GREAT TANK BATTLE

Southland Times, Issue 24758, 1 June 1942, Page 5

GREAT TANK BATTLE

AIR SUPERIORITY (8.0.W.) RUGBY, May 30. “The battle of Knightsbridge,” l which in the words of an agency correspondent with the Bth Army, will go down in history as one of the hardest and most crucial tank battles ever fought, is. still in progress and it is impossible to say at the moment which way the battle is going. “It is a typical modem battle,” says the correspondent, “and the sandstorms are a handicap for our troops, who have very great difficulty in distinguishing friend from foe. At the same time Die Germans’ tactics of splitting their armoured forces into three or four sections have failed and it is very probable that the first-line tanks and armoured cars which are fighting in this battle may prove decisive. Air superiority is more than ever in our hands, •with additions of Spitfires, Kittyhawks and fighter-bombers. Our air attacks yesterday went on as long as the weather permitted—until the thick dust made visibility practically nil. The Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force bombed enemy armoured-cars, supply columns, dumps, etc.” GAZALA ATTACK FAILS The enemy has failed in his northern attack near Gazala. He attacked from the west and was unable to get through. On the southern flank operations were tarried out by our mobile columns, which attacked the enemy’s supply lines, protected by motorized troops north and north-east of Bir Hacheim. While the situation is recognized as critical the fact that at no place has our defence been penetrated shows that the German blitz offensive has failed and they have been obliged to fight a major tank battle—which is more than they expected. The Axis generals have not up to now shown any marked military genius and their tactics are simply a copy of the German attack in France when they broke through at Sedan. The British command has always known that the only possible way to attack was by a wide southern movement and the present fighting shows they were prepared for it. Every attempt by the Germans to reach the Tobruk perimeter—which they must take in order to carry on with their plans—so far has failed and the cost to the Axis has been heavy in tanks and armoured cars.