WITHIN 30 MILES OF TUNISIA

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22493, 30 January 1943, Page 5

WITHIN 30 MILES OF TUNISIA

Eighth Army’s Advance Artillery Duels With Rommel Americans Take Maknassi By Telegraph—N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright (11 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 28. The Eighth Army is having artillery duels with Rommel’s Afrika Korps 30 miles short of the frontier of Tunisia. It is reported from Algiers that United States troops have occupied Maknassi. No fresh news of the southern section of the advance has been received, but it is believed that its advance is at least equal to, if not more than, the advance along the coast road. Some 250 miles south of Tripoli, Fighting French troops have occupied the Ghadames Oasis, an important caravan junction on the Borders of Libya, Algeria and Tunisia. The German-controlled Paris radio said to-day: "Rommel’s advance to the Mareth Line is proceeding according to plan.” Difficult Terrain A correspondent with the Eighth Army reports that rearguard encounters continued yesterday, but bad weather almost entirely stopped air activity. The terrain is unfavourable for a rapid advance. The Allied positions now run in a fairy straight line from Mejez el Bab to a few miles west of Kairouan. It is estimated that Rommel now commands about 50,000 men, and possibly 100 tanks. It is probably true that only 20,000 of these are front-line soldiers and the rest base and garrison troops picked up in the retreat. Arguments against Rommel making a permanent stand with such a force on the Mareth Line are strong. His front extending from the north coast west of Bizerta to the Mareth Line would be 250 miles long, and a combined Axis force of 120,000 to 140,000 would be very thinly spread and unfavourably placed. It is expected, therefore, that the enemy will stay on the line only as long as he dares and not long enough to risk a second Alamein.

The speed of the Eighth Army’s advance has been considerably slowed down because of the great number of obstacles, reports the Morocco radio. The enemy destroyed a road leading to Tunisia and laid many minefields. Resistance by Rommel’s rearguards is steadily increasing, in spite of the assertions by the Axis that the Allies are opening movements on a large scale in Tunisia. Anglo-American Forces Reuter’s correspondent with the First Army says that the fighting on the central front has again died down to routine patrolling. The Allies are consolidating gains in the hills in the Bou Arada-Pont du Fahs—Ousseltia triangle. The weather is still difficult in the north and centre and practically impossible in the south where the roads are mere trails. Nevertheless, a slight improvement in the weather enabled our planes to resume high intensity strafing of the enemy’s communication lines.

It is reported that the American push toward the rear of the Mareth Line emphasises the fact that General von Arnim and Rommel have not only to calculate the strength of the Eighth Army’s push but also to reckon on the possibility of the Axis armies being cut off or severely restricted if forced to retreat much further from the Tunisian border area.

Morocco radio this morning broadcast the following communique from French headquarters in North Africa: "Local actions were fought in the region of Ousseltia. Northward of this point French forces mopped up the terrain for about 10 to 15 kilometres. To the east, French forces, in co-opera-tion with American forces, advanced. North of Pichon our forces occupied a position previously held by Italians. From daylight operations two aeroplanes of the Lafayette Squadron failed to return. Two enemy bombers were shot down during a raid on Algiers.” United States casualties in Tunisia to date are 211 killed, 553 wounded, and 515 missing. Of these missing 226 have been reported prisoners of war.