BEATEN BACK

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21370, 14 March 1941, Page 5

BEATEN BACK

MUSSOLINI’S TROOPS WAR IN ABYSSINIA ALLIES PRESSING ON (.United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyrights LONDON, March 12 At point after point in Abyssinia the Imperial troops and patriot forces are steadily beating back Mussolini’s troops. The latest reports from Central Abyssinia emphasise that the Italians who are fleeing from Burye to Debra Markos, on the road to Addis Ababa, did not attempt to defend the crossing of the Temche River, or even to destroy the bridge across it. This was good news* for the British and patriots, because the river offered a natural defence where the Italians might have made a stand. The pursuers hope to reach the main body of the retreating Italians before it reaches the safety of Debra Markos. Many deserters are still coming in. What was once a force of nearly 8000 can now be little over 3000, of which 400 are wounded or sick. The Italian commander at present is transporting these ineffectives in lorries, piled high with stretchers, but the deserters say tha* these men are to be abandoned if the patriots show signs of catching up. The Imperial forces threatening the Italian stronghold of Asosa, on the west-east road to Addis Ababa, are thrusting along dusty camel tracks, sometimes through man - high elephant grass. Race to Addis Ababa The chief competitors of the patriots in the race to Addis Ababa are the South Africans, whose mechanised column is tearing across the Ogaden Plateau toward Harrar. They are at present advancing faster than the Abyssinians, who are confronted with difficult terrain and also the fortifications of Debra Markos. The South Africans are meeting no resistance in the present stages, but they may have to fight at Jijiga, where it is estimated that there are 10,000 Italian troops, and also at Harar and Diredawa. The third team in the race, that now operating against Asosa, has only an outsider’s chance, as it is still confronted with 375 miles of difficult country. Replying to a question about the possibility of enemy resistance at Jijiga, the military spokesman in Cairo said that our forces were making a back-door entry. The Italians had planned their defences facing Jibouti and did not expect an offensive from the south. A number of British business men and officials in Khartoum are now preparing to resume their old jobs in different parts of Abyssinia. Italian Offensive Broken News from all sectors indicates that the great Italian offensive in Albania has been completely broken. General Caballero apparently planned a series of counter-attacks, which should have developed and extended into an offensive. The Blackshirts launched attacks six days ago in close-packed waves in an effort to regain vital heights in the Tepeleni neighbourhood, which the Greeks gained a week ago. The attacks faded out yesterday and were not renewed on the same scale to-day. “No-man’s-land” was littered with Italian dead. The Italian artillery preparation for the offensive failed seriously to affect the Greek lines, while the Greek guns, on the contrary, caused heavy losses. The Eleventh Army proved unable, despite strenuous efforts, to hold positions against the Greek troops, pressing forward with the battle cry of “To the Sea!”

The Blackshirts pitilessly machinegunned a company of Italian soldiers who looked like deserting. Only ten reached the Greek lines. A Rome communique does not mention the Italian offensive in the central sector, but claims that Greek attacks across the Voyusa river vallaye were repulsed with heavy losses.