EIGHTH ARMY RESUMES ADVANCE

Grey River Argus, 26 March 1943, Page 5

EIGHTH ARMY RESUMES ADVANCE

AFTER SETBACK FROM MARETH LINE ENEMY’S SURPRISE COUNTE R ATTACK From a Hidden Line

First Penetration by the eighth army. INFANTRY PROMINENT. [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] LONDON. March 24. Reuter’s correspondent reports that after penetrating the Mareth Line the British troops streamed forward to bring Marshal Von Rommel s main forces to action. Earlier messages said that by the early hours of Sunday morning the Eighth Army had advanced 1000 vards at a point about 2000 yards from the end of the Mareth Line. During the night engineers threw crossings over the deep wadi on which the whole defences of the line rested, and in the dawn attack the Eighth Army took six deep concrete strongpoints. The Germans admit that General Montgomery has not yet employed his maximum force and expect even more powerful attacks. According to a Press message received this afternoon the Germans "made the utmost effort to prevent the Eighth Army from widening the initial gap made in the defences and sent in wave after wave of troops supported by tanks and covered by a strong artillery barrage. Bitter, confused fighting took place m which formations moved from one place to another and returned to the attack again and again. The Allied air forces kept up the storm of the attack on a scale never before seen ' even at El Alamein. Often fighters shooting up enemy troops had to switch their attacks hurriedly to avoid hitting their own men ingin all its fluctuations, adds the correspondent, the great struggle is being fought out on ground wrested from the enemy at the beginning of the offensive. - Reuter’s correspondent with the Eighth Army says that the Royal Engineers and the sturdy British infantry were the real heroes of the Mareth Line break-through. Their fighting qualities were shown best during the initial advance after our barrage got to work towards Wadi Zigzau. A mined anti-tank ditch had to be crossed to reach the Wadi where two forts had to be cleaned up. Our men for hours, supported, by a small number of tanks, had to hold firm under heavy artillery fire. The Engineers with them blew up the mines and laid girders over the rugged surface, enabling the men to go forward. Scaling ladders were brought up and our men climbed the wadi to storm the enemy strongholds. The Germans turned on a formidable force of guns against this spearhead which hung on grim-

ly. The enemy counter-attacked towards the afternoon of the second day, but faded, and more infantry and tanks swarmed over the bridgehead to strengthen our hold on the salient. The last enemy forts were then captured and the main battle could be said to have begun. The Eighth Army’s break-through the Mareth Line occurred at 3 a.m., yesterday after less than 30 hours of savage fighting. • The Germans desperately attempted to hold the line, rushing up crack troops of Panza Grenadiers, but the British, overcoming all opposition, continued to storm through in the moonlight. Algiers radio, describing this phase of the battle, said: The Eighth Army was pouring through the gap punched in the northern part of the Mareth Line and was then only 13 miles from Gabes. Marshal -Von Rommel’s forces were resisting violently on the Mareth Line, which was exclusively defended by Germans. The Germans and Italians in the Mareth Line are fighting extremely well in the very hard battle now proceeding. The WUhelmstrasse military spokesman hinted that Marshal Von Rommel might withdraw from the Mareth Line and make his principal stand on the newly-constructed Rommel Line from Gabes to Shotteljerid salt lake. He explained that the Mareth Line is not panzer-proof and not modern, whereas the Rommel Line is considerably stronger. The' spokesman admitted General Montgomery’s superiority in men and material. Marshal Von Rommel is throwing in all his aviation in an attempt to hold the advance. EL HAMMA SECTOR. LONDON, March 24. Messages from Algiers say that the British operating behind Mareth captured a hill position at El Tabarga, and advanced another two miles towards El Hamma in the face of strong enemy armoured resistance. The Germans claim that the outflanking force which reached the El Hamma region was severely punished in a surprise attack. The British flanking forces, which made a wide detour towards El Hamma hold the high ground eight miles from that place and are meeting strong opposition.

