AXIS FRONT DENTED BUT NOT CRACKED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 174, 25 July 1942, Page 5

AXIS FRONT DENTED BUT NOT CRACKED

BATTLE IN EGYPT More Air And Naval Blows At Bases U.P.A. and British Wireless. Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, July 24. Rommel's front has been dented but not cracked, says the British United Press correspondent on the Ruweisat Ridge in a dispatch sent on Thursday night. The enemy's 88mm guns again barred the way to the Allies. General Auchinleck flung in strong armoured forces and infantry, and had luckily built up his tank reserves, enabling the attackers to afford losses without jeopardising the position of the Nile Delta, but Rommel was pushed back only a few miles. "We have still not smashed his anti-tank positions, stretching all along the front," adds the correspondent. "That remains our probleml" The Axis forces are resisting with stubborn fury. Heavy and medium artillery, anti-tank guns, mortars and machine-guns are all in use from well-prepared positions. The Allies still hold air superiority over the battle front, and bombers have been attacking on a scale only slightly less than the previous day. At least 24 enemy planes were destroyed or damaged on the ground last night, when Allied forces swept on El Daba, on the Mediterranean coast. Enemy air activity has been confined to the use of dive-bombers against our troops. British warships and naval aircraft which harassed the enemy's coastal communications last night report that they attacked Mersa Matruh again. Two thousand high explosive shells have been dropped on shipping, harbour installations and other objectives there in recent attacks. In is believed that these attacks have had an effect on the enemy's immediate supply of ammunition, and have reduced the usefulness of the port as an advanced Axis base. The Duke of Gloucester paid a visit to Eritrea this week. During his visit he inspected a hospital and workshops. General Freyberg's Recovery General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C., commanding the New Zealand forces, has made a remarkably quick recovery from the wound he recently received in the neck, and has now been discharged from hospital. It is revealed that after he had been wounded a month ago General Freyberg led a bold and successful charge through a ring of panzer forces 20 miles south of Mersa Matruh. The New Zealanders got safely through, and General Freyberg escaped without further injury. The Cairo communique states that our troops yesterday consolidated the positions gained in the previous day's fighting. In the northern and central sectors our artillery and armoured car patrols harassed the enemy. In the southern sector there is nothing to report. Our light bombers carried cut a series of attacks on targets in the central sector, fighter-bombers also attacked gun positions and vehicles. Our fighters intercepted a formation of escorted Stukas, shooting down four and one Messerschmitt. They also shot down a reconnaissance bomber. In minor air activity over Malta our fighters shot down two Axis aircraft. During all these operations five of our aircraft were lost, but at least one pilot is safe. German Difficulties Reports from the south indicate that German tanks and motorised infantry are trying to get to grips with the Allies, who advanced further along Qattara Depression, the Germans getting bogged in the fine sand which makes the going extremely difficult for heavier vehicles. Fighting in the northern sector died down yesterday as the battle veered southwards from Tel el Isa.

The Daily Telegraph correspondent, in a dispatch frcm Ruweisak, says the offensive surprised the enemy, judging from prisoners' stories. Rommel was obviously perturbed at the result of hammerblows in the central sector, coupled with the Australians' refusal to be dislodged from the salient they pushed into the Axis coastal flank. The Australians on Wednesday suffered rather severe casualties, says the Daily Telegraph correspondent in Egypt. They were twice pushed off Tel el Isa Ridge, but they went back and retook it. Theirs was a magnificent day's work, especially in view of the fact that their original attack did not possess the element of surprise which caught the enemy on the wrong foot in the central sector. It was obvious from the reception the Australian infantry received from the enemy artillery that the Axis was prepared for the attempt to extend this salient.

The Germans have taken over all the hospitals in Salonika and Athens for their wounded from Egvpt.