RUNNING FIGHT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20635, 10 December 1941, Page 5

RUNNING FIGHT

AXIS TANKS SCURRY ARMOURED CARS SHOT UP RINGSIDE SEAT VIEW (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (From the Official War Correspondent with the N.Z.E.F.) (Reed. Dec. 10. 9 a.m.) CAIRO, Dec. 9. A despatch, dated outside Tobruk, November 26, states that a ringside seat at a. desert tank battle is the hardest thing to find in this campaign, but I have been lucky enough here on the Libyan escarpment to see most of the phases of a short, sharp engagement in which the enemy came off second best. It was like watching a naval action between the British and Italian fleets, for the enemy put up a running fight—running the other way. Through field glasses I saw a column of tanks, armoured cars and motorised infantry swarming along under the crest of a ridge two miles away in an apparent, attempt to outflank part of the New Zealand force. It cruised boldly past us, leaving a trail of dust, until our brigadier ordered the British tanks under his command to sally forth to investigate. The approach of our fleet of squat, heavy machines sent the enemy column scuttling over the ridge, firing as it went. The British tanks opened fire and gave chase. They look like desert battleships at any time, but now, as they roared over the desert, with guns flashing red, the similarity to a naval formation was most striking. One shell caught an enemy armoured car squarely and it burst into flames as I watched. Dust and smoke soon obscured the scene, but I could still see dull flashes and hear the sharp crack of the tank guns as the enemy column disappeared over the horizon. The tanks stopped five armoured cars in all and shot up several lorries full of troops. South African Wounded Found Later, in a grand reconnaissance sweep, they came across 150 South African wounded lying in the desert under Italian guards. They had been there s|nce the German tank and infantry attack on the South African force. Our tanks brought back as many as they could, and we sent ambulances out for the remainder to-day. The desert for miles around here has been a tank arena since the campaign began. We have seen three or four battlefields littered with damaged or burnt-out machines belonging to both sides. With the tide of battle sweeping past them, the salvage of many has been possible. Tanks and plaqes have given .us the assistance that we once only dreamed of. Only twice have I seen enemy aircraft in action, and in neither case were our front-line troops attacked. On the other hand, the sky yesterday was filled with British bombers and fighters, three times plastering the enemy territory just ahead of us. Under the new system of close direct co-operation between ourselves and the air command, the New Zealand force had asked for specific air support and got it. There has been an air force liaison officer, himself a New Zealander, at New Zealand headquarters since the campaign began. And for one last detail, in the cheering general picture, I need only look 200 yards across the desert from here, at the silent airfield, thick with well grounded enemy planes—almost 50 of them, and all dead as wrecked guns which failed. Our armoured lightning columns smashed this ’drome almost as soon as we crossed the frontier.