ALLIED AIR ACTIVITY. LONDON, March 24. Reuter’s Cairo correspondent says that operating from dawn, Allied ’planes yesterday engaged in an almost non-stop series of sorties against the Axis positions in Tunisia. The number of sorties is known to have been considerably greater than on any day since the beginning of the El Alamein onslaught. “The Times’s” Cairo correspondent says the Western Desert air striking force is hitting as hard in Tunisia as it did in Egypt and Libya. The operations are taking on a definite pattern. Heavy and medium bombers are blasting the Axis first-line communications around Gabes during the night, while light and medium bombers and fighter-bombers are attacking the immediate battle area during the day. Troon concentrations, motor transport, fixed positions and guns are being bombed and machine-gunned without respite. A trail of shattered vehicles, burning stores, and the blasted guns marks our aircrafts’ path. Armour is no protection against the weight of our attack. Many tanks and armoured cars have been shattered. Fighters all day long patrol the battle area, whether escorting bombers or on offensive sweeps. Enemy fighters are offering little opposition. A ceaseless offensive is also being waged against the Axis land and sea communications. 8.0.W. RUGBY, March 24. A Middle East air communique on Monday night said that a Cant Z. 1007 was shot down into the sea by ouir night fighters north of Tripoli. ' A North African communique on Monday night stated that strong forces of bombers attacked enemy battle positions and airfields in Tunisia. Throughout yesterday the attacks were maintained by light

| bombers of the Western Desert Air | Force on enemy concentrations in the neighbourhood of Zarat. Much damage was done. The First Army front formations of medium and light bombers,, fighter-bomber)s_ and lowflying fighters made many attacks on enemy tank and troop concentraitons and motor transport. A number of tanks and other vehicles were destroyed. Heavy bombers attacked the docks at Bizerta, where hits were seen in the target area. Five enemy fighters were shot down by our escorting and covering fighters. An enemy bomber was destroyed on Monday night. From all these operations/ eight of our aircraft are missing. Liberators with the United States Air Force attacked Messina Harbour during daylight yesterday, states a Cairo message. Hits were observed in the vicinity of a ferry terminal, and fires were started. The American formation was attacked by two M.E. 109’s, one of which was probably destroyed. All the aircraft returned safely. GERMAN COUNTER ATTACK Regains Lost Ground MR CHURCHILL’S STATEMENT. [Aust. &■ N.Z. Cable Assn.J ■ LONDON, March 24. Mr Churchill announced in the House of Commons this morning that the latest information from the Mareth front showed that the Germans had counter-attacked and regained the greater part of the bridgehead which the Eighth Army had stormed. The Germans’ main line of defences in the Mareth area had been largely restored. Mr Churchill said he took occasion to make this statement, because he did not wish hopes of an easy victory to be encouraged. “Fierce fighting continued yesterday in the Mareth area, where the Eighth Army successfully repelled enemy counter-attacks, inflicting losses" in men and equipment,” says to-day’s North African communique. ‘“Prisoners taken now total more than 2.000.” There are no new developments to-day from either side. Mr Churchill’s ‘statement in the Commons. In which hfe said the German counterattack had retaken most of the defence positions they lost, is therefore the latest authoritative statement. It apparently reported the situation ruling on the evening of March 23. It was based on information later than that contained in the latest Allied communique. North African despatches indicate that, the great battle in South Tunisia is very confused. As Mr Churchill said this morning, it has by no means reached a climax and much very hard fighting still lies before the British and American forces. BRITISH INTEREST. ' LONDON. March 24. The battle for what Mr Churchill cal’ed the “Tunisian Tip” is the main topic of conversation in Britain, its progress being studied confidently and in detail, as it is recognised that so much depends on its conclusion. Once the Axis is driven out from' Africa, the Allies will, to use another Churchill phrase, be able “to get on with the job,” which will be to provide direct military assistance to Russia. German Claims WHOLE LINE RESTORED. BUT WARY OF CLIMAX. LONDON. March 24. German sources claim that by the evening of March 23 all the British penetrations in the Mareth Line had been ironed out and that both sides were back on approximately the positions held on March 20, when the Eighth Army launched its offensive. The Berlin radio declared: “Tonight Marshal Von Rommel again threw his tanks into a counter-at. tack. The operations are being made more difficult because of the enemy’s air superiority and the steadily narrowing space for manoeuvring. Five thousand Italians surrendered to the Americans at Maknassi.” Berlin radio claims the British lost 44 tanks in their attempts to penetrate the Mareth Line. It says the British formations pushing towards El Hamma lost practically all their tanks “They assumed the Axis had' only a weak covering force in this area and were in close formation when the Axis made surprise attacks from the front and from the flanks.” The radio also claimed that” divebombers and other Luftwaffe formations checked the American attacks against the narrow passes east of Maknassi. It added that the French on the right wing of the Americans in South Tunisia were ambushed and lost 300 killed and 160 prisoners, and were driven back to their original positions. Captain Sertorius, Berlin radio’s commentator, declared that the great battle in south and central Tunisia had not yet reached its clima\. Strong enemy attempts to penetrate the Mareth Line had so far been frustrated, but fighting was progressing. It was not yet possible to predict the outcome. “The Eighth Army’s great superiority in men and materials has enabled quick replacement of their losses during the first three days of the offensive. It has been General Montgomery’s tactics since El Alamein to reserve some particularly good shock divisions until the last decisive phase,” added Captain Sertorius. Rome radio says that violent fighting is proceeding in Tunisia, particularly in the central and southern sectors. Axis troops launched several counter-attacks and repelled the enemy at some points but in other parts of both sectors the Axis troops are engaged in heavy defensive fighting.

