ASSAULT ON WADI AKARIT

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23919, 10 April 1943, Page 5

ASSAULT ON WADI AKARIT

“Major defeat for ENEMY” / ■ VtJRTHER DETAILS OF BATTLE i* LONDON, April 8. jer-s correspondent at Allied B ,i*“ | l ua rters reveals that the enemy's »^" e J’ a ttacks on the afternoon of llu'nr a momentary success at Akarit. but by nightfall the had been thrown back, ton omni(: 'l realised that he had , n j e - a °Pe M further counter-attacks, (hrn u . stai 'lec! his retreat, which, liltoi *** lna - v P ;uuse at intervals, is d to end only on the beaches of north-east Tunisia. b ?. ute f'? correspondent adds that t Xiiv ec isive defeat of the Axis forces o Oudref made the position of s German troops in El Guctar area 3 4. ‘ They. too, joined in the /‘•Mlti March." which is the dei.option the Germans now give the “Iretreat. Aiu« e - crs correspondent of the •wciated Press of America quotes » tent sources as saying that Mar--3*l.Rommel believed he could hold longer Aharit positions much Ifor ' of every seven prisoners are tians, wno have been left to cover “•German retreat.

■ Counter-attacks Fail jJJJ? Pattern of events since the Blh utListacked on Tuesday morning :','Vy" er clarified by the latest disSLV'-'

patches. When, by midday, the British troops had gained all their objectives. they proceeded to organise new positions and reinforce the bridgehead. It was clear that Marshal Rommel intended to hold to the Wadi Akarit position, but the enemy’s vigorous counter-attacks all failed. The 4th Indian Division again used the renowned tactics of creeping on the enemy positions and attacking by surprise as it did in the memorable storming of Keren two years ago. During the night the enemy began to pull out northward, tenaciously followed by the Allied troops.

At the same time enemy armour in the El Guetar sector began to move east and north-east. The 2nd American Corps at once took advantage of the situation and pushed east until it made contact with Bth Army patrols 20 to 30 miles east of El Guetar. The enemy, with the Americans on his heels, was compelled to fight rearguard engagements on a series of hills affording good defensive positions. Here a series of hard-fought engagements was fought in exacting country, where inferior roads prevented the use of heavy vehicles and often confined transport to mules. To the south the French moved up north of the Shott el Jcrid, these troops being composed of those coming from Algeria and those who crossed the Sahara from Chad. On the Berlin radio the German military spokesman, Captain Sertorius, admitted that the German counterattack could not check the Bth Army’s Wadi Akarit break-through, but he argued that the counter-attack was not quite unsuccessful, as it prevented the encirclement of the Axis forces east of El Guetar. He said the German counter-attack gained enough time to make possible an orderly retreat from the pocket east of El Guetar.