AND WHOLE OF FRENCH WEST AFRICA
Placed at Disposal of Admiral Darlan IMPORTANT STRATEGIC GAIN FOR ALLIES EVENTS IN TUNISIA AND LIBYA LONDON, November 23. FRENCH WEST AFRICA, A VAST TERRITORY WHICH INCLUDES THE IMPORTANT STRATEGIC BASE OF DAKAR, HAS PLACED ITSELF UNDER THE ORDERS OF ADMIRAL DARLAN. In a broadcast Admiral Darlan announced that the Gov-ernor-General and military commanders of French West Africa had placed the territory freely at his disposal. French West Africa takes in the French Sudan, the Niger Colony, the Ivory Coast, French Guinea, Senegal and, most important of all from the strategic standpoint, it includes the great naval base of Dakar, which stands at the most westerly point of the French West African coastline. A number of important units of the French Navy, including the battleship Richelieu, were recently reported to be at Dd/kSrl* There has been no official news of fighting in Tunisia since last night’s report that British forward troops had inflicted damage on a German armoured column. The Algiers and Morocco radios came out today with an unconfirmed report that Allied forces had opened an attack on the German positions round Tunis and Bizerta. A correspondent reports considerable air activity yesterday in the vicinity of the Italian island of Pantellaria, in the Sicilian Channel. Thirteen Italian transport planes were at- ' tacked by Allied aircraft and three of them were shot down. In addition, two German troop-carriers and an Italian floatplane were destroyed. EIGHTH ARMY PRESSING ON In Libya the British Eighth Army is still driving on and has now pushed Rommel’s forces out of their positions south of Jedabaya. The enemy, with the support of tanks and antitank guns, fought a delaying action here for three days. The British forces are within 60 miles of Bl Agheila, but numerous mines and booby traps laid by the enemy along the road are making a swift advance more difficult. A correspondent says there have been no further reports oi fighting in northern and north-western Cyrenaica, which suggests that these areas have been pretty well cleaned up. Airfields in Sicily have been attacked on successive days by Allied aircraft and the harbour of Tripoli was twice raided by American bombers on Saturday night. The South African Prime Minister, General Smuts, has left Cairo on his return to South Africa. Before leaving he toured the battlefields as far west as Tobruk and took the salute at a parade of a South African division. THE RACE FOR TRIPOLI General Smuts sent a message.to General Montgomery: “Regret that owing to your hot pursuit of Rommel I missed you and Conyngham. Good hunting and good luck in the race between you and Anderson for Tripoli. ’ ’ x
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1942, Page 3
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447AND WHOLE OF FRENCH WEST AFRICA Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1942, Page 3
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