DRIVE CONTINUES
IN SPITE OF BLINDING SANDSTORMS SOME DETAILS OF RECENT FIGHTING SERIES OF PITCHED BATTLES. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, December 13. In spite of blinding sandstorms the Army of the Nile continues its advance toward Libya, driving the retreating Italians through the long and narrow gorge leading through Solium to Bardia on the Italian side of the border. The official spokesman irj Cairo stated last night that operations were proceeding most satisfactorily. The offensive today is still gathering momentum and the operations are progressing at such speed that official communiques are barely able to keep up with the news coming from the front. It is believed that an official estimate made yesterday afternoon of a total of more than 20,000 prisoners taken may well prove to be an underestimate. Certainly the British have not yet had time fully to reckon up the vast quantities of equipment and other material which they have captured. It is now estimated that the Italians who have been destroyed, captured or bottled up number about 40,000. They include many members of the crack Black Shirt forces. The British forces round Sidi Barrani were yesterday occupied in clearing up a battlefield extending over 200 square miles. Every day the Royal Air Force retains its mastery in the air, and, with the Italians finding themselves unable seriously to interfere with their operations, the British planes have continued bombing and machine-gunning enemy troops and positions. The “Daily Telegraph’s” special correspondent in the Western Desert says the British attacks developed along a constantly shifting semi-circle with Sidi Barrani as the hub. From the first onslaught the operations developed with bewildering intricacy over the whole tawny, rock-strewn desert. Individual detachments skirmishing miles into enemy territory started a series of pitched battles. It is impossible to give a coherent account of the operations till the reports are collated, but the satisfaction and optimism at the desert headquarters are undisguised.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 December 1940, Page 5
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319DRIVE CONTINUES Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 December 1940, Page 5
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