BIG TANK BATTLE RAGING

Southland Times, Issue 24757, 30 May 1942, Page 5

BIG TANK BATTLE RAGING

CLASH IN DESERT SOUTH OF TOBRUK (United Press Association —Telegraph Copyright) (Rec. 1 a.m.) LONDON, May 29. A great tank battle is raging 24 miles south-east of Tobruk at a point where several desert tracks meet. The enemy force is a combination of the two columns which Field Marshal Rommel sent out in an attempt to turn the southern flank of the British defence system before turning north towards Tobruk. It is possible that the results of this engagement will not be known for a day or two. The British defences in the desert are reported to be holding firm. The Cairo correspondent of the Associated Press says that a crack British tank brigade pounced on the panzer units which turned north-east from Bir Hacheim. Deadly fighting is in progress. German casualties are reported to be mounting hourly. According to the Cairo correspondent of The Daily Express the Germans fouled a minefield here but the fighting is mostly going on in the open desert, where it is a clear cut issue of who has the better tanks and the better soldiers. Other reports from the desert continue to give a favourable indication. The Axis is taking severe punishment from the Royal Air Force, which appears to have wrested the initiative from the German land forces and has taken heavy toll of enemy supply columns. According to an earlier message The Daily Telegraph’s Cairo correspondent reported that British 25 and 35-pounder mobile artillery wrought terrible havoc among Axis transport and supply columns in attacks on Gazala and Bir Hacheim.