THE CHINA MAIL, MARCH 19, 1941.
BERBERA'S RECAPTURE Full Story Of Operation Told In Aden
Four Men In A Boat
"MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS" IN THE AIR
"Mysterious hap- penings are occurring in the air," writes the London correspon- dent of the Madrid newspaper "ABC."
He adds: "What- ever the British anti- aircraft devices may be, things have great- ly changed and Lon- doners to-day are sa- fer than ever in their shelters and houses."
-Reuter.
"PENTHOUSE" EJECTION CAMPAIGN
on
the
"Penthouse" colonies roof-tops of buildings in Canton Road, Shanghai Street and Tem- ple Street, in the Yaumati Dis- trict, were swept away as a result of raids carried out by the Police early yesterday morning and last night.
Hundreds of persons who have been making their homes on the roof-tops for the last two or three years were ejected, some being
Finn-FLEX
AN EPIC STORY OF THE RECAPTURE OF BERBERA, CAPITAL OF BRITISH SOMALI- LAND, IS TOLD IN A CABLE RECEIVED FROM ADEN YESTERDAY.
At one point the success of the whole operation depended on four men in a boat stealing silently towards the Somaliland coast, while the outstanding impression left by the operation is the "unchangeableloyalty of the Somalis, whose territory had been usurped by the Italians."
About midnight on March 15/16, j while the eastern was to be car
ofried out by Arabs and Somabs Liberating fleet, consisting
| troopships, convoyed by warships, specially recruited in Aden under)
British officers. stole silently towards the coast.
Clouds scudded across the sky and occasionally allowed the moon to illuminate the flat shore with mountains beyond.
The implicit faith of the Som. alis in British ability to restore to them their land.
everyone at Aden.
Impressed
Four men in a bout had the task
Previous aerial photographic operations gave the commanders of landing without disturbing the of the expedition full knowledge enemy and marking out a landing of the terrain, and the assault was !planned to force the Italians
divide their already depleted and demoralised forces.
Two Landings
beach.
to
Two landings were planned. The western landing was entrusted 10 Picked Indian troops, with porting Engineers
sup
and Artillery,
sent to government camps.
The action is connected the cholera menace.
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After an apparently
intermin-
able period of waiting a signal flashed the news of the success- ful accomplishment of this task.
Suddenly, at zero hour, a flash of thunder of naval gunfire shat- tered the quiet night as nuval shells ripped through the air, ex- ploding inland.
Use Of Force
al- It was later learned that though a large number of Italians! left the town under cover of dark- ness shortly before the British approach. those who remained were sufficiently numerous to ren der the use of force necessary to crush them.
Away on the right the western landing force went into action and the way had been paved for the eastern force of Somalis and Arabs to land and advance towards town two miles away.
the
and stem
Italian machine-guns field-guns attempting to the assault were outclassed by the accuracy of the British na- val fire. which was the more
view praiseworthy in
of the murky cloudy nature of the night.
The Somali-Arab force continu- ed to advance and news came of the complete success of the ma- jor attack in the west.
Quickly Over
STOP
PRESS
CHINA SQUADRON EMBLEM
THE COMPETITION FOR THE SQUADRON EMBLEM By 9.20 in the morning all was CHINA over; Berbera was again in Bri- CONDUCTED BY THE BRITISH tish hands. Over 100 prisoners VOLUNTARY WAR CONTRIBU-
FUND were taken while British casual- TION
SHANGHAI IN ties were negligible.
WAS WON BY MR. N. E. KENT. Even during the bombardment The winner adopted a form of the inhabitants of Berbera came emblem which seems to be com- running to meet the British monly adopted by the Air Min- forces, waving Union Jacks and, istry of a device within a garter Somali flags which had been hid-
by the Imperial surmounted den from the Italians,
crown and supported by a scroll bearing the motto "Rise from the East."
Pass Blown Up
The Italians had blown up a ed. pass on the road to Sheik but within a few hours of the reoccu- pation, transports of stores were being landed and British officers examined the forlorn and miser- able Italian prisoners.
The major commanding them burst into tears when handing over his revolver.
"I AM AN OLD SOLDIER,” HE SAID, THUS EPITOMISING THE GENERAL FEELING REGARD- ING THE DEGRADATION TO WHICH MUSSOLINI'S AFRICAN GAMBLE HAS LOST VA. ONCE FREE AND CULTURED · PEO-
PLE, REUTER.
The prefix "spacial” to telegrama ta uned by the "Sunday Herald". 'ahd "China Mail' to 'Indicate news which
le strictly-copyright- under, the provi-
sions of the. Telecommunications Or
'ed under any circumstances, alther
About 100 entries were recely-
Reuter,
The number of Cholera cases for the year has passed the 300 mark--78 cases be- ing notified yesterday bring- ing the total to 323
a
The health authorities pointed out that of the 78 cases notified. 11 actually oc- curred yesterday, while the remainder "occurred over period of several days, noti- fleations being withheld pending B.. confirmation.”
Of the cases registered yesterday. 70 came from Victoria, four from Kowloon and four from Aberdeen and rural Hong Kong.
DEATH
PISSAREVSKY-At the Queen Mary Hospital at 10:45 p.m. on March 18, 1941, after a long illness, Mrs. E. K. Pis- sarevsky. Funeral will take place at the Jewish Cemetery, Happy Valley, at 5 p.m. to-
day.
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