VERY SUCCESSFUL
RECENT LIBYAN RAID MARTUBA HAMMERED. (United Press Association —Copyright.) (11 a.m.) RUGBY", March 24. Authoritative London quarters state that the recent British raid against enemy positions in Libya was very successful and that many more prisoners were taken than the number of casualties suffered by our forces. The exact figure is awaited. The fact that the Germans were found to be using Russian guns is not considered here as necessarily indicating that the Germans are short of material, as indeed, as far as possible, it has been the British practice to use captured material. Large quantities of captured Italian equipment were employed during the British campaigns in Abyssinia and Greece. A Cairo Headquarters communique j states that there was some enemy i movement in the area south of Tmimi |yesterday. Our patrols were active in i spite of the shelling and captured some enemy vehicles. Enemy air activity was slight and our troops suffered no damage or casualties. A communique to-day shows that after a short interval of bad weather Boston bombers of the South African Air Force, escorted by Kittyhawk fighters, yesterday resumed the attack on Martuba, the principal Ger-j man air base in Cyrcnaica, which was shelled by mobile columns of the Army three days ago. Reports state that, in spite of fierce anti-aircraft fire, the Bostons placed all their bombs among j dispersed aircraft and motor transport.
The Kittyhawks meanwhile fended off the Messerschmitt fighters which sought to intervene. One Messerschmitt was attacked just after taking off from the aerodrome and was sent diving to its base- This is claimed as a “probable.”
One Messerschmitt which succeeded in getting almost within firing range of the Bostons was pounced on by a Kittyhawk, whose first burst caused the German aircraft to explode and disintegrate. Another Messerschmitt was shot down from astern as it was making a rear attack on a British fighter.—Official Wireless.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 98, 25 March 1942, Page 5
Word Count
317VERY SUCCESSFUL Manawatu Standard, Volume LXII, Issue 98, 25 March 1942, Page 5
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