MASSIVE GERMAN AIR SUPPORT

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 101, 23 January 1943, Page 5

MASSIVE GERMAN AIR SUPPORT

Drive In Tunisia THROUGH FRENCH POSITIONS (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Received January 22, 9.15 p.m.) LONDON, January 21. The Germans’ south-westward drive In Tunisia has altered the whole strategy of the hattiefront, which is again fluctuating after having been fairly static for six weeks, says the '‘Daily Express” correspondent with the First Army. About 40 tanks and a regiment of shock troops comprise the' backbone of the German thrust, with other units in support. The Germans have skilfully used the Luftwaffe, a force of bombers from Sicily being closely interlocked with dive-bombers and fighters operating from Tunisia. The dive-bombers have operated from the hard, sandy coastal plain, and the fighters shift their position daily, often taking off from beaches, racecourses and dried-up valleys. Massively backed by the air and with a great weight of tanks and guns, including captured American seventyfives, the thrnst went through the French positions. German Aim. German panzers are making a twin thrust down parallel valleys, reports the Associated Press correspondent in Algiers. This is interpreted as an effort to isolate and then occupy the range between the two valleys, which would ensure protection for the coastal route eastward along which Rommel might move from Tripolitania to join the Axis fdrce in Tunisia. Rain and mud still dominate the operations in Tunisia, a condition which has existed for nearly a month now. The British troops who have been in the forward area during this period include the Northamptonshire Regiment, the Grenadier Guards, the Coldstream Guards, and special service troops. Allied bombers attacked enemy rear communications on Tuesday night, and Flying Fortresses bombed an Axis military camp near Gabes. Other aircraft hit an enemy tanker between Tunisia and Sicily. Four enemy bombers have been destroyed in the last two nights.