INTO TUNISIA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 28, 4 February 1943, Page 5

INTO TUNISIA

EIGHTH ARMY ADVANCES AMERICAN FORCES’ OPERATIONS (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Recd. 6.50 p.m.) London, Feb. 2. The head of the Eighth Army column advancing along the Tripolitarian coast is now just east of Zliten, a town about 20 miles beyond Zuara. R.A.F. fighter-bombers again attacked Zarzis, the first Axis port inside Tunisia. Two motor-barges were left listing, believed destroyed. Australian bombers later attacked the port, shooting up five two-masted ketches. The Associated Press correspondent in North Africa, quoting an Allied spokesman, says the attack against Sened was purely a raid. The Americans withdrew after accomplishing their purpose of eliminating the garrison. Reuter’s correspondent reports that the American column which captured Sened cleared out three companies of German infantry and also 18 lorryloads of reinforcements and then advanced northward to Mee. Two American columns are closing in against Maknassi, which was apparently erroneously reported captured on January 29. One column is advancing from the west following the capture of Sened. This column has already linked up with the second, moving south from Sidi Bousid. The American force farther north trying to retake Faid Pass has not made much headway against the strongly-entrenched enemy. The Germans have artillery sited on the slopes on both sides of the pass. Allied planes are actively participating in the operations. Boston bombers scored direct hits on a large concentration of vehicles, including at least ten tanks.