OPENED IN WESTERN TUNISIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 January 1943, Page 3

OPENED IN WESTERN TUNISIA

Designed to Force Passage to Mediterranean EIGHTH ARMY ADVANCING STEADILY IN TRIPOLITANIA NOW ABOUT FIFTY MILES FROM FRONTIER LONDON; January 28. The American army concentrated, in western Tunisia has opened an offensive which is designed to force a passage through to the Mediterranean, according to Axis sources. The Americans have attacked from round Tebessa, and forward un.|ts have contacted the Axis outposts. Military observers say that the object of the attack would be to drive a. wedge between Rommel’s forces and the German army concentrated in eastern Tunisia. Patrols of the British Eighth Army advancing along the coast road from Tripoli have made contact with the enemy 40 miles beyond Tripoli and two-thirds of the way to Zuara. The point reached is about 50 miles, from the Tunisian border. A Cairo correspondent says there is no fresh news of the advance south of the coastal road, where the British columns are thought to be keeping’ up with the coastal advance and v may well be ahead of it. Two hundred and fifty miles to the south of the coastal road French troops, including a force from the Chad region, have occupied the important oasis of Gadames, which has been evacuated by the Italians. It is at the junction of the frontier of Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, and is an important meeting point of caravan routes. The latest official news of the land fighting in Tunisia speaks of patrol activity.