British Surprised by concealed defences. (Rec. 1.6.) LONDON, March 15. The Paris radio describing the Axis counter-attacks, says: The Eighth Army, after piercing the first defences of the Mareth Line, came up against superbly-camouflaged subterranean line of defence. From this Marshal Rommel 'surprised them. Heavy German artillery caused havoc among the British troops. Marshal Rommel immediatelv counter-attack-ed before the British could, recover.

Advance Resumed x BY EIGHTH ARMY. TO MARETH POSITION. [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Rec. 11.40.) . NEW YORK, March 25. The “New York Times's’’ correspondent, Mr Drew Middleton, says: “The Eighth Army has rebuffed a furious Axis counter-attack, and drove forward to Mareth Line positions, as very heavy fighting flared up on the southern front from Maknassi to the Mareth Line. Following on penetration by General Montgomery’s vanguard of a Mareth position, German tanks and infantry withdrew, leaving hundreds of casualties and several hundred prisoners. Thus the British were edging forward again as the battle has entered on its fourth day, with General Montgomery retaining the initiatived’ The “New York Times’’ points out: “The foregoing, apparently, is based on later information than that in Mr Churchill’s House of Commons statement.” British Regroup DURING A LULL. - (Rec. 12.6.) LONDON, March 25. The British forces at the Mareth Line are regrouping according to the Paris radio. This statement follows a Berlin statement that there has been a lull in operations. The German military spokesman commented: “The British are again getting their breath, and will certainly" start another drive soon.” MONTGOMERY'S .RESERVE. (Rec. 12.10.) LONDON. March 25.. The Morocco radio has claimed: General Montgomery has not yet thrown in his tanks, although Marshal Von,. Rommel has used almost his entire panzer force. BRITISH TANKS START. MARETH LINE BREACHED. (Rec. 1.16 i LONDON, March 25. The Algier’s radio this morning (Thursday) stated:— The Eighth Army breached the Mareth Line near the coast. Tanks have gone into action. NEW GERMAN LINE. (Rec. 12.6.) LONDON, March 25. The Algiers. radio says: Heavv fighting is. still going on in South Tunisia. The Germans have been able to establish a defence line m front of the town of Mareth.

