CRITICAL STAGE

Grey River Argus, 26 February 1943, Page 5

CRITICAL STAGE

IN TUNISIA

ENEMY PUSHED BACK

To Kasserine Gap

TERRIFIC ALLIED ARTILLERY AND AIR ATTACKS.

LONDON, February 24. An Allied communique from North Africa on Wednesday stated: There has been heavy fighting in the past three days north and north-west of Kasserine. American-British forces, after successfully holding the enemy’s attacks, forced his .withdrawal in this sector. Continuous attacks were made throughout the day by our fighter bombers on enemy columns. A number of enemy motor vehicles were destroyed in the battle area..

News Agency correspondents stated that the Germans have been thrown back to the mouth of the Kasserine Pass and that large numbers of prisoners have been . taken. The enemy is being heavily attacked by the Allied air forces as he retreats. The Allies used .intense artillery lire and bombing to force Axis forces to leave a vast, mountainous amphitheatre on the Allied side of the Pass to the British-American forces. The outmost, advanced observation post radioed this evening that no enemy forces remained on the plain. The Axis armoured units in Tunisia have withdrawn into the Kasserine Gap, leaving the plain to the west, sale for Allied troops to advance within one mile of the western mouth of the gap. An Associated Press correspondent at. Field Headquarters, North Africa, says: Allied air forces carried out the heaviest attacks of the war against the retreating columns. Allied planes attacked with concentrated fury of cannonfire, machine-gun lire and bombs, which shook the whole enemy forces. Even Flying Fortresses were called into help to deliver the air attack, the like of which the Germans scarcely dreamed could be mounted.

The British United Press says:—

Americans who held up the second German thrust in Kasserine-Tebessa road, via Jebelhamra, are pushing tlie Germans back to Kasserine. Americans captured over 300 Italians and Germans with enough small arms to equip an entire battalion. Reuter’s correspondent in North Africa says: The latest front-line reports state .the Germans retreated a total of fifteen miles from the point of their farthest advance. They are now making a desperate stand to check the Allied onrush, to enable the men and equipment to retire safely. During the withdrawal from near Thala, Germans threw in Italians to support holding tactics. The Allies trapped an Italian battalion of about two thousand in a pass leading to Siliana. ■ The French covering the entrance allowed the Italians to get' well into th e pass before closing in behind. The Italians sought the shelter of a wadi, but Scottish troops blocked the exit. The Allies now completely encircle the Italians. Twenty-three Germans tanks are believed to have been destroyed yesterday, when Allied planes battered the retreating armoured units unceasingly. The British United Press says: Axis forces have now been pushed back into a small stretch of territory extending only three miles beyond the Kasserine Gap. The correspondent adds that a large number of the prisoners were German rearguards who remained behind to cover the withdrawal.

OTHER SECTORS

ENEMY REPULSED

LONDON, Feb. 24

To-day’s Allied North African communique stated:— In the Essadour area, west of Ousseltia, an enemy attack was successfully repulsed. Infantry and armoured units contacted with the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties and taking many prisoners and securing abandoned enemy material. Essadour is at the edge of the hills four miles west of Ousseltia, 35 miles north-west of Sbiba, and 35 miles south of Bou Arada. ,In the northern sector, our offensive patrol activity continued. Fighters also maintained offensive patrols over the forward area. Three enemy patrols were shot down. On Tuesday night, our bombers raided Bizerta. Yesterday, among, other targets, the enemy’s airfield near Kairouan was bombed. Off the Tunisian coast bombers sank five powered barges carrying motor transports. Fighter escort destroyed enemy aircraft. Eight of our aircraft are missing. One pilot is safe. Two of our 'aircraft previously reported missing, are safe. The Algiers radio stated that a French artillery regiment has arrived in Egypt from Djibouti, and will receive the most modern weapons before joining the British forces in Tunisia z

Enemy Objective TO FORCE FIRST ARMY BACK

and delay allied plans.

