BRITISH RUSE

Grey River Argus, 8 January 1941, Page 5

BRITISH RUSE

Earlier Attack DECEIVES THE ITALIANS. LONDON January 6. According to authoritative circles, Graziani has lost practically onethird of his Libyan army, which is believed to total 250,000. The Italians outnumbered the attacking Australians at Bardia. A few isolated strongholds are still holding out behind the main defences. Their capture is expected to involve some further hand-to-hand lighting. The Australian casualties were not heavy, due to their ability to take cover behind the rocks in the ravines and the tanks. One correspondent says: Bardia is in flaming ruins. Streets are strewn with rubble, rifles, and munitions, and pock-marked by shellholes. The battlefield is littered with guns of small calibres, wrecked tanks, lorries, and smouldering petrol dumps, but booty, worth a million sterling, was captured. The ingenuity and heroism of the engineers made it possible for the tanks to carry out the vital task, lhe Italians established an elaborate unbroken line of barbed wire and antitank obstacles, round the entire perimeter. The engineers first cut the wire British artillery putting up a stiff barrage. As soon as the enemy machine-guns picked off a man, another stepped forward to take his place, until the job was done. Another party of engineers then took on the job, building bridges for the tanks.

The British added to the confusion of the Italians by tricking them into believing the offensive was attempted and abandoned the previous day. The real attack was swift and sure, although some Australians had cades before they reached Bardia. to cut 16 different barbed wire barriEach fort was liberally protected with wire, which had to be cut under devastating fire before the fort could be reduced.

One Australian officer said that he saw 30 forts surrender. A few held out, but not for long. The prisoners were mostly from the Fascist Legions.

THE BREAK-THROUGH ITALIANS SURPRISED (Received January 7, 8.10 p.m.) RUGBY, January 6. Mr Duff-Cooper, Minister of Information in his broadcast on the Bardia siege, said: “At dawn on Friday morning last the bombardment of Bardia was intensified on the northern sector. The enemy, naturally, assumed that this final barrage was to be followed immediately by an attack from the same direction. But while the enemy was preparing to meet a' north attack, an attack suddenly was delivered with tremendous force, with infantry accompanied by tanks, from the west. The enemy was completely taken by surprise and was overpowered, and by the evening a break-through had been accomplished on a frontage of nine miles and to a depth of two miles. On Sunday evening General Wavell was able to report that the town was his, and that fighting had ceased.” After saying the Italians were not the best soldiers in this war because they did not know what they were fighting for, Mr Duff-Cooper added: “But all their weakness is insufficient to account for the completeness and perfection of this victory, and all their weakness does not detract in any way from the glory of those to whom credit is due. It is due to the military genius of General Wavell, and to the training and gallantry of the brave troops he leads.”

A Great Victory MR DUFF-COOPER PRAISES GENERAL WAVELL (Received January 7, 5.5 p.m.) RUGBY J'anuary 6. The Minister of Information, Mr Duff-Cooper, in a broadcast., described Britain’s victory at Bardia as “the best news, perhaps, that this war has yet brought us, but not the best that will be brought.” He said: “General Wavell’s great victory in the Libyan Desert will rank for ever high among British military achievements. It was a master stroke, carefully planned, and carried out with the exactitude and precision that have ever characterised the work of creat masters of the military profession. The results are astounding. It is only when we come to try that we lealise how difficult the assault on Bardia was. A strong defensive position held by thirty-two thousand Loops, supported by powerful artillery and modern tanks, has been attacked and captured after an operation lasting only three days, and, as far as information goes at present, at a cost of only a few hundred casualties. Within a month we have captured nearly seventy thousand of the enemy together with vast supplic o f valuable equipment. The captum o f Bardia has been even more spectacular than was the capture of Solium three weeks ago. These are victories of the first order, and w e have a right to be cheerful. Having congratulated ourselves, let us also convey our congratulations to those who deserve them. The capture of So!turn necessitated a march of 140 niiies across the waterless desert—it is no easy matter to supply troops with food and water, to supply machines with petrol, and to supply guns and rifles with ammunition. It might well have been thought that 140 miles was almost the limit over which communications could be maintained, but, having captured Solium, General Wavell, without hesitation or haste, pressed forward in order that those troops of the enemy who had retreated on Bardia should not escape.”