FIERCE CLASHES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 172, 3 May 1943, Page 3

FIERCE CLASHES

THE ENEMY COUNTER-ATTACKS.

FIRST ARMY GAINS GROUND.

EIGHTH PRESSED SLIGHTLY (N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright.) LONDON, May 2. The Medjerda Valley remains the scene of the fiercest Tunisian clashes with the battle for Bou Aoukaz undecided after five days of bloody fighting. A savage German counter-attack from the crest of Jebel Bou Aoukaz pushed back the British to a line 400 yards from the crest. The tide of battle has ebbed and flowed between the line and the crest since Tuesday. Elsewhere on the granite slopes semi-circling Mejez el Bab honours appear fairly even. The Ist Army has gained some ground on the Mejez el Bab-Tebourba road, but the Germans have retaken Sidi Abdullah. In the north, the French and Americans are fighting fiercely for Jebel Hazemat, which is east of Lake GaraaAchkel and only 14 miles from Mateur. After taking Hill 609, the Americans went in against Hill 523, which is just south of Hill 609. They prised the enemy from Hill 523’s caves and rocky strongpoints at the bayonet point. On the central sector, operations arc confined to patrol activity, following the great armoured battle, which raged around the El Kouzia salt lake. The Ist Army’s attempts to take the crest of Jebel Kournine so far have not succeeded.

On the south-west sector, the French, including Foreign Legionnairs, slightly advanced between Pont du Fahs and Jebel Zaghouan. Pont du Fahs is surrounded on the south, east, and west, but is still firmly held by the Germans, who are using a considerable force of infantry, tanks and artillery.

On the southern sector, enemy counter-attacks and infiltration tactics against the Bth Army have forced us to withdraw slightly after local attacks in which we secured our objectives, says Reuter’s Algiers correspondent.

Two Violent Counter-Attacks.

To violent counter-attacks were repulsed on Friday by the Ist Army east of Medez el Bab and in the tylejerda district, according to press dispatches but waves of enemy infantry, supported by terrific mortar fire, made the advanced positions in one quarter untenable. The British had to retire from Abdullah, nine or 10 miles east of Medez el Bab, but neither w'as given up without the exaction of a very heavy toll from the counterattackers. Hurricane bombers did excellent work attacking enemy mortars firing from a wadi on the British holding the high ground. From the plain north of the Kouzia marsh the British again attacked Jebel Kournin, which stands guard before the range of hills bounding the Tunis plain. Infantry succeeded in reaching the top of this precipitous hill only to find themselves looking over a wall of rock. They then withdrew.

Meanwhile British infantry attacked another hill a few miles to the north, and, taking the enemy by surprise, ejected them. Savage fighting also raged over the Jebel Bou Aoukaz. Enemy counter-attacks were repulsed and the British returned to their forward positions in that area, which is not yet finally in their hands. In the American sector fighting raged all day on the slopes, of Hill <509, three miles east of Sidi Nsir, where both sides attacked strongly.

Berlin Radio Opinion

Captain Sertorius on the Berlin radio said the French advance in the north coast sector was not dangerous for the Axis because Lake Garaa-Achkel is an invincible obstacle. The isthmus north of the lake is very narrow and easy to defend. Bizerta’s heavy guns command this route, also the route whereby the Americans are seeking to reach Mateur. At least half a dozen heavily fortified ridges separate the Americans from Mateur and these will hold them up for weeks at their present rate of progress.

The Berlin radio says 800 of the Ist Army were killed 1 on Friday in the fight for one height near Medjez el Bab.

The Berlin radio says also that the Bth Army attacked in the coastal sector from Enfidaville under a screen of artificial fog after strong artillery fire. The enemy used concentrated infantry forces, but the Italians and Germans stubbornly resisted and threw back the Bth Army to its original positions and inflicted heavy losses.

American long range artillery hidden in the hills began shelling Mateur on Friday morning, the German big guns hitting back. Fifteen German fighter-bombers made a bold but fruitless attempt to silence the American artillery. No Enemy Withdrawal. The “Daily Express” correspondent with the Ist Army says the German Commander,' General von Arnim, has issued an order of the day which is being distributed along the front and reads: “Attack at all costs. Before you lies the enemy, behind you is the sea. There must he no withdrawal.” Tilt* military writer of the “Daily Express” stated on Friday: “The Allied forees have failed to press home the great advantages won at the beginning of the week. That is the plain truth of the latest news. The enemy is holding on to all key points blocking the way to the Tunis plateau. General Alexander succeeded in breaking into the German defences, but he did not succeed in breaking through thorn. “There was justifiable optimism on April 27 that the hard core of the

enemy defences was giving way. The French commander expected to take Pont du Falls within 48 hours. This was not reckoning on the Germans tenacity and possibly under-estimating the strength of his fixed fortifications. It is true that the Allies can better afford losses, but against this there are three factors to take into account:

“ (1) The Axis is replacing sonic losses because some ships and pianos evade our blockade.

(2) Von Arnim will not need so many men when he falls back to Tunis and Bizerte.

“(3) Some of our losses must he in li igli ly-trai ned regi in ents.

“The battle for Bou Aukaz is continuing to-night with neither adversary having gained a decisive position. On the balance the Germans bad a little the better of the struggle, but the Ist Army has not been dislodged from the west slopes. It is painfully slow progress, but it remains true that once the break-through comes and our armour has room to manoeuvre, there will he a great acceleration in the pace. The final phase will he siege warfare with the Germans possibly abandoning Tunis.”