MODERN WARFARE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 March 1941, Page 6

MODERN WARFARE

NEW METHODS IN LIBYA BRITISH ADVANCE. 'TANK OFFICER'S STORY. (.British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 11.53 a.m.) RUGBY, March 7. Tank corps officers actually engaged in the thick of the Libyan operations culminating in the capture of Benghazi have given first hand accounts of the campaign which underline an outstanding success achieved by the British army. This was the first large scale application of entirely novel methods of warfare. The work of light tank units was described by an officer who took part in the offensive, from the capture ol Sidi Barrani to the cutting off of Benghazi from the south. "The job,” he said, "was to carry out a reconnaissance and to go on in front of our forces to isolate the place, preventing its defenders from getting away, also to stop reinforcements from getting to them. Then, while the infantry, biggei tanks and other arms got the better of the place, we went on to the next objective and got that isolated. So it was at Bardia and Tobruk. After the fall of Tobruk, when the Australians went on along the coast road to Deina, we went inland westward, across the desert, to Mekili and were there until it had been captured. Then we had word that the Italians along the coast were beginning to stream away westwaids. at a tremendous pace. Orders came to go straight across the desert to the coast road south of Benghazi and cut off the enemy's retreat. The going was very difficult, over rough stuff. For thirty miles it was the worst tank country I ever have seen —rock —outcrop and boulders. And we were racing the clock all the time. Italian planes had dropped showers of "thermos ’ bombs on our line of advance but that did not stop us. We got to the coast, 150 miles across country, in thirty hours. We arrived in the nick of' time. Coming down the road was a column of Italian lorries and guns —the start to stream out of Benghazi—all coming It was half an hour from nightfall. We attacked at once and by the time it was dark they were finished, vehicles abandoned, crippled or surrendered. We took a thousand in half an hour.