MARAUDERS OF THE DESERT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20623, 26 November 1941, Page 6

MARAUDERS OF THE DESERT

PUNISHING AXIS DOMINION TROOPS NON-STOP FIGHTING SUCCESSION OF EXPLOITS (Eieo. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.l (From the Official War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F.) (Reed. Nov. 26, 1.50 p.m.) CAIRO, Nov. 25. New Zealand shock troops are still fighting their way with anti-tank guns, grenades, Moloto.x cocktails and bayonets from Gambut north-west and at the same time sending detachments out on all sides to destroy enemy posts, patrols and ammunition dumps, says a dispatch from a special correspondent in the Western Desert. The New Zealanders are the marauders of the desert. The Maori units particularly are enjoying this grim non-stop fighting, but the whole New Zealand force is inspired with the same eagerness to avenge Greece and Crete. Their movement is to Tobruk, but junction with the sallying garrison is not necessarily the objective, though that eventually is likely. The com-pletely-mobile division swept across the desert at lightning speed, despite the heavy going in the storm-drenched coastal regions and normal difficulties of the battle ground, which spreads over an almost trackless escarpment split by many wadis running to the sea.

The New Zealanders’ progress and exploits have been remarkable. What they have accomplished has been mainly possible because the division is well equipped, possessing cruiser tanks for reconnaissance work, armoured cars and anti-tank guns. The trucks are able to rush the whole fo-ceif necessary to another sector. Capture of Prisoners

The official war correspondent with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force states that Kidotta and Capuzzo, 10 miles west of Solium, and 15 miles south of Bardia, fell to the New Zealanders at dawn on Friday. There were no known casualties. Many German and Italian prisoners were captured, but so far the numbers are not known. The great majority of the enemy fled. A brilliantly conceived encircling movement was carried out at the end of the New Zealanders’ northward move. When dawn came a South Island battalion marched into Capuzzo. They were able to sit down to a hot breakfast already prepared by the fleeing and captured Huns. The battalion which captured Capuzzo was the same battalion which was responsible for a brilliant counterattack at Galatos. The first objective after Capuzzo had been taken was to cut the pipeline from the big reservoir which feeds Solium and Hellfire Pass. That was done with all speed by a detachment of engineers who were especially attached to this South Island battalion. That was their job and their only job. Now Solium and Hellfire Pass are without water. Next in order of importance was the cutting of the telegraph and telephone wires communicating with Solium and Hellfire Pass. That was done just after the pipeline had been blown by the engineers under the direction of a New Zealand brigadier. “Grand Job of Work” A South Island infantry unit with supporting arms pushed forward through the night to within a short distance of Capuzzo. Their way was pioneered by a Canterbury and a West Coast company. The company paving the way came under shell-fire during the night, but the firing was spasmodic and inaccurate. They did a grand job of work, for just before dawn the way was open for the force to crash through and take Capuzzo by force, but that was unnecessary. The greater part of the enemy forces had fled in alarm. It was an easy victory gained without striking a blow. Meanwhile another New Zealand force was moving swiftly up towards Bardia,. Their job was to cut the road between Bardia and Tobruk. Further west out on the left flank another New Zealand force was moving fast up to attack Gambut, which is four miles from the main Bardia-Tobruk road. Their job was to cut off transport coming along that road from either direction. Trouble in Soft Sand

They encountered trouble when they were moving in the dark on their drive north. Some of their vehicles ran into soft sand and it took some time before they could be dug out and started on the move again. Down below Capuzzo, about 10 miles to the south-west, there was a big concentration of enemy transport on Friday morning. An Auckland battalion was aiding the Indians in an attack on a locality known as Girba where much enemy transport and tanks, both German aid Italian, were concentrated. While that action was under way a Wellington battalion was pushing forward towards Bardia in the effort to get into the lower perimeter. In his desert tent and sitting on a captured German field stool, a New Zealand brigadier told me how proud he was of his troops. Outside the anti-aircraft guns barked as German planes fled overhead. In the distance came the rumble of heavy artillery as the gunners of a battery amused themselves shelling the fleeing German transport. The first action of the New Zealanders in the Libyan campaign became a brilliant success.