DEFENCE OF CAPITAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 119, 21 April 1936, Page 7

DEFENCE OF CAPITAL.

ALL MEN MUST FIGHT. ITALIANS WITHIN 80 MILES. LONDON, April 20. It is believed that it can be only a matter of days b.etore the Italians occupy the capital. To-night it is reported that Ankober, only 80 _ miles distant, was occupied after an air attack. The reported occupation also of Jijiga has shattered the hopes of the Ogaden defence. The railway, it is now feared, will soon be cut. The Emperor’s whereabouts are unknown, but it is claimed that he is still accompanied by the most important section of the army. The Daily Telegraph’s Djibouti correspondent says that the Italians occupied Sasa Baneli, meeting fierce resistance from Has Nasibu s wellorganised forces. An official Italian account of the fighting on April 16 declares that the Abvssinians lost several thousands dead. including some . important chiefs. The Daily Telegraph’s Addis Ababa correspondent says that the Governor has issued an order prohibiting troops in flight before the Italians entering Addis Ababa as be fears that men from remote provinces, regarding all whites as Italians, may attack the several thousand Europeans still at Addis Ababa. The Addis Ababa correspondent ot the Times says that a proclamation was read to a vast crowd at the imperial racecourse ordering the whole population of the city to war. Previous exemptions in favour of servants or Europeans have been withdrawn. Every able-bodied man was commanded to prepare food and take rifle and ammunition, and told to receive marching orders within two days. Malingerers and slackers will be punished by flogging and a heavy fine. The crowd received the announcement with terrific cheering and cries that they would win or die together. The Belgian mission and other foreigners are departing by special train. Other sources state that Cabinet met and postponed a decision on the question of transferring the capital. Five thousand warriors at the meeting at the racecourse took an oath to defend t/he </ipital to the death. A stand will he made some distance from the city. It is believed that if Addis Ababa falls the Emperor will bold out many months in the mountains to the west.