ITALIAN ADMISSIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23850, 28 December 1940, Page 7

ITALIAN ADMISSIONS

•NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR" ENEMY FRANK ■ OFFICER PRISONERS CAMPAIGN REGARDED AS BLUNDER By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received December 07. 9.30 p.m.) L ONDOX, Dec. 07

With a slight abatement of the piercing cold on the Albanian front, the battle for Elbasan has been continued with increased violence. The Greeks vigorously attacked northward of Pogradec, in the direction of Lin, which Greek patrols are reported to have entered. Greek pressure is also very strong in the valleys of the Shkumba and Devoli, particularly in the direction of Chukus. The Italians are making a great effort to hold their positions the northern sector, and are also doing their utmost to cover their retreat from Himara. They are desperately organising defences on the heights protecting Valona. The Italian radio said the Italian forces were experiencing heavy resistance in Albania. It claimed that the enemy were numerically superior and said the Italians had been obliged to retreat. Worse Defeat Than Caporetto In a statement to the correspondent of the United Press of Great Britain; who is with the Greeks in the coastal sector, an Italian prisoner, Major Cambolio, a veteran of the Libyan war of 1911-12, said: "This campaign is a worse defeat than Caporetto (the great Italian retreat of 191 7). It is largely due to the breakdown of the Italian transport system." Another prisoner, Lieutenant-Colonel Borsini, said he and most Italian officers regarded the Greek campaign as a blunder, since it threw the Greeks into the British arms, which might decide the whole outcome of the war. Major Cambolio asserted that the Italians, since the initial Allied bombardment, had frequently been without food, and that their clothing was inadequate against the terrible cold. The Athens correspondent of the Times says the Greeks -retain the initiative along the Albanian front. Christmas brought no respite for the Italians. Westward of the Drynos River, roughly within the triangle of Argyrokastron, Tepeleni and Himara, the enemy rearguards were kept moving in spite of the establishment of barbed wire defences. Several More Villages Taken Local attacks on Christmas Day followed the capture on Christmas Eve of an important and stubbornly held position northeastward of Tepeleni, also of several villages. The fighting continues near Klisura, toward which the Greeks are advancing from the east after a magnificent manoeuvre that was rolling up the Italian line with a wide encircling movement, until heavy snow intervened to aid the Italians. A Greek cqmmunique states that yesterday local operations took place as a result of which Greek troops advanced and captured some enemy positions. Prisoners were taken as well as a large quantity of war material. An Athens spokesman stated that the Italians had been forced back to the north and north-west of Himara. The enemy had abandoned the line of heights of the greatest strategical importance in this area.