FACTOR OF WEATHER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 January 1943, Page 4

FACTOR OF WEATHER

LIMITING OPERATIONS IN TUNISIA BUT ALLIED AIR FORCES BUSY. ATTACKING THE ENEMY’S COMMUNICATIONS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 12.50 p.m.) LONDON, January 28. Reuter’s correspondent with the First Army says fighting in the central front has again died down to routine patrolling. The Allies are consolidating their gains in the hills of the Bouarada, Pont du Fahs, Ousseltia triangle. The weather is still dictating the extent of operations. Small scale movements are most 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 highintensity strafing of the enemy’s communication lines. It is reported that the American push towards the rear of the Mareth Line underlines the fact that von Arnim and Rommel have not only to calculate the strength of the Eighth Army’s push but also to reckon the possibility of Axis armies being cut off, or at any rate severely restricted, if they are forced to retreat much further from the Tunisian border area. MINES AND OBSTACLES WITH DAMAGE TO ROADS. HAMPERING EIGHTH ARMY ADVANCE. (Received This Day, 12.50 p.m.) LONDON, January 28. The speed of the Eighth Army’s advance has considerably slowed down because of the great number <of obstacles, reports the Morocco radio. The enemy destroyed the road leading to Tunisia and laid many minefields. The resistance of Rommel’s rearguards is steadily increasing, despite Axis assertions that the Allies are opening large-scale movements in Tunisia.