NOTES ON THE WAR

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3247, 2 April 1943, Page 8

NOTES ON THE WAR

continuous activity of their air forces, must be affecting Axis supplies of food and fuel seriously. The Next Stand?

Where will Rommel stand ? One possible place was the Gabes Gap between the vast salt marsh of the ‘Shott Jerid and the sea of the Gulf of Gabes but here the Axis - rear would be threatened by the French skirting the north of the marsh and the Americans further north from Maknassy.

Similar threats occur all the way north, for there seems to be no conjunction of mountains and sea such as 'gave natural strength to the Mareth Line. It is possible that a strong line could be developed covering the port of Sousse, but without air support even that would be difficult to hold for long. '

On the whole, the outlook for the Axis in Tunisia offers little chance of indefinite resistance. But one can he sure that Rommel and his own veterans will put up a tough fight.

N.Z. DIVISION IN VAN ADVANCING IN TUNISIA WHERE WILL ROMMEL STAND? The Eighth Army is on the march again in Tunisia, with the New Zealand Division, as many secretly hoped, in the van. It was these veterans of Greece, Crete, and the Western Desert campaigns , under General Freyberg, who played a leading part in the battle of El Hamma and by their gallantry and skill turned the scale against the Axis defenders of the Mareth Line and forced Rommel to beat a hurried retreat. Rommel is now on the run again, already north of Gabes, which is in the hands of the Eighth Army. The French and Americans are pressing on his western flanks, and there is no knowing where he will stop. It was, of course, the marvellous cooperation of the Allied air forces that gave Freyberg his chance, and there could be no happier preliminary celebrations of the twenty-fifth birthday of the R.A.F. than its signal achievement in this final—as all hope—phase ■of the long struggle in North Africa.

From now on events may 'be expected' to move quickly in Tunisia and the sword outstrip the pen. All the way up the Axis-held 'belt of eastern Tunisia the Allies are on the western flank with the sea on the east and north, but there is still space for retreat between. All the movements and operations of Rommel and von Arnim from December last until quite recently were designed to secure a defensible zone and in the interval before the Allies, under the supreme command of General Eisenhower, with his second-in-command, General Alexander, at the front in the field, could mass their forces, they made a pretty good job of it. From north to south they managed to secure all the important mountain passes and strategic positions commanding approach from the west to the coastal belt. The positions and descriptions of this rugged region, where the eastern 'offshoots of the Atlas Mountains fall sharply to the coastal plain, confirm the impression given by Mr Churchill in his House of Commons statement. The. country in Tunisia is very difficult, he said, and abounds in defensible positions. Therefore, we must not underrate the task which lies before the whole Allied army in Tunisia. Task Before Allies The magnitude of the task is to be gauged by the nature of the country the enemy is defending, by the size* and quality of his armies, by the defensive and offensive armour he possesses, and by his supplies of food and other war material. The country is difficult, as Mr Churchill says—a tumbled mass of mountains through which railways and roads run connecting Algeria with the most closelysettled third of Tunisia, which the Axis hold. There is the northern railway from the port of Tabarca, which the Allies hold, to Tunis, with a junction at Mateur to Bizerta in the north and Beja on the main line from Algiers to Tunis in the south. This main line runs through such familiar places as Mejez el Bab and Jedeida, strategic points in the mountains.

Further south there is the line from Tebessa, the Allied base just inside the Algerian frontier—once threatened by Rommel in his Kasserine Gap drive—through Bou Arada and Pont du Fahs to Tunis. Further south is the light line from' Gafsa through Feriana, Sbeitla, and Fondouk, passing south of Kairouan, to the port of ■Sousse. South again from Gafsa is the line through Sehed and Maknassy to the port of Sfax. A coastal railway links Bizerta via Tunis, Sousses, and Sfax, with Gabes, now in Allied hands. There is also a road connecting Tabarca, via Beja, Bou Arada, Maktar and Pichon, with Kairouan and the ports of Sousse and Sfax. The length north-south of the Axis zone is about 200 miles and the width about 50.

The Axis armies have been variously estimated as between 150,000 and 200,000' men, nearly all hardened veterans of the European and African campaigns. A proportion of these are Italian, but what proportion is uncertain. The news indicates that the Germans cannot depend too greatly on their Italian allies, who have largely lost faith in the Axis cause. The Italian soldier is a very different proposition when he is -fighting for something he believes in, as the exploit! of Garibaldi’s men showed. The Axis forces in Tunisia are well equipped and supplied with the latest weapons, including tanks and heavy artillery, but they apparently lack' sufficient aircraft to give them adequate protection. The Allied surface and submarine blockade, plus the (Continued in previous column}