GOOD EARLY GAINS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1943, Page 4

GOOD EARLY GAINS

SECURED BY THE EIGHTH ; • ARMY IN ATTACK ON VERY STRONG DEFENCES. REMARKABLE FEAT OF SUPPLY SERVICES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.5 a.m.) RUGBY, April 21. General Montgomery’s night attack on the Enfidaville positions is described in Press messages from headquarters as having fully exploited the elements of darkness and surprise. The first objectives were successfully secured and held against four heavy counter-attacks, although the country presents difficulties for the attack as great as rthe facilities it affords for defence. The hills are scored by deep, dry ravines and these difficult obstacles are fortified with machine-gun

posts and mortar batteries. The fighting therefore was bitter. It is emphasised in London that no spectacular advance can be expected this time. Rough, hilly country extends northwards for at least 15 miles beyond the Enfidaville line towards Zaghouan. Every commanding height is likely to have been long prepared for defence and the defenders are Afrika Korps veterans. The battle is now well started and is likely to be a laborious process of breaking in and weai’ing through mountains. The higher' ridges, rising behind the foothills secured by the Eighth Army, give the enemy ample opportunities for a stubborn defence. Nevertheless, the immediate progress made among the 1,200 feet hills around Enfidaville and west of the village is encouraging. Once mpre the supply services accomplishea a’remarkable feat. They brought up all necessary equipment and stores to enable the ground and air forces to resume the offensive on a big scale only fourteen days after the attack on Wadi Akarit, 160 miles to the south. Merely to bring up petrol enough for such an active air force is a considerable achievement.- Yesterday, says a correspondent, the full weight of the NorthWest African Air Force was behind one of the biggest blows struck. Heavy damage was done on many airfields and the total of sorties reached a new high record. Bombers organised a shuttle service, with devastating efficiency. The message adds that air photographs of the damage done in Palermo by Flying Fortresses show the harbour blocked by 28 sunk or damaged ships and that only four berths are now available in this important port.

: BATTLE TO DEATH MOST FEROCIOUS FIGHTING YET SEEN IN AFRICA. LOCAL GAIN BY FIRST ARMY. ' -.(Received This Day, 12.55 p.m.) LONDON, April 21. The Eighth Army by this even'iing had advanced two miles from the Jebel Garci mountain, gaining a good toehold in the German positions, says the British United Press correspondent at Algiers. The First Army made a local advance, ■'capturing Smedia, a village three |miles north of Medjez el Bab. , 'According to the Paris radio, fighting in Tunisia is raging with great ferocity and is the bloodiest Africa has ever seen. A-' British United Press correspondent"’with the Eighth Army in a despatch on April 20, said Rommel had at first left Italian troops fh’. the front line against our advance, but when the determined nature of the push became obvious he quickly substituted iiiaay. of his best troops. The change qOlgkly showed itself in Rommel’s counter-attacks, in which he sought to the positions which the Eighth Army had won in moonlight battles on the night of April 19, when the Eighth Ahmy was plastered with heavy ma-chine-guns and mortar fire for hours at a time. “We had some crack American troops among the forces which fought their way up the steep 1,200 feet Jebel Garci, which is about twelve miles from the coast,” the correspondent adds. “These forces held the mountains in the subsequent attacks on April 20. The Germans whom Rommel placed in the front line are fighting like wild men to drive our troops from these important heights. British, officers who have been with the Eighth Army since El Alamein declare that the'Germans "have never fought with so much fury and cunning as now. They obviously realise that it is a battle to the death.” i The Germans ‘ are defending the mountains from deep caves blasted from the rocky slopes. - Rommel is also sowing mines thickly among the foothills, and despite the Eighth Army’s experience with them, these are causing many casualties.