HAIL OF FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23879, 1 February 1941, Page 9

HAIL OF FIRE

GRAPHIC ACCOUNT BATTLE FOR TOWN AUSTRALIANS' PART (Received January 31, G. 30 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 31 British and Australian troops took .-■Derna in a series of small operations, Beginning in the week-end. The garrison is believed to have been 10.00Q, including crack Bersaglieri companies, most of which probably escaped. The Italians, in a determined attempt to delay the inevitable, rained thousands of shells from three forte and other batteries against the Australian infantry. 'British guns and bombers replied, and in the week-end silenced the most troublesome battery. In the face of severe fire, the Australians had advanced three miles and were within four miles of the town. Capture of Airport The defences were not the equal of tbosa at Tobruk, but the three forts on top of the ■ ridges dominated the approaches. The British worked all night on Sunday and brought up guns to these new positions. Hie Australians advanced under their protection and, with armoured units, reached on Monday morning Dora a airport, which they forced the Italians to abandon, leaving a few dead. An Australian infantry platoon and a North Country machine-gun platoon shared the honours of capturing the airport- .and carrying the last defences of Derna. They wormed their way on their stomachs across- the airfield for four hours. ■ Derelict aircraft were their only cover from machine-guns, which spat unceasingly. Some were wounded, and it was more difficult to get them back than to go forward, but just at sundown the Australians got to striking distance, rose up and' charged with fixed bayonets. The Italians fled. Heavy Enemy Shelling The Australians occupied the hangars find then at dawn discovered that the Italians wefe only 350 yards away, with three tanks. Machine-gunners furiously exchanged fire. Finally, the arrival of British gunners and anti-tank guns turned the scale. They set fire to one Italian tank and crippled others, which fled. Italian guns from the forts immediately opened up and plastered the aciodrome with accurate lire, 150 shell* falling in 90 minutes, Jwo Italian fighters swooped down and machinegunned the platoons, but the Australians and North Countrymen filed out, and accompanied the tanks unfalteringly through the hail of fire. Their machine-guns rattled, and with the aid of British bombers, which stiddenly appeared, they silenced the nearest battery. Aircraft Driven Off To gain Derna the attackers had to go down a bare valley and climb up the other side with an Italian battery firing straight along it. Nine bombers and 20 fighters' attacked the Australians and supporting artillerymen, but their marksmanship was poor, British fighters swooped in and" shot down two and chased off ,flic others. Anti-aircraft guns brought down a third The British artillery moved on and continued pounding while the Australians mopped up position after position. Italian tanks attempted to counterattack from tho west against the attackers' flank, but the Australian units wont out to meet them, and after a brisk encounter the Italians made off leaving 60 dead. G.illipoli Over Again The British and Australian forces then moved up and made a supporting drive to Derna from the west. The original heroes from the aerodrome struggled on, dusty, dry and bediaggled, but grimly determined as they set out through the barbed wire and fields of land mines. Another Australian patrol went to the beach and "approached Derna from 'the east. Thev ran into a hail of fire

from the fort, hut hung on, though they wore without water or food for 24 hours. Climbing all night over country identical with the coast on which their fathers fought at Qallipoli, they reached the almost perpendicular hillside 400 yards from the fort. . Watercarriers brought up rations and water. Fort Taken With Rush The troops rushed the hill and entered the iort. They left some dead outside. They herded in the courtyaid 68 officers and men who had surrendered to a squad of Australians whom they outnumbered three to one. The rest of the platoons carried on, cleaning up machine-gun nests and isolated snipers. Mopping-up in the gulches and split ridges prolonged the operations, which "ere further hampered by blinding sandstorms. These delays, combined with the broken country and the scattered nature of Derna's defences, are believed to have allowed most, of the defenders to withdraw to the west. EMPEROR'S ENVOY BEHIND ITALIAN LINES FIVE MONTHS IN ABYSSINIA LONDON, Jan. 30 A special message from Hailo Selassie's headquarters in Abyssinia says, that sitting in a camouflaged army tent, the Emperor revealed how, from a house in Bath, England, he kept a finger on the pulse of events in Abyssinia. Lorenzo Taezaz, former delegate to Geneva, slipped into the Italian lines last year under an assumed name. He remained five months. The Italians claimed to have killed Taezaz, but he withdrew unharmed, bringing most valuable reports on which the Emperor planned repatriation. "I am relieved and pleased to return to my own people and share their ordeals and triumphs until victory," said Haile Selassie. POSSIBILITY OF AID GERMAN BASES IN ITALY LONDON, Jan. 3J "If Germany can send effective aid to Western Libya in the next few weeks, there is good reason to think that Graziani will attempt to hold up the British in front of Benghazi as long as possible," said Mr. George Slocombe in a broadcast. Mr. Slocombe said there was a fresh Italian army based on Tripoli. If its morale was not too greatly shaken by the Italian defeats in the Western Desert, and it could be stiffened by the addition of German troops and airmen, Britain's difficulties would be increased. But, no doubt, Britain had foreseen all these contingencies and taken measures to deal with them as they arose. The presence of German troops in Italy indicated that that country was being converted into a jumping-off base for some Mediterranean venture, or for an attack on Greece. ITALIAN CLAIM HOME, Jan. 30 An Italian communique says: "We repulsed attacks by Australian contingents and recaptured a post they held Some prisoners and weapons were taken." MONEY FOR PRISONERS FACILITIES WITHDRAWN (Received January 81, 8.40 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 31 The Treasury has withdrawn permission to send money to prisoners of war because it would involve too great a drain on Britain's American dollar exchange. BABIES' GAS HELMETS (Received January 31, 6.5 p.m.) British Wireless LONDON, Jan. 80 The Minister of Home Security, Mr. Herbert Morrison, stated in the House of Commons that his department had issued about 1,250,000 anti-gas helmets for babies.