Eight-Hour Air Bombardment On Tunis Docks

Northern Advocate, 18 December 1942, Page 3

Eight-Hour Air Bombardment On Tunis Docks

(Received 1.30 p.m.)

(8.0. W.)

RUGBY, Dec. 17,

The Cairo communique states that following a night of intense ground strafing, our bombers and fighterbombers yesterday continued to attack the retreating enemy. Good targets in Nufilia area were bombed with excellent results. Docks at Tunis and La Gouletta were again heavily attacked by Allied bombers on the night of December 15. The raid lasted for oVer eight hours. Hits were scored on oil stores, the depot barracks and railway yards causing large fires and violent explosions. The canal linking Tunis and Gouletta was partially blocked as a result oi the attack. Two aircraft were shot, down by long-range fighters off the: coast yesterday. None of our aircraft j is missing Ambush Enemy A correspondent with the advanced forces in Tunisia says that British offensive patrols in Mateur are continually harassing the enemy on the road approaching the town. Parties march ; cross the hills, ambush enemy patrols and shoot unarmourecl cars and transport, often using machine-guns < just captured from the Italians, who are predominant in this area and have almost abandoned the use of roads at right. British patrols cover many miles each night returning in the morning, usually bringing captured cars and prisoners. Entering Third Phase Reuter's Tunisian front correspondent. summing up the campaign, says: "The battle lor Tunisia is now entering the third phase. The first was a swill, unopposed rush eastward from Algiers by relatively small. First Army advanced elements. This force deprived the Germans of the use of the vital aerodromes of Djidol 1 i and Bona, anc! gave the Allies a forward screen behind which the main forces could be massed. The second phase started when the Germans were contacted.

"After a short pause General Anderson's forces launched attacks which carried hem through Medjez El Bab as far as Djedeicla. General Nehring, by putting everything he had in his shop window, was able to halt and even push back the Allies. Several short, sharp battles were fought out at Teburba and Medjez El Bab. They were clearly a preliminary test of strength before engaging in large scale operations. "The third phase has opened with a short pause, mainly due to rain which water-logged the terrain. Both sides are massing for a big clash. The First Army's communications are immensely longer that those of the Axis. It will take some time for General Anderson to deploy forces.

Risks Well Repaid

"The risks he ran in dashing ahead are well repaid. If he waited until he had gathered a large enough force the battle might have started well inside Algeria instead of Tunisia." Reuter’s representative at Allied Headquarters North Africa,, says the Allies' planes are hitting with growing strength against Axis strongholds, in Tunisia German air activity in the last few days has noticeably slackened. The lull in the ground lighting continues. First army patrols contacted the enemy about a mile and a half eastwards of Medjez El Bab. which is still in British hands. The Associated Press correspondent in Tunisia says the Allies have fortified a hill in the perimeter of Medjez el Bab as the spearhead of their positions, while the army behind Medjez El Bab is preparing for a major battle. The Germans have a big army, including some of the finest fighting units, and Tunisia will be the scene of one of Hitler's main efforts to halt the Allies. The Associated Press adds that Dorian announced that French warships at Dakar. Alexandria and North African ports would join the Anglo-American fleets on the high seas to fight against the Axis.

Reinforcements from Marseilles

It is reported from the French frontier that the Germans are clearing Marseilles and a 30-mile coast strip around the port to rush men and materials to Tunisia. They have forbidden sea traffic in the Toulon area.

Reports from Algiers say a large number of small boats with Axis reinforcements are already arriving at Susua, vSfax and Gabes. Rommel’s main object at present is to deny us the use of Tripoli says "The Times" Cairo representative. The port is no use to him because Allied air forces and the Navy have rendered it unuseable and also prevented convoys reaching there. Rommel, however, has realised that Tripoli would enable us to ensure adequate aerial protection and considerably assist us in what has now become the vital war theatre in North Africa—the Tunis sector, where, jn the last resort, the fate of the German hold on Africa will be settled. Morocco radio says it is learned authoritatively that the enemy is retreating from the area at Medjez El Bab. The course of the battle is already changing under the weight of Allied air superiority. IV o Further German Advance Correspondents at Allied Headquarters. North Africa, report that the Germans do not appear to have made a further attempt to close in on Medjez El Bab. Our patrols report that Teburba road and the main eastern road to Tunis are free of Germans for several miles. The drier weather was given the engineers a chance to repair the roads and enable transport to move more freely.