BRILLIANT CAMPAIGN

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 192, 16 July 1941, Page 2

BRILLIANT CAMPAIGN

EAST AFRICAN THEATRE GREAT ODDS OVERCOME. RUGRi', July 14. With the suppression of all importanl resistance save in the Gondar area, the campaign in Abyssinia, the last oi the Italian East African possessions to fall to the Allies' arms, has now almost reached its close. The ii-ast I African campaign has been a brilliant I achievement by a force of Allied troops I far smaller than the enemy they con- ! quered arid operating in country oi extraordinary difficulty. An account of the campaign was given in London on Monday by ~ *» officer who has taken part- in it since the beginning of the year. .Success was achieved largely by pursuing and harassing the enemy day alter clay and never allowing him time to rest, reorganise, or prepare a counter-at-tack "If he had ever been able to strike back," said the officer, "our position might soon have become difficult, loi this was a campaign in which every large superiority in numbers was always on the side of the defending arriiv Time after time when we had brought all our available troops into action, we found ourselves called upon to make headway against an enemy twice or three times as strong as ourselves. "At Keren, which was the turning point of the campaign, where the hardest lighting took place and where we suffered much the greater part Ot our casualties, we had to attack a vast mountain fortress armed with carefully prepared defensive positions. Our forces were no more than two Indian divisions, the Fifth and the Fourth, which had joined us at the beginning of the advance, and a Sudanese defence force. Altogether we had per haps some 15,000 men to set against double that number of defenders. SHOT THEIR BOLT. "These were the kind cf proportions in all our actions. When the strength ot the positions captured, the time the Italians had to prepare their defence. and the superior numbers with which they were able to hold them are allowed for, our casualties, heavy as they were in proportion to the total lor'the campaign, must be accounted small. The Fifth Indian Division lost in the fighting at and about Keren some 2000 killed or wounded, -which was four-fifths of their total losses for the whole campaign. "After Keren the Italians knew that they had shot their bolt. They had intended there to strike hard back at us on two flanks of our advance. As they told us after the capture of the town, their plan had been to let us rush forward along the trail and cut in behind us both from the north, and the south. Unhappily for them, ; we followed up their retreat so hard j and chased and harried them so continually that they were never able to pull themselves together. "Their one later chance of checking us was at Amba Alagi, where, in the last few days before the surrender, the rains were'making it immensely difficult for us. In some places everything needed by our lighting troops had to bo brought up on pack mules, making journeys of five hours up and five hours back again. A wonderful job was made of bringing up ammunition for the guns. Had the Italians hold out for another fortnight wo should have been compelled to with-! draw to Asmara and w ; ait for the end: of the rains." ' ITALIANS SURRENDER READILY. 1 Two examples of the readiness of the Italians to surrender to forces infinite-, ly smaller than themselves were told by this officer. A squadron of machines of mechanised cavalry ran into a large body of Italian colonial infantry south of Asmara, in Eritrea. The Italians were preparing to evacuate the town which had been the depot and headquarters of their brigade. A convoy of some motor-vehicles was standing in a street laden and ready to drive off. "Our squadron, comprising no more tlian 100 men. called upon the Italians to surrender," he said. "Our officers were then invited by the enemy to lunch to talk matters over. The Italians gave them a splendid lunch in conditions of comfort and even luxury, which came as a surprise after the hardships and bare living of the campaign. When the lunch was finished the wagons were found drawn up outside all headed back toward Asmara, and evei'v one with an Italian officer in charge ready to drive into captivity. The squadron brought back these 30 wagons with their full loads and GO prisoners." Another example was that of a pal> rol of the Worcestershire Regiment, comprising a second-lieutenant, and n.c.0., and six men. They suddenly found themselves in the presence of 250 Italians two miles away from any possible support. The subaltern took a chance, marched up.to the enemy,: and called on them to surrender. They hesitated for a while, because they had with them 25 Abyssinian patriots whom they had captured and disarmed. The subaltern said he would attend to that and thereupon the Italians laid down their arms. The subaltern armed the 2o Abyssinians and, with them to re- j inforeo his own patrol as guards over the prisoners, marched the whole party back through mountains strongly held by the enemy and delivered them five miles away.—Official Wireless. j

BELGIAN 7 PARTICIPATION.

NOTABLE RECORD. (Press Assn.) WELLINGTON, July 15 The Consulate-General of Belgium ii: New Zealand states that a contingent from the Belgian colonial forces stationed in the Congo crossed into tbe budau last January .to join the British Imperial forces. The following communique from the headquarters of tlio Belgian forces in the Congo has been received by tbe Consulate-General:— "On July 3 General Gazzera, G.O.C Italian troops of the Galla and SiJamo Provinces, sent a delegate to the Belgian troops to discuss the cessation ji hostilities with the Belgian, General Gilliaert, G.O.C. Allied forces in North-East Abyssinia. The capitulation was signed on the 4th for all the Ethiopian territories south of the Blue Nile. "The surrender was preceded by an attack in force by tbe Belgian troops after violent preparation by artillery and mortars. At noon on the 3rd the Italian delegates requested an armistice which was followed by the total reddition of the J tali an forces comprising 15,000 men of Galla and Sidamo at 2 p.m. the following day. At Saio the Belgian troops captured General Gazzera and General de Simons who were commanding a group of Italian divisions, and the general commanding the 23rd Italian Division apart from 1200 Italians, among them many officers, and 2000 native non-commission-ed officers, and men. Thus the gallant campaign of the Belgian troops in Abyssinia in collaboration with tbe gallant British troops ends with a brilliant success."