DRIVE ON BIZERTA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 May 1943, Page 3

DRIVE ON BIZERTA

SEVERAL ALLIED COLUMNS CLOSING IN First Army Gunners Taking Heavy Toll of Enemy Tanks FURIOUS FIGHTING ON APPROACHES TO TEBOURBA IMPORTANT SUPPLY ROUTE CUT BY FRENCH TROOPS LONDON, May 5. Allied troops are driving steadily towards the great Tunisian naval base of Bizerta and are now reported to be only ten miles away at one point, to the west of the city, where the French and American forces moving along the coast are making a double-pronged drive. It is the more northern prong that was last reported to be ten miles from Bizerta, the other prong was then 13 miles from the city. At the same time, some of the main American forces, moving up from Mateur, have got to within 15 miles of Bizerta. This force is heading for Ferryville, the inland port and arsenal on the shores of Lake Bizerta. The American long-range guns which bombarded Mateur so effectively, are now being turned on Ferryville. . . „ _ Another American force is advancing south-eastward from Mateur towards Tebourba, and Allied patrols have taken a small place six miles from the town. Tebourba is also threatened by the British First Army, which has got to within ten miles of it. This force is still meeting with vigorous German counter-attacks and yesterday gave the German armoured forces a severe knock in a carefully laid trap. Seventeen ■ German tanks ran right into the British anti-tank gunners and at least 12 tanks were knocked out for certain, including two of the largest type. Probably 14 tanks were accounted for. Ihe Germans also lost heavily in men. _ At the southern end of the front, French troops have driven forward against heavy opposition to cut the road linking Pont du Fahs and Enfidaville. This is an important success, as the road is one of the most important supply lines feeding the Germans facing the Eighth Army. The Allies’ objective is the highest mountain in Tunisia, 4000 ft. high. They have advanced several miles towards it in face of fierce resistance. The Eighth Army’s guns and patrols have both been busy. Yesterday, American Liberators attacked the naval base of Taranto, in Italy, and also the port of Reggio. Other Allied planes sank a big merchant vessel carrying supplies and transport for Tunisia. . . . ‘ ‘ The whole northern flank of the Axis bridgehead m Tunisia has collapsed,” says the Columbia , Broadcasting System’s Algiers correspondent. ‘‘The enemy has now fallen back on prepared positions fronting Bizerta, with the French anrd American forces closing in from the west and south. The ‘‘Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent at the Allied headquarters says that the threat to Bizerta is growing every hour, and Allied planes are ceaselessly bombing the only road which now connects Bizerta and Tunis.