The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-12-12
Italians Are Fighting
 Fiercely In Egypt
tContinued From Page 1)


 cisively repulsed sporadic Greek at tacks and captured prisoners ane 1 arms.
 Italian airplanes bombed Greel troops concentrations in theBerovs zone and ships anchored in tht Gulf of Patras, the communique said Disclosing British naval raid or Chisimaio, on the Italian Somalilanc coast of East Africa, the communique said that Italian naval guns 11ac scored hits on a British cruiser which attempted to shell the city It was added that the cruiser did nc damage.
 Not Yet Fallen Fascist circles here asserted that Sidi Barrani had not yet fallen into British hands, though they said that the British had surrounded, it. l An Italian force, these inform ants said, still defended the base. Yesterdays communique. they said referring to fighting west of Sidi Barrani, indicated that the British had carried out an encircling move ment.
 The text of the communique was
 "On the Greek front sporadic enemy attacks were decisively re- pulsed. We captured prisoners and automatic arms. Our air force, not withstanding bad weather condi- tions, bombed enemy troop concen- trations in the Berova zone and ships anchored in the Gulf of Pa tras.
 "In North Africa operations are still under way. Yesterday fierce fighting occurred west of Sidi Bar rani in the zone of Bug Bug. The enemy suffered considerable losses in men and material. Our losses also were considerable.
 13 Planes Down
 Tn the air battle mentioned ir bulletin No. 186 (Tuesday) the num- Der of enemy planes shot down was l3 instead of four. Seven of our planes did not return.
 Tn East Africa small detachments were active. On the Sudan frontier Italian patrols surprised and wiped out an enemy post. In the TeSSeni zone Qtalian Eritrea) the enemy attempted to infitrate within our lines with one tank and five armor- ed care but was repulsed by our troops and anti-tank artillery.
 Italian. scouting planes, attacked by seven enemy chasers, shot down one in flames and returned safe to base.
 "A British cruiser approached Chisimaio and fired a number of shots against the city without caus- ing damage. The cruiser was hit by our coastal batteries.
 Enemy planes attacked the zones of Argheisa and Fl Uak in former British Somaliland."
 Greeks Slowed Down
 Athens, Greece, Dec. 12-(UP)- Violent Italian resistance slowed down Greek advances toward Elba. san and Tepelini today but on the southern end of the Albanian front the Greeks moved up the coastal road hindered only by skirmishes with Italian rear guards.
 On the north front, m the Mokrs mountains between Pogradec anC Elbasan, the Italians counter attack. ed, aided by regiments of crack re- serves but official sources here said the Italians had been thrown back with heavy losses.
 Greek columns advancing west from Premedi and north from Arg yrokastron toward Tepelini, last major Italian base in South Alban- ia, encountered stiffer resistance from Italians barricaded in mosques and monasteries along the valleys Front dispatches said the Italians also were adopting the Greek meth- cd of mountain fighting-movine from one peak to another instead of defending the valleys-although the agile Greek mountaineers were reported far superior in those tac- tics.
 Get Strong Fortress
 A EnOkesman here said the Greeks