The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1942-12-17

'tlngencieS III previous swings VI
fortune in the desert.
LITTLE CHOICE
However, Montgomery has
moved SO swiftly and handled
his striking power with such
skill that the Nazi captain was
forced either to retreat or to run
the grave risk of complete ami
hilation.
Thus we see Rommel retiring
again and, as he pulls back, leav-
ing a trail of mines to block the
pursuers.
Now, the use of mines is very
common and their normal en-
ployment would cause no sur
prise. However, the vast num-
bers which the Marshal sowed
indicate that his preparations
were made we'll in advance and
contemplated the likelihood of
retreat.
Nazi mine-sowing in the with
drawal from Ell Agheila natur-
ally must slow the progress OF
the Eighth Army somewhat
since these dangerous explosives
must be removed before traffic
can pass.
Also, the further the British
advance from their main bases
the greater is the problem Of
transport although, as l prevl-
ously have reported, the Eighth
Army has performed wonders IN
the organization of transport.
MARVEL OF SPEED
That Montgomery should be
able to move his supplies across
hundreds of miles of desert and
strike SO soon must remain one
of the marvels of World War II.
How long Rommel can keep
up his delaying tactics is purely
a matter of guesswork.
Probably he himself has small
idea. There is one thing his
mines will not halt and that IS
the merciless bOmbardment 10
which he is subjected day and
night by the British and Ameri-
+can air forces.
There is no escape for the UNI
happy Axis troops and their
transport, for whichever way
they 60 those all-seeing Warships
of the air are after them.
BY the way, our American air.
men are continuing to do a
grand job along with their Brit
ish colleagues.
So, while British infantry and
transport may have to slow up
some because of mines, there
really will be little loss to the
Allies.
While sappers are removing
the mines and supplies are NOV
ing up, the Allied air force will
be exacting a terrible toll among
the retreating enemy.
WELL UNIFIED
The result will be that as the
British Army advances 1t will
move as a well-coordinated and
well-supplied unit ready for
anything.
It is likely that Rommel
may hope to make some sort OF
stand in the great wadis or
gorges which lie ahead. That
probably will depend ~ wheth-
) er he can escape The bloody
pounding of the Allied air
forces which never sleep and
never let him sleep.
The commonest mines which
the Germans are employing are
circular steel cases about foot
in diameter and four inches
thick. On top is plunger which
will move downward when a
certain weight is applied to it
and explode the mine. Most OF
them are set so that the plunger
works when the wheel of an or
binary motor car passes over 1t.
The explosion is sufficient to
} wreck a truck and obviously en-
dangers the life of anyone in the
vehicle.
These discs of death are bur-
led in the roadways and, espe-
cially, on the sides of roads
where vehicles have to turn out
for passing traffic. They are
} thoroughly nasty affairs for 1t
may happen that 20 cars will
pass over one of them without
harm, thus encouraging other
cars to follow, and then the
, twenty-first will catch it.
The other day l motored over
a piece of road from which,
; subsequently,, Ia mines were ex-
tracted.
CAUTION MANDATORY
The removal of these mines is
a lob which calls for scientific
knowledge, skill and, above all,
extreme bravery.
We don't hear much about the
, sappers who 60 about digging
up explosives but they are
among the greatest heroes of the
war for they risk terrible death
every time they lie down on
their bellies and start digging
cautiously for a mine which has
| taop located