LAST ATTEMPT to Stop the Italians
BLOCKING PASSES Abyssinians Preparing Final Resistance DEFENCE OF CAPITAL (By Telegraph-Prea* Assn.. Copyright.) (Received 23, 1.15 p.m.) ADDIS ABABA, April 22. The bursting of Italian air bombs merges with detonations of dynamite with which the Abyssinians are hurling the road and abutments in tons of shattered shale down the hillside in order to block the enemy’s passage to the capital. The scene is a pass leading from the Shulameda Plain over the Tarmarbur barrier to the plateau upon which Addis Ababa stands, 124 miles distant.
Hundreds of workmen toil feverishly to divert streams to flood the roadway, which resultant waterfalls are tearing to pieces, rendering the progress of motorised units impossible. Warriors are digging pitfalls to entrap armoured cars and tanks, and are constructing gun emplacements and strong posts. The first explosive charge was fired immediately after the passage of Dutch Red Cross lorries, severing communication between Dessie and Addis Ababa.
The Abyssinians claim that they repulsed further Italian attempts to advance along the Dessie-Addis Ababa road over Tarmarbur Mountain, sub sequently routing an enemy column during a night attack. It is reported from Mogadiscio that a storm on Sunday broke over the whole •f the southern front, interrupting wireless communication and delaying flying. Flooded streams are bringing down hundreds of Abyssinian corpses. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Addis Abada correspondent corroborates the holding-up of the Italian advance by the Emperor and Crown Prince. The Crown Prince launched a frontal offensive north of Warrahail, while the Emperor, with the remnants of the Imperial Guard, strengthened by fresh levies, swooped from the mountains north-west of Dessie upon the Italian lines of communication. Both sides suffered heavily, but all Italian counterattacks were repulsed. It is declared that the civilian panic in Addis Ababa is entirely unjustified. British subjects are being advised to carry on their normal work. Bril .as, Indians and Arabs are behavi' ,g splendidly.
The Abyssinians in the south under Eahib Pasha are maintaining stout resistance.
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Bibliographic details
Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 111, 23 April 1936, Page 5
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330LAST ATTEMPT to Stop the Italians Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 111, 23 April 1936, Page 5
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