ITALIANS STILL RETREATING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21821, 26 November 1940, Page 5

ITALIANS STILL RETREATING

GREEK ADVANCES ON ALL FRONTS United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received November 25, 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, November 24. THE forces of General Soddu in Albania are still retreating. The latest reports received in Athens from the front declared that the Italians evacuated Pogradec before the arrival of strong Greek forces, while Greek cavalry is stated to have occupied Moscopolye, after which they continued their advance in the valley in the direction of its junction with the Devoli River. The Greeks in the central sector are reported to have reached Frasheri. The southern divisions of the Greek Army are equally active. They captured the heights dominating Argyrokastron, where the aerodrome is menaced, and two divisions of Italians are believed to be encircled. The Greeks advancing from the Kalamas River captured Konispolis. Between Konispolis and Argyrokastron the Greeks are pursuing the enemy to Delvino and Santo Quaranti, the Italian forces mostly comprising mechanised units, which were in the forefront of the invaders in the first week of the war. Greek ’planes are heavily active behind the Italian lines in the northern sector. It is revealed that the Greeks occupying the Korea airport found the wreckage of Italian ’planes scattered all over the aerodrome.

In retreat all along the front, the Italians are being harassed by Greek advance detachments, states an earlier message. In the south, the Italians are heading for Argyrokastron, and the Greeks are said to have already occupied a village on the road. In the centre of the front, the Italians are trying, without much success, to reform their lines inside Albania. In the retreat from Koritza the Italians have progressed about twenty-five miles and it is reported, but not confirmed, that the Greeks have captured an important road junction. They are not dallying to collect abandoned Italian war material. The Royal Air Force has been busy bombing the Italian lines of retreat to the port of Durazzo. Mr Churchill has sent a message to General Metaxas expressing heartfelt congratulation on the great victory on the Albanian front, culminating in the capture of Koritza. “We are all inspired by this feat of valour against an enemy so superior in numbers and equipment. This recalls the classic age,” he said. Italians Pillage Villages Greek troops are reported to have advanced beyond the town of Pogradetz. A Reuter message from Athens says that the Greeks passed right through Pogradetz, which is 25 miles north of Koritza, on the road to the Albanian coast. Using tanks, cars and motor-cycles captured from the Italians, the Greeks are moving after their somewhat elusive enemy. Italian bases have been bombed by the R.A.F., the objectives attacked including Durazzo, which is now not quite as good for disembarkation, and for embarkation, it might be added, as it was. In their retreat the Italians have been destroying, pillaging, raping, and murdering, actions which accord Ironically with their declaration in leaflets dropped to Greek soldiers. These stated: Greeks, the Italian soldiers are honourable and chivalrous. Don’t be afraid for your homes, pro-

perty or your wives. The Italians will show respect for all these.” A British United Press correspondent said that on a tour he saw rows and rows of abandoned tanks and armoured vehicles, left behind by the retreating Italians. There, were also many wrecked aerodromes, the loss of which the Italians were feeling, for they were finding it difficult to keep up anything like a heavy air offensive against the Greeks. British and Greek pilots, on the other ,’iand, were increasing their pressure on the enemy. Masterly Direction According to the Athens correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph,” Italy’s pre-war military dispositions in Albania did not contemplate a defensive. Assuming that the Greeks are able to continue their pressure, it is doubted whether the Italians will be able to find a tenable defence position until they reach the line between Valona, Elbasan and Chrldsko Lake, which compares poorly with the line the Italians have been compelled to abandon. The correspondent adds: Clearly a master brain directed the Greek defence and counterstroke. The Greek defences were elastic in the early days of the invasion while holding firmly to the northern sector, in which there was the biggest Italian concentration. The original success of the Greeks in the northern sector 11 ’.llltated the triumph in the centre which, likewise, was a factor in the Italian retreat from Epirus. The Italians report a rearguard action in the valleys of the Klisura and Frasheri districts, also the Chimarra, which is a defile near the Adriatic coast. “According to Plan” An Italian communique says: On the Greek front the enemy tried in vain to impede the Italian manoeuvres, which were developing according to plan. Enemy ’planes attacked Turin and Liguria at night. There were no victims and no damage. The enemy bombed Tobruk and Bardia.”