Britain’s Big Preparations For Capture Of Bardia

Northern Advocate, 26 December 1940, Page 5

Britain’s Big Preparations For Capture Of Bardia

(Received noon.)

LONDON, December 25. ACCORDING TO A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED YESTERDAY FROM GENERAL HEADQUARTERS IN CAIRO, THE CONCENTRATION OF TROOPS AND ARTILLERY PREPARATIONS IS CONTINUING IN THE BARDIA AREA. There is no change in the situation elsewhere. 'The besieged Italian garrison still holds out, but British reinforcements are swarming into Libya for the next big battle, says “The Times,” correspondent at Solium. An unending procession of British traffic, marked by a long line of blown dust, is pouring up Hellfire Pass into Libya. There are guns, tanks, troop-carriers, English, New Zealanders, Australians, Indians and Free French in the procession.

The line of reinforcements is said to reach back to the Nile, nearly 400 miles east.

Inside Bardia Defences After picking their way from rock to rock, British patrols are inside the outer ring of Bardia’s defences. They strike in the darkness with a sudden rattle of Bren gunfire, and then dart back and strike at another place.

Echoing dully through the noise of bombing and small-arm fire is the steady rumble of British artillery. The importance that Italy attaches to ’the holding of Bardia was the tirade in a Rome broadcast, which said that the defence of Bardia was.not only the defence of Libya, but the defence of Fascism. Italy Realises Task

The editor of the newspaper “II Telegrafo” (Signor Ansaldo), broadcasting to the Italian troops, denied the German propaganda that the African campaign is a second rate affair, and said Italy had always regarded the Mediterranean as one of the main theatres of war, equal to the north in importance. Signor Ansaldo said Britain had raised her forces in Egypt to 420,000 men, and assembled masses of war material. Everything depended on which side had the more abundant material and assured supplies. Commander’s Message to Troops

The British Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East (General Sir Archibald Wavell), in a special Christmas order of the day, declared that operations had not ended, and that further efforts and a similar spirit would bring further successes. “Our successes have been a triumph for careful preparation, good administration and hard training,’’ he said. “Only troops trained to the highest moral and physical pitch could have carried out the operations so swiftly and successfully at such small costs.” Air-Marshal Sir A. M. Longmore sent a similar message to members of the Air Force.

The Navy on Christmas Eve and today continued to play . its part in sweeping the Mediterranean, protecting convoys and attacking Italy’s bases.