ENEMY THRUSTS

Grey River Argus, 18 June 1942, Page 5

ENEMY THRUSTS

TO SIDI REZEGH

Effort to Encircle Tobruk SEVERAL BRITISH WITHDRAWALS. LONDON, June 16. The main fighting in Libya is now raging in the region of the Acroma and “El Adem boxes. Reports from Cairo this afternoon stated the British were still holding Acroma at midday. The British garrison, holding the Knightsbridge box, has been withdrawn for some days. The El Adem box is Beseiged by Axis infantry, who are digging in beyond the range of strongpoints of artillery, while Italian and German tanks mill around the box to check any British attempt to break out. El Adem aerodrome, two miles north of the box, is in Axis hands, and is now a gathering point for Axis tanks. Some reports says that fighting is going on within sight of Tobruk. In the Acroma region, Marshal Von Rommel, is within Three miles of the Gazala-Tobruk road, which is only 2 miles from the Mediterranean. Imperial forces have withdrawn from the Acroma escarpment. One strong enemv patrol east and past Ei Adem, is being engaged in the area of El Duda and Sidi Rezegh. Italians and Germans hold El Tama, also the El Eut heights, wherefrom artillery, including howitzers, are shelling Acroma and the Gazala-Tobruk ,road. Despite the shellfire, our transport is moving freely along the road enabling us to hold off Axis attempts to reach the highway coast. The Imperial troops were withdrawn from Gazala through _this narrow bottleneck under cover of determined fighting by the Acroma troops, ana the first armoured division, who beat off repeated Axis attempts to reach th P road.

British Report

• GAZALA WITHDRAWAL. FORCES AVOID BEING CUT , OFF. LONDON, June 16, Tuesday’s communique from Cairo says: “Lieutenant-General Ritchie has completed his new dispositions. The Ist South African Division and the 50th Division have been withdrawn successfully from positions south of El Gazala. The withdrawal was made under cover of a magnificent fight by troops round Acroma, who beat off determined attacks throughout Sunday. Three strong attacks near El Adem were repulsed yesterday. Our mobile forces on the enemy’s flank played a van. able part in the action. The communique makes it ciear that the main battle is now north of Knightsbridge and round Acroma and El Adem. One of the enemy’s aims •was to cut off El Gazala. In this he has failed, and the garrison has been relieved. Acroma and El Adem are still holding out in the face of determined enemy attacks.. It is known that the tank losses have been heavy on both sides. There is no evidence, whatever, that Rommel has any more armoured divisions than the three with which he opened the attack. Satisfaction is expressed in London that the enemv effort, reported yesterday, to cut off the British troops in the Gazala salient, by the advance northwards in the Acroma area, has failed. The Italian claim to have reached the sea. has little meaning, since by the time they had done so two British divisions holding the line running south from Gazala had rejoined the main forces around Acroma.

BATTLE IN DUST. LONDON, June 16. A correspondent, states the entire battle area is under a dust screen, and is churned un by tanks, artillery, lorries, and ambulances which are ceaselessly threading roads and tracks. The heat is intense. British and Axis planes roar over th P dust blanket, which affords some protection against straffing, because it is too riskv for lighters to swoop blind through the swirling dust clouds, although full' advantage is taken of momentary patches. Axis tanks and motorised infantry made three fierce assaults against, El Adem yesterday. The first, from the west, in which infantry were advancing before an artillery barrage, was mown down before it was able to cut the wire, or lob grenades on our strongly entrenched tank formations. This afternoon, our bofors and heavy anti-tank guns scorched the enemy lines. The infantry wavered and fell away leaving many dead. British prisoners recovered from the enemy in the El Adem area, stated they and their captors were without water for forty-eight hours. The “Telegraph’s” correspondent in the Western Desert states that a steady stream of Allied artillery and tank reinforcements is moving westward. Both sides are now throwing in more and more infantry, whue armoured strength is being built up again. Rommel appears to have plenty of armour left, and was also able to recover many damaged vehicles from the Knightsbridge-Acroma triangle. ENEMY TRANSPORT DESTROYED. LONDON, June 16. German armoured 'columns on Tuesday made a three-pronged thrust, from positions south of the hi Adem-El Duda road. The first of which directly attacked the El Adem box, was repulsed by Indians, lhe second passed east of El Adem,_ then struck north-west, and joined up the first pronge. The third prone deployed a light screen along the El Adem-El Duda road. South of El Adem. Imperial, mobile troops are constantly attacking the enemy’s flank. One report says that “We are cutting up the Axis transport on an unprecendented scale. Indian mobile troops storming a laager in which the Germans were repairing twenty-six tanks, destroyed the tanks I with explosives and gunfire.”

LATEST REPORT SIDI REZEGH BATTLE. (Rec. midnight) LONDON, June 17. On Tuesday morning the enemy’s patrol forces thrust past El Adem to Sidi Rezegh. The thrust began at dawn. Evidently it is aimed at encircling Tobruk. R.A.F., planes severely attacked the enemv force at mid-day, but they failed to halt it. AHjied units later engaged the enemv force, and this battle was still 'raging late on Tuesday night. AXIS FORCES REACH SEA. AIR MASTERY CLAIMED. LONDON, June 16. A Rome communique states: Italian and German troops, who passed by Acroma and reached the coast, continue to develop operations suc-

cessfully. It adds: “We reached and passed the Gazala positions. The Axis air force is mistress of the skies. Without respite, it is supporting the land operations. It machine-gunned and bombed the retreating enemy columns, and destroyed and put out of action hundreds of motorised units.” The Berlin radio stated that the Axis forces had spread from Acroma to the sea. thus foiling General Ritchie’s counter-movement. R.A.F. OPERATIONS. LONDON, June 16. The R.A.F. Middle East communique states: Our lighters on Sunday were in action in the forward area of Cyrenaica. operating in close cooperation with our land forces. An enemy formation in the El Adem area was subjected to constant attack b-- bomber and fighter bomber aircraft. and a successful raid was carried out in the evening on enemy troops in this area. Enemv air activity was chiefly directed at our shipping, which the planes protectea. Several enemv machines were shot down. AERIAL ACTIVITY. RUGBY, June 16. On Sunday night. Benghazi and Berka were raided by our bombers. On the same night, aerodromes at Kasteli, Heraklion and Tymbaki. m Crete, were attacked. Enemy aircraft activity over Mana was on a reduced scale. . Malta’s toll of enemv raiders destroyed on Monday night was 12, ana others were badly damaged. Monday night’s enemy raiding force met with consistent anti-aircraft fire. Two bombers were shot into the sea. Bombers reached an aerodrome, but there was no damage. 2,000 FRENCH PRISONERS. IN AXIS CAMPS. ' LONDON, June 16 ; Berlin radio quoting German military circles states that 2000 Free Frenchmen, taken prisonei’ at Bir Hakheim, have been interned m special camps, and treated as prisoners of .war, instead of guerrillas.