AFRICAN FRONTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24525, 6 February 1941, Page 7

AFRICAN FRONTS

THE SWEEP IN LIBYA TROOPS BEYOND CYRENE HARDLY A SHOT FIRED (United Press Association) (By Electric‘Telegraph— Copyright; LONDON, Feb. 4. (Received Feb. 5, at 11.30 p.m.) General Wavell’s forward troops are pushing on beyond Gyrene, which was Marshal Graziani’s headquarters for the conquest of Egypt. Infantry and machine-gunners, it is assumed, will take El Gubba, 30 miles west from Derna and the lasi fortified town on the coastal route to Benghazi El Gubba straddles 50 miles of the main road from Derna to Gyrene. The latter place is 1800 feet above sea level and 12 miles south-south-west of Apollonia, which is presumably cut off. The Italians are apparently withdrawing en masse along the parallel road from Gyrene to Barce. After fighting their way from Derna under Italian artillery fire the British forces dimed hillsides inland to the enemy’s level and resumed the forward drive. The troops marched on foot with artillery and stores in the rear Hardly a shot was fired to El Gubba as the Italians preferred to rely on landmines, booby traps, dynamiting roads, and blowing up bridges. CAMPAIGN IN ERITREA THE AGORDAT VICTORY LONDON, Feb. 4. (Received Feb. 5, at 11.30 p.m.) The British are five miles west of Keren, gathering as they press on great batches of prisoners and»masses of guns, lorries and ammunition which the Italians jettisoned. British guns are harassing the tired Italian troops with tremendous barrages. Already the Italian rearguard has been halved and lost 70 per cent, of. its material. The captors of Barentu took prisoner 1500, while 500 were killed and a large quantity of guns, ammunition and stores was captured. The British forces pushing on to Gondar are now over 30 miles from the Sudanese frontier, in spite of the Italians’- determined obstructive tactics: Importance ,of Agordat The, magnitude of the Agordat victory deserves emphasis. Agordat is the centre of Italian civilisation: in East Eritrea, and has been a big military, and air base since the invasion of Abyssinia. The defenders included the crack' Second Italiarj Colonial Brigade, with light artillery, under the commarid'of Colonel Lorenzini, who is regarded as being among Italy’s most brilliant soldiers. The-British commander tried to push armoured units to the eastward and cut off Agordat from Asmara, but was forced to admit that the ground was too difficult. A Scottish battalion, reinforced by Indians, was therefore sent to take Cochem Hill, overlooking Agordat, from the east . For 48 hours they endured an inferno of fire, fighting four and a-half battalions. Constant, heavy arti^§wpre ; 'Made* it mostMifficult to Enemy Tanks Destroyed ’The position .(poked bad when British .armoured cars, supported by a famous British regiment, made a successful attack against prepared defences running out' from Cochem Hill. Later an Indian regiment, with orders to take and hold their objec-tives-to the last , man; stormed four smaller hills east of Agordat. Simultaneously the Royal Air Force spotted a strong Italian column coming in from the east. British armoured units and infantry attacked and knocked out in a few minutes .11 tanks, which was half the enemy’s force. The Italians then retired from an impregnable height at Laquetat, south from Agordat. A swift attempt was madd to cut off the retreat of the Italians from Agordat, but the enemy were too quick and slipped out in the darkness over a secondary road to Asmara. The British entered, the town without resistance. The Italians suffered very heavy losses, the killed and prisoners exceeding 2200. General Wavell recently visited the Eritrean battle front and watched a phase of the Battle of Barentu ABYSSINIAN PATRIOTS ACTIVITY INCREASING LONDON, Feb. 4. Patriot activity .in south-west Abyssinia is inci'easing with successful ambushes of convoys and clashes with Italian detachments, which have involved considerable Italian losses. The Patriots report that Italians and native irregulars are terrorising and murdering,, peasants looting villages, and seizing livestock. More Abyssinans are coming into Kenya for arms and training. tt is now revealed that the Ethiopian flag was first hoisted in Abyssinia when 500 uniformed Ethiopian refugees, accompanied by forces of the King’s African Rifles, captured on July 13 Namaraputh, a small Italian outpost on Lake Rudolf. The ’’efugee regimenl went on, intending to make contact with friends and then disperse and foment unrest, but returned weak and disappointed a month later because it entered uninhabited country and was unable to establish contact with friends or obtain food. It was also bombed. It now has British officers and has been re-equipped, and several successful actions have been fought by the regiment the most important of which was the capture of the frontier post of Dukana and clearing Banda from north-west Kenya.