DAMAGING BLOWS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 July 1942, Page 3

DAMAGING BLOWS

STRUCK BY ALLIED AIR FORCES. IN WESTERN DESERT & CRETE. LONDON, July 22. Today’s Cairo communique reports some artillery activity by both sides in the northern sector of the front in Egypt. Our bombers made attacks in force throughout the day on targets in the desert, including a concentration of about 1000 vehicles in the central sector and some badly-dispersed lorried infantry using the coast road in the southern sector. Long-range fighters shot down an Italian plane over Sidi Barrani. . Heavy bombers made an attack on Suda Bay, in Crete. Direct hits were registered on two medium-sized ships and a near-miss on a large one. Other bombers raided Tobruk. Five machines are missing.

MANY PATROLS

MADE BY NEW ZEALANDERS 4 AT NIGHT. CAPTURE OF ITALIAN PRISONERS. (Received This Day, 9.35 a.m.) LONDON, July 22. It is generally recognised that the New Zealanders are probably the most offensive-minded troops in the Western Desert, says the “Evening Standard’s” correspondent with the New Zealanders. Although at present there is mostly quiet along the front, except for the R.A.F.’s bombing and patrolling, it is rarely quiet for the New Zealanders, who are keeping up their already famous night patrols. These picked intruders sleep during the hot days and work at night time. They carried out a typical patrol on Sunday night, returning early on Monday with more than forty prisoners from the Ariete Division. They killed a similar number and destroyed a 105-millimetre gun, five anti-tank guns and ten mach-ine-guns and ga’ined much valuable information. Carrying tommy-guns and grenades, they travelled 8,000 yards to the enemy lines. They returned minus two Bren-gun carriers, which struck land mines. Their prisoners were young Italians, most of whom had arrived from Italy in the last ten days. None had been in Africa for more than a month.

The correspondent was unable to give the patrol’s strength, but it was only one of several New Zealand jobs that night.