NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN ENDS

Grey River Argus, 14 May 1943, Page 5

NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN ENDS

TERRITORY NOW A FORWARD BASE

mediterranean air attacks

German Division Surrenders to Freyberg

I A List & N.Z. Cable Assn.] 1 * ’ LONDON, May.l2. Axis armed resistance in Tunisia ended officially at 8.15 a.m. to-da>.

announcement IN COMMONS.

(Rec 12.47.) LONDON, May 13. Mr. Attlee, amid cheers, in the House of Commons formally an nounced the’end of the campaign in North Africa ; “It came more swiftly and moie completely than could have oeen anticipated,’’ he said. ‘We captuxea more than 150,000 prisoners great masses of equipment more than one thousand guns, 250 tanks and ma y thousands of motor vehicles enemy is not only beaten but destroyed and the continent of - is cleansed entirely of all Nazi and Fascist infection. The occupation oi North Africa is not the end North Africa is now a forward base fro which will be launched at the right moment further attacks against the Nazis.”

BETWEEN 20,000 AND 30,000 KILLED AND WOUNDED.

LONDON, May 12

In addition to 150,000 prisoners knocked into surrender by the Allied thunderbolt offensive the Axis also lost between 20,000 and 30,000 Killed and wounded in the final phase of the camaign, says a British United Press correspondent at Allied Headquarters. T , ~ Late, to-night, 'the Rome radio reaffirmed that the Italian First Armj is now holding out alone, “all other Axis units having run out oi ammunition and surrendered. It is stated in London that although his mother is believed to be English, General von Arnim disliked the British intensely and did everything possible to instil hate of the British into his troops. He commanded the 18th Panzer Division outside Moscow in 1941 and was personally responsible for the issue of an order which Russians captured that no prisoners should be taken.

SOME PRISONERS GO TO U.S.A. (Rec. 8.10) , LONDON, May 13. Von Arnim was captured with his entire staff in an inland camp by a'n armoured reconnaissance force. Only a minute proportion of the enemy forces —fewer 'than a .thousand —are believed to have succeeded in escaping across the Sicilian Narrows. Since Italy’s entry into the war, eleven German and twenty-six Italian divisions have been wiped out. A small number of Germans cap-, tured in Tunisia have already been sent to America, says a British United Press correspondent at Allied Headquarters. Their departure has led to 'the rumour in prison camps that all prisoners are being sent there. The news caused the first signs of animation among the Germans and Italians who were overjoyed. It is certainly being planned to move all prisoners from Tunisia as speedily as possible, owing to the. problem of feeding and clothing them. It is probable that many will go to farms in the United States and Canada. Some Germans asked in all seriousness, “What are the chances of settling in the United States?”

Von Arnim Taken

NOW A PRISONER IN ALLIES’ HANDS. RUGBY, May 12 General von Arnim, Supreme Commander of .the Axis fc,rces in Tunisia, is a prisoner in our hands. It is officially announced he was captured on the Cap Bon Peninsula this afternoon. He succeeded Nehring as Commander of the German forces last December, and in March took over from Marshal Rommel. One report states there is no likelihood of any more fighting insidp the Cap Bon Peninsula, and what remains of the Axis forces outside the Peninsula are cut off with no chance of getting supplies. Beside von Arnim, 11 other German and Italian Generals were captured in Tunisia including MajorGeneral Count von Sponeck, commanding the 90th German Light Infantry Division, and Major-General Kroich, commanding the 10th German Armoured Division, and also many leading German tank, artillery arid air officers. Vice-Admiral Le Clerc has been appointed Commander of the French naval forces in Tunisia, replacing Admiral Derrien. He is not related to General Le Clerc.

NOT ONE UNBOMBED HOUSE IN BIZERTA.

