EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21357, 27 February 1941, Page 6

EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN

While the Allied frontal attack on Keren has been delayed for perfectly good reasons, progress on all the other East African fronts is steadily gaining in momentum. Even Keren, one of the most important Italian strongholds in Eritrea, has been almost surrounded in consequence of a drive down the coast from the north, and important developments in that sector are expected momentarily. Already about half of Eritrea has been taken by the Allies, and because the Italians cannot be reinforced, each engagement makes them weaker.

In southern Italian Somaliland, British troops are pressing northward irresistibly. Already they have penetrated 400 miles from the Kenya border, and with an astonishing spurt have taken Mogadiscio, the chief town and port of Italian Somaliland. This force is pushing on in the direction of that tiny village called Walwal, which Italy used in 1935 for the purpose of creating a dispute with the Abyssinians. Walwal is near the ill-defined boundary between Somaliland and Abyssinia. The village stands out clearly in the memory of both races. Probably before it is reached by the British forces Italian resistance in East Africa will have ended and the Abyssinians will have earned the right to negotiate for the definition of the boundary without the threat of invasion. With half of Eritrea gone, with the British thrusting deep into Somaliland, with Allied troops pressing into Abyssinia at a dozen points, and with the- Abyssinians themselves rising all over the country, Italy’s new empire is in a disastrous plight. The Duke of Aosta, the Italian commander in East Africa, has told Mussolini that he will endeavour to “ hold out somehow,” but it is clear that even the dictator has almost given up hope of saving his empire in Africa. He has now adopted the attitude that the African territory can be regained “ when the Axis has won the war in Europe.” The indications are that from now on the process of the Italian disintegration will be accelerated as manpower and supplies gradually dwindle without the possibility of replenishment.