ITALIANS PANIC

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20660, 10 January 1942, Page 5

ITALIANS PANIC

“DROP EVERYTHING” FLIGHT FROM DERNA ABANDONED STORES (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Asßn.) DERNA, Dec. 19. To-day I drove along the coast road through Derna to Giovanni Berta, reports a Sydney Morning Herald correspondent with the British Forces. All along the road were dumps of enemy supplies food, petrol, Diesel fuel, ammunition of all kinds, and medical goods. I passed hundreds of abandoned lorries, many standing on the road in perfect running order and fully loaded, their drivers having obviously abandoned them in panic. As a wag remarked it would almost seem that there had been a general order: “Drop everything!” Our push along the coast had netted us millions of rounds of ammunition, thousands of gallons of petrol, and field guns, machine-guns, and war material of all kinds.

Perhaps even more indicative of the hurried nature of the Italian withdrawal is the fact that they left, behind in the wadis along the coast huge dumps of cognac and Chianti and tons of excellent confectionery, which evidently was a ration-issue. Derna aerodrome was a grim sight, littered with the. charred, wrecks of Axis aircraft and uniformed bodies twisted in the grotesque attitudes of violent death. Troop-carriers Wiped Out An Indian brigade stormed the aerodrome yesterday taking the defenders completely by surprise, and capturing a road convoy which, included a number of big antiaircraft guns. As the Indians were occupying the aerodrome, they saw a number of huge Junkers troopcarrying aeroplanes circling to land. They concealed themselves, allowed the troop-carriers to lqnd, and then opened fire with machine-guns. They destroyed all the aircraft and killed all the occupants Clustered round the small harbour at the foot of a precipitous escarpment, the little town of Derna was a pleasant change after hundreds of miles of barren desert. The Italians had made a half-hearted attempt to blow up the road where it winds steeply down to the town, but no serious damage was done, and this afternoon our convoys were rattling down through Derna to the west. The Italians had made a better job of blowing up the road on the other side of Derna, but characteristically had neglected the alternative road which, although rough, was perfectly negotiable. Derna’s only occupants when we entered were Libyan Arabs, who waved a friendly greeting. Wounded New Zealanders

In the big military hospital I spoke to several wounded New Zealanders who had been captured. They said that they had been well treated. Driving past Derna to Giovanni Berta I passed little groups of Italians waiting forlornly beside the

road for someone to whom to surrender. Cars and trucks roared past them, but everyone was too busy to worry about a few extra Italian prisoners. I saw a trio walking along die road carrying their rifles. When I stuck my head out of the car they dropped their rifles and raised their hands, but when I failed to stop they shrugged their shoulders and trudged dejectedly on again. The Italian is a bad soldier but an excellent philosopher.