(Rec. 11.5) LONDON, May 13. The “Daily Mail” correspondent says that Bizerta has ceased to exist It is as dead as Pompeii, lhe streets are utterly deserted and there is not one unbombed house. Most of them are so badly smashed that repair is impossible. Bizerta will have to , be rebuilt from the foundations Its population of twenty thousand long ago took refuge from incessant bombings, in the country. Admiral De La Fleche, former commander of the French' naval arsenal at Ferryville, whom the Germans released from internment under police supervision, saw about two hundred Allied raids and declared that the most effective were those carried out by Fortresses in daylight. They, hit docks and ships with unfailing accuracy. the night raids were not so effective but prevented the Germans from unloading supply 'Ships after sunset. 150,000 PRISONERS IN FINAL PHASE. LONDON, May 11. It is estimated that at least 150,000 Germans and Italians were captured in the final phases of the campaign. An earlier message quoting Algiers radio said the demoralised German troops were surrendering en masse in the central sector. German Generals captured now total nine. “The whole of Cape Bon has been captured and the end of the North African war will now be a mattei ot hours,” said the message. The Allied bombing of Cape Bon ended as the Allied land forces infiltrated over practically all the Peninsula. Some enemy bands .still unaccounted tor have taken refuse in the central mountain ridges of the peninsula, but their position is honeless.” “It is incredible,” .said a British M’ajor as he watched the prisoneis being rounded up at Cape Bon. The Major, who had been through Dunkirk, continued: “They had plenty of guns, damn good positions and millions of mines. They could have put up a terrific fight but they just packed up. Our retreat in France was no-

thing like this. We fought back every yard.” The British United Press correspondent says dozens of prisoners came to him from the field with their hands up. They surrendered to anyone in an Allied uniform. The British forces drove into the German positions regardless of any danger. Sometimes a German pocket in the hills opened up lire, but the Tommies merely went in and cleaned them up. They found the resistance half-hearted. The remnants of the Hermann Goering Division at one stage unleashed a terrific barrage in the hills on the western coast of the peninsula, then, crazy as it seems, they stopped and walked out on to the road with their hands raised.

SURRENDER TO N.Z. DIVISION.

(Rec. 11.35.) LONDON, May 13. Reuter’s correspondent at Allied headquarters says:— “The German Ninetieth Light Division surrended to the New Zealand Division. General Freyberg early yesterday offered the Germans the terms of unconditional surrender, but General Von Sponeck refused, declaring that he and his men would fight to the last bullet. The battle went on but as the lighting developed the German General must have changed his mind for the terms were later accepted.” The Paris radio says that two isolated groups of Axis troops are still continuing a fierce and hopeless fight in the mountains north and south of Zaghbouan. Although cut off from supplies they still launch counter-attacks and reject all Allied calls for surrender.

Commenting %n the fall of Tunisia, the military spokesman of the Berlin radio says: It would be quite out of place to attempt to deny that the British and- American forces have achieved a military success of some value, but the other side of the question is tlffi price they were forced to pav for tjiis success. Thn Axis has gained valuable time,. Fresh armies have been raised and equipped and new weapons have been developed and produced which the German forces will employ in the months to come. ~ . The Algiers radio reports that General Giraud triumphantly entered Tunis yesterday and addressed the French and Allied _troops. He expressed gratitude to the Allies thanks to whom victory had been mad e possible. General Giraud, driving through the town escorted only by Spahis on white horses, was warmly acclaimed by the French and native population. General Alexander and Air Marshal Coningham also visited Tunis and Bizerta. ... 1 LONDON, May 12. Giving details of the rejection by General Messe of General Freyberg’s demand for surrender, the Rome radio said: “Our troops decided to oppose the enemy to the bitter end. The enemy sent an emissary asking us to surrender, but we sent him back to his own lines bearing our proud refusal. Soldiers of the First Italian Army to-day are fighting the final battle—the battle of honour.” The Columbia Broadcasting System’s Algiers correspondent says that the French General had pleasure m accepting the unconditional surrender of about 10,000 Axis troops m the mountains south of Zaghouan. The troops, mostly Italians, were fighting under the German General. Pfieffer The Associated Press correspondent at Medjez el Bab, describing uie arrival of enemy prisoners, says the Axis troops, in the darkness before dawn, drove themselves to prison camps in a very strange procession for 90 miles from the tip of Cap Bon to this bomb-scarred hamlet. Italians and German soldiers crowded every kind of vehicle _belonging _ to their armies, and came in file, almost bumper to bumper, through the former battleground. They drove about 50 miles between Cap Bon and turns without any sort of British escort. There is not a single report of any prisoner trying to escape into tne countryside, though this would have been easy.

