TRUE POSITION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 268, 14 November 1935, Page 7

TRUE POSITION

ABYSSINIAN SIDE ACCORDING TO PLAN? EMPEROR INTERVIEWED WILL FIGHT TO BITTER END [By Telezraph—Press Association— Received Nov. 13, 5.5 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 12. Gradually stories from the war front are being elbowed from the main pages of the newspapers, some of which are more concerned to find the true position of the Abyssinians than with Italian achievements. The question is being asked whether Ethiopian assertions that everything is going according to plan and that they are drawing the Italians into more difficult terrain masks their anxiety in handling complex difficulties which the Italian thrusts create o. r ignorance of actual happenings. Invariably the news from Addis Ababa is about a day behind that filtering from the Italian fronts. The Emperor’s news bureau time and again has professed to be without news concerning the- fate of strategic points, the capture of which the Ita-iaa shave already announced. ■ The Emperor’s headquarters admits that it has heard nothing from the southern front, but officials at the pal-

ace are disposed to think that Ras Nasibu’s return to Jijiga from Dagabur may be a prelude to a quick general withdrawal from Ogaden, The News-Chronicle’s Addis Ababa correspondent, seeking to discover whether the Abyssinian war plans were being pursued, questioned the Emperor, first as to whether the guerilla tactics had succeeded as well as he expected and whether the Abyssinians would be able to check the Italians when they desired. ’The Emperor replied: “The hour of Launching a great battle has ’not yet struck. There has been nothing so far to justify the modification of our strategy. The patriotism of the Abyssinians will enable the economising of resources in order to conduct a lengthv war. We ars certain that if economic sanctions are carried out vigorously, they -will weaken Italy’s capacity and appetite for war, but, with or without sanctions, wo are prepared to fight to the bitter end. Tn the second place, replying to a question as to the possibility of a settlement, the Emperor answered: “We hope for an early peace, but we will reject the infringement of our independence and lioert.es.” He added that over three hundred women and children were killed and mutilated in the first month of war. ABYSSINIAN VICTORY FIGHT AT ANALE WELLS Received Nov. 13, 7.20 p.m. LONDON, Nov. 13. The Times’ Addis Ababa correspondent says: “While confusion regarding the possession of Dagabur still exists, the Government claims a victory at the Anale Wells, 25 miles south. Reporting on this, a communique says that a small Ethiopian force armed with rifles was entrenched amid the sparse bush in the sandy riverbed, where live five wells, the only waterholes between Dagabur and Gorahai except at Sasa Baneh. Italian tanks, supported by troop-carying lorries equipped with machine-guns, (ittacked fiercely, but after a bloody struggle at

close range the Abyssinians put four tanks out of action, captured four lorries, and killed six Italian officers and many Somalis. The remainder fled.