Next Battle Awaited

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 134, 9 June 1942, Page 5

Next Battle Awaited

BOTH SIDES PREPARING

LONDON, June 8.

Both sides in the Western Desert campaign are preparing fortifications behind their advanced positions. The forces are waiting for the next big battle, each side watchful.

The Germans have now fortified the semi-circle of the bulge through the British minefield, and one newspaperman says that General Ritchie, commander of the Eighth Army, is trying to wear down the panzer forces without squandering Ms own tanks in senseless attacking.

A dispatch from the desert says that last night's German thrust at Knightsbridge was a dismal failure. An earlier report said that the British square at Knightsbridge was-still taking anything the enemy could muster, and that another Axis attack had been pushed back into the cauldron from which it started.

"With the battle becoming an endurance test, General Ritchie has sent a heartening message to the men of the Eighth Army: "Well done the Army; stick to it, and we have got him."

One correspondent calls the Knightsbridge stronghold a hedgehog, and another dispatch from the desert gives some idea of what the enemy is up against there. This dispatch says that early on Sunday evening the enemy tried to attack, but not in his usual

blitz fashion. This time, after the failure of the panzers on the previous day, the German artillery were pushed ahead, with the tanks behind. When the, enemy got near the western approach to the battlefield the defenders put up such a fierce curtain of lead that the unhappy Axis artillery units retired back through the cauldron. "As for the enemy tanks, we didn't even make contact with them." he said.

Until this attack at dusk, most of yesterday was comparatively quiet there after Saturday's fierce fighting, which saw the panzers pushed back beyond'their starting point.

At Bir Hacheim, the Free French have fought off another attack. There is now a channel open through to the garrison through which British transports are rushing ammunition, food, and water.

A wounded Free French soldier says that casualties have been remarkably low owing to Bir' Hacheim's efficient defences. The British supply lorries turn up, however fierce the fighting, and a canteen truck with whisky and cigarettes was particularly welcome.

At the northern end of the Allied line the South Africans are still probing into the enemy line around Gazala. Outside the main battle area roving

columns are hard at work raiding the enemy supply lines, and at the northern end British and South African forces raided Axis positions with considerable success.

The Allied troops' are being well backed up by aircraft, which are taking a steady toll of the German equipment intended for the battlefield.

An agency correspondent says there is no doubt that the German armoured forces have had some terrific knocks. The landscape around Knightsbridge resembles a vast scrap foundry, with the wrecks of German tanks, lorries, and cannon.