GREEK CAMPAIGN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 November 1940, Page 6

GREEK CAMPAIGN

AUSTRALIAN DESTROYER AT CRETE SINKING OF ITALIAN WARSHIP. BRITISH CIVILIANS KILLED IN ATHENS. (By Telegraph—Press Associaiton —Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.25 a.m.) LONDON, November 4. The arrival of the Australian destroyer Wryneck is officially announced at Athens. A Greek communique states that an Italian lieutenant-colonel was killed during the fighting on Sunday. British civilians are reported to have be.en killed in yesterday’s raids on Athens. The British Consulate was singled out for attack. It is reported from Ochrida that the Greeks sank an Italian warship after a battle lasting for an hour. A Salonika message, describing an air raid, says the Jewish quarters were the main targets near which there is no military objective. Scarcely a street in the old quarters of the town, wherein thousands of Spanish Jews are living, is undamaged. ITALIAN COMMUNIQUE (Received This Day, 12.25 p.m.) LONDON, November 4. An Italian communique says: “Enemy bombers attempted to bomb Naples last night, but were driven off by anti-air-craft fire. One person was killed and three were injured. “The Italians renewed their raids against Salonika, Corfu and Navarino. “The R.A.F. bombed Garnugrane, north-east of Jarabub. Two persons are dead and several wounded. “We occupied Mount Shushib, near Kassala, with losses to both sides. The enemy bombed Assab. Three persons are dead and several were wounded.”

ITALY EXPLAINS ABSENCE OF “LIGHTNING RHYTHM.” GREEK REARGUARDS & SAD WEATHER. (Received This Day, 12.55 p.m.) ROME, November 4. The Stefani Agency’s war correspondent reports that bad weather and the dynamiting of roads by Greek rearguards have caused an absence of “lightning rhythm” in the Italian advance. INVASION TASK TAKEN TOO CHEAPLY BY ITALIANS. GREEKS MAKING HEADWAY IN COUNTER-ATTACKS. (Received This Day, 12.55 p.m.) LONDON, November 4. The general impression that the Italian High Command has greatly underrated the magnitude of the task of invading Greece is strengthened by a Greek communique and also by unofficial reports from Athens, that the Greeks have taken the offensive in the southern sector during the past forty-eight hours, penetrating Albanian territory at some points. Simultaneously reports are reaching Belgrade from the frontier that the Greeks have captured Bechlista, just inside the Albanian frontier and are now bombarding Korea from commanding heights. According to the British United Press Association's Athens correspondent, the Greeks stormed two positions at Mount Pissoderi, overlooking Korea and held on despite a desperate Italian attempt to dislodge them, in which planes dropped about 550 bombs on the mountain. The Greeks also, it is reported, advanced a further half mile along the main road to Korea, supported by light tanks and planes. The Associated Press of Great Britain's Belgrade correspondent quotes a report that Greek artillery fire has caused the closing of the highway between Yugoslavia and Korea. Other sources declare that a Greek force under the noted guerilla leader Varda cut the communications of the Italian Army which threatened Janina. “The Times” Athens correspondent said operations at the weekend clearly demonstrate that the Greeks were fighting with exceptional courage. Adequate British air support is greatly needed in order to convert the Italian land and air pressure into a wholesale enemy retreat. The “Daily Telegraph’s” Belgrade correspondent says many Albanians are deserting across the Yugoslav frontier.

ACTION IN TURKEY ANOTHER TWENTY CLASSES CALLED UP. (Received This Day, 12.55 p.m.) SOFIA, November 4. Turkey, it is reported, has called up additional men from twenty classes.