CANEA BATTLE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1941, Page 5

CANEA BATTLE

FIGHTING ON TEN MILE FRONT CONFLICT OF SAVAGE INTENSITY. ENEMY CONCENTRATING ON MALEMI AREA. LONDON. May 27. The Cairo correspondent of “The Times’’ says the front line in Crete has developed round Canea. Reports from the island are very scanty, but they reveal that the battle of Crete has passed out of the initial parachuting stage and the Germans have now formed up in battle formation. Their objective is Canea itself

and Suda Bay, where Imperial forces are entrenched in force. Uneven country, sown with patches of gtain, fruit and vegetables, the gardens reaching up to the rocky foothills, lies between , the two forces. The first phase of the present German attack was launched cn May 24 when the enemy bombers started to blow Canea out of existence. Less serious but similarly ruthless attacks fell on Candia and Retimo, but here most of the population had already gone to the hills. The Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Mail” says the Germans are holding a 10-mile front , between Malemi and Canea. Reinforcements were poured in all yesterday by troop-carriers and parachutes and fighting is reaching new heights of fury. The developments indicate that the Germans are cutting their losses in other parts of the island in order to concentrate on the Malemi area.