BIG TANK BATTLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 4 November 1942, Page 2

BIG TANK BATTLE

GOING WELL FOR ALLIES INFANTRY PREPARE WAY (Rec. 11.20 a.m.) London, Nov. 3. What the German news agency describes as the greatest battle of the whole African campaign is now going on. The second phase of the big British attack opened with an infantry move soon after midnight on Sunday, reports Reuter’s correspondent in a dispatch from west of El Alamein. The new push was southward from the coastal region where Axis forces were hemmed between the railway and the sea. • Infantry, under a waning moon, moved up to the attack in the region of Tel el Akakir, which is a stony ridge 100 feet high, seven miles west of Tel el Isa and about the same distance south of Sidi el Rahman (where the Australians on Monday were filtering through the sand dunes towards the sea west of the German pocket). Shells from our guns, which had put up a brisk barrage, continued to stab the darkness, while German flares fired in an attempt to discover whaot was happening, increased the eeriness of the scene. Infantry» hacking at the enemy’s hastily-wired defences, worked their way forward while sappers searched for mines. Sappers and infantry had to fight their way through minefields, strongpoints, booby-traps and other obstacles and then the tanks moved off in the thin dawn light.

An armoured battle was joined as soon as the light was good enough to see along the Tel el Akakir ridge. Things have gone well so far. Italian and German prisoners have been coming into cages behind the lines in considerable numbers for the past 24 hours. This new tank battle, which is on a scale eclipsing the big clash last week, is of tremendous importance in relation to the whole offensive. Activity is not confined to this sector, but is going on along the w'hole front. INFANTRY MAKE GAP The Cairo correspondent of “The Times” mentions that British and Dominion infantry are engaged in this new advance which extended several miles. He says that by dawn they had created a gap through which our armoured units were able to churn forward into more or less open country. A battle soon developed against the enemy’s armour and raged throughout the day. While this drive was progressing the Germans and Italians in the pocket attempted to break out with the assistance of attacks - from other enemy detachments from the direction of El Rahman. The Australians thus faced attacks from east and west. They nevertheless held their ground and the enemy in the pocket remains cut off.

The correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that following British infantry’s break-through they were set on by the Afrika Korps but Eighth Army tanks came up immediately and engaged the Afrika Korps and knocked out many tanks and killed many escaping Germans. . General Montgomery’s offensive has now reached its peak, says the British United Press correspondent with the Eighth Army. It is evident from a statement by German prisoners that the Germans realise they must fight to the death or relinquish the prospects of conquering the Nile Delta. AXIS VERSION OF BATTLE A German news agency declared that General Montgomery has thrown in about 500 tanks in the greatest battle of the whole African campaign. All attempts by the British to break through on Monday failed. Despite heavy losses General Montgomery to-day persisted ir the attempt to break through. A German communique says that the battle continues with increasing violence. Our all-out counter-attack held a penetration in the northern sectors by strong enemy tank detachments. An Italian communique says that the violent battle in Egypt continued on Monday with greater violence. Axis forces bravely stemmed renewed pressure from powerful enemy armoured forces. The enemy suffered very heavy losses. Our losses were also high. HIGH GROUND CAPTURED Stressing the continuance of the Eighth Army’s advance against Rommel, an agency correspondent in Cairo states that an attack of the highest importance was carried out by infantry the night before last, and our troops advanced several miles to clear the way for armour. Then followed the biggest armoured clash since General Montgomery’s drive started. The degree of success achieved by the British armour so far is not known. Infantry, in a determined night attack reached and captured high ground. This major attack was launched shortly after midnight on Sunday night. The main attack was in the north-east sector just south of the pocket which the Australians had semi-encircled.

Activity in the southern and central sectors has also increased. Australians in the north heavily attacked at the last light on Sunday. There was very heavy fighting when the enemy attacked them from both sides—from the east and west—but the Australians, fighting magnificently, held all their positions. As far as is known the enemy is still held in the pocket by Australians and heavy fighting continues. ROOM FOR MANOEUVRING It is clear the Eighth Army has now acquired room for maneouvring after digging deeply into Rommel’s network of interdependent defences. The present attack in the north may have repercussions on Rommel’s positions in the south where his right flank, forming ah arc towards the Allied lines hinges on the Qattara depression. Australians in the coastal sector have repulsed attacks by the Axis forces who are partly cut off in a pocket between the sea and the railway, and by other Axis forces from the west. Fighting in the coastal area, however, assumes secondary importance as a result of the new development. If the new advance goes well, the situation on the coast will automatically improve. There is no news so far of the enemy, cut off in the pocket, having broken out. Reuter to-night reports that the point where the Allied infantry broke through was on a sector of the last of the enemy’s forward defences in the northern sector. The Afrika Korps is mustering all available tanks, anti-tank guns and troops to block the bridgehead. This bridgehead is held mainly by British and Imperial troops who have already captured hundreds of prisoners. Tanks and armoured cars passed through a wide gap made by the infantry and collected forward of the bridgehead. A fluid situation has developed on the southern flank of the bridgehead. —P.A.