THE MEDITERRANEAN

Grey River Argus, 6 August 1940, Page 5

THE MEDITERRANEAN

ENEMY AIR ATTACKS Ineffective Against Warships [British Officii Wireless]. RUGBY, August 4. Authoritative naval circles in Egypt according to reports from Cairo, agre e tirat little success is being achieved by Italy’s effort to snake Britain’s command of the Mediterranean, by the use of swarm s of first-line aeroplanes, and numerous submarines and mines. Th e Italians are employing different tactics for merchant shipping and warships. Most of the attacks against convoys have been carried out by submarines, while warships have been attacked from the air, often by a* many as 100 machines, flying in arrowhead. formation. Apparently, while the Italians think that it is cheaper and more effective to use underwater torpedoing against merchant shipping, the disablement oi destruction of British capital shjpa —which the Italians have failed up ' u now to accomplish, except on paper —justifies the expenditure of many salvoes of bombs, and even of pilots. The first convoy which left Malta with internees reached Alexandria in four days, during which those in one ship stated that' not a single Italian surface vessel was sighted, althougn several submarines were engaged, which disappeared when destroyers dropped depth-charges. The only aeroplanes sighted during the voyage were British. SARDINIAN DROME BOMBED. RUGBY, August 4. An Admiralty communique states: During operations in the Mediterranean on Thursday and Friday, Swordfish aircraft of the Air Arm attacked the Italian aerodrome at Cagliari, in Sardinia. Heavy anti-ah'eraft tire was met, but the attack was successful. Direct hits were mad e on four hangars, two of which burned fiercely. Four aircraft on the ground the open wer e destroyed. Many of the aerodrome buildings were destroyed, or badly damaged and set on fire. • , cU 21 The crew of one Swordfish are missing, and it is feared that they lost their lives. A second Swordfish made a forced landing in Sardinia. An Italian communique states that the crew of this aircraft have been made prisoners. There wer e no other casualties. During th e course of these operations, bombing attacks on His Majesty’s ships were made by enemy aircraft, but no damage and no casualties were sustained. (One .enemy aircraft was hit o> anti-aircraft fire, and is unlikely to have reached its base. Ships of tr? Fleet Air Arm shot down three ° r the enemy aircraft, shadowing or attempting to bomb our ships. Cagliari Harbour ALSO BOMBED. (Received August 6. 7.40 p.m.) GIBRALTAR, August 5. The naval units which included the aircraft carriers from which the Swordfish ’planes attacked Cagliari, left Gibraltar on July 31. One flight flew high to attack Cagliari aerodrome. Another flew low to bomb the harbour. The weather was particularly unfavourable. The two attacks were launched within an interval of only five minutes. Incendiary and high explosive bombs were dropped on the harbour, which one pilot said, was incredibly crowded. ’Planes dived to within twenty feet of the water. A second salvo disposed of two flyingboats. The anti-aircraft fire was erratic, but some British ’planes received hits, which were not observed until they landed on the aircraft carrier. One of the pilots of the high flying raiders said: “Of five hangars, we left three smoking. Two Italian fighters flew up, but did not come to grips. On the contrary, they helped us, because their anti-aircraft gunners ceased fire in order not to hit their machines. DERNA RAIDED BY R.A.F. CAIRO, August 4. An R.A.F. communique states: The R.A.F. thrice raided Derna on August 3. Firstly, a large formation oBlenheims attacked the harbour, and a direct hit was scored on a large ship. Secondly, direct hits were scored on th e jetty and on the two shipsThirdly bombers attacked the aerodrome and harbour again, and bombed the objectives attacked.by the first raiders. French pilots and crews again reconnoitred th e Diredawa area. GIBRALTAR BOMBED. LONDON, August 4. The Berlin wireless states, that dispatches from Tangier report unidentified planes bombfd Gibraltar yesterday. They Dew over Gibraltar and ascertained that the British warships had left the base. ITALIAN AIR RAIDS. IN EAST AFRICA. ROME, August 4. A communique states: In East Affrica, our squadrons bombed Erkowh, in the Sudan, and the airports of Summit and Haiya, .where. a largo hangar was burnt. A railroad branc.s at Haiya was hit. In Kenya, a concentration of auto unite was bombed south of Wajir. The port of Zeila, in Somaliland, was effectively bombed. One of ou’ planes ha s not returned. An enemy air-raid on port or Derna, in East Africa, caused slight damage. . One of our submarines has not returned to its base.

Italian Planes HUNTING FOR BRITISH SHIPS. BOMBING NEAR ATHENS. (Received August 5. 10.55 p.m.) ATHENS, August 5. Italian ’planes, which are believed to have been seeking for British ships, bombed the barren Greek'

islands of Harei, ten miles from Athens. The inhabitants of Salamis saw explosions. ITALIAN CLAIMS. ROME, August 4 A communique states: During the fighting at Dobel, the enemy left 64 dead before retiring, including three officers. The standard ofi the Sixth Battalion of the King’s African Rifles, was captured