Americans Attacked BETWEEN GAFSA AND GABES. BUT POSITIONS STILL HELD. LONDON. March 24. A press correspondent in North Africa, cabling last night described as unsuccessful two attempts made by the enemy to dislodge Americans from their newly-won positions in southern Tunisia, east of Gafsa He said: “The enemy to-day threw in a panzer division against the American positions on the GafsaGabes road, about fifteen miles east of El Guettar. But when darkness fell American forces were still holding the same positions as in the morning, while it was estimated that the enemy lost at least twenty tanks out of between fifty and sixty tanks which he employed. The tanks were supported by artillery and infantry. > .But the enemy’s artillery succeeded in knocking out a number of American guns. The enemy put in two big attacks during the day, both with dive-bomber support. The uirst was made an hour after dawn, lhe second came late in the afternoon. I The British United Press said that I the Americans repelled two heavy German thrusts towards El Guettar. The Germans lost about 40 tanks, including some Mark G’s. Earlier, Americans in the Maknassi sector moved into a pass eastward of Maknassi after engaging t enemy who were in the hills to t ' north-east and south-east, stated another correspondent. The Americans became firmly established m the pass after clearing enemy mines. This move enabled them to bring up long-range guns to shell an important enemy airfield at Megzouna, several miles further east, from which enemy ’planes have been attacking. Reports late yesterday afternoon indicated that shelling had' destroyed five ’planes on the ground and that the enemy was evacuating the aerodrome. ’ Algiers radio said a Umteo States column had pushed on six miles beyond' Maknassi, and occupied a height. Axis minefields were making the advance very difficult. Axis artillery on the hills was holding the road 'to the coast under fire. A correspondent of the British United Press with the United States forces reports: German tanks early on Tuesday morning, in a desperate attempt to' break the trap closing in on Marshal Von Rommel, attacked the Americans south-east of El Guettar and at Had Jebel Aioun. The American forces, after taking Maknassi, pushed on three miles and occupied a ridge eastward of the village. Maknassi was occupied with very little opposition. One Allied arm of the pincer is only 35 miles from the coast. Should this drive reach the Mediterranean seaboard. Marshal Von Rommel’s' forces will be cut off from General Arnim’s in northern Tunisia. A press message said: An Allied tank unit is now master of the high ground on Jebeldoana, five miles south-east of Maknassi and within 30 miles of the coast. The Americans holding the heights astride the road east of El Guettar repulsed enemy tank attacks’which are continuing. The Luftwaffe in Tunisia is apparently throwing its heaviest weight against the Americans, who are suffering intense strafing from Stukas, high-level bombers, and cannon-fir-ing fighters in hilly country in the Maknassi area. New Enemy Attack AGAINST AMERICANS. LONDON, March 24. To-day’s Allied communique stated: East of El Guettar, in central Tunisia, ai counter-attack was repelled by the American troops, who held their positions. The Americans captured more than 200 prisoners. Near Maknassi the Allied forces made slight advances, though strongly opposed, and took a number of prisoners. Our patrols were active in northern Tunisia. (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, March 25. The Algiers radio to-day stated: Americans in the Gafsa sector repulsed an attack- from an enemy division, wrecked numerous tanks, and took prisoner six hundred. Marshal Von Rommel has stiffened the resistance in the Maknassi region at the cost of many prisoners. FRENCH PROGRESS. (Rec. 1.10.) LONDON, March 25. The Algiers radio states: The French are pushing along Lake Shott el Jerid. They have had to

manoeuvre to keep up the advance. The Allied air offensive has reached record intensity. ITALIANS' MORALE FALLING. (Rec. 11.40'.) NEW YORK March 25. The “New York Times” says: It is now established that Italian morale has reached a new low .level There have been instances of Germans machine-gunning Italians who were seizing opportunities to escape with almost frank alacrity.” NORTH SECTOR. LONDON, March 24. The .Berlin radio claimed that the Germans, under Von Arnim, captured Nefsa. The Italian Bersaglieri are fighting really well in Northern Tunisia, wliere they were checked near Jebelabiod. and, to some extent, thrown back. It is thought possible that the enemy may have been compelled by events in the south to thin out his forces in the north but he seems de- ( termined to secure as much room as possible around the northern part of his bridgehead in the Bizerta-Tums area. NO WALKOVER! LONDON. March 24. Mr Elmer Davis, ’ U.S.A. War Information Director, at Washington, issued caution against premature optimism as to an early finish of the battle of Tunisia. He, said: “It is going to be a long tough fight.”