HEAVY DEFEAT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21850, 31 December 1940, Page 7

HEAVY DEFEAT

Italian Tank Drive Fails By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received December 30, 10.50 p.m.) ATHENS, December 29. A communique says that to-day was restricted to patrol and artillery activity. The spokesman announced that the Greeks captured three villages northward of Himara after storming the mountains dominating them. The Italians, including Bersagliere, specially flown were heavily defeated north of Klisura, where the Italians used tanks in an attempted drive on the Klisura-Berat road. The Athens correspondent of “The Times” says that the new successes which the Greek communiques modestly disclaim as “local operations” have in the last two days placed the Greeks in positions of strategic importance and are liable to paralyse Italian plans and ruin Italian chances of a counter-offensive for regaining the initiative. The Italians have been prevented from reforming behind a stationary front. The Greeks now occupy a quarter of Albania and if the weather permits a similar rate of advance they might conquer a further quarter before the end of January. Valona Again Bombed It it announced from General Headquarters of the British Air Force in Greece that in Southern Albania shipping and military objectives on the foreshore at Valona were bombed successfully yesterday by Royal Air Force aircraft, in spite of extremely bad weather.

A heavy bomb was seen to burst approximately 50 yards from a large ship. Other results were not observed owing to low cloud. All the bombs, however, fell in the target area. All the British aircraft returned.