NOW RUNNING FASTER THAN ITALIANS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 301, 22 December 1941, Page 5

NOW RUNNING FASTER THAN ITALIANS

GERMANS IN AFRICA TANK STRENGTH SAID TO BE DOWN TO TEN (Recd. 6.30 p.m. > London. Dec. 30. "General Rommel's retreat has become a rout," says the Cairo correspondent of the Daily Express. "The Afrika Corps is in headlong flight, running faster than the Italians la-M year so fast that the Imperial forces are unable to keep up with them. The decisive hour appears to have come. One estimate places the German tank strength at 10. The Axis forces are scattered over a wide area, completely disordered and unlikely to offer serious opposition eastwards of Benghazi, from which we are only 75 miles distant." Reuter's Cairo correspondent, in a delayed despatch, says that when the remnants of the Afrika Corps fell back on Derna they left the Italian infantry and artillery without transport to fight a rearguard action on the e.- arpment westwards of Gazala. Over Goo Italians were taken prisoner on the night of December 15. The Poles first attacked and occupied prepared Italian positions, after which the New Zealanders, including Maoris, followed, ociupylng further enet.’y

positions and taking 200 prisoners. A New Zealand officer encountered a captured Italian colonel wearing three rows of medals. The New Zealander remarked: "You must lime been in a lot of wars to get all those medals." The colonel replied that only the first row was for wars, the other two being for earthquakes. The correspondent adds: "1 found four wounded among one group of Italian prisoners. Their officer asked where a number of Maoris were being treated. The New Zealand doctors seemed to have plenty to do, but within two minutes an ambulance was dispatched to pick up the Italian wounded. When I was visiting a Polish camp a New Zealand Brigadier arrived to visit the Polish commander. As the Brigadier stepped out of his car enemy guns managed to get the range and dropped shells into the

camp area. Many jumped for shelter, but the Brigadier, after hesitating for a moment to judge where the shells were falling, did not even look over his shoulder as he walked unconcernedly to where the Polish commander awaited."