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FALL OF GONDAR

THE FINAL ASSAULT MAGNIFICENT WORK EAST AFRICAN TROOPS (Reed. 5.6 p.m.) LONDON, Nov., 28 The War Office states that the commander of the Imperial and Allied forces which finally liquidated the Italians in East Africa by the capture of Gondar, in Abyssinia, is Major-General C. C. Fowkes, 0.8. E., M.C., states the British official wireless. Major-General Fowkes, who is •17 years of age, formerly commanded the Southern Brigade of the King's African Rifles. A Nairobi communique states: — "On Thursday evening General Naxi surrendered the Gondar fortress to our troops. The attack began at dawn on hoth flanks and was pressed home with great determination by the whole available force. Mountainous Country "The battle took place in high, mountainous country very favourable to the defence.- By 8.30 a.m. the enemy lines had been pierced on both flanks. Our troops fought magnificently, arid by midday the whole of the enemy southern flank had been turned and our attack was passing round to the rear. "So fell the last enemy stronghold in East Africa, which the enemy spent six months in fortifying. The details of the prisoners and booty are not yet known, but the defending forces are believed to exceed ]O,OOO men, at least half of whom are Italians, with 50 guns. "Highland, Indian, Sudanese, South African and West African units, with small numbers of Free French, took part with distinction in the preliminary operations and helped to contain portions of the enemy's line "The principal credit for the "final battle, must, however, be given to the East African and patriot troops. The assault on this final position was carried out almost exclusively by the East Africans. The artillery of all calibres, including medium guns, was also largely manned by East and West Africans. More East African soldiers took part in this battle than in any other battle of the campaign. Car With White Flag "A final heavy bombing raid was made over Gondar. Our aircraft in the early afternoon saw our armoured fighting vehicles entering Gondar and our own troops approaching the town from the southern side. Shortly afterwards a car with a white flag was seen approaching our forces. "The constant air support given to the land forces lias been a noteworthy feature of the operations. The capitulation of Gondar marks the end of a highly successful campaign conducted by the air forces in East Africa, resulting in the complete destruction of the Italian air arm." A later communique states that there are still a few Italian outposts which have not surrendered, and leaflets directing the garrisons to surrender have been dropped on these outposts by our aircraft. The Italian communique admitting the fall of Gondar states: —"At 4 a.m. British forces, which had invested Gondar from all sides started to attack the citv. Our garrison was too small to defend the extended area, but tenaciously defended its position until the afternoon, in spite of the retreat of some oi our colonial troops, which were unable to withstand the violent attacks from tlhe air and the ground/ "Finally the enemy succeeded m penetrating into the city with numerous armoured units. After all means of resistance had been exhausted, and in order to spare civilian Italian as well as the native population further sacrifices, the commander-in-chief of the sector at 2 p.m. ordered the cessation of hostilities." NEW RADIO SECRETS SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION (Reed. .'5.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 \n expedition, financed and led by Louise Boyd, the silver fortune heiress of San Rafael, California, brought back from Greenland most valuable data on radio transmission and magnetic fields which is already being successfully used by the United States air _ force_ and navy. The information gained is regarded as a defence secret and will be disclosed only to the armed forces of the related Governments, such as Canada and Britain. The Bovd expedition mapped the magnetic Yields and experimented to discover the cause of the queer things that have been hampering radio communications between the "United States, Greenland, Iceland and Britain.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19411201.2.83

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24136, 1 December 1941, Page 8

Word Count
671

FALL OF GONDAR New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24136, 1 December 1941, Page 8

FALL OF GONDAR New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24136, 1 December 1941, Page 8

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