N. ZEALANDERS IN TUNISIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 April 1943, Page 8

N. ZEALANDERS IN TUNISIA

REST IN OLIVE GROVES

[N.Z.E.F. Official War Correspondent]

NORTH OF SFAX, April 11. Following another long inland move, during which they covered more than 120 miles ol broken uplands of the Tunisian plain and skirted through great olive groves around Stax, our forces have passed through the Gabes gap, crossed two inland railways between Gafsa and Mahares and Sbeitla and Sfax, by-passed the latter town, and are now ready tor yet another move, sweeping up and enveloping Rommel's forces retreating northward. After days of desert and semi-desert, they are now encamped among miles of great cultivated olive groves in the Sfax oasis; but the Luftwaffe is still hitting back, and last night, as we settled in a storm, anti-aircraft fire rose from among trees to turn away the nuisance raiders. It is a far cry from other days when our troops sheltered in olive groves of Greece and Crete, the Luftwaffe pursuing them relentlessly. Now it is the Luftwaffe itself which is pursued, while all along the route alert gunners have taken toll of the hit-and-run bombers. The forces under LieutenantGeneral Sir Bernard Freyberg, with the exception of some New Zealand artillery, had a non-o&erational role during the final battle for Gabes. After a successful action in the Tebaga gap, they passed on through Gabes and rested in rolling country between that town and El Hamma. As soon as it was known that other Eighth Army forces had struck at the enemy’s line at Wadi Akarit successfully on the night of April 6 and the following day, forcing a passage between the wadi and the neighbouring hills, our columns were moving again, with the task of pursuing and rolling up the retreating enemy as they fell back across open country beyond the gap to the north-west. As we passed through the Akarit positions from which the British and Indian forces 'had driven the enemy 24 hours earlier, we saw a litter of abandoned enemy equipment on every hand — guns, lorries, and limbers—and a steady trickle of prisoners moving back along the route. z

Before dark on April 7 our advanced forces had farmed out well into the northern plain towards Sebkert el Noual, a large salt lake flanked by ragged hills lying athwart the route towards the Gafsa-Mahares railway. The advance continued next day, when prisoners continued to be rounded up. In the afternoon, enemy tanks appeared ahead of our forces and were engaged. They continued in evidence the next day, but after our artillery had knocked out five, the remainder withdrew. Durihg this stage of the advance, an infantry battalion captured a number of German prisoners. It was while this section of the advance was proceeding that patrols of a famous British cavalry regiment made the Eighth Army’s first contacts with American forces advancing from Gafsa. On the same day a patrol from Divisional Cavalry captured General Manerini, commanding the Saharan Corps of the Italian Army, together with 20 of his staff and a number of his bodyguard. On April 9, the force swept forward with its armour well in advance across the Gafsa-Mahares railway and continued across broken semi-desert country towards the railway running from Sbeitla to Sfax. Although harassing action by the enemy was maintained and there were occasional tip and run raids by enemy bombers, the advance was not seriously impeded and, on the afternon of the fourth day after they moved off from Akarit, our forces were astride Sfax-Sbeitla. They did not pause there. They plunged into the vast olive groves which radiate in all directions around Sfax and continued in the general direction oi Eldjem and the railway linking Sl'axSousse. The wide, cultivated area between the great lines of olives made for excellent travelling and by nightfall on April 10 the forces had passed Sfax by many miles and were within striking distance of Lahencha, a lew miles south of Eldjem, which is about halfway between Sousse and Sfax.

In these four days of strenuous travelling they covered well over .100 miles of desert, the formation clearing the inland area of the flank advance of other Eighth Army forces along the coast. They now found themselves in country more pleasant than the semi-desert traversed. They are resting in miles of cultivated orchards and a broken blaze of poppies, daisies, and all manner of wild flowers, which mark the coming of Spring. But the rest is only momentary, for the pursuit of the Eighth Army as it presses the retreating enemy towards Tunis continues, with only a respite necessary to bring up supplies of men and vehicles. “LITTLE DUCE OF TKIPOLL’ General Manerini has the reputation of being the most, hated commander in the Italian Army in Tripoli, where he was well known, particularly during the time when the Italian Army was fighting in the desert, as “the general who arrested soldiers for having their collars unbuttoned.” Many Italians are jubilant over his capture. It is said he continually told Italian soldiers: “Fight to the last round me and die rather than give yourselves up.” Before the Eighth Army’s attack on the Mareth Line began, he is reputed to have told his troops that he would rather be cut in a thousand pieces than surrender to the hated British. Neither he nor his staff and bodyguard offered the slightest resistance to our patrol. General Manerini is a personal friend of Mussolini. When the Ducc arrived at Castel Benito airport in June of last year, he passed army commanders to shake hands with Manerini. Italians say the General then began to make himself the “Little Duce of Tripoli.”