FORCE REORGANISED
READY TO STRIKE AGAIN
(N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent.) ■■'■-■:. CAIRO, July 19. In a dispatch dated from Ruweisat Bidge, on July 17, the correspondent says that no time has been lost in reorganising the New Zealand battle formations after their withdrawal from the ridge. Two days after they were over-run by the German tanks, our fighting groups are again up to full strength in guns, and ready to strike another hard blow at the , Afrika Kdrps. There has been little activity on their sector of the front since the Ruweisat battle. The New Zealand artillery yesterday drove off twpHank.:attacks, and gave. support- to
our armoured forces during a tank battle last night. One attack by German tanks and lorried • infantry was hammered for two hours by our 25----pounders when within five thousand I yards of the New Zealand positions.! Many trucks were set on fire, and at j nightfall the tanks were halted. While j attempting to withdraw the damaged j tanks the German recovery section! was shot up by the New Zealand guns, i which also engaged hostile batteries thought to be with the headquarters of the 21st Panzer Division. Today the chief activity on our front has been occasional periods of long-range shelling by the enemy's heavy guns, and one dive-bombing attack. The German stukas dropped several sticks of anti-personnel bombs on one of our formations, which (Suffered a few casualties. Some of the New Zealanders who escaped after the enemy tanks broke through our line on the Ruweisat Ridge have managed to return to their units and it is thought that others are on the way back through the British units on either side of the New Zealand section. A Signals corporal who returned today narrowly escaped capture twice after he had broken away. Once he walked on to a group of German tanks, and could not escape until our 25-pounder shells landing about the tanks caused confusion among the German crews. After spending a night in a hole within a few yards of the enemy positions he found his way back to the New Zealand..line&—
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 17, 20 July 1942, Page 6
Word Count
350FORCE REORGANISED Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 17, 20 July 1942, Page 6
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