With Original Objectives Lost, Hun Entrenches in Cauldron

Northern Advocate, 11 June 1942, Page 3

With Original Objectives Lost, Hun Entrenches in Cauldron

[British Official Wireless]

(8.0. W.) (Received 12 Noon)

RUGBY, June 10,

THE SUGGESTION HAS BEEN MADE IN LONDON THAT 1 THE PRESENT APPARENT DEADLOCK IN LIBYA HAS BEEN CAUSED BY THE GERMAN TACTICS IN FORMING A VERY LARGE AREA COVERING THE PLACE WHERE THE BRITISH MINE-FIELD WAS ORIGINALLY BREACHED. Unable to roll up the whole position from Gazala to Hakeim, and equally unsuccessful in reaching Tobruk or making progress eastward, the enemy forces are judged to have saved themselves from the necessity of a disastrous retreat by digging in on the ground they had gained and creating a “Hedgehog” similar to those they have made in Russia during the winter. From this great entrenched camp in the barren desert, they can refuel, refit and defend themselves against air or tank attack in a way rather similar to the British forces in Tobruk last year.

Contained in Pot Sr> far all attempts to widen the gap connecting the camp with the main Axis territory and make sorties eastwards have failed. For many days British forces have succeeded in containing the enemy in the “Cauldron” by forming a circle of strong points held by armoured forces stretching far to the west of it. These developments have made possible the prolongation of the battle. which, at first, seemed likely to stop. Tanks have been repaired and supplies brought up in spite of harassing from the ground and air. Whether the mobility of the campaign has thereby been permanently affected remains to be seen. The answer is thought to depend largely on the degree to which the British armoured and air forces can interrupt enemy supplies coming up from the west. Tricolour Still Flies According to an agency correspondent with the Eighth Army, the enemy appeal’s to be concentrating on taking Bir Hakeim in the hope of reducing their lines of communication by 40 to 50 miles. Finding it impossible to overwhelm the French garrison with mobile artilk ry and the close support of infantry and guns, they have opened a bombardment with long and medium range Held guns, supported by squadrons of dive-bombers. From morning till night yesterday and throughout last night. German artillery maintained their fire, but all attacks were repulsed with the assistance of British armoured forces that have been despatched to the area. While the enemy main forces moved to subdue the French resistance, the only fighting around Knightsbridge and the Cauldron area has been the constant harassing of Axis convoys close to the original gap in the minefield across Trigh and Capuzzo. On the plateau about Bir Hakeim, the thunder of longrange artillery rolled across the desert, and after a day of the fiercest fighting, in which the timely arrival of British forces turned the scale, the Tricolour is still flying at sunset over the desert citadel.

Battle to the South More and more the main battleground is moving to the extreme south, where the enemy has been driven off more than a dozen times, and where yesterday General Koenig ordered a counter-attack towards the north which threw the enemy into the incoming British reinforcements. In the meantime the British column got well on to the enemy's supply lines in that area. The correspondent estimates that yesterday’s battle was probably one of the greatest yet fought in the desert, and so long as supplies are coming into the fighting forces the position of the British armies is good. It was felt last night, after a tremendous onslaught by German artillery. that the coming hours would be decisive. According to information available, the enemy is concentrating on Hakeim in readiness to launch yet another assault. His regular communications are practically nil. The Royal Air Force on Tuesday morning was asked to attend to Stukas, who were operating in considerable numbers. It is evident that the tenacious resistance of the French is a considerable embarrassment to the enemy. Reuter’s correspondent on the Libyan front says that several hundred "men of the Italian Pavia Division surrendered to a small British armoured force. British Communique The Middle East war communique says British armoured and motorised forces yesterday assisted the Free French at Bir Hakein in driving off a large-scale attack by the enemy, who used an increased number of tanks and dive-bombers, also infantry and artillery. Our mobile columns are continuing to harass effectively the enemy's line of supply from the west. In the Cauldron area, some of our armoured units are engaged in longrange duels with the enemy armoured forces.

Bloody Battle The French war correspondent, writing from the Western Desert, says this fantastic and bloody battle has reached a new climax of fury, with an avalanche of metal, which Rommel, striking with the viciousness of an angry snake, has hurled against the French defences at Bir Hakeim. The enemy is believed to be regrouping great new forces preparatory to another attack on an even larger scale. From prisoners' statements it is known that stern orders were given to all ranks before yesterday’s assault that the French at Bir Hakeim must be wiped out to the last man. The French remain in good spirits. Communications with Bir Hakeim are difficult, and Bir Hakeim itself is beginning to look pretty horrid. Ugly ragged bomb craters .stud the plateau, twister burnt-out tanks dot the horizon and the air reeks with the stench of powder and petrol. Plastered with Bombs A fierce air war raged throughout the day over Bir Hakeim battlefield. Empire squadrons plastered the position of Axis columns with bombs, while fighters Swooped very low, ignoring flak and shooting-up at pointblank range Axis gun-crews, troops, supplies and transport. General Rommel continues to dive-bomb Bir Hakeim. using waves of 40 to 50 Stukas. The Russian midnight communique reports that battles occurred on the Kharkov sector, where the Germans have taken the offensive. Enemy attacks against Sebastopol were repulsed.