ROMMEL’S RETREAT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 March 1943, Page 4

ROMMEL’S RETREAT

NOT YET A ROUT FIERCE REARGUARD FiGHTiNG EIGHTH ARMY CONVERGING ON GABES GAP. POCKETS OF RESISTANCE LEFT BEHIND. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.55 a.m.) LONDON, March 29. While Rommel is retreating northward, correspondents agree that there is no rout and that Rommel is fighting a stiff rearguard action. The Algiers correspondent of the National Broadcasting Corporation says Rommel .had crack troops in Southern Tunisia and as usual fought a fierce and stubborn rearguard action. He pulled out from the Marech positions when a British force outflanked the Mareth Line, hammered its way to El Hamma and threatened to close the corridor between El Hamma and Gabes. Reuter’s correspondent at Allied headquarters says two columns of General Montgomery’s troops are immediately following up the Axis troops and converging on ' the Gabes Gap. This is not a rout. Rommel is making a withdrawal which, although forced, is nevertheless in some order. The Eighth Army is still having to fight its way forward. With the occupation, of Mareth, Toujane and Matmata, the British forces which assaulted the centre of the Mareth Line are about 20 ■'miles from Gabes, about the same distance as the outflanking force at El Hamma. First-class troops oppose the British in the El Hamma. area. The retreating enemy left behind pockets of resistance, probably deliberately, and the rearguard fighting is still very tough. HEAVY ATTACK LAUNCHED BY AMERICANS. ON GAFSA-GABES ROAD. (British Official Wireless.) - (Received This Day, 11.50 a.m.) RUGBY, March 29. American troops who launched a heavy attack on Axis positions on the Gafsa-Gabes Road on Sun- , day morning succeeded in making penetrations, states a correspondent cabling from Gafsa, This provided another threat to Rommel’s flank and also narrowed the gap between the Allied armies. The American attack was continued throughout a day of hard fighting. "Italian and German forces, strongly entrenched in hills, put up the strongest opposition the Americans have experienced in this sector and the United States forces are fighting hard for every inch of ground they gain. The Americans brought up large forces and from the time of the attack shells were screaming across hills and valleys incessantly throughout the day. jThe enemy had also a considerable amount of artillery and mortars, which were used effectively against infantry >.s they advanced through the foothills. Enemy strongpoints slowed down our /advance considerably, as they were Soften on the edge of a precipice, overlooking a narrow mountain road—little jnore than a goat path—along which jhe Americans advanced. ; The correspondent, giving an eyewitness account of the battle, says he could see the infantry moving up through the foothills, amid a haze of battle, while the guns barked behind him and their shells burst among the hills, throwing up clouds of dust. He states that he could follow the advance by watching the enemy mortar bombs bursting, as gradually throughout the day they moved back from the middle to the eastern end of the hills. The advance was slow but certain. The enemy onMhe northern side of the road was strongly entrenched on one horseshoe hill which proved a very toufeh nut to crack. Rommel sent up reinforcements through Chemsi Jebel and the long column of lorries was the object of great attention by our fighters and bombers, which attacked the enemy vehicles heavily. Across the valley, which is still littered with several burnt-out tanks the Nazis lost on Tuesday, there was a constant stream of American vehicles of all kinds, from little jeeps carrying staff officers to big supply wagons. During the battle General Alexander personally visited the front and talked vzith the troops. DECISIVE STROKE ATTACK ON EL HAMMA. LARGE CAPTURES OF ENEMY MATERIAL. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.35 a.m.) * RUGBY, March 29. f' A correspondent reports that it » was the attack on El Hamma * which decided the Mareth battle. * The Germans there, though fight- ’ ing well, were not able to stem <’ the British advance and once * more had to abandon quantities of * tanks, guns and undamaged motor ■; transport. * The enemy is retreating towards £ear positions round Gabes, laying minefields and fighting rearguard actions, under constant air attack. ’ Air operations have been somewhat hampered by bad weather and clearer skies are hoped for, so that the full Allied air - striking power can be exerted. ? Meanwhile correspondents report that the Americans are making progress through difficult hilly country eastward of El Guetar, where resistance hitherto has been stiff. American Spitfires and Airacobras have also been destroying___road transport between Gabes and Mezzouna. * A great share of the victory has been contributed by the Western Desert Air Force, under Air Marshal Coningham. y/ave after wave of fighters and bombers swept over the enemy positions. Semetimes one attack was hardly over before another began. Twice during the battle the distant supply port of Palermo was attacked. 1 North African dispatches leave no doubt that the Eighth Army has done it again. By a thrust at the seaward end of the Mareth position, swiftly followed by a masterly stroke towards the enemy's rear at El Hamma, General Montgomery’s conquering army once more, this time in just over a week, has compelled Rommel’s Afrika Korps to withdraw from a strong position.