HEAVY FIGHTING IN LIBYA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 283, 1 December 1941, Page 5

HEAVY FIGHTING IN LIBYA

WIDENING THE CORRIDOR TO TOBRUK

AXIS FORCES RESISTING WITH NO EASING OF STUBBORNNESS

i II p.m. 1 Luit'loii. .\ov. 3(L Heavy lighting in Libya < (ini iinus Tin British Bth imperial Army ((iciK iai Sir Alan ' linniiiuii.di i» strenuously trying to widen the corridor into tin d<-'< rt Loin Tobruk, which, if the action succeeds, will be.•nine a valuable supply base, lieneral Ib'iniiN-l >Ax > fo.« ■> are i >i>in and their el’l'vrt.s so far have shown no signs of diminisliinu in vigour or st ubborness. Imports irom various sources 4 idicati tin : liu • main problem is to obtain reinforcements. (hir such report stairs that the use of Toulon South of I i. He » . and Biz.crta French Algeria) has been demanded by Hiller of I iciicv. and that Marshal Petain's (iovi rnnient. under pressure irom its pro Nazi elements, lias agreed, and many ships r.,s S || H . \\» stern Mediterranean. \ ichy has denied thi >c reports and his “given an assurance that North Alin an air and naval basis w ill not be ct ded to (iermany.

From Ankara ■ Turkey comol i report that Axis troops, mainly 1 \ ust ria ns, al icing Salonika i < in ccc and Brindisi and Naples : 11 aly foi Liby ... To check this app. '-ut mov- ! ment Naples has |>< en h-. \ iiy raidid by the K.A.F. Ai.oi . means of reinforcing and supply- 1 ing the ( i( rman forms in Libya is by heavy troop-cai i y ing piam >. l which are reported to lie on tin move at night. Bay moveno nt is extremely risky, bceaust of the* maintained ascendancy of tlui R.A.F. in all parts of tlu desert Hid along the North African coast. Meanwhile the dour battle in Cyrenaica continues without aaalement. Brisk hand-10-hand fighting has resulted in the corridor to Tobruk being widened to six miles at lhe nar- ! rovvest point, says the correspondent of (he Associated Press of Great 8..- i tain with me Eighth Army . South I African infantry , supported by British I tanks, has begun a flanking movement ' eastwards of lhe mam German arm-j oured division, which is now between Sidi Rezegh and Gasr el Aryid, 26 miles eastwards of Sidi Rezegh. A Cairo Headquarters communique stales: “Heavy lighting continued on Friday in the area suuth-ra>t of ; Tobruk, where British and Nr a Zealand forces are gradually widening tiie comdor of contact, lu the East British troops, on Fraiay evening, ca, - lured a strong-point north ul Bir ■ . Hamid, taking several hundred Italian , prisoners. To lhe west tile eiu-my ■ troops are predominantly Gcimun and continued to uffei st Up to Wednesday evening British troops who had arrived Horn Tomuk had captured 79 field and medium guns, together with quantities of light and anti-tank artillery, machine-guns and small arms. South-west of Sidi Rezegh, lhe German-Italian armouri i j forces which had been scattered and : forced to withdraw eastward the previous day by British armoured I forces, reassembled their medium ! tanks during Thursday night and j early Friday morning. On Friday these Axis armoured forces once noic moved westwards, where they were again heavily engaged by our armoured forces. On Friday evening bitter lighting was still continuing without 1 either side having given, or gained. , ground. On a number of occasions 1 yesterday our air force was able lo t lake advantage of an opportunity : offered lo attack enemy concentra- | Lions in co-operation with ground' troops. Bombing and low-firing ma- 1 chine-gun attacks were particularly successful against the German and | Italian armoured forces engaged in a tank battle south-east of Sidi Rezegh.” A«» Heavy Fighting As Any. Friday s lighting m the dßliict j south-east ol Tomuk, when British 1 and New Zealand Torce> arc giadually widening and extending the corridor. ■ is desermed by the military spokesman in Cairo as being as heavy as thenhas been so far, says a British Official Wireless message. German tank fore> which were scattered on Thursday were reassembled next day. On Fri-! day remnants of the division were seen moving westwards, where they were again attacked by our forces. In ' the evening the battle was still going I on. The German forces was picked up 1 by the R.A.F. in the morning and J heavily bombed all day. East of Tobruk our forces captured 1 an important stronghold whicii was. garrisoned mainly by Italians. In the • frontier area an Indian division is | gradually extending it.- hold over the ' defended locality . Pockets of enemy resistance we: ej still holding out on 'Thursday m Sidi I Omar and two areas near there. In the Tobruk area there are signs that ‘ the enemy artillery is thinning out, and small pockets of enemy were being rounded up on the Bardia road on Friday . An explanation of the points in today’s Cairo communique has been I given by well-informed observers in London. The capture of a strong- ‘ point mentioned in lhe communique is part of lhe operation of widening the corridor of contact in the Tobruk area. This operation is clearly satisfactory. Meanwhile, it i.> ap aient that tank operations have again assumed con.-iderahic dimensions. >in< <> the German party raiding ea-lwai ihas been joined by element, of an Italian division which was severely handled at El Gobi, and later at Sidi Rezega. It is regarded as satisfactory that these combined elements are east of the lint* south of Tobruk, as they can be deal! with there with ai vantage. Il must nut be a sunnd. however, that it is impossible fur them tu bleak through. While thei: sup; dilution is not enviable, there mu.-i : (• a certain amount of material left n lhe area which they can use. 70 Per Cent British Tanks. Thr British Minister of Information. Mr. Brendan Bracken, in a speech al Oxford, revealed that 7"

