BRILLIANT FEAT BY SEPOYS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 15 May 1941, Page 5

BRILLIANT FEAT BY SEPOYS

ASSAULT ON KEREN Rugby, May 13. An Indian officer with 10 years’ active service who took part in storming a fort at Dologoradok, the key of the main defences covering Keren. Eritrea, has described the action as being as hard as any he knew. “The fort had concreted machine-gun positions, a double apron of wire, and some field guns,” he said. “Our gunners did very well but they could not find suitable positions to cut the wire and we simply had to advance straight up to the fort, cut the wire and drive the Italians out.' “After we had taken the fort we got an observation and started for the first time to do some effective counter i battery fire. Under its cover our battalion advanced to the top of a small : hill just under the Italians’ positions i on the crown of the heights. We lav I there for several days, shelled from ; the right, left and centre and having constantly to repel counter-attacks till > we could advance again. “There were many brave things done. Our platoon had been told to capture two machine-gun posts which had been troubling them. Instead of using the whole platoon an officer asked for one volunteer. The youngest man in the platoon—he was only 18—stepped out, filled two haversacks with handI grenades and worked his way round behind the machine-gun positions, each , of which contained four men. “He killed the whole eight with two hand grenades. When he was retiring on the rest of his platoon he was , counter-attacked by 12 Italians, and he killed six and captured six. He was an ordinary Sepoy. i RAID ON ALEXANDRIA [U.P.A.-By Electric Telegraph-Copyright) London, May 13. It is officially announced in Cairo . that bombs were dropped on Alexandria ; this morning. No damage was caused . and there were no casualties.