HEAVY FIGHTING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 March 1943, Page 3

HEAVY FIGHTING

FROM MAKNASSI TO MARETH INITIATIVE RETAINED BY MONTGOMERY. ' EIGHTH ARMY EDGING FORWARD AGAIN. NEW YORK, March 25. “The Eighth Army rebuffed a furious Axis counter-attack and drove forward in the Mareth Line position as very heavy fighting flared up on the southern front from Maknassi to Mareth,” says the “New York Times” correspond-* ent, Drew Middleton. “Following upon the penetration by General Montgomery’s vanguard in the Mareth position, German tanks and infantry withdrew, leaving hundreds of casualties and several Hundred prisoners. Thus the British are edging forward again as the battle entered the fourth day with General Montgomery retaining the initiative.” The New York “Times” points out that the foregoing is apparently based on later information than Mr Churchill’s statement in the House of Commons. It is now established that the Italian morale has reached a new low level. There have been instances of Germans machine-gunning Italians who _ were seizing opportunities to escape with almost frank alacrity. STIFF TASK FACED BY THE ALLIES. STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE WITH EIGHTH ARMY. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.35 a.m.) v RUGBY, March 25. Commenting on the Tunisian situation “The Times” says: “The Allied forces have taken on a stiff task and the greater part of it still lies before them. The enemy is still making the most of his interior lines and struck, with all his power, at the most dangerous of his opponents—in this case the force which had penetrated the defences of the Mareth Line. Even in the course of the almost universally favourable battle of El Alamein, our forces suffered a few local reverses, and though the present setback appears to be heavier than any then encountered, there is no reason to suppose that it will not be found equally remediable. In the long run a fight to a •finish would be preferable for the Allies. This may not be the last check to be suffered by them before their plans are carried through to a victorious conclusion, but it does not rob them of their superior position, and it has not deprived them of the initiative. The most objective examination fails to weaken the view that ever since the Eighth Army effected its concentration in front of the Mareth Line the strategic advantages have lain with the Allies.” The “Daily Telegraph” estimates that Rommel can deploy the bulk of two armoured divisions and says that neither his daring and skill, nor the fighting quality of his troops, shows any sign of decay. LONG & TOUGH FIGHT FORETOLD BY ELMER DAVIS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, March 24. At a Press conference in Washington the American Director of War Information, Mr Elmer Davis, issued a caution against premature optimism as to I an early finish of the battle of Tunisia. “It is going to be a long and tough fight,” he said.