GERMAN PLIGHT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20623, 26 November 1941, Page 9

GERMAN PLIGHT

DESPERATE BLOWS FURIOUS DESERT FIGHT "INVINCIBILITY" MYTH (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Pres? Assn.) (Reed. Nov. 25, 3 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 24. The fighting around Sidi Rezegh is hourly becoming more intense and more furious, say The Times’ Cairo correspondent. General Rommel’s Panzer forces are hitting back with wild desperation as the-British draw in. Owing to tank casualties the fighting is now over a relatively smallei area, although it is still large. There are no definite lines in a fixed plan, but merely masses of death-dealing tanks manoeuvring, attacking and counter-attacking. The British supply arrangements are functioning excellently, but the enemy is indisputably encountering serious difficulties. It must be stressed that the battle in essence is being fought between English and German units. The main brunt is being borne for the British forces by armoured units, 70 per cent of which are English and the rest mainly South Africans. The Royal Air Force is also predominantly English. These forces are bearing out the contention that, man for man and machine for machine, the British are more than a match for ; the Germans. Innumerable Wadis Reuter’s Cairo correspondent says the area in which the battle is now raging is very broken with two escarpments and innumerable wadis nearby. Under these conditions it would not be easy for'either side to break off such bitter battles. The British air superiority continues. British artillery has been brought up to command the bottle-neck between the Tobruk forces and those advancing northwards which is steadily narrowing, reports the Daily Telegraph’s Cairo correspondent. The fighting has now shifted slightly southeastwards of Sidi Rezegh. More and more infantry are being drawn into the battle, which is becoming somewhat stabilised, though this will not be fully apparent for a further 24 hours.

The military spokesman in Cairo stated that the. infantry were “going hell for leather,” and proving their ability io outwit the German, tactical experts. They were out to break the myth about “German invincibility.” Easy for Fast Tanks In an attempt to overcome the advantage held by British tanks in their superior armour, the Germans have thrown into the battle hastilydevised mobile artillery says the British United Press correspondent with the Bth Army. The Germans are stripping the armour from some of the heavy tanks and mounting the guns on the tank frame, hoping in increased firepower to make up for the low protection. British officers report that these lumbering giin-carriers are easy meat for the fast, manoeuvrable cruiser and American tanks. The correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that a New Zealand patrol entered Bardia, which was found to have been evacuated. South African infantry supporting the tank columns cleaned up several Italian formations with bayonets and grenades. Gambut, which- the New Zealand forces are reported to have taken, was probably the largest Axis supply base eastward of Gazala. The whole vicinity is dotted with petrol, ammunition and food dumps. It is unlikely that the Germans would be able to remove any of these supplies.