CAPITULATION TO FRENCH. RUGBY, May. 12. A special North African communique stated: “Organised resistance has ceased, except by isolated enemy pockets. A great amount pt war material has been captured including many guns and planes in a serviceable condition.” An earlier French communique broadcast byi the Algiers radio, stated: “Broken by the frontal push by our troops on the Zaghouan Plateau, and outflanked and threatened with encirclement by our armoured elements, all the German and Italian troops fighting between Zaghouan and Saouaf capitulated unconditionally. These troops consisted chiefly of Italian Divisions under General Gili and a German group under General Pfeiffer. They surrendered to the Commander of a French armoured detachmept and a Moroccan Division respectively. More than 25,000 prisoners have been taken, together with the whole of their equipment and supplies. Continuing their rapid advance to the east, our armoured and motorised troops made contact with British troops. French forces captured Marie Duzie, where they made a junction with the Eighth Army!. The dismemberment of the Axis forces in North Africa has been completed. Of the 150,000 prisoners taken since May 5, about 110,000 are Germans. Forty thousand Axis prisoners have been ‘ captured in Africa, including 26 Italian and 11 German Divisions.

ADVANCE OF ARMOURED UNITS. RUGBY, May 12. Tanks which broke through yesterday across the neck of Cape Bon Peninsula turned left along the western road. Cape Bon itself was reached at 2 p.m. by units which covered 40 miles in IS hours against considerable opposition. For seven or eight hours they advanced in the dark. The enemy held positions astride the road but the British infantry, with fixed bayonets, swarmed on the tanks as they advanced, firing on enemy positions. The infantry leaped down inside the defences, bayoneting the enemy and taking prisoners. The armoured division is now patrolling the coast road. The advance had been so swift that bombing had to be abandoned for fear of danger to British forces. The area between Hammamet and Tunis is almost cleared of the enemy

but the Germans, with a few tanks, have established.r"-all islands of resistance south of Grombalia. The 6th Armoured Division, on reaching Hammamet, went straight along the coast road toward the th Aimy lines near Bouflcha, where the Germans established anti-tank .defences. This pocket, in which the enemy is still fighting is encircled on all sides. The area is estimated at SO square miles, but the situation is changing hourly. The advance was swifter than would have been expected, especially by those who know the hilly nature of the ground which armour and infantry had to pass through. Concentrated bombing and shooting of Axis troops around Sainte Marie du Zit, Grombalia, north of Enfidaville, and the Zaghouan area, continues to inflict losses.

Although fighting in the north has ceased, enemy groups are still being rounded up. Two hundred have been captured on Jebel Achkel.

Air operations have already shifted across the Straits where the nearest ports of Marsala and Pantellaria were again subjected to destructive pounding by hundreds of Allied aircraft.

PATROLS COMPLETE CIRCUIT OF PENINSULA.

LONDON, May 12. To-day’s North African communique says that patrols of the First Army have made a complete circuit of the Cap Bon peninsula. Below the peninsula Axis forces still holding out in. the hills west of Bou Ficha are now completely encircled, and troops of the First and Ei< Armies are closing in on them from all sides. In the north the United States Second Corps has completed its count of prisoners, which totals 37,998, of whom more than 33,500 are Germans.

