VAIN ATTEMPTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 167, 17 July 1942, Page 5

VAIN ATTEMPTS

HUNS HURLED BACK

Australians, With Rifles And Bayonets, Stand Firm United Press Association.—Copyright. Rec. 11.30 a.m. LONDON. July 16. Further details of the fighting at Tel el Isa, in which the Australians were engaged on Tuesday night, are still pouring in from correspondents in Egypt The Germans apparently made a feint attack on the South Africans' positions to the south-east, then swung towards the Australians at 7.30 p.m. Stukas swept in while tanks led at least 500 infantrymen, smashing at the Australian positions. The Associated Press correspondent says the Australians stopped push after push. They held the enemy infantry with rifle and bayonet, while Australian. South African and Imperial artillery threw down barrages, which took a heavy toll of enemy troops and tanks. "German tanks reached the most forward point at 9 p.m., when they were forced out of some of the ground gained. At least seven tanks were knocked out and the direction of the German attack was cut off. Two Australian infantry companies fought their way through to reestablish contact with their own forces. Hand-to-hand fighting occurred at different times during the night. Red spurts from heavy guns, flares and bomb bursts streaked the darkness all night long. The battle died down early on Wednesday morning, but bv 7 a.m. Stukas were again attacking the Australians. Our Boston planes hammered the enemy positions. Rommel's Third Big Effort Rommel on Tuesday night made his third big effort to flatten the salient at Tel el Isa, says Reuter's correspondent from the El Alamein area. The enemy thrust came after a two-hour barrage and after the Royal Air Force had battered Axis gun positions and transport. Germans stiffened the ranks of Italian infantry. The Daily Mail correspondent says Rommel, after unsuccessfully assaulting the South African positions immediately southward of El Alamein, suddenly turned north against the Australians at Tel el Isa. As the German tanks came on the Australians greeted and dispersed most of them with tremendous concentrated artillery fire. The enemy then pushed in lorries of infantry, some of whom succeeded in getting inside the perimeter, but they were quickly thrown out after being badly cut up by machine-gun fire.

A correspondent in the desert said the opening of the new central attack brought into prominence the past few days in the north, where the enemy, possibly foreseeing the danger of an Allied thrust elsewhere, had striven to reduce the British salient. The enemy has now tried three complete plans in his attack on the salient, the first counter-at-tack being against Tel el Isa, which was an attempt to take the position and amputate it. This was beaten off by the Australians.

Next day came more attacks, starting in the morning and reaching their zenith at noon. These took the form of several assaults in different localities, but all toward the northeast and against the base of the salient in El Alamein. They also failed. The latest attack tried the third approach, swinging right back to the western extremity of the spur. Perhaps the enemy thought we should be forced to switch troops or guns from one part of the salient to another, says the correspondent, and that he might catch us with the men and material at the wrong place. If so he had some wrong ideas of the strength of the Bth Armv. Certainly we have some grounds for satisfaction in our handling of the counter-attacks and we may reasonably hope that the enemy's successive failures have had a depressing effect on his morale.