Evening star., 1941-01-23
Casualties al Tobruk
Not High Despite
Extent Of Fighting
ItuIions Declared Taken
By Surprise, Although
British Prepared Openly
BY EDWARD KENNEDY,
Associated Press War Correspondent

BY EDWARD KENNEDY,
Associated Press War Correspondent
WITH THE BRITISH FORCES
ON TOBRUK BATTLEFIELD, Jan
81 Delayed .-Italy's second strong
hold in Eastern Libya, the fortified
perimeter of the Tobruk area.
cracked at dawn today before a
brilliantly executed British and
Australian attack.
Once inside the rim, the storming
units speedily turned to a cleanup
Of the area of some 100 square miles
inclosed by it.
BY nightfall, numerous forts and
gun posts within the perimeter had
been silenced, Tobruk town and
harbor bottled up and many thou
sands of Italians taken prisoner. 1t
appears only a question of hours
now when the entire area and full
garrison will be taken. giving the
British control over half of eyre
naica (the eastern section of Libya
(The British officially an
nounced Wednesday night that
Tobruk had fallenD
Although preparations for the at
tack went on openly since the in
vestiture of the area two weeks ago
the British apparently took the
Italians by surprise. Many were
found sleeping in dugouts and
marched at bayonet point from their
beds to the prisoners lines.
Mussolini's forces appeared routed
at all points of contact. AS in Bar
dia, the Italian artillerymen stood
up as long as they could hammer
the British from a distance.
Throughout the days fighting not
single Italian plane appeared
overhead nor did the Italian fleet
venture out to aid the trapped and
harassed Fascist soldiers.
Tonight Tuesday, the sky was
red over the region as munitions
dumps and oil stores exploded and
went up in flames Italian guns still
doomed along the coast and to the
north, but we're being gradually put
out Of action.
Considering the extent of the
fighting, casualties have not been
high, although on the Italian side
they appear to be greater than at
Bardia.
Through Monday night I waited
at q vantage point on the desert
outside the southeastern part of the
perimeter. The night was exceed
Ingly cold.
During the past month the Ital-
:ans had dug wide ditch along the
cO-mile length of the defense rim,
employing thousands of soldiers and
using mechanical eXcavators. This
ditch was II feet deep except at
the southeastern point, where rock
formations prevented digging more
than 2 feet.
At $40 am. CTuesday) mighty
ertillery barrage went up and simul-
taneously British tanks charged
ever the ditch to the barbed wire,
which the Australians, protected by
the fire of tanks and cannon, were
cutting. Australian infantry fol.
lowed the tanks.
Attackers Split Up.
Once inside the stronghold the
ettacking groups split up, some
turning to the right and others to
the left, folding up the rim Of the
defenses by lightning attacks from
behind. Others went straight ahead
and then spread fanwise, mopping
Up the strong points within.
After them came British artillery
units and Australian cavalry units
il motor vehicles.
A drive along the inside OF the
r.m permitted still other Austria
lians to make a second gap 2 miles
to the right. These detachments
Grove the Italians into gulches along
the coast, where they remained to-
night, showing diminishing resist
trce.
At the moment of the initial
thrust, Australian units near the
seacoast made feint which at
tracted the brunt of the italian
artillery fire. They had the protec-
ton of gulleys. The materials moved
forward to that region in the past
few days as decoys had been quietly
withdrawn during the night, so that
the bulk of the italian shells fell
on empty desert.
BY $50 am. (Tuesday) the first
phase of the attack had been COM
pleted and the second, which car
ried the battle on from points
gained within the perimeter began
Many Prisoners Disarmed
BY this time sight which has
become familiar in this campaign
whenever the Italians are in COM
bat-long lines of grey-green clad
warriors marching resignedly into
captivity-had appeared.
Entering the Tobruk stronghold
with a group of Australian CORE
spondents not long after the first
troops went through, I found many
prisoners already disarmed. Hour
by hour, the lines grew longer.
They marched upon us from all
directions toward hastily thrown-up
stockades outside the gap through
which we entered.
Shells from the Italian batteries
were bursting all around us and a
number of the prisoners were killed
by them.
AS the lines went by, many small
groups of Italians jumped from
hiding places, waving white hand
kerchiefs to fall in with their CAP
tured comrades.
Many continued to hold their
handkerchiefs aloft in the lines in
apparent fear that they might be
mistaken for an army still in COM
bat.
Toward the close of the morning
I saw one line of 1000 prisoners be-
ing marched by remarkably few
guards who seemed to have no trou-
bic in handling their charges.
At noon, the attackers took two
hours off, lunching heartily on
seized Italian rations, the soldiers
sprawling on the ground for a rest
before the resumption of fighting.