ITALY'S CAMPAIGN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22345, 17 February 1936, Page 9

ITALY'S CAMPAIGN

MESSAGES TO IL DUCI GQMMANDER PESSIMISTIC DESERTION OF ASKARIS it y Telegraph—Press Association—Copyrigh '4 (Received February 16, 5.5 p.m.) n LONDON. Feb. li e The Daily Herald's Paris corres 3, pondent states that French wireless if stations in East Africa claim to have e picked up and decoded Marsha! ,t Badoglio's private messages to Sig •- nor Mussolini. h It is stated that these messages r reveal that the Italian Commander-in-Chief is pessimistic regarding the t military situation. The troops' e morale is poor and also they arc poor physically. He blames the in--11 adequate food supplies. 1 It is officially reported from Dcssyc that 650 Eritreans, with rifles, machine- ' guns and full equipment, have deserted from the Italian Southern Army to Pas Desta, who expects additional deserters. s The Daily Telegraph's Addis Ababa s correspondent says an Abyssinian chief who arrived from the northern front 0 declares that there is always a chance " of Askaris deserting from the Italians because they are the same race as the Abvssinians, but if they do not desert they are ferocious fighters, clever in utilising ground, mobile and fearless. They often resist to the last man. The Italians, on the other hand, are not mobile and lack the dash of the Askaris. They also fear hand-to-hand fighting. A message from Addis Ababa states that after discharging dozens of bombs 3 harmlessly an Italian airman accident- . ally dropped a bottle of Chianti which 1 struck and killed one of Pas Seyoum's p warriors. t From Moghadiscio, on the south coast j of Italian Somaliland, it is reported I that a reconnoitring patrol of native L troops fell foul of Abvssinians 60 miles north of Gerlogubi and retreated with t the loss of 30 killed. It is claimed, however, that the patrol achieved its ( object by revealing the strength of the . enemy in this area. OIL EMBARGO DECISION IN ABEYANCE REPORT FOR GOVERNMENTS (Received February 16. 5.5 p.m.) British Wireless RUGBY. Feb. 15 The official text' of the report of the committee of experts on the possible effectiveness of an embargo on oil supplies to Italy has been despatched from Geneva to ail the Governments. The appropriate Government departments in London will undertake a careful examination of the report, but it is considered probable that the British representative at the meeting of the Committee of Eighteen will not be bound by any rigid instructions in regard to the matter. It is recognised that the report does not raise any further question of principle. The Times says the paramount importance of keeping the League States united has been constantly borne in mind by the British Government. It will cause little surprise, therefore, if Ministers feel that any declaration of a fixed intention should be avoided until the British representative has had a persona] consultation at Geneva with his colleagues of the other League States. The eventual decision of the committee must be based on a businesslike estimate of the efficacy of an oil embargo. An estimate of the trend of the policy of the United States, particularly as it would affect the League oil-producing States, is expected to be the determining factor. ROME COMMUNIQUE SMALL ADMITTED COUNTER STROKE EFFECTED LONDON, Feb. 14 A Rome communique admits a small Abyssinian success in an attack on an Italian observation post at Curati, north-west of Gerlogubi. An Italian detachment simultaneously surprised and destroyed an Abyssinian detachment at Ballei, capturing arms alleged to be of British manufacture.