LARGE-SCALE ATTACK! ON EIGHTH ARMY

Southland Times, Issue 24996, 8 March 1943, Page 5

LARGE-SCALE ATTACK! ON EIGHTH ARMY

ROMMEL SUFFERS HEAVY TANK LOSSES INITIATIVE REGAINED IN NORTH

Reuters Algiers correspondent says: American armoured vehicles just beat French forces to the capture of Pichon. The French are now only a few miles from Pichon, in central Tunisia, and are meeting little resistance as they drive from Nefta towards Tozeur.

Reuters correspondent in Tunisia, detailing the capture of Pichon, says: The Allied forces which swept into Pichon on Friday took the town aftei’ trekking 70 miles in nine days across mountain tracks. They were the advance guards of the victors of Kasserine pass and had pushed across the country from Sbeitla, dodging mine-sown roads and blown up bridges. The northern arm of the advance took Pichon after a resistance from 10 enemy armoured vehicles which were forced to withdraw.

According to the New York radio Allied troops have captured Fai Pass. This pass is the gateway to the central Tunisian plain. The report is not officially confirmed, but earlier North African dispatches suggested that the Germans had retired into the pass, following the Allied occupation of Sidi Bouzid.

The British United Press correspondent in Tunisia says: Allied forces following the occupation of Pichon are massing at the western entrance of the mountain pass leading to Kairwan, but the Germans are preparing a new drive against out positions at Tamera. The

(United Press Association —Telegraph Copyright) (Rec. 1 a.m.) LONDON, March 7. Field Marshal Rommel launched a large-scale offensive against the Bth Army at dawn yesterday and the latest reports say that fierce fighting is still in progress in front of the Mareth Line. British anti-tank guns quickly, and without loss, destroyed 21 German tanks, which attacked with infantry support. A correspondent says that Rommel cannot for long afford such a score. The fighting is believed to be hottest two miles east of the town of Mareth and about six miles south-east of the actual Mareth Line.

Extensive skirmishing and artillery duelling have occurred between the British and the Italians and Germans in this area since Wednesday. Reuters correspondent at Allied headquarters says: Rommel is continuing to follow his bold precept of: Hit the enemy before he hits you. But the last time he did this against General Montgomery was a prelude to the German disaster at El Alamein. Another correspondent says it is thought that Rommel has withdrawn forces from central Tunisia and is concentrating his weight on the Bth Army. General Montgomery, however, was well prepared for the attack.

Reuters’ Algiers correspondent says: British troops, after fierce house-to-house battles at Sod Jenane in northern Tunisia were forced back along the main coast road seven miles to Tamera, where the positions can be better defended than at Sed Jenane. Counter-attacks can also be more easily launched. The Sunday Express says that General von Arnim hurriedly switched planes from other fronts. He used dive-bombers to blast the Ist Army from Sed Jenane to Tamera. Dive-bombers strafed the road leading westward from the town and also heavily plastered the town itself. However, a late message states that the enemy attack in northern Tunisia had diminished and that the British had regained the initiative.

Axis thrust in Northern Tunisia has cost them at least 45 tanks and between 3000 and 4000 men. Little concern is felt in official quarters at the German gain. However, a further six-mile advance would take the Germans to Jebel Abiod, giving Von Arnim control of the important supply road from Tabarka to Beja. Algiers radio says the French troops occupied Ousseltia without resistance and added that the French forces skirting the shores of Shott El Jerid in the last 24 hours had made further progress.