Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1943. PURSUIT IN TUNISIA.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1943, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1943. PURSUIT IN TUNISIA.

TO his statement in the House of Commons on the severe defeat inflicted on the Axis forces in Southern Tunisia, Mr. Churchill appended a word of warning against over-optimism. He said that the country in Tunisia was very difficult and abounded in defensive positions, and one could not under-rate the task that lay before the whole group of Allied armies and air forces there. So far as the total campaign isxconcerned, this reminder no doubt is most timely. Parts of the territory held by the enemy, notably the area round Bizerta, with the principal land approaches by way of hill and -mountain defiles, will not be penetrated easily. 1 Rommel’s forces in their retreat from Gabes seem likely to profit little from the character of the country, however, until the Afrika Korps and the units associated with it have moved a long way north of the area in which they are now fighting rearguard actions. It has been stated that the coastal zone of Tunisia, which is traversed by a highly developed system of roads and railways, offers little in the way of advantageous defence positions for a long distance north of Gabes. It is true that the routes from the west, by way of which American and French forces are threatening the flank of the retreating Axis army, approach the coast through passes and defiles capable of being defended. Enemy forces holding these passes must now, however, be in danger of being cut off by tlie Allied advance on the coastal route—an advance which is being pressed with the utmost vigour and is being assisted greatly by magnificent air support. ■ A new factor is introduced by a report, not officially confirmed at time of writing, that a British naval landing’ has been made at the port of Sfax, some 80 miles or more north-east of Gabes and roughly half-way between that place and the port of Sousse. Whether this landing has or.has not taken place, there may be possibilities of most damaging attack from the. sea, at any one or more of a number of points, on the enemy’s vital road and railway communications running north to Tunis through the coastal zone. Without indulging in over-optimism, it is possible to believe that the Allied drive, in which the New Zealand Division, in company with the famous 51st Highland Division is taking a notable part, may be extended in the comparatively near future to Tunis. The conquest of the remaining part of Tunisia, including the great naval base and fortress of Bizerta, is not unlikely to be a rather more difficult and protracted undertaking. Axis estimates of the total outlook'in North Africa presumably are indicated, however, in the report that the German High Command has informed Mussolini that it desires that Rommel shall be appointed immediately as commander-in-chief of the southern defence area in Italy and Mediterranean France. Apparently Hitler’s stand or die order is not to apply to Rommel himself, but only to the troops under his command in Tunisia.