THE 8TH ARMY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23914, 5 April 1943, Page 5

THE BTH ARMY

REFORMING FOR NEXT BLOW

TASK FOR MARSHAL ROMMEL (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, April 3. The general situation in Tunisia was described in a broadcast by a correspondent attached to the Allied forces headquarters: "The Bth Army is reforming for the next blow. Meanwhile Marshal Rommel has two main objectives. He wants to prevent a junction of the Bth and Ist Armies as long as he can, which is why the fighting east of Gafsa is so hitter. “Here the 2nd American Corps is pressing on towards the coast towards the Bth Army. Marshal Rommel has diverted considerable strength to hold up the Americans, and he is making the way very difficult for them, with dense minefields and with the greatest resolution. "Another factor in the situation is that Marshal Rommel cannot afford to let the British Ist Army make progress across the coastal plain to the sea anywhere if he can help it. Marshal Rommel holds the ridge of mountains running north and south, forming a barrier to the coastal plain, and he has done his best to block up all the passes through which we might break. That is why there has also been tough fighting at the Fonndouk pass, which the Americans captured the other day, though they have not yet taken the high ground south of it. “It is the same in the Ousseltia valley, where the 19th French Corps pushed across the valley. They have advanced outposts four miles east of Ousseltia "It is a’bitter struggle, with the nutcrackers of the Bth and Ist Armies squeezing Marshal Rommel, and Marshal Rommel determined to keep the coastal plain open as long as he possibly can.” Advance Reported from Algiers “Advanced units of the Bth Army have contacted Afrika Korps rearguards 27 miles north of Gabes. Further north the main body of the Afrika Korps continues its rapid retreat, hammered by the Allied air forces.” This statement of thq.i present .position in Tunisia was given by the Algiers Radio, which adds: "The Germans are reported to be holding large tank reserves to hurl against the Bth Army at the right moment. Marshal Rommel in the meantime is making a determined effort to keep the Ist Army and the Bth Army well apart by sowing wide minefields.” Saturday’s North African communique stated: “Patrol activity continued yesterday on the whole Tunisian battle front. Further progress was made in the north, where our patrols successfully engaged and inflicted casualties on enemy patrols. Air operations were restricted by the weather.- Over Tunisia attacks on enemy troops and motor transport north of Gabes were continued yesterday by light bombers, with fighter bombers. The enemy airfield at La Fauconniere was bombed twice. Fighters carried out offensive sweeps and patrols. Six enemy fighters were destroyed during the day. Four of our aircraft are missing from all these operations.” Wadi Akarit Barrier British and New Zealand troops in the vanguard of the Bth Army still hold the initiative and active patrolling is reported along the whole front, states the correspondent af the British United Press at Allied Headquarters. General Montgomery may again be resorting to envelopment in order to eject Marshal Rommel from the Wadi Akarit, which is the first water obstacle the Bth Army has encountered during the whole campaign. The Bth Army is now squaring up to Marshal Rommel’s next defensive line which, some sources claim, lies 25 miles north of Gabes. The Germans last night said that the positions were 10 or more miles further south and that Marshal Rommel had achieved a long-prepared German plan by joining up with General von Arnim. Reuter’s correspondent reports that there was no Axis air activity against Allied troops on Thursday. During Allied offensive patrols north of Gabes fighters did not sight a single enemy aeroplane all day.