BRITISH ADVANCE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20621, 24 November 1941, Page 6

BRITISH ADVANCE

ENEMIES DIVIDED FURTHER N.Z. WORK SOLLUM PIPELINE CUT (Elec. Tel. Copyright--United Press Assn.) (Recrd. Nov. 24. 1.40 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 23. I A special correspondent with the British Army in the Western Desert writes that the latest information reaching advanced headquarters indicates that the batHe is not settled yet and might last for several days, but is going better than was expected. Following Saturday’s sacrifice d" tanks, the Germans have lost the chiejf support of their Panzer divisions, A useful indication is that GO Germat l tanks in one place held their positiori which seems to point to a shortage of petrol.

Early on Sunday morning the Tobruk garrison, which had orders yesterday to return to the edge of the perimeter, made a successful sortie in a south-westerly direction. In the meantime, the New Zealanders resumed on Sunday morning their march westward supported by tanks. ' Two Panzer divisions are making k desperate attempt south of Tobruk and west of Fort Capuzzo to escape the slow but sure pincers movement being carried out by three English armoured brigades backed by English, New Zealand and South African brigades. Under cover of shells and constanf; bombing by all classes of aircraft, the Germans are attempting to cut a wedge towards the Derna which would permit an defence and where even the Italians checked the Australian advanci towards Benghazi last year. The threfe English brigades, one of which is much faster than the German Panzers, ar<£ closing up and numerous rearguard actions took place yesterday, in whicli the Germans lost many more tanks. | Solium Water Cut Off

It is learned in Cairo that the New Zealanders cut the pipeline. fron Bardia to Solium and no more water is reaching the Germans at Solium. It is also learned that the Italians anc Germans are running short of petrol, The British forces have ample supf plies. ; A military spokesman in Cairo said that the battle in Libya was going aj. full blast. It was too early to. tell what course the battle would finally take —whether the German General Romnel would fight to a finish whertf he is or try to get out of the ring. The culmination of the battle apparj ently is imminent, but it might go oi) to-day and to-morrow. It was getting more and more intense. “A bitter confused crucial battle ha| been going on all night and day .ip the Sidi Rezegh area,” said the spokesman! ‘‘This is no cakewalk. The German armoured forces are fighting desperately and giving battle everywhere It would be false to suppose that the Germans are at present fighting t battle of retreat.” Reports reaching Cairo are confused because the fighters in the Western Desert have not time to sen: details. A typical report stated “Action started. Too busy to give details. Sorry.” , It is authoritatively stated that information in London about. Libya shows the British have split the! enemy forces in the zone between Tobruk, Birelogbi and the Egyption frontier into four or five -different groups. The distances are so big! however, that it would be premature to think the Italians or Germans cannot’ escape. Under'cover of d’ark-j ness, or even in the daytime, . they might find a hole in the net through which a number may slip out, but the authorities say that no doubt a goocj proportion of the enemy will be caught. It is authoritatively stated in Cairo that the enemy is com-! pletely cut off in the Halfaya-Solluni area.

“Fire-Breathing: Monsters” i The tank battle around Sidi Rezegli, seen from the air, looks like a huge prehistoric arena with fire-breathingj, scaly-hided monsters oitted against one another in a terrific struggle, sai(J a British fighter pilot in Cairo. He added: ' These monsters lumber slowly forward and swing this way and and that way, each intent on the. other’s destruction. The battle seems tc be raging for miles. The enemy used to pop off at us when we attacked, but since Friday their hands have been full trying to stand up to the British tank attacks. Guns are blazing away on all sides. We hear the crackle of firing above the roar oi our engines and the gun flashes outdo any firework display I have ever seen. It looked like a concentrated hell ot shell against shell and steel against steel.”

There is speculation in London as to whether General Rommel himself had been contemplating an offensive when the British started against him in view of the fact that he has been found to be so strong in eastern Cyrenaica. To-day’s Middle East communique leads authoritative circles in London to the conclusion that the battle seems to be going well. .The enemy forces appear to have been split up in the zone, Tobruk-El Gobi-Egyptian frontier, into a number of groups of which four seemed definable. One group has been cut off from the base in the Sollum-Halfaya area and can only escape either by breaking through, or by defeating the British forces at present containing them. Another group is isolated near Gambut. A third is in the El Gobi area, while the fourth is between Bardia and Sidi Rezegh. Half of Nazi Tanks Destroyed

Various estimates of enemy tank losses have been given in London, but it is only possible to follow the Cairo statements which, in announcing the destruction of 130 tanks comment that this figure was half of the total of Rommel’s tank force. In regard to the mention of “exceptional climatic'difficulties,” it is felt that heavy rains which would not affect manoeuvring in the desert itself would be difficult in the escarpment area where the storm water is likely to be pouring down from the tops of the ridges in heavy streams. The Cairo correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says it is learned that the British forces to-day paid a higher price than on previous days in men and material, but won all of the numerous tank engagements. The British dominate the battlefields and thus are able to

recover damaged tanks, but it is understood that the great tank battle may continue, for two or three days. Reuter’s correspondent with the Bth Army, says ~on the ■ first day of the attack-the enemy concentrated a considerable. force of tanks northwards of Sidi. Qmar intending, to defend Solium- against attack from the south. He consolidated a strong line barring the British approach to Tobruk. . The enemy forces in . the north.-east of Libya are largerly German. Therefore it would not be surprising to see them fight to the bitter end to deny us the use of Solium harbour. The spearhead of our advance was a famous British cavalry regiment equipped with light tanks. A German communique states:

“German and Italian troops in North Africa successfully fought British forces advancing from the south and destroyed over 260 tanks and 200 ■armoured cars. Surrounding Italian forces repelled strong attacks by the British garrison at Tobruk, supported by-tanks.” An Italian communique states: “The fighting •in Marmarica continued all day on Saturday. - Along the front from Egypt to Tobruk, our divisions repulsed all enemy attacks and inflicted new and serious losses.”