The Dominion MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1943. THE FALL OF TRIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 102, 25 January 1943, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1943. THE FALL OF TRIPOLI

In practically every campaign there is an objective which to the combatants, perhaps more than to the people of the countries from which they come, represents the goal of all their effort, lhe goal of the Eighth Army, when it launched its attack on Rommel s forces at El Alaincin, was Tripoli, hundreds of miles away to the west. No doubt each move had its own objective, be it Mersa Matruh, Tobruk, Benghazi or El Agheila, but they were signposts cn route, places that bad to be taken along the road to the capital of Italian possessions in North Africa. , lhe fact is now clear that the fate of the city was virtually decided when the Eighth Army smashed Rommel’s armoured strength within a short distance of Cairo —that was the German commander’s great objective. The retreat of the Afrika Korps has continued ever since that night, early in November, when, after a bitter struggle, General Montgomery’s men broke through the enemy defences and gave our tanks and armoured divisions scope for manoeuvre. There were pauses along the way, particularly at El Agheila, but they were nothing more. The battered Axis forces could not, when the time came, make any real attempt to hold Tripoli. It is i i the hands of their enemies. The goal of the Eighth Army has been reached.

The capture of Tripoli marks a major victory for the Allies. It was the objective not only of the command but also of every man in every unit of tlft Eighth Army. They marked their advances not so much by the distances covered as by the distance that still had to be covered before they reached it. The hundreds of miles of desert iormed for them the road to it. Its capture they knew WQtild constitute a victory that the Axis Powers could neither conceal nor explain away.

From a point just south of the equator, on the shores of the Indian Ocean, to the western borders of Tripolitania in the Mediterranean, Italy has lost her African possessions and with them whole armies of her men. To the Italians Tripoli represented the greatest achievement of their colonial enterprises. There Mussolini had erected a great equestrian statue of himself brandishing a sword as the declared Protector of Islam. The armies of the protector have vanished from the scene. The campaign of the Eighth Army has been a triumph of organization, for the transport problems must have been terrific. It 1 as also been a triumph of human endurance, for the conditions have been exacting. These factors have combined to bring-success, and high on their list of battle honours the units of the Eighth Army will'be able to place the name of Tripoli.