CONFUSED FIGHTING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 March 1943, Page 3

CONFUSED FIGHTING

IN NORTHERN TUNISIA Germans Gain Some Ground at Heavy Cost SEVEN ENEMY SHIPS SUNK AND NINE DAMAGED BY SUBMARINES POWERFUL AND SUSTAINED ALLIED AIR ATTACKS 1 LONDON, March 4. In Northern Tunisia, the Germans have gained some ground near the coast at the cost of heavy casualties. British troops made all-day counter-jattacks near Beja. The main Axis thrust yesterday was near a small village and railway station 25 miles west of Mateur. A war correspondent says the British had to withdraw eight miles. The latest reports are that confused fighting is still going on. About 20 miles to the south British troops were attacking all day yesterday along the road from Beja to Mateur. Heavy guns put up the most severe barrage yet seen in Tunisia. Among the German prisoners were some troops brought straight from Russia, who were told they would have an easy time after their tribulations on the Eastern front. These experienced German troops said they had never before came up against such intense and acurate artillery fire as they met on the road to Beja. In Central Tunisia, Allied patrols have caught up with the enemy three miles south of the Paid Pass, after advancing over 30 miles from Sbeitla. On the Eighth Army’s front the Germans attacked with 400 or 500 infantry a few miles east of the town of Mareth. General Montgomery’s men held the attack and the enemy is reported to be moving up tanks. Allied aircraft had one of their best days yet. After R.A.F. planes had raided Tunis, American bombers attacked enemy airfields and many other targets. United States planes bombed objects at Messina and Malta-based bombers set fire to a large ship on a convoy. British submarines have taken a further heavy toll of Axis ships in the Mediterranean. Seven have been sunk and nine more damaged. They have also carried naval warfare right to Italy’s front door. One submarine commander brought his craft to the surface near Genoa and shelled a shipyard. Another submarine shelled a train on a bridge. Since Italy entered the war, 527 Axis ships have been sunk or damaged in the Mediterranean by Allied aircraft alone. This • is quite apart from the great number sunk by warships and mines. x >