Evening star., 1942-06-02
British Mop Up
1rdppedGerman
Units in Libya
Some Enemy Forces
Withdraw Through
Cops in Front
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
CAIRO, Egypt, June Ger
man armored forces, the cream
of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's
Africa Corps, which were trapped
east of the Ain Ell Gazala-Bir
Hacheim line, are being cease
lessly harried and destroyed" by
British troops and planes and
are being "mopped up" the Brit
ish commander announced to-
day.
--latest reports show the enemy
may have withdrawn some of his
tanks through the gaps" in the
line, a communique by Gen. Sir
Claude Auchinleck said, but "a
large number of his tanks and many
transport vehicles, however, remain
on the wrong side of this barrier"
(The communique was read in
the House of Commons today by
Prime Minister Churchill, who
made it part of his war report.
Mr.. Churchill said it was clear
the plans of Marshal Rommel
had badly misf1red)
1T is still difficult to give a firm
estimate of the number of vehicles
and tanks knocked out or disabled"
the communique said, but it added
that the Axis losses had been very
great.
Mani Attack No Surprise.
In a summary of the seven-day
campaign, Gen. Auchinleck said the
enemy failed to spring a surprise
when he attacked with two Ger
man armored and one light divis-
Ions and two Italian armored and
motorized divisions, with the OBJ
jective of taking Tobruk.
One of the most decisive phases,
he disclosed, was when the entire
resources of the R. A. F. were
thrown into continuous low-level
attacks on the Germans attempting
to force an escape through the gaps
He also disclosed for the first
time that the Axis had attempted
to land troops from the sea behind
the British line but that the enemy
force was driven off by the navy.
The Raj, reporting decreased
activity because of duststorms,
nevertheless kept up attacks on
enemy air fields at Derna and other
objectives at Tmimi and Martuba
and shot down two German fight
ers at a loss of four of its own.
Caught behind the British line
southwest of Tobruk after skirting
1t. the Nazis had been struggling
since noon of May 80 to hold open
two gaps through British minefields
ard extricate their trapped forces
from costly pounding by British
tanks, guns and planes.
Rommel Elusive Fighter.
The British, who have failed be-
Tore to keep Marshal Rommel's
forces locked in traps where they
seemed doomed to humiliation, rec
ognize their desert antagonist as an
elusive fighter and one who would
not yield without the utmost re-
sistance.
One speculation, therefore, was
that the reported new German ma
neuver was a time-gaining device to
hold the Axis forces together while
supplies and fuel are brought up so
they can fight their way out, rather
than try an outright race for safety,
with the resultant risk of heavy
casualties.
Another possibility, however, was
that resourceful Marshal Rommel
hoped to sit tight until reinforce
ments could reach him and then try
again to shove his drive into forward
gear toward Tobruk.
Defense System Remains.
But the British said the advantage
still lay with them. Although they
bided their time about claiming vic
tory, they had stopped the Axis
push short of Tobruk-which pre-
sumably the enemy must take this
time before trying to smash further
eastward-and their 50-mile defense
system from Ain Ell Gazala, on the
coast, inland to Bir Hacheim still
was barrier.
On the other hand, the Nazis who
had swept around the southern
anchor of the line, found themselves
hemmed inside, except for the two
gaps in the minefields Is miles
apart, and pounded by the British
from all sides.