From a vantage-point overlooking no-man╒s-land I watched the Army of the Nile launch its great attack on Tobruk (writes a Press Association special correspondent). The spearhead consisted of British tanks, Australian infantry, a famous Eastern county yeomanry regiment, and mechanised troops from the North Country.
The main assault was directed against a high spur of ground between the perimeter, mopping up gun positions.
Our men advanced behind a creeping barrage of artillery fire, the air resounding with the roar of the guns and the whine of shells. Everywhere were the reeking fumes of cordite.
The Italian front-line guns were quickly silenced.
Half an hour after the attack started I was able to follow in the wake of supply columns and Red Cross units over the broken defences. In the growing light of dawn I met the first batch of Italian prisoners coming out. All of them looked relieved that their ordeal by bombardment was over.
Thousands of the prisoners streaming back were caught in the barrage from their own guns. Many were killed or wounded.
When I reached the gun positions which had been our first objective I found the Australians had got there ahead of schedule. They had taken the positions in two hours instead of the four allowed for by the staff.
Although the Italian ammunition was dated 1938, most of the guns were built in 1919. As we paused at this spot a spotter ╒plane which had been flying over the battlefield since dawn dropped a message and then slowly climbed again.
HARBOUR╒S WRECKS
Towards two o╒clock, with the guns of a fort booming out on the left flank of a ridge, I had a panoramic view of the later stages of the battle. Below was a sandy plain extending to the final escarpment dropping down to Tobruk. Over the port itself black smoke from burning oil dumps and barracks testified to the deadly effect of the R.A.F. bombings.
The Imperial Army moved across the plain to attack two forts lying in a straight line behind Tobruk. A battery behind me was giving the foremost fort a terrific drubbing. The accuracy of the artillery was most impressive.
A little later I went to the top of the final escarpment. Across in the harbour a large liner lay burning from stem to stern, smaller craft which were tied up alongside were also in flames, and masts and funnels of sunken vessels showed above the water. The cruiser San Giorgio lay in the harbour mouth.
A formidable battery of at least six guns posted on a headland was blazing away at the advancing British forces. We learned that the first fort, and possibly the second, had been captured.
