GRIM AS EVER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 July 1942, Page 3

GRIM AS EVER

CONFLICT OF INFANTRY & TANKS ATTACK BY NEW ZEALAND TROOPS. ARMOURED FORCES IN ACTION. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, July 23. The latest fighting is as grim as any seen in the desert in the last two months, says the British United Press correspondent in Egypt. The Allied forces are at present attacking the German 15th and 21st armoured divisions, strongly laced with elements of the 90th Light Infantry. The Italian Brescia and Pavia infantry divisions have been moved back. The New Zealanders, who are stationed on the southern side of the central sector, pushed through with their usual precision. A Leeds gunner said: “You have to hand it to the Kiwis. They always do a grand job.” A hundred Allied tanks are sledgehammering at the immediate western slopes of Ruweisat Ridge. Groups of General Grants, General Lees, and cruisers in the first attack rushed to the aid of the New Zealanders, who were held up at the south-west edge of the ridge. Six German mark four tanks were blazing at the New Zealanders, who had almost reached their objective. The enemy withdrew under our concentrated fire. Our armoured forces swept into battle under cover of a terrific barrage on Tuesday morning. The enemy had moved up most of his armoured strength into the dust-bowl. The Allies encountered strong opposition, but we had plenty of tanks in reserve. They stretched as far as the eye could see across the' desert valleys and hillsides. The central battle opened oh a short front, but is gradually extending. At 1 p.m. on Tuesday we advanced several miles, but some enemy points are holding out. Our tanks are trying to round them up, but the going is not easy. ADVANCE UNDER BARRAGE. . The barrage marking the opening of the beginning of the Allied offensive along the whole front on Monday lasted more than two hours, during which hundreds of shells were sent smashing into the enemy lines, which were only a few miles in front of the Allies’ most advanced forces. The ground rocked with the fury of the barrage, under which Indian, New Zealand and South African infantry crept forward. Very signals soon began to rise as the enemy tried to locate our troops. The barrage was intensified till 10.10 p.m., when it stopped as the infantry made contact with the enemy. The thunder of the barrage was replaced by the chilling rattle of machine-guns and the clatter of tanks going into action. The Indians, New Zealanders and South Africans soon reached their first objectives, in spite of desperate German counter-attacks against the Indians and New Zealanders. The Germans for the first time employed tanks in • complete darkness. Our infantry held their positions throughout the night. A second furious artillery barrage heralded the dawn. Australians, in the north, advancing along the sand dunes, attacked and the morning sea haze was soon transformed into swirling clouds of black smoke and dust. British tanks simultaneously crashed into action in the far south where the German positions on the edge of the Quattara Depression were soon overrun and also in the central sector. The Australian attack began at 5.15 a.m., and at 8 a.m. the first lorry-loads of German prisoners from the 90th Light Infantry Division were coming back along the coast road. AUCHINLECK’S LEADERSHIP. Commenting on Rommel’s regrouping of his forces, the.“ Daily Mail’s” correspondent in the Western Desert says: “Rommel has straightened his line but not in the way he wanted to; the British did it for him in 10 days from July 10. General Auchinleck directed the vital 10 days’ moves supremely well. “His operations were a logical extension of the offensive and defensive tactics which he used after the fall of

Tobruk. They stopped Rommel at El Alamein and now they have turned the tide against the Axis army for the first time since Tobruk. “General Auchinleck chose his moments for local attacks with extreme care. Rommel, almost for the first time, has been reacting to -someone else’s moves, instead of dictating them himself. The Eighth Army’s attacks have been staged beautifully. Rommel’s counter-attacks have cost him dozens of tanks, scores of guns, and thousands of men.” The military commentator of the “Yorkshire Post” estimates the German casualties at nearly 10,000, and adds that one German division and one Italian division are known to be ineffective because of their losses.