MOVING ON TO EL AGHEILA

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23804, 25 November 1942, Page 3

MOVING ON TO EL AGHEILA

Progress of Bth Army POSSIBLE ENEMY STAND (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright.) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON. Nov. 24. The 81h Army, advancing on the heels of Marshal Rommel’s forces, is now moving on towards El Agheila. British troops entered Agedabia yesterday. Axis forces have left the Gialo oasis, 150 miles south-east of Agedabia. To-day’s Cairo communique states; “Our forces entered Agc- , dabia yesterday. They have maintained contact with the enemy, who continues his withdrawal to El Agheila, The enemy has evacuated the Gialo oasis, which ha£ been occupied by our troops. Air activity was on a small scale/’ “After fighting a delaying action lasting nearly three days, the Axis forces have been driven out of the Agedabia area,” says the Cairo correspondent of the Exchange Telegraph Agency. “The Bth Army has made considerable progress, and it is believed that no enemy forces are left in the neighbourhood of Agedabia. The enemy fought with anti-tank guns and some tanks. Serious fighting mostly occurred south of

the village, but solid Bth Army pressure forced the enemy to withdraw.” The Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says; “Here at El Agheila, at the gateway of Tripolitania, after a 600 mile retreat in two and a half weeks, the Germans may try conclusions again with General Sir Bernard Montgomery. El Agheila, like Alamein, has a bottle-neck, witn salt marshes substituted for the Kattara dqpression. The rainy season continues for at least three months, during which the marshes are an obstacle as formidable as the Kattara depression. The most forward marsh is situated at Mersa Brega, which is midway between Agedabia and El Agheila. “Should Marshal Rommel decide to make a stand, it is here that our advance may encounter the first breakwater. but the core of German resistance—if this is attempted—is most likely on the line from El Agheila along the desert track south to Mqrada, about 75 miles distant. A flanking move to south of Marada is almost certainly impracticable, for the going is bad. t . “Marada, where many tracks meet, is the position General Montgomery must force if Marshal Rommel makes a stand. It is naturally strong and is known to be heavily mined.” Reuter’s correspondent with the Bth Army says; “Fighting is going on 30 or 40 miles east of the El Agheila line, where Marshal Rommel is expected to make his next big stand.” “The Bth Army’s progress to El Agheila may not be rapid,” says the Cairo correspondent of the “Daily Mail” “The roads have been mined and other obstacles placed in the way of our forces. This may cause sharp fighting and slow progress for some time.” , , A report received in Stockholm from Berlin states that British commando parties are constantly landing along the coast of Libya behind the German lines. , , ... A 8.8.C. correspondent states that there are no further reports of fighting beyond patrol action, but fighterbombers have been ranging far afield and attacked aerodromes in Sicily. On Saturday night they strafed a large numUer of enemy aircraft on the Catania aerodrome, and yesterday shot up two' - other aerodromes in Sicily.

\IR LEADERS IN MIDDLE EAST

TWO NEW ZEALANDERS, HONOURED (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Nov. 23, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Rodney Park, commanding the air defences of Malta, who is a former New Zealander, and is a son of Professor James Park, of Dunedin, has been made a Knight Commander of British Empire tK.B.E.). Air Marshal Arthur Coningham, Air Officer Commanding in the Western Desert, who was born in Australia, but was educated in New Zealand and served in the last war with the New Zealand forces, has been made a Knight Commander' of the Bath (K.C.8.). Other awards to Rtpyal Air Force commanders in the Middle East have been made to Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, who becomes a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, to Air Vice-Marshal H. Blatter, who becomes a Knight Commander of the British Empire, and Air Vice-Marshal Graham Dawson, who becomes a Companion of the Bath.

GENERAL SMUTS VISITS EGYPT

(8.0. W.) RUGBY. Nov. 23. General Smuts on his return journey to South Africa from England stopped for a week-end in Egypt, states a message from Cairo. General Smuts travelled more than 1000 miles by air. visiting as many South African units as possible. He told them that he expected the enemy to be cleared off African soil in the near future, and that a race was developing between the Bth Army, advancing from the east, and the Allied forces closing in from the west. General Smuts left Cairo to-day, but before departing he sent the following message to General Sir Bernard Montgomery: “I regret very much that owing to your hot pursuit of Rommel I missed you and Air Marshal Coningham to-day. Good hunting and good luck in the race between you and Lieu-tenant-General Anderson for Tripoli.”

U.S. MUNITIONS POLICY

EMPHASIS ON SHIPPING AND AIR POWER (Rec. 12.15 a.m.) WASHINGTON. Nov. 24. The United States Army, the Navy, and War Production Board have jointly approved a sharp cut in the manufacture of tanks and heavy artillery ammunition to permit the diversion of materials for increased aeroplane and ship construction. This action is the result of the accumulation of large ordnance reserves, due to shipping shortages. and of the new tactical emphasis on the use of air power. After a dispute with Army and Navy officials concerning the ultimate control of civilian economy, the chairman of the War Production Board (Mr Donald Nelson) carried demands for a final decision to the White House, says the Washington correspondent of the New York “Herald-Tl'ibune.” Differences arose from the proposed directive transferring to the War Production Board of authority over the procurement of materials, particularly aircraft, now possessed by the armed forces.