HEROES OF TROBRUK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 23 September 1941, Page 5

HEROES OF TROBRUK

COIRAGi: or All. D A Rll : rcs ITALIANS Sydney, Sept. 10. ' Australian soldier.-; from Tobruk who * have arrived in Sydney said that in the last six weeks ol ! the British occupation I there had been DUO raids by German and Italian aircraft. The A.IT . men who fought in Libya, Greece, Crete ( ' and Syria came in charge of Italian war liiisonei- from the .Middle Raid. They ' said that m Tobruk the soldiers had ‘ i teed machine-nuns to posts and hud ; irr pruvised every kind of weapon 1 available for anti-aircraft defence. I. The result was that a i enemy aeroplane now had to survive a great barrage of guns before it could drop bombs on the garrison. One soldier said; "Every day Australian soldiers are doing unbelievable llings. Their daring unnerves the Italians. The Italians light till we get close enough to use our bayonets, then surrender. Nothing the Germans or Italians can throw agaisnt Tobruk will dislodge the Austr; ’ a...;.” Another said: "In a number of enemy as. shits the Italians were allowed to penetrate lightly-held outer defences and walk into the arms, of Iron.:; A.I.F. force.,. They were then cut to pieces or taken prisoner.” A machine- gunner, who was a member of the covering force at. the evacuation of Benghazi, wl in the German push aero s Libya began, said: “We had to release fiOO Italian prisoners be - ecu: of :an port and s upply clifli - cullies. They pleaded to be taken with u They said they weia afiaid of what would happen to ‘.hem if they returned •o their units "