosives on earth and the thunderclaps in the sky. The effect on the enemy must have been terrific. By the first light the general advance was well under way. A correspondent of the New York Times with the British armed forces says the attacking force is the most formidable Britain has yet thrown against the Axis. Its officers are confident. The London correspondent of the

New York Times says the main battle

has not yet been joined, but is * expected shortly along the line of Solium, Halfaya and Sidi Omar. It will be the biggest British-German battle of this war, states the correspondent. The Vichy radio, quoting German reports, denied the British advance on the Egyptian frontier and claimed that the German forces repelled the British attack. The Rome radio this morning did not mention the British offensive in Libya.