AMERICAN PUSH TO REAR OF MARETH LINE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 24, 29 January 1943, Page 3

AMERICAN PUSH TO REAR OF MARETH LINE

NAZIS SEE NEW MOVE Signs Of Major Operation Reported N.Z.P.A. and British Wireless Rec. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 28. A German military spokesman, in a radio statement, revealed a new United States advance in south Tunisia towards the rear of the Mareth Line. The United States forces in this sector were last reported at Maknassi. Reporting lively reconnaissance and shock troop activity in the south Tunisian sector, he said there was evidence that the American High Command was planning a major operation in the south which might be supported by a simultaneous British operation in the areas of

Medjez el Bab and Bou Arada, in northern Tunisia, where strong movements had been observed at the British camps. He added that numerous new British and American batteries had been brought Into action at all focal points on the Tunisian front in the last ten days, which had led to lively artillery duels. British patrols were repeatedly thrusting against the new Axis lines. The reported American push towards the rear of the Mareth Line underlines the fact that von Arnim and Rommel have not only to calculate the strength of the Eighth Army's push, but to reckon on the possibility of the Axis armies being cut off, or at any rate severely restricted, if forced to retreat much farther from the Tunisian border area, says Reuters correspondent with the First Army. Allies Consolidate Gains The American army concentrated in western Tunisia has opened an offensive designed to force a passage through to the Mediterranean, according to earlier reports from Axis sources. The Americans attacked from around Tebessa and

forward units made contact with Axis outposts. Military observers say the object of the attack would be to drive a wedge between Rommel's forces and the German army concentrated in eastern Tunisia. Allied troops in Tunisia were last known to be consolidating local gains made in the Ousseltia Valley and the mountains west 'of it. They have recaptured some of the positions Axis troops recently took from them.

A correspondent says the main assault in this'action was made by American infantry supported by mechanised artillery. French forces assisted by making a diversionary attack. A five-mile advance was made, 15 German tanks destroyed and some prisoners taken. United States casualties in Tunisia to date are 211 killed, 532 wounded, and 515 missing.. Of the missing 226 have been reported prisoners of war. Weather Dictates Action Despite the Axis assertions that the Allies are opening large-scale movements in Tunisia, Reuters correspondent with the First Army says that fighting on the central front has again died down to routine patrolling. The Allies are consolidating their gains in the hills in the Bou Arada, Pont Du Fahs and Ousseltia triangle.

The weather is still dictating the extent of the operations in Tunisia, states the correspondent.- Small scale movements are most difficult in the north and centre, and are practically impossible in the south, where the roads are mere trails. Nevertheless a slight improvement in the weather has enabled our planes to resume high intensity strafing of the enemy's communication lines.

"Our patrols made contact with the enemy at Sabratha, which is 40 miles west of Tripoli," says the Cairo communique. "Enemy railway communications in southern Italy were successfully attacked. One of our planes has not returned." "Activity on the Tunisian front was confined to patrolling," says an Allied North African communique. "Light bombers on Tuesday attacked enemy objectives at Bizerta. Yesterday two enemy destroyers were bombed between Tunisia and Sicily, one being left on fire. From these operations one of our planes ■is missing. It is now- known that six enemy bombers were destroyed in Tuesday night's attack on Algiers.