A TANK THRUST

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22486, 22 January 1943, Page 5

A TANK THRUST

Germans Pierce French Lines I Fighting In Tunisia I i N.Z.P.A.—Special Correspondent (11.30 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 20. Allied air and artillery action over the Pont du Fahs-Boat Arada Road covering the French retreat has limited the German movement to a single south-western drive, says the military spokesman at Algiers commenting on the Axis penetration south-westward of Pont du Fahs. The Axis suffered sizeable losses of equipment and tanks out of all proportion to the value of the attack. The Algiers correspondent of the British United Press says that in order to counter the German tank columns, which have made a thrust of seven miles, British forces to-night are trying to gain control of the hills to the east of the road running south from Pont du Fahs to bring it under artillery fire. Positions held by the British dominate the road running west from | Pont du Fahs and the German tank columns are meeting a heavy artillery resistance.

The French army is offering rewards for native saboteurs the Germans are dropping by parachute. The correspondent of the Associated British Press says the Axis is doing its utmost to perfect the defences of its present lines and is using every promising summit with guns, which had already several • times forced the Allies to give up objectives. It is officially confirmed that the tank expert, General von Arnim, has succeeded General Nehring. Bombers attacked roads and railways at Jea, Tunis and Susa on Monday night. On Tuesday Flying Fortresses attacked the Tunis area, obtaining hits on industrial targets and railway yards. P3B planes attacked a column- of enemy vehicles near the Tunisian frontier, destroying about 20. One enemy bomber was destroyed on Monday night. We lost two. The Political Tangle According to the British United Press, General de Gaulle was not consulted about the appointment of M. Marcel . Peyrouten as Governor of Algiers and would not have approved if he had been. The diplomatic correspondent of the ‘Daily Heifjd” says it is suspected that the United States State Department was swayed by M. Peyrouten’s suave assurances and persuaded General Giraud to appoint him. The correspondent adds that Laval stated that M. Peyrouten was the first Frenchman to introduce Nazi methods to North Africa. A few months later M. Peyrouten turned against him and had Marshal Petain dismiss him. Outspoken criticism of the State Department’s handling of the political field in North Africa is expressed by the commentator of the New York “HeraldTribune” (Mr Walter Lippmann). He describes the American Minister (Mr Murphy) as a man lacking in detachment, who would readily take on the political colours of those with whom he associated. The commentator says the time has come to cease misleading the American public by pretending that the political situation, which is our entire responsibility, is muddled because of what has been said in London. Control is in Washington, and decision must be made there to send a political representative of sufficient calibre to cope with the situation.

The Foreign Secretary (Mr R. A. Eden), replying to a question in the House of Commons, said that the British, also the United States Government, had lost no opportunity of impressing on the French authorities the importance they attached to the early release of all prisoners, whatever their nationality, who had been detained in North Africa on account of their sympathy with the Allied cause. Many of these political prisoners had already been released, but there must be a number of doubtful cases, and to investigate these a mixed commission had been set up under the joint chairman* ship of the British and United States Consuls-General at Algiers. Arrangements were being made for the early release of Poles, Czechs, Belgians and Russians, many of whom were members of the former International Brigade. The Russians would return to their own country as soon as transport could be arranged.