Pursuit in the Desert

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23797, 17 November 1942, Page 4

Pursuit in the Desert

Events have moved so rapidly in the Western Desert since the Axis army broke in front of El Alamein that the military situation has become difficult to assess. On Sunday the Bth Army reached Tmimi, which is 400 miles from El Alamein and 150 miles by the direct route to Benghazi. The whereabouts of the enemy rearguard is not known with any certainty. At the end of last week enemy concentrations were bombed at Cyrene; the latest reports are of bombings south of El Agheila, which is 180 miles beyond Benghazi. The absence of any reference to land fighting in the latest British communiques and such reports as are available from newspaper correspondents suggest that the pursuit is momentarily outdistanced. So far there is no indication where Rommel intends to make his stand. By now, the Bth Army is probably at Mekili, which means that both Derna and Cyrene are certain to fall. It may also be doubted whether Benghazi will be defended, except for delaying purposes, since it would easily be flanked by forces established in strength at Mekili. General Wavell’s offensive halted just short of El Agheila, and this is probably the furthest point east at which Rommel will attempt a stand. For both sides, the task of maintaining forces in the El Agheila region will be exceptionally difficult. The Bth Army will be more than 800 miles from its main supply bases. But Rommel, though nearer to his main base in Tripoli, will have behind him the 500-mile stretch of almost waterless country along the Gulf of Sirte—perhaps (-the worst area in

the whole of North Africa from the point of view of supply. In the circumstances, it is conceivable that he may withdraw his forces back to the hill country of western Tripolitania before fighting a major battle, thereby compelling the Bth Army to cope with the most formidable supply problem yet faced by any army in this war. It seems clear, however, that the fate of the Axis in North Africa depends more on the progress of the British Ist Army now advancing into Tunisia from the west than on the speed of the Bth Army’s pursuit, which must soon be slowed down by supply difficulties and wear and tear on its mechanised vehicles. And if it is true that the Axis has captured the naval base at Bizerte and has already 10,000 troops in Tunisia, the Ist Army has a formidable task ahead of it.