THE BIG PUSH

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 253, 27 October 1942, Page 5

THE BIG PUSH

unprecedented scale INTENSE ARTILLERY FIRE DE SCRIPTION OF FIRST ADVANCE.

P.A. Gable.

LONDON, Oct. 25.

General Montgomery is throwing thei greatest striking force against the enemy of any battle in the three years of warfare in North Africa, says a correspondent of the American Associated Press in the Western Desert. The correspondent says that the barrage which opened the way for the infantry began in brilliant moonlight at 9.40 p.m. on Friday on a scale unprecedented in the desert. Shells screamed down upon Axis positions without cessation all night, and the guns gave way only at dawn, when an air striking force took up the strafing on an equally heavy scale. Literally hundreds of guns gave the enemy his flrst warning that an Allied attack had begun, and within a few minutes Allied units started to push forward. The artillery then concentrated on a minefield, where the infantry were ordered to hreak through. As soon as the barrage moved westward, the infantry moved in close and knocked out Axis forward positions one after another. Allied bombing enabled the infantry to advance without great opposition from the enemy's heavy guns. Allied armoured units did not contact enemy tanks all night. When the first squadrons took the air at dawn they found the battlefield smoking from countless fires lighted by night bombers, which had scored direct hits on field-guns, ammunition dumps, tents and lorries. Many anti-aircraft batteries were silenced, and by the end of the night attacks there was no more flak. AXIS ARTILLERY BELOW FORM. So intense was the concentration of artillery fire that the enemy found difficulty in spotting the flashes of the Allied guns, says R/ater's Western Desert correspondent. It was fully ten minutes hefore the enemy started counter- artillery fire, which was far inferior to the usual German performances. Despite heavy going, the infantry reached its first objective four minutes ahead of schedule. The 8th Army, fortified by the knowledge of its great new power, is fighting in the highest morale — not in light spirits, but sturdily, calmly and determinedly. Some men sang lustily as they went into battle. Scottish armoured car crews raised cheerful voices in "Loch Lomond." A correspondent with the South Africans reports that the South Africans gained all their objectives after overcoming stiff resistance from the enemy, which earlier appeared to have been momentarily taken off its guard. The South Africans on" Saturday afternoon consolidated their gains according to plan. They captured both Italian and German prisoners, a high prdportion of whom were wounded by shell splinters. The South Africans also found a large number killed in a shattering bombardment. Their positions were strewn with wrecked guns and vehicles, and their dug-outs blasted. A military correspondent of The Times says: "It is evident from our own and enemy reports that the Allies have accomplished the preliminary phase of opening defiles through the Axis mine-flelds. The second phase began with penetration of the enemy's positions at certain points. Further strong obstacles lie ahead, and the enemy's armoured forces are ] ready to exact a fearful penalty for rashness or error. The battle is

likely to assume a hard, slogging character, and the enemy's defeat will prove a hard. task." FORWARD WITH THE SCOTS. A British United Press special correspondent attached to the 51st Highland Division, which is in aetion for the first time since it was reformed after the fighting in France, states that the skirl of bagpipes early on Friday night was .suddeniy drowned by the biggest blast ever heard in the desert as the British barrage opened up. "As we headed for the starting lines the clamour became deafening," he writes. "Hundreds of tanks roared from places of concealment, and their tracks ohurned up a choking sand-storm as they swept into battle. The tanks launched the most terrifying hammer-blows the Germans and Italians had ever sustained in Egypt. German and Italian prisoners soon began trudging baek through no-man's land. The Highlanders advanced quickly and took many objectives at the bayonet point. "I have never seen the Allies go to it with such dour drive, such coordination of effort and meticulous timing. A new spirit seems to inspire this offensive. "I walked nearly five miles with the Highlanders, the last two into the German lines. We passed through two mine-fields, but there were still others, and wire, protecting the main enemy positions." The German radlo says: "The 8th Army to-day continued to attack German and Italian positions on the E1 Alamein front with strong forces of tanks and infantry. All the attacks failed. The area in front of the Axis lines is covered with destroyed and burning tanks. Despite heavy losses, the 8th Army has considerable reserves in the rear, and it can be assumed that the attacks will eontinue." : r