ROMMEL REACHES MARETH LINE

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22491, 28 January 1943, Page 5

ROMMEL REACHES MARETH LINE

Eighth Army Follows Up More Serious Business Soon By Telegraph—New Zealand Press Association—Copyright (Received 8 p.m.) LONDON, January 26. ACCORDING to the Paris radio, Rommel has reached the Mareth Line and General von Arnim’s forces are moving to establish a junction. The Cairo correspondent of the Columbia Broadcasting System says that the Eighth Army columns striking west are mopping up stray German units. The superior weight of arms and men will soon carry General Montgomery’s forces over the border into Tunisia, and then serious business will begin at the Mareth Line. In the drive west of Tripoli General Montgomery’s forces are meeting much the same difficulties they did east of the city last week. The roads are mined and in many places they have been obstructed and blown up. The cross-country going is bad, and yesterday there was considerable resistance from enemy rearguards. General Montgomery is planning a pincer movement against Rommel’s forces, according to the Berlin radio. “A large number of men and strong tank formations are concentrating along the coastal road leading to the Tunisian border. Obviously General Montgomery is again attempting the encirclement of the Germans,” it stated. The radio also stated that a force of British tanks had been seen to the southward. The German High Command has disclosed that Rommel’s army is divided into two sections. One, consisting of infantry and tanks, is proceeding along the coastal road, and the other, consisting only of tanks, is driving into South Tunisia.

The German controlled Paris radio says that Rommel’s and Von Arnim’s forces have established contact. A big clash seems nearer in Tunisia. There is evidence of the concentration of Allied strength for the final bout with the Axis for possession of the whole of North Africa, says Reuter’s correspondent in Tunisia. The Americans have made considerable progress in the Ousseltia area and knocked out 15 German tanks in recent fighting north of the town. The Berlin radio says the American army is preparing for ncreased activity south-east of Tebessa. Its advanced formations pushing east and southeast made contact with Axis patrols at several points. The night before the arrival of the Eighth Army in Tripoli the Germans slaughtered in cold blood the leading Jews, who were packed into a ramshackle ghetto, surrounded by barbed wire on the excuse that they might be useful to the Allies, says the correspondent of the British United Press in Tripoli.

Allied fighter-bombers continued their offensive against the retreating enemy near Zuara. where a hit was scored on a vessel in the harbour. The landing ground was also successfully attacked. Bombers scored hits on the same target on Sunday night. Yesterday enemy supply lines in Sicily and Tunisia were bombed and machinegunned.

A communique from General le Cler's Fighting French headquarters states that advanced elements of the Fighting French forces entered Tripoli on Monday and made contact with the British Command. It is 39 days since they crossed the frontier of the Chad Territory into Libya, and they have travelled at least 800 miles. “While to-day's communique refers only to advances by oux- forward troops, there is no doubt that we made progress in all sectors yesterday, perhaps more in the south than along the coastal road.” states a correspondent with the Eighth Army. “The enemy air bases at Medenin and Ben Gardane are getting very heavily pounded by the Allied ah- forces and it is clear that one of our immediate objectives is to neutralise and conta'n these bases and the more forward landing grounds which are threatening Tripoli," continues the correspondent. “It is essential to get the Tripoli harbour- wor'-’vo- again to replace Benghazi, now left five hundred miles be-

hind, as our principal supply base, so we are driving the Luftwaffe as far back from Tripoli as we can.” A correspondent in Cairo states that the Axis air attack on the advancing Eighth Army yesterday was negligible. Allied fighter-bomber attacks were continued on Zuara where a motor vessel in the harbour was badly damaged with a direct hit. Without interruption from enemy fighters, bomber sweeps were carried out between Sabratha and Zuara over the Tunisian frontier. The prospect of Rommel fighting another delaying action, this time at the Mareth Line, is being discussed in London. It is doubted whether he could make a more determined bid to halt the Eighth Army than he did at El Agheila or Wadi Zemzem, for it seems unlikely that von Arnim, against whom the whole of the Anglo-American armies are piling up, can give him any reinforcement. If Rommel is unable to do more than fight a delaying action on this favourable position, it seems ’ • 1 unlikely that he can defend southeast Tunisia at all, or do more than attempt to join von Arnim in Tunis and await a formidable Allied assault from the west and south, from the sky and the sea. It is with this grim prospect before them that the German commanders will be watching the fate of their colleagues at Stalingrad. Events in Tunisia “Our foces continue to operate towards the north in the Ousseltia Valley.” states to-day’s communique from Allied Headquarters in North Africa. “Unfavourable weather has limited air activity in Tunisia. It is now known that four, and not three, enemy bombers were destroyed on Sunday night." --- An agency message states that Allied patrols advanced 14 miles to the northeast before coming in contact with the enemy. Tlie Germans have made no attempt to renew their offensive. The importance of the success of the Allied forces in holding the German. . thrust in central Tunisia is emphasised by correspondents. The Germans were heading for the three villages of Bou Arada. Roba, and Ousseltia. British tanks and infantry threw them back from Bou Arada. The situation was more critical in the other two areas and only last-minute intervention by British and American forces stemmed the German thrust and prevented them from achieving an important gain.