Evening star., 1942-12-03
Allied Troops
Converge on Tunis
And Bizerte ,
LIBERIA grants U. S. right to air
bases during war. Page Az
EDEN TELLS Commons Britain not
bound by Darlan's statement.
Page Az

bS tHr ASsOCldttu FIeSS-
LONDON, Dec. 3.-The decisive
battle for Bizerte and Tunis ap-
parently was under way today
with British and American
troops converging on the bomb
battered Axis strongholds after
smashing a German counterat-
tack which touched off the heav-
lest fighting of the Tunisian
campaign.
Dispatches from the front said
the Americans had played a major
role in repulsing the Nazi assault,
directed at the Allied lines in the
vicinity of Tebourba, vital railway
junction 20 miles west of Tunis and
IS miles south of Bizerte.
While the Allied westward drive
from Libya still paused near Ell
Agheila. with only patrol activity
aground and slightly increased air
activity, fierce struggles apparently
were being waged along the mar
rowing arc of defenses which the
Axis has flung out on all landward
sides of Blzerte and Tunis.
U. S. Bombers Blast Tripoli.
A United States Army headquar-
ters communique issued in Cairo
today said American heavy bombers
have destroyed or heavily damaged
six merchant ships in Tripoli and
have smashed the Spanish and
Karsmanli moles so severely in the
Axis only remaining Libyan harbor
that their use has been impaired.
This amplified an earlier British
announcement that Allied planes
smashing at Axis bases in Libya and
Tunisia, had sunk large south
bound tanker off Sicily and blasted
at Tripoli and the Tunisian ports of
Bizerte and Gabes.
Nazis Claim Recapture of Tebourba
A Berlin broadcast, attributed to
authoritative Nazi sources, said Ger
man troops had recaptured the key
communications point of Tebourba
from American forces. This was the
first enemy acknowledgement even
that the Axis had lost Tebourba,
which is 20 miles west of Tunis and
35 miles south of Bizerte. And
there was no confirmation from
Allied reports of the recapture claim
The German broadcast said the
Americans lost % tanks in the en-
counter.
Conversely, Allied dispatches from
the front SAID the German counter
attack had been smashed and that
the Americans had played major
role in repelling it.
The Italian communique, also re-
porting relative quiet on the Libyan
front, said 200 British prisoners had
been taken. including an entire
parachute detachment, in Tunisia.
Allied headquarters declared the
Nazis had lost heavily in their un-
successful counterblow, launched
with the apparent hope of cutting
off the wedge which the Allies have
driven between the two ports.
Another German Counterattack
said communique broadcast by the
Morocco radio, was repulsed at
Pont de Fahs, 30 miles south of
Tunis, by French forces which cap
tured that place several days ago
Heavy fighting also was reported
around Mateur, II miles south of
Bizerte, where an Allied column is
driving toward the coast.
British and American planes ham,
mered the enemy from the air with
mounting fury, concentrating espe-
cially on Axis airfields.
American medium bombers, es-
corted by P-38 fighters, raided the
Tunis airdrome for the fifth time in
A hours, destroying at least IL
grounded planes
Reports from the front indicated
the twin-engined P-38s were play
ing and important part in the bat
tie for control of the skies over Tu-
nisia and were proving more than
a match for the best German planes.
The P-38s also were cerdited with
knocking out number of German
tanks in the Djedeida sector near
Tunis.
British Navy in Action.
Adding to the pressure being ex-
erted on the Axis garrison on the
ground and in the air, the British
Navy swung into action with its big
guns to harass the enemy from the
sea-
The news that the fleet had gone
into action, disclosed in an Allied
communique yesterday afternoon,
was viewed here as an indication
that the Allied offensive is swiftly
approaching a climax.
While the battle for Tunisia thus
appeared to be nearing a showdown
there were hints that the Allies were
on the verge of acquiring the French
West African base of Dakar without
bloodshed-and with it a valuable