GERMAN ASSAULT FLUNG BACK

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23495, 25 November 1941, Page 7

GERMAN ASSAULT FLUNG BACK

British Hold Firm At Sidi Rezegh PUSH CONTINUES FROM TOBRUK (Received November 25, 12.45 a.m.) (8.0.W.-U.P.A.) LONDON. Nov. 24. With guns roaring and aeroplanes skirmishing in dogfights over the battle area, fighting was resumed when German tanks which had assembled on Saturday night in the neighbourhood of El Adem, on the newly-built Tobruk road, led a fierce and powerful attack in an attempt to recapture Sidi Rezegh. A British armoured brigade and a supoort group, including a famous line regiment, held their ground in a fight that lasted for an hour around a few shacks and the tombs of sheikhs. The Tobruk garrison, passing on, made a further advance and reached a point two miles from the armoured division that is cutting off the retreat westwards of the German panzer divisions, now considerably reduced in strength. At the same time, British armoured forces supported by South Africans are gaining positions to cut off any attempt to move eastwards by the Germans, and are thus slowly completing the encircling movement that will ultimately lead to a conclusive battle. Artillery is in a position to .cover the gap that still exists. German forces were on Sunday morning still holding positions at Solium and on the frontier. New Zealanders are moving up to do battle at Gambut. Nazi heavy tanks are being greatly hampered by mud and inundations, especially to the 'west of TobruK, where immense areas are under water. High winds and occasional dust storms have failed to prevent the Royal Air Force playing its part in the' invasion by repeated attacks on

the enemy’s communications an,d the lestructioh of aeroplanes on the ground in daring low-diving assaults. Not a single opportunity of bringing Axis aeroplanes to battle is lost. In spite of formidable air reinforcements the Luftwaffe has been unable to give real help to its motorised forces because of the constant watch an movements maintained by Tomahawks and other Royal Air Force machines, Pilots on reconnaissance sorties report that many machines are to be seen on enemy aerodromes—an indication that Hitler is doing what he can to send air support to his tanks. Speaking on the sixth day of the British offensive, a' high British officer said on Sunday: “The decisive moment has. not yet come.” Indian forces are encountering fierce resistance four and a half miles west of Sidi Omar. Stiff resistance i§ expected west of robruk, where the Italians have built heavy fortifications and laid vast minelelds. “Slowly But Surely Winning” All the Axis atrtibdrediare now believed to have been thrown into the battle of Libya, says a Cairo message. The Germans, in the absence of reserves, appear to be staking everything on beating the British in the Sidi Rezegh region, and, then proceeding westward to new positions, but the viewpoint strongly held in military circles in Cairo is that General Cunningham and his men are slowly but surely winning. This focuses attention for the moment on Sidi Rezegh and the complementary infantry engagement which began yesterday morning in the region south of Tobriik. but it is pointed out that even the stillest German resistance here does not .preclude progress by other British forces elsewhere in Libya, and drives which hitherto have been merely mentioned in communiques may possibly produce important results ary moment. The desert tank battles usually occur at a range of 300 to 800 yards, although often as much as 1200 yards, says the Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” The battles extend over a vast area and tanks manoeuvre, firing continuously until one side has lost such a proportion of its forces that the survivors make off. Firepower, speed, and armour are the three decisive factors, and the American tanks have shown a superiority over the Germans in these respects. repeatedly outpacing their opponents and being able to take heavy punishment. Human losses in these actions are comparatively low, and it is not uncommon for a tank to be knocked out without casualties to its crew. Sortie From Tobruk The Cairo correspondent of the Exchange Telegraph News Agency says it is now learned that the Tobruk defenders sallying out on November 20 took prisoner 1100 Italians and Germans. “The Times” reveals that English and Polish troops with tanks were gradually transported, to Tobruk before the offensive, permitting the bulk of the Australians to be withdrawn “for a short and well-earned rest.” Major Fielding Eliot, writing in the “New York Herald Tribune,” says: “The magnificently-timed British offensive in Libya has a good chance of relieving the entire Middle East and of opening further offensive possibilities in the Mediterranean against Sicily, Sardinia, and even Italy itself. “There is a good prospect of the spectacle of the German panzer corps surrendering in the open field being afforded the world,” he added. The tank battle round Sidi Rezegh. seen from the air, looks like a huge pre-historic arena, with fire-breathing scaly-hided monsters pitted against one another in a terrific struggle, said a British fighter pilot in Cairo. He added; “These monsters lumber slowly forward, swing this way and that way, each intent on the other’s destruction. The battle seems to be raging for miles. The enemy used to pop off at us when we attacked, but since Friday their hands are full trying to stand up to the British tank attacks. “Guns are blazing away on all sides. We hear the crackle of the firing above the roar of our engines, and the gun flashes outdo any fireworks display I have ever seen. It looked like a concentrated hell of shell against shell, steel against steel.”