(Rec. 7.40.) LONDON, Feb. 24. A special Reuter correspondent in Tunisia says: The results during the next two or three days may be regarded as critical in assessing the chances of winding up the Tunisian campaign this spring. Should the Germans be pushed back through the Kasserine Gap, and Allied forces should be able to block their possible passage through the opening behind Sbiba. the Germans, will, eventually face the Eighth Army coming up from the south into a limited area around Tunis; and Bizerta, the boundaries of which are now held by the First Army. But if the Germans should succeed in breaking through, and continuing their advance, they will offer a serious threat to the First Army’s rear. This appears to be one of the chief aims of the German strategy. Marshal von Rommel, by his threat against the Allied rear, may believb that he can force the First Army to the westward, along the coast, thus' leaving two, and possibly three, coastal ridges in German hands. For example, if the Allied armies should be forced back beyond the second ridge the Allied line in the north would be put back to the vicinity of Tabarka (on the north coast at the Algerian border). This would give an additional thirty five miles of territory to the . enemy in which to operate defensively. The difficulty, after that of forcing them from Tunisia would prolong the campaign throughout the summer, which possibly would seriously interfere with plans for a prompt invasion of .the Continent. Hence the importance of Allied successes in central Tunisia. ENEMY REGROUPS. BEHIND THE GAP. LONDON, February 24. Axis forces are believed to be re-

grouping behind the Kasserine Gap. • ‘‘The Times’s” correspondent in Algiers says the attacking Axis forces in central Tunisia consisted of a unexpectedly strong force of tanks and infantry drawn from Von Arnim’s and Rommel’s Armies. Its spearhead was the remains of Rommel’s Twen-ty-First Panzer Division, which he evidently sent ahead of the army. The assembling of such a force without knowledge was a considerable military defeat. The German news agency claims that 4500 British and Americans and 3000 French were killed in the central Tunisian fighting. The total losses of the Allied forces, including prisoners were at least 20,000.

THREAT TO FIRST ARMY

Removed for Present AMERICANS LEARN QUICKLY

ALLIED AIR SUPREMACY

(Rec. 10.15) NEW YORK, Feb. 24. The “New York Times” correspondent in North Africa, Mr Middleton, says: The decisive Allied victory at Thala ends the immediate threat of the Germans driving northward and cutting off the British First Army from the American forces. The courage of the American troops, and their willingness to learn under fire, plus the timely arrival of veteran British tank reinforcements enabled General Fredenall to deliver a master counter-stroke.

Mr Middleton adds: The Allies, however, are still fighting defensively. It will be some time before they will be able to launch an attack as large as Marshal Rommel’s. Moreover, one victory does not make a campaign. It would be folly to believe that Rommel will not again attack if he thinks that the gain will be worth the risk. The events of the last two days have proven, firstly, that the American. troops learn fast, and that they become, within ten days, the equal of the best European soldiers. Secondly, that the American tank commanders and crews still have much to learn. When it is learned, they will sweep Africa. Thirdly, the Allied air power in this theatre is so great when it is exerted on a single battlefield that it is almost decisive factor.

“There will be many claims as lo who won this battle,”” adds the correspondent. “I believe that history will assign that role to the American guns and gunners, and British tanks' crews, who sustained the shock of the heaviest- German advance to Thala, and then counter-attacked.”

EIGHTH ARMY

PASSES INSIDE SALT LAKE.

LONDON, February 24

The Eighth Army is now well beyond Medenine, probing the Mareth defences, says Reuter’s Cairo correspondent The German News Agency says: The Eighth Army has concentrated part of its stronger forces against our southern flank. Its reconnaissance units pushed into the area south-east of Lake Shotteljerid. (This indicates that units have by-passed the Mareth Line, and far westward of it. The southern extremity of Shottlejerid is a hundred miles from Medenine).

The news agency added: It therefore seems that the British are intending an encircling action despite the conditions in the south Tunisian desert, which makes,, operation of large forces very difficult

A MOBILISATION?

150,000 Called Up in Spain (Rec. 11.30) MADRID, Feb. 25. A proclamation has been issued calling up Spain’s 1943 class of reservists to the colours, and involving about one hundred and fifty thousand men.