Lorries Four Men, Materials Over Libyan Frontier

Northern Advocate, 30 December 1940, Page 6

Lorries Four Men, Materials Over Libyan Frontier

LONDON, December 29. Apparently unending lines of lorries are pouring men and materials westward 1 from the Libyan frontier for the reinforcement of General Wavell’s forces investing Bardia. A large number of these lorries were captured from the Italians, and the British drivers declare that the vehicles are excellent. Defence at All Costs.

An Italian prisoner stated that the commander at Bardia was preparing to evacuate the port when an urgent order was received direct from Mussolini that he must defend the town at all costs, j A message from Cairo says Marshal ‘ Graziani has sent thousands of men to throw up additional fortifications at G Tobruk, and the defence of Bardia is designed to enable the completion of the works at Tobruk. 3 Two 13-inch guns, manned by naval | gunners, are supporting the British field artillery, and a continuous 0 stream of -heavy tanks and guns is 1 moving up. Steel Ring Drawn Tighter. 2 The steel ring is steadily drawing tighter around Bardia, says the Cairo (■ correspondent of the “Sunday Exj press.” 3 The garrison of 20,000 is completely I* trapped, and must surrender or be , slaughtered. , The British army blocks the land routes out of the town and the fleet , blocks the sea entrance. . A Shambles. , Each night the fleet pours in high explosives and fire bombs. Tin* harbour district and the waterfront are -now a shambles. , Added to all this, is the continuous • bombing by the Royal Air Force. The director of Count Ciano’s newspaper “Telegrafo” (Ansaldo) declared in Rome that Bardia was not a bastion, as the British claimed. Its desperate resistance was explained by reasons of morale, and because the soldiers were irritated by enemy boasting after the capture of Sidi Barrani. , The Italians also regard the port as a prop during the fluctuation of the fortunes of war in Libya. An Italian communique reports increasing artillery and patrol activity on the Bardia front. It claims that lightning Italian columns, manoeuvring in co-operation with the air force, destroyed some British armoured cars, and says the enemy bombed some Italian localities in Ethiopia. Raids on East Africa. An R.A.F. Middle East communique states that there was little activity in the Western Desert on Friday. A number of reconnaissance flights were made, and R.A.F. fighters maintained active offensive patrols, without, however, engaging any enemy aircraft. In Italian East Africa, Assab was raided by British bombers, bombs straddling military stores and a large transport yard. In Kassala, the Rhodesian squadron carried out bombing and mach-ine-gunning attacks on the enemy positions. Bombs fell in the target area. The full extent of the damage, and the number of casualties are not known. Near Gedaref, fighters of the South African squadron intercepted two C.R.-42’s, one of which was shot down in flames. All the British aircraft returned safely. A Cairo headquarters communique states that in the Bardia area artillery has again been active, with comparatively little response from the Italian garrison. In the Sudan, south-east of Kassala, our patrols, supported by artillery, have successfully harassed the enemy.