AT AN END

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 June 1941, Page 5

AT AN END

BATTLE IN THE WESTERN DESERT NORMAL AIR OPERATIONS RESUMED. PROGRESS IN ABYSSINIA. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. June 19. The battle of tanks which raged in the Western Desert for three days has now died down and the Imperial forces have withdrawn to their original positions with surprisingly little interference from the enemy. The British and South African Air Forces yesterday resumed their normal patrols in the Western Desert. Enemy landing grounds were attacked at Derna and Gazala. In Abyssinia British troops continue to advance. Patriot forces are increasing their pressure on the Italian garrison in the Gondar district. In an attempted raid on Malta yesterday one Italian fighter was shot down and others were badly damaged.

AMERICAN TANKS USED FOR FIRST TIME. GENERAL WAVELL’S SUPPOSED OBJECTS. LONDON, June 18. In the big tank operations in the desert General Wavell for the first time used American tanks, 100 of which were engaged. A reliable profit-and-loss account of the battle is not yet available, but an indication of the scale of operations and the size of the German and Italian forces on the Egyptian frontier is given in an Italian report that “an attack by a British force comprising two armoured brigades with 1000 tanks and several mechanised infantry divisions was met with an equally formidable counter-attack from the Axis.” Enemy dispatches claim that the attack was aimed at relieving Tobruk. The Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm “Dagens Nyheter” says that General Wavell aimed to break the spearhead of a prepared German offensive, and that the Germans attached the greatest importance to the outcome of the battle, believing that the losers would be exhausted.

BRITISH FORCES BACK IN ORIGINAL POSITIONS. (Received This Day, 9.25 a.m.) LONDON, June 19. It is authoritatively stated that our forces in the Western Desert are now safely back to their original positions eastwards of Solium, which is in German hands.

BRITISH FIGHTERS VALUABLE PART PLAYED IN BATTLE. TROOPS WELL SUPPORTED. LONDON, June 19. Reuters correspondent in North Africa says the R.A.F. played a highly successful part in the recent three-day battle on the Libyan frontier. On the afternoon of June 16, he says, there was an almost complete absence of enemy fighters and bombers. On June 17 eight Hurricanes got among an enemy formation of fighters and bombers and shot down at least seven. An Air Ministry communique says the patrol activities of the R.A.F. were so successful that enemy aircraft were unable to harass the British troops.