Greeks Suffer in Extreme Cold

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 5, 7 January 1941, Page 5

Greeks Suffer in Extreme Cold

ITALIANS’ FRANTIC EFFORT TO HOLD ADVANCE LONDON, Jan. 5. Greek troops advancing towards Elbasan are fighting in mountainous country where packs of wolves and high-circling ravens are the only living things beside suffering soldiers. The conditions in these wind-swept icy mountains must be experienced to be believed; it is a continuous nightmare of frostbite. The Greeks are suffering horribly from lack of proper boots and equipment. Many are walking bare-footed across the snow and ice, and amputations as a result of frostbite are frequent. Tents pitched among the snowdrifts ...lord practically no cover from the olizzards, yet the small, wiry Greeks are creeping daily closer to the line where the Italians are making a frantic last-minute effort to halt the Greeks. The remnants of Mussolini’s Arezzo, Venezia and Tauro divisions of the Bersaglieri are dug in on the other side of the mountains supported by artillery. A Greek communique says: “Activity is restricted to local operations. We captured prisoners, and two guns and other material also fell into our hands.”