AFRIKA KORPS AT BAY
THREE-MILE ADVANCE MADE BY EIGHTH ARMY AGAINST SAVAGE & DESPERATE RESISTANCE. HEAVY DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME BY ATTACKERS. (By Telegraph—Press Association Copyright) LONDON, April 21. Along their mountain bastion, 40 miles south of Tunis, the pick of Rommel’s Afrika Korps are fighting savagely and desperately against the Eighth Army, which has resumed the task of driving the enemy out of their last corner of Africa. Front-line reports, received today say that the Eighth Army made a threemile advance in one sector and seized some important mountain heights overlooking the coastal road to Tunis. The impression given by our correspondents and by enemy reports is that General Montgomery is again using his method of frontal and flank attacks. Describing the opening of the offensive a British United Press correspondent says that the infantry were armed with special knives for hand-to-hand fighting as they clambered up the rocky scrub-covered shopes. Every few minutes lights guided the gunners, who maintained a curtain of bursting shells only a few hundred yards in front of the infantry. By 1.45 a.m. a force attacking a ridge north-west of Enfidavile reached its objective, while a few miles to the west other troops scaled the 1200 ft. Jebel Garci, which commands a large area of Rommel’s defences. These troops apparently met with little resistance. Mules moved forward with the attacking infantry carrying light artillery to consolidate the newly-won positions. This is the first time the Eighth Army has used mules, which are necessary because of the mountainous country. FORMIDABLE MOUNTAIN BELT. The mountain belt which the Eighth Army is now attacking is the thickest on the coast, and official circles have warned that the progress is certain to be slow, particularly in the earlier stages. Decisive results are not expected for some time. Reuter’s correspondent with General Montgomery’s Army says that the fighting in this offensive will probably prove the bitterest in North Africa. The tumbled nature of the country back of Enfidaville makes the attack incredibly difficult, and each yard is being violently contested. Now it is a matter of cold-blooded infantry charges or artillery duels and fierce fighting in the hills with mach-ine-gunners and grenade-throwers climbing step by step up the steep mountain slopes fighting their way from one bit of cover to another. Great formations of Western Desert fighters are going over every hour to strafe the enemy roads, gun positions and troops. “The Eighth Army’s attack was in strength, and it came with startling suddenness, even to those of us who knew it was imminent,” says an Associated Press correspondent. “The roar of hundreds of British guns shattered the quiet of a bright, balmy night, and hundreds of Axis guns replied.
“The attack was made in the most adverse circumstances, with the Axis guns overlooking all the flat countryover which the attack had to come.
“It is only the beginning. Probably there will be prolonged and bloody fighting from ridge to ridge, for behind the immediate objective stand other mountains, all of which are believed to be heavily fortified and guarded by hundreds of guns.”
ELECTRIFYING NEWS PROMISED BY AMERICAN ARMY PAPER. DAKAR, West Africa, April 21. The United States Army newspaper “Bon Jour” stated in its last issue: “News more electrifying than President Roosevelt’s visit to Africa will probably be made public within two weeks, and will brighten the hearts of even the most pessimistic.”
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1943, Page 3
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563AFRIKA KORPS AT BAY Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1943, Page 3
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