EARLIER NEWS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 May 1941, Page 5

EARLIER NEWS

LULL. ENFORCED BY DUST STORM POSITION IN THE WESTERN DESERT. NAZI TRANSPORT PROBLEMS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY. May 4. A communique issued from British headquarters in Cairo today states that though the enemy attack against the outer defences of Tobruk in Libya might be renewed, it was definitely brought to a standstill yesterday afternoon, when enemy tanks withdrew in the face of vigorous artillery fire. In the Solium area our mechanised forces again carried out a successful raid, inflicting casualties and capturing prisoners.

The Press Association states that military circles in Cairo report a lull in the fighting at Tobruk while a duststorm raged, enveloping attackers and defenders, clouds of sand reducing visibility to less than 10 yards. Italian and German forces still hold a small sector in the western portion of the outer defences, but their tanks have not attempted a fresh attack after being driven back on Saturday by heavy artillery fire. The correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph," after a tour of the Western Desert, declares that the British forces are by no means at a disadvantage today compared with the position last June. Though the German advance from El Agheila came sooner and more strongly than was expected, we were aware of the presence of German armoured formations in Tripoli. The Germans, he said, no longer were using the inland desert route for the transport of supplies because it had been found too costly in fuel and also wear and tear. This meant that they must bring what they could by air and the rest by the coastal road, which was exposed to attack by the Navy and the Royal Air Force. "I was particularly impressed by the Australians in our main defence positions,” the correspondent said. “They know the present enemy is different in calibre from their former opponent in this area, but they found the defence line amazingly strong and have since immensely added to its strength.