The communique states: Yesterday, the harbour, railroads, yards, warehouses, and the seaplane base of Marsala were attacked by a large force of heavy and medium bombers of the Strategic Air Force, with fighter escort Many very large fires were started, and numerous direct hits were scored on various targets. During the course of this attack 1 enemy aircraft were destroyed in combat. Fighter-bombers attacked shipping and harbour installations, and bombs were seen to burst amon a number of small vessels, and fires were started in the back area.. From all these operations one of our aircraft is missing.

A Middle East communique states: At daylight yesterday, heavy bombers of the U.S.A.A.F., escorted by R.A.F. fighters, carried out a hijz successful attack on the harbour of Catania. A strong force of bombers blew up an ammunition ship, set . a tanker on fire, and scored direct hits on other shipping. Damage was done to the moles and harbour installations, one mole, which had three ships tied up, being demolished. The whole of the dock area was left in flames. The bombers shot down a JUBB and a Macchi 200 while returning to the base. In a shipping sweep off the west coast of Greece on May 10, longrange fighters attacked a large schooner, setting it on fire. One ship was abandoned after it was badly damaged, while a second was beached on the island. During these operations two JUs2’s were shot down. From these and other operations one of our aircraft is missing. An agency message from Allied • rican Headquarters states that in recent raid on Marsala, 300,000 leaflets were dropped telling the Italians they could help to prevent bombing by praying for peace, demanding peace, and demonstrating for peace. BEY OF TUNIS GIVEN FREEDOM. ’ LONDON, May 12. The “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent at Tunis says that the Bey of Tunis did not flee. He arrived from Hammamlif and was given complete freedom He was not noted for active opposition to the Germans but it seems that much of his collaboration arose as a result of Admiral Esteva’s direct requests. He is being respected as the nominal sovereign of Tunisia and when he met British andi American representatives he expressed high regard for the Allies.

N.Z. Troops

MR. CURTIN’S CONGRATULATIONS. WELLINGTON, May 13. The Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser' 1 has received from the Australian Prime Minister (Mr. Curtin) a cable expressing congatulations on the notable part the gallant New Zealand troops played in the Tunisian victory, adding: “We pray that these successes may result in a speedy and complete victory for the Allied nations over the Axis forces, and pave the way for an enduring peace.” ITALY'S BASES ALLIED AIR OFFENSIVE (Rec. 7.30) LONDON, May 12. With the Tunisian air battle ended, the air battle of the Mediterranean has begun. The full weight of the Allied air forces is now being directed against Mussolini’s bases m the Sicilian Straits, Sicily and Southern Italy. There are signs that the Axis no longer has sufficient planes to cope with bombing on such a scale as the Allies are able to put up. Our heavy and medium bombers yesterday hammered Catania, Pantellaria. Marsala and Trapani. All are either seaplane or land plane bases. Our heavy bombers had a fighter escort for the first time when attacking the Sicilian objective of Cdntania harbour. This is significant, showing that it is now possible to provide fighter protection right across the Sicilian Straits and almost to the toe of Italy. Malta has assumed a nbw role m the Mediterranean war, providing an ideal advanced offensive base. Spitfires from Malta escorted American heavy bombers raiding Sicily. Reuter’s correspondent at Allied Headquarters states that one significant point' emerges from these daylight raids by large numbers of bombers against Sicily—the astonishingly small losses—three out of 400 employed on May 9 and one out of 300 on May 11. It is thought that either the Axis cannot tackle such concentrated fire power or, as a result of the Allies’ fierce and continuous battering of the Sicilian airfields, the Axis simply have not enough planes left on the island. “The Times” aeronautical correspondent says: “The position created by the German occupation of the Low Countries and France is now reversed. Pantellaria is in much the same position as were the Channel Islands after the fall of France, while Southern Italy, particularly Sicilv is as exposed to bombing raids as England was during the battle of Britain. Even Northern Italy becomes a nearer target for our heavy bombers in Tunisia than home-based bombers. Southern Italy has already begun to creak under the weight of bombs which the Allied air forces have dropped as a “parttime job.” Now Allied aircraft will be able to devote their .almost undivided attention to strategical . attack. Doubtless Italy will have