A DESERT RAID

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21248, 19 October 1940, Page 15 (Supplement)

A DESERT RAID

QUEST FOR PRISONERS ITALIAN POST ATTACKED INFORMATION FROM ENEMY (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) This is an account of a raid that occurred on the Libyan frontier on the night of August 22-23. A battalion of a very famous English regiment received the following orders: “Information respecting the enemy is urgently required. A prisoner will be taken.” The enemy were the Italians and the area from which the prisoner was to be extracted was north of Capuzzo along the road to Bardia. The raiding party consisted of one officer and 14 other ranks. A new Zealand officer was attached to the regiment at the time and managed to persuade the battalion commander to let him go too. Silence Necessary The raid was to be a silent one 1 there would be no artillery barrage; no other help. It was expected that they would be able to capture one of the cyclists who had been noticed to travel along the road, or failing a cyclist, a driver of one of the enemy motor vehicles which were known to use this road by night. The preparations for the raid were simple enough. Sandshoes were worn instead of the usual heavy military boots. All means of identity were removed from the tunics. Pockets were emptied of any papers which might, in the event of capture, tell the enemy the unit opposite them. Steel helmets, rifles and bayonets, two M.E. rifles and two machine guns and an anti-tank rifle were the armaments. At seven o’clock in the evening the small party paraded. Each man was searched to see that no evidence of identity had been overlooked. The rifles and machine-guns were tried as a last precaution. All was well for whatever the gallant little party had to face. Half-an-hour later, seated in four military trucks, the party started off to the accompaniment of “Good luck and happy hunting,” and similar words of cheer. At the top of Halfaya Pass there was still too much light to allow the little party to go further in the meantime. They halted for half-an-hour, by which time the light had deepened. On they went to Fort Musaid; then they turned west for another mile and a-half. Tense Feeling Leaving the trucks here they silently advanced on foot, each man experiencing the tense feeling of a fast approaching crisis. (Suddenly one man noticed movement to the rear of the party. Cover was taken and quietly the officer investigated the position. There was nothing. On went the party when anolhei member noticed movement on the flank, again a false alarm. The barbed wire which the Italians had erected as a protective screen was then reached. Two men who had been detailed for the job crept forward and cut a gap sufficiently wide for the small party to pass through. When this passage had been negotiated bearings were checked and the party went on in the direction they had decided to follow. The bitumen road was reached and the party divided itself into two, one party on each side, connected only oy a taut piece of wire stretched across the road to trip up the expected cyclist. For one long hour the party waited, listening intently for an approaching enemy. None came, only the sound of distant voices and some bumping on the ground broke the silence. Dark Shadow Appears It was decided to go on. The party was called together and they silently marched towards the triangle made by the Si Aziez-Cupuzzo-Bardia roads. A dark shadow appeared on the flank. It was a hangar. The party surrounded it. Not a sound was heard within. # They listened intently. Only the* breathing of the raiders could be heard. The hangar was empty. As the party re-assembled on one side of the hangar the sound of digging and movement could then be neard clearly. It came from the direction of the locality to which the party had decided to go. As the area of the triangle was reached a sentry was seen standing on the road on the left of the raiders. Another sentry was noticed ahead and then some large lorries standing within the triangle were revealed in silhouette. A group of the enemy could be seen. There appeared to be about 150 of them. As the party crept up to the road a sergeant and two men with a machine gun were left behind as cover. The rest moved forward. Their objective was the men working on the road. About 20 could clearly be seen laying stones on the edge of a trench. One man unwittingly helped the raiding party, for he was smoking a cigarette. Signal to Attack The signal was given. Every man rose to his feet and with rifles thrust forward, bayonets gleaming in the light, they rushed forward as one man. A yell of surprise from the enemy, a few hurried rifle shots, and the party was at their throats. Rifles barking and bayonets thrusting did their deadly work; hands were soon held high in pure fright. Bedlam supplanted the quiet of that Egyptian night. All was confusion amongst the enemy. The British party pursued, and pursued relentlessly, the purpose of their raid. The slightest resistance meant instant death, there was only one thing to do, to flee or to surrender. While some rounded up several prisoners, others spent a few brief minutes in protecting their capture by firing and bayoneting on either flank. A large dugout was noticed; into this jumped one of the raiders, a man in bed, clearly an officer, sprang up to collapse back with a sigh as a bayonet ended his earthly cares. Italians Open Fire The signal was given to the party to retire. A field gun was noticed

quite near and a decision had to be made whether it should be destroyed* To have pushed a bomb down its muzzle would take time and the Italians {night rally and prevent the taking of the prisoners. So it was decided to return with the prisoners and leave the gun. As the party was returning an enemy. machine-gun opened fire. It was firing high. One of the prisoners made a cry to give the Italians the proper direction. He was dealt with. The sergeant left behind to cover the retreat attempted to open fire but the machine-gun jammed. The enemy fire was getting perilously cuose. Back went the sergeant with his file of men carrying the machinegun. The enemy were now pouring in a deadly fire and the sergeant halted and this time the machinegun spoke its deadly messages. Two magazines were emptied at the Italians. Back, back went the party, forcing the 5 prisoners along. Through the narrow gap in the wire all passed and then came quiet. The enemy ceased firing. The rest of the journey was uneventful. The lorries were reached, those prisoners who had been wounded were attended to and the party reported back to their battalion commander to receive congratulations on a job well and gallantly done. Later it was learnt that much valuable information was secured from the prisoners. The name of the New Zealander was Captain T. C. Wallace of the 2nd N.Z. Divisional Cavalry Regiment.