THE BRITISH ONFALL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 December 1940, Page 5

THE BRITISH ONFALL

MR WINSTON CHURCHILL’S SURVEY SUCCESSFUL FIRST PHASE. NAVAL AND AIR FORCE CO-OPERATION. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 10.15 a.rn.) RUGBY. December 10. Mr. Churchill in his statement in the House of Commons, on the operations in the Western Desert said: “On the night of December 7 a strong detachment of the Army of the Nile, under Sir Maitland Wilson, comprising British Imperial troops and a detachment from the Free French Forces, advanced towards positions which the Italians had fortified since their incursion across the Egyptian frontier three months ago.” “It was .realised that the operation of advancing, almost in a single bound, across 75 miles of desert is by no means free from hazard and complexity when considerable forces are employed. It was, therefore, with satisfaction that the British Government learned that this long and rapid approach had been successfully accomplished yesterday. On the morning of December 9, our forces made contact with the enemy at various points over a wide front, stretching from Sidi Barrani, on the coast, in to the desert. The attack was delivered against positions on the Italian centre, to the southward of Sidi Barrani. In the first defended area which was assaulted and overrun, 500 prisoners and some war material fell into our hands. The Italian general in command was killed and his second-in-command was captured. Later in the day a further advance was made into a second, stronger and more important position, nearer the coast. More prisoners and material were taken. Other British forces also reached the coast between Sidi Barrani and Buqbuq, making further .captures of transport and prisoners. It is too soon to attempt to forecast either the scope or the result of the considerable operations which are in progress, but we can say that the preliminary phase has been successful. “The British Mediterranean Fleet and the R.A.F. are, of course, co-oper-ating closely. British warships bombed various coastal positions, including particularly Maktila and Sidi Barrani. On December 8, a heavy attack was made by bombers on an enemy aerodrome at Benghazi, where about 25 tons of bombs were dropped effectively on hangars and enemy aircraft. On the same night, air attacks were made on Italian advanced aerodromes, in a prelude to the morning action, and throughout yesterday bombers continually harassed Italian advanced aerodromes, while fighters, amongst whom Hurricane squadrons were conspicuous made low-flying machine-gun attacks, on troops and motor transport, causing substantial losses.” Mr Churchill said the sudden collapse of France had made the task of defending Egypt one of extreme difficulty, but by the time of Mr Anthony Eden’s visit, reinforcements of men and material had given a greater feeling of security and opened up the possibility of the assumption of the offensive without further delay, “in the execution of offensive plans which had been matured.” Delay was necessitated by the air assistance sent to Greece. The Premier added that the part played by the R.A.F. victories had been most important and they had received the warmest expressions ol gratitude from the Greek King for the aid they had been able to give. By the beginning of December the British airforces in Egypt were once again in a position to afford the necessary support to the army in a forward movement.

NOTHING TO SAY ROME REPORT IGNORES WESTERN DESERT. LONDON, December 10. Today’s Italian war communique completely ignores the operations in the western Egyptian desert. It is stated that most of the Italian front line troops in this area are Libyans.

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