ROLLING BACK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 5 December 1940, Page 6

ROLLING BACK

FLANKS OF ITALIAN ARMY EXAMPLE OFTONDON ENCOURAGES GREECE | TO SUSTAIN BOMBING ORDEAL i [U.P.A.-By Electric TeleEraph-Copyrtght) I Received sth Dec., 10.40 a.m. LONDON, 4th December. Announcing that the Greeks were within a mile and a quarter of Sarande the Athens radio said: Our forces pursued the enemy without losing contact. The importance of this advance is particularly evident when it is remembered that the enemy launched an initial attack by mechanised units on low-lying ground bordering the coast and succeeded in driving our troops back twenty miles. The Italians have now been defeated on their own ground. Bitter fighting continues in snow and mud, sometimes on mountain peaks 5000 feet over the battlefields. The Italian army is rolling back on two flanks and is being battered in the centre where ; the Greeks captured two important heights overlooking Argyrokastron from the east. On the northern front, despite severe , weather, the Greeks are pressing hard on the heels of the Italians The Greeks occupied strategic heights north-westwards of Moscopolye after fierce hand-to-hand fighting. The Athens night communique says: 1 "In the Pogradec region we captured new heights. Our troops have also pro- j gressed on the remainder of the front., Our bombers attacked enemy columns and depots, starting big fires. Two enemy fighters were brought down. It is officially stated that Italian air raids on undefended Greek towns and i villages in the first month of the war I killed 604 civilians and injured 1070. The Athens Radio, commenting on the air raid casualty totals, says:— 1 We are encouraged and sustained to bear the ordeal of modern totalitarian warfare by the proud and magnificent . example of London and her sister cities. Corfu has been hardest hit among the j defenceless. This beautiful old place has been severely damaged because i there Fascist vandalism can be carried out in comparative safety. The famous fortifications of which the Italians talk so much, installed in the fifteenth century. now only serve as refuges for hundreds of homeless huddling in vaults. We hope to capture Italian air bases in Albania. The arrival of more eagerly awaited British planes will end Corfu's agony. The latest communique from the , Greek Ministry of Public Security; mentions three further raids on civil- j ian populations. The majority of the j bomb victims are women and infants. ! ' Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham. C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet, has sent a letter to the Greek Navy paying tribute to the skill of their officers and seamen since the outbreak of the war, L especially mentioning the successful operations of Greek destroyers and submarines in regions where there • were much superior enemy forces. We are proud to colaborate with the Royal Hellenic Navy. RESISTANCE COLLAPSING (Received sth December, 11.20 a.m.) i LONDON. 4th December. It is reported without confirmation from Athens that the Italian resistance is collapsing at Argyrokastron and the nearby port of Edda. The Greeks L dominate all strategic heights on the front from the sea to Lake Ouridsko. ’ CALLED TO COLOURS ' (Received sth December, 1.30 p.m.) ROME, 4th December. Italians of the 1933 class comprising 150,000 have been called to the colours. ITALIAN COMMUNIQUE [U.P.A.-By Electric Telegraph-Copyright] I (Received sth December, 1.30 p.m.) LONDON, 4th December. An Italian communique states that the , Italians in Greece resisted attacks from j numerous formations of Greeks which i renewed their attacks after considerable artillery preparation. We carried out violent bombings on the Greeks’ positions. An enemy cruiser shelled an Italian installation at Alula and caused some damage.