Motorised South Africans Push Through Dense Bush

Northern Advocate, 13 February 1941, Page 6

Motorised South Africans Push Through Dense Bush

[British Official Wireless 3

(Received 10.30 a.m.)

RUGBY, February 12. QOUTH AFRICAN TROOPS PLAYED A PROMINENT PART IN THE CAPTURE OF HOBOK ON THE SOUTH ABYSSINIAN BORDER, ACCORDING TO DETAILS REACHING LONDON.

With British forces the South Africans left Dukana and camped on the border.

They pushed on through dense hush over a distance of IS miles towards their objective.

A brigadier referring to this advance, said: “I do not think that the history of motorised forces can show a similar feat eonsidering the type of hush we; encountered.”

The fight for El Mumu. in tint, featureless hush country, devoid of wells, was short and sharp.

El Mumu was occupied after less than two hours’ fighting on the same day as Gerai was taken.

Senior Officer Quitted.

About 15 of the enemy were killed and 11 taken prisoner. On the following day the forces advanced towards Hobok, 17 miles to the north-west.

Hobolc is fortified and well patrolled and was held by a colonel with 1000 men, but it is reported that after the fall of El Mumu the colonel withdrew leaving a junior officer to defend the position. Fighting began 4000 yards from the main defences where a road block was covered by machine-gun posts. As they approached the fort the attacking forces were met by very heavy fire. Their machine-guns and artillery went into action.

Fort Captured.

Armoured cars stopped at the fort and were followed by infantry. The South Africans swarmed into the fort and captured material which, although not yet officially checked is said to include machine-guns, rifles, grenades and quantities of ammunition. The main feature of the fort, a twostoreyed blockhouse, was demolished by a direct hit from an anti-tank gun at a range of 1400 yards. British and South African losses were exteremely small.

New Threat To Capital.

A new threat to Addis Ababa is developing with this important drive on the southern Abyssinian front. South African forces advancing on a front of 30 to 40 miles broad are penetrating from the region of Lake Stefani, near the Kenya border, up the Great Rift Valley running north-east to the Red Sea.

Initial advances culminating in the capture of Hobok were achieved after a notable push through difficult waterless bush, but ahead lie Lakes Margherita, Shala and Toehrs, which will facilitate the advance.

Will Cut Communications.

If the push goes on well it will cut two important east-west cross country routes from central Abyssinia to Somaliland.

A Nairobi communique says South African advance troops occupied Todenyang, /a fishing village, and Namaraputh, an Italian outpost, both at the northern end of Lake Rudolf. In Eritrea.

In Eritrea Asmara is Increasingly threatened from the south as the British from Barentu are rapidly approaching a position where they will be able to cut the vital Asmara-Gon-dar road near Adiguri. The new southward thrust into Eritrea from the north along the Red Sea coast is regarded as a significant development, says a British Official Wireless message. The advance so far is reported to have brought the British forces to Mersa Tacla, which is some 30 miles down the Eritrean coast from the frontier.

Events Develop Rapidly,

It is probable that the occupation by another column of Karora on the high plateau on the frontier will play its part in these operations. “The Times” remarks that for the moment this movement is too far distant to affect the issue on the Asmara railway. It adds significantly, “but affairs develop rapidly nowadays in Italian East Africa.”

A cable message says that the Italian forces from Mersa Tacla, which once comprised two brigades, are rapidly withdrawing southward. The British troops are hot on their heels.