Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1943. THE CONFLICT IN TUNISIA.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 March 1943, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1943. THE CONFLICT IN TUNISIA.

WHILE keen disappointment and regret are bound to be felt ' at the early check the Eighth Army lias suffered in its assault on the Mareth Line, no reason appears for supposing that the enemy forces under Rommel have gained any great or lasting advantage. The counterstroke in which the Axis forces recovered the ground they had lost, or most 01. it, evidently was powerful and effective of its kind. Whether it ml prove in the end to have been worth the outlay in lhes and material it must have cost has yet to appear.

Before undue significance is attached to the gain or loss of ground in the coastal zone of the Mareth Line it may be as well to remember that this is only one part of a battle the outcome of which is likely to be affected decisively by deve opments in more or less distant areas. In particular, the whole Mareth Line has been bypassed and outflanked by the Eight i Armv column which is reported, in the latest news in hand at time of writing, to be within eight miles of El Ilamma, and therefore only about 30 miles distant from the enemy-occupied port of Gabes, on the Tunisian coast, about 25 miles north-west of the coastal extremity of the Mareth Line.

The enemy is fiercely resisting this British flanking column, but there is no indication that he has been able to bring it to a halt. At the same time, American forces which have occupied and advanced bfeyond Maknassi, about 50 miles north ol the Gabes gap, are also ■within some 30 miles of the Tunisian coast. Vital road and railway communications linking the enemy armies in northern and southern Tunisia run along the eastern coast. These communications are menaced, not only in the areas which have been mentioned, but in others further north.

In most instances the approach to the coast from territory held by the Allies is by way of narrow defiles, capable of beingdefended strongly, but with his forces extended as at present, the enemy is faced by the task of having to defend himself against attack in flank at any one of a number of points along a north and south distance of several hundred miles. Takingaccount of what is known of the relative strength of the opposed forces, and not least of the substantial air superiority enjoyed by the Allies, this is not at all a hopeful or promising state of affairs from the Axis point of view.

That little detailed news of the Allied operations is comingthrough at present is not at all surprising. With opportunities, in the south and elsewhere, of varying the locality and weight of their attacks, the Allies are not ilkely to risk any premature disclosure of their intentions.

Not only in his resolute defence of the coastal section of the Mareth Line, but in operations in central Tunisia and elsewhere during the last few weeks, the enemy has exhibited boldness and enterprise in delaying tactics of an aggressive kind. The measure of his success, however, has been everywhere strictly limited and his resolute defence of the Mareth Line rather suggests that he has no great confidence in his ability to fight a protracted campaign in northern Tunisia. Bizerta. is a strong- fortress and the adjacent country lends itself well to defence, but experience goes to show that fortress areas of the kind can be overcome in no very long time by well-organised forces, backed by superior air power and in other respects adequately equipped. It is perhaps on that account that Rommel has elected to defend the Mareth Line at some apparent risk of having his army encircled and wiped out.