BATTLE RAGING ON 50-MILE FRONT

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 125, 29 May 1942, Page 5

BATTLE RAGING ON 50-MILE FRONT

TROOPS HOLD FAST British Defence Lines Not Broken At Any Point British Official Wireless Rec. 1 p.m. RUGBY, May 28. The Libya battle is being fought generally on the lines anticipated by the British High Command, states an agency war correspondent with the Bth Army. The correspondent s^? s t ' lc battle, which raged all day yesterday on a 50-mile front extending from the sea to a point north-east of Bir Hacheim, restarted this morning. Encounters between the opposing forces of tanks and armoured cars were being fought in clouds' of dust. At no point has the defence been broken by the Afrika Corps commanded by General von Nehring. When the battle abated last night the ground was strewn with the wreckage of burnt-out vehicles. Axis casualties were particularly heavy. When they came into contact with the British armoured forces they sustained very heavy losses. The Italian forces, which approached the British positions south of Gazala, suffered similar casualties. A surprising feature of the campaign was stated by a correspondent to be the smallness of the Axis air support, only a few Junkers 88 and Stuka dive-bombers being seen. On the other hand the R.A.F., whose main efforts have been directed against supply columhs and enemy aerodromes, have done sterling work. News of Battle Awaited News of the battle, which was Joined yesterday, is awaited in Britain with confidence, based on the previous achievements of General Ritchie's Bth Army in both offence and defence. There is, however, no attempt in the Press to conceal the gravity of the threat. It is appreciated that substantial reinforcements must have reached the Axis forces during the past few months, and It is thought that the enemy has been waiting to build up the largest possible force with copious supplies indispensable for desert warfare before starting his offensive. It is assumed that the Axis cani afford to wait no longer before at-1 tempting the conquest of the Middle I East, which is widely believed to be the objective of the 1942 campaign. I Evidently the thrust in Libya could hardly be postponed much longer if it is to assist the Germans in their effort, to break through southern Russia. '

A further motive for the offensive is very likely the urgent need to encourage the flagging spirits of the German and Italian population. Probably the Germans hope to exploit their skill in mechanised offensive tactics in a theatre which it should be easier for thbm to reinforce than for the United Nations owing to the disparity of distance from supply bases.