per cent, of the foices in Libya were Horn Britain. The military spokesman in Cairo said lhe Germans have massed guns with the object of opposing a further wi iening ot lhe Tobruk corridor. It B now known that 70<» Italians were captured at Gialo, where our casualty were 20. Indians are continuing mopping up the frontier area. Axis forces east of Tobruk appear (online 1 bet •• n the coast and a line i 'Uglily fiom Tooruk to Sidi Rezegh. manoeuvre is thus considerably reduced, but there are not signs that their pugnacity is flagging. They are doing thv : r utmost lo prevent consolidation of the British bridge between Tobruk and Sidi Rezegh. A German column, comprising 4<i to 50 tanks and between 1000 lo 200(i lon s. full of troop.-, came from Fort Capuzzo to alia k the New Zealanders in the roar. The R.A.F. bombed and machine-gunned them every mile of their advance until British armoured units had time to come up and engage them. Their withdrawal not only removed a threat to the rear of our forces :n the Sidi Rezegh area, but forced U’e G iman.s into a more rest :: d for operations and enabled the Brit., h south-east of Tobruk to concentrate their attacks. British Pushing Westward. These British forces are, at the same time, pushing westward against .strong Axis forces. Linked up, the British and New Zealanders have been advancing westward continually for eight hours, despite strong Axis opposition Behind them strong Impel ial forces are attacking the remnant- of General Rommel’s armoured Hints castwat-d of Sidi Rezegh. The gap between tiie main Axis strength and their armies westward of Tobruk is steadily widening. The Italians in Solium must now be short of leaders as the result of a visit by Hurricane bombers to a staff con: iciice then Hurricanes sight* ed brtvw n 2Q and 30 staff cars drawn up in a large circle, in which two trestle tables were surrounded by staff officers. The leading Hurricane bomber picked the tables as his objective and flew in so low he could see the maps on the tables. His bombs landed in the middle of the tables. Other pilots blew up the staff cars. Lillie remained undestroyed. Correspondents at advanced bases say the R.A.F is making 200 sorties daily. Reporting that the Vichy Government had agreed to the Germans usin. Toulon and Bizerta as ports to establish a supply route to North Africa, the Daily Mail’s Madrid correspondent says that Germany flrst demanded the full use of these two ports, but Mar.-hal Petain refused, despi:e strong : i e.-entations from Admil a! Darlan < pro-Nazi Vice-Premier). Petain agreed to the use of air bases only after st run..- r promptings from Darlan. Meanwhile a constant stream of IT<in h ’•hips h taking supplies from Marseilles to ITencii Tunisia.—l’.l*. A. FIERCE FIGHTING IN BAD WEATHER SITU) Ol ACTIOS PRETEXTS A< < I R ATE PETAII. (Official War Ou respondent. N.Z.E.F > Cairn Nov. 29. The main feature of the fightinz yesterday, which was as heavy as has yet been seen, was the expansion bv New Z- Hand and British forces nf the junction wPh Tobruk forces. Fierce fighting has taken place in had weather, with a groat deal of heavy’ lain along lhe coastal belt. It is emohasisod that the object Is still the destruction of the enemy armoured formations, but the infantry i> well in ’he picture when considerable imposition is met Details of th A <>pc! at i"iis of Hie NX - Zealand forces st: : ob-cure on account of the speed of their movements, and the fact that the fighting is not on fixed lines of attack and defence In Ihe areas already occiinied. lot al actions have continued. U.P.A. CANADA HELPING (Rrcd )spm» Ottawa. Nov . 28. \ steady stream of lens of thousamis of Canadian-built motor vehicles are pouring into Egypt, said lhe Munition- Minister. Mr. C. D. Howe, to-day . "Canada is helping the Libyan battle also with guns and ammunition made in Canadian factories,” he said. lhe Finance Minister. Mr. J. L. Ilslvy. annuuherd to-day that the Government had approved of a Wartime Salurie.- Older, providing that vmploycis shall nut increase lhe salary i ale paid on or before November 6. Salai i- .- are defined to include bonuses ami all other forms of income received from lhe employer. The older applies to all managerial and other executives, and employees above th” rank of foreman, or comparable i ink. U P.A.