NEW ZEALAND DRIVE SUCCEEDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24135, 29 November 1941, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND DRIVE SUCCEEDS

CRUCIAL BATTLE IN PROGRESS DESPERATE efforts to reopen gap By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright . (Received November 2S. 11.5 p.m.) LONDON, Not. 28 The junction of the New Zealand forces from the west with the British forces from Tobruk is announced in a Cairo communique, which states: "During Tuesday night New Zealand forces, supported by a British tank formation, recaptured Sidi Rezegh and occupied Bir-el-Hamed in the face of heavy opposition. Fighting continued in the area throughout yesterday, and it uras not until early on Thursday morning that elements of the relieving forces were able to join hands at El Duda with the British forces from Tobruk, which yesterday captured that important locality." The Daily Express correspondent with the Eighth Army says a crucial battle is in progress near Tobruk, where the enemy is desperately trying to reopen the gap. The whole area on both sides of the junction swarms with enemy troops, tanks and guns attacking from both right and left. Battles continue to rage around the New Zealanders. German and Italian armoured formations are violently counterattacking and doing their utmost to split the newly-joined units. It was one such earlier thrust which drove the British back from Sidi Rezegh, eight miles south-east to Sidi Mufta. Then the New Zealanders drove the Germans back again, taking Sidi Rezegh, pushing on to Bir-el-Hamed oasis, four miles to the north, and then making contact with the force from Tobruk on the fortified knoll at El Duda. Dominion Troops' Brilliant Feat Fighting continues fiercely, the situation changing every hour. A tftwyo? with a tank unit chasing German armoured cars reached headquarters and said he passed through four series of battle lines since leaving Sidi Rezegh. The forces are interwoven all over the desert. The British are cutting off the Germans one m-oment and the Germans seem to be doing the same to the British shortly afterward. British soldiers are seen driving German trucks and Germans are seen escaping in British trucks. . ' The advance of the New Zealanders to the Tobruk area is considered to be one of the most brilliant feats of the campaign. The junction with the forces from Tobruk occurred before dawn when British tanks sighted a battle formation of tanks ahead. Identification was difficult in the grey light, and both sides manoeuvred warily until dawn revealed that all were British. A correspondent states that he saw the New Zealanders signalling by semaphore to the men from Tobruk across a belt where Germans sand Italians were strongly entrenched. The Allied forces are now preparing for a final bid to clear the enemy out of the area south-east of Tobruk. Reuter's correspondent reports that the Allied armoured forces are being strengthened, and order has been restored following the first great tank /battle. „" V Union Not Yet Solid The New Zealanders in the Sidi Rezegh area face stiff fighting, said the military spokesman in Cairo. Only advanced units of both the New/Zealand Expeditionary Force and the Tobruk garrison had so far joined up and enemy pockets remained between the main forces. On that account it might be too early to -say that Tobruk had been relieved. The spokesman said the battle , had been handled extremely well. The general feeling in informed circles was of quiet confidence. There was every hope that the temporary junction with the Tobruk garrison would become solid with the arrival of larger British forces from the south and east. The relief of Tobruk appeared imminent. If the junction is maintained and the breach in the Axis besieging line widened, Tobruk, with its sea communications, may become a valuable base for supplies for the field forces, which at present are maintained by long lines of communications stretching across 200 miles of desert. Moreover, the tanks from Tobruk are y now available for the main battle in the Sidi Rezegh area.