THE EIGHTH ARMY'S ADVANCE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 41, 22 January 1943, Page 4

THE EIGHTH ARMY'S ADVANCE

TOUGHENED by months of continuous desert warfare, the veterans of General Montgomery's magnificent Eighth Army are now pushing forward to the conquest of Tripolitania itself the last stronghold of Italian Empire, and the final hope of II Duce's dream of a modern Roman Empire. Up from the sweltering desert sands of Libya the Allied divisions are now passing through fertile, country, fruitful and cultivated—a restful and refreshing sight after months of hardship, and fighting. With the bronzed legions marching under the banner of freedom, the New Zealanders are in the van. Once again they have played a glorious part in the new thrust towards the capital. What further laurels the African campaign has in store for them will probably be known in the near future. To-day the very outskirts of Tripoli have been contacted pinning the Axis forces in Northern Africa between the two Allied armies in Tunisia and Tripolitania. The advancing Free French army from the Chad Territory threatens the southern end of the last pocket of Italian resistance which is thus hemmed in an area of a little less than 350 miles across and 200 miles deep. In this area we may expect the: bitter battle of desperation, fought by the indomitable Rommel, under the direction of Hitler's hysterical demands for victory. That it has taken the desert veterans to force the issue in North Africa is a tribute to the hardening process of the campaign which stands in stark contrast to the stalemate which developed in Tunisia. I» the latter campaign British and American troops fresh from training in England failed completely to follow up the initial advantage of their shock landing. Rain and the French political situation have been given as the reasons for the lack of action but the fact remains that the elapse of precious time between the landing of the Allied troops and their first serious advance against the enemy allowed him to rush some 40,000 first class reinforcements across the Straits, together with all the necessary armament. General Eisenhowers army, when the French capitulation had been signed found itself opposed to formidable forces and the result for nearly six weeks has been plain deadlock. The new onslaught by the heroic Eighth Army however must change the whole of the African outlook for the Axis, harried now on three side.* and with a determined eager enemy composed of the finest fighting material in the world, hammering at the door of Tripoli itself. With every degree of certainty therefore, we can say that the map of Northern Africa is likely to change, swiftly within the next few weeks and the result must have a devastating effect on the future conduct of the war in the Mediterranean.