Evening star., 1942-07-19
Wedde Driven Into Nazi Positions
In |nVoronezhAdvance> Reds Claim;
U.S.Bombers Raid Rommers Ports
Tobruk, Bombo
Blasted as Air
Power Grows

BY the Associated Press.
CAIRO, Egypt, July 1S.-Dis-
closure of new, hard-hitting
raids on the Axis supply ports OF
Tobruk and Bomba by United
States Army Air Forces under
command of Maj. Gen. Lewis H.
Brereton marked the rising
power of air warfare over the
western desert today.
On the ground, British Imperial
and Axis land forces battled back
and forth in bitter but inconclusive
conflict for possession of the barren
ridges west of Ell Alamein and about
rs miles west of Alexandria.
Gen. Brereton, whose assumption
of command over the American air
forces in the Near East was made
known only today, said that in 36
days of operations the American
Liberator and Flying Fortress bomb
ers-both large super charged four
engined types-had conducted 81
missions and lost only three planes
in combat.
In the newest of these assign
ments, they set fire to an Axis
tanker and scored direct hits on a
large motorship at Tobruk last
night, added to the fires which the
RAF already had set raging around
the harbor, and reached on farther
west into Libya to pound small
ships in the Gulf of Bomba, where
the Italians once had seaplane
base.
British Praise Flyers.
"They put up a damned good
show" said the British in praise of
the American airmen, who are con-
centrating primarily on the shipping
Nazi Marshal Erwin Rommel must
have to maintain his threat against
the Valley of the Nile.
The British noted that Marshal
Rommel himself was using air power
on an increased scale and was using
more italian planes than ever be-
fore. For the first time in several
weeks Axis planes operated yes
terday over British landing grounds
in the Burg ell Arab region some 40
miles west of Alexandria, behind
the land battle lines.
Uniformed British sources in
London said this use of Italian
planes indicated Marshal ROM
mel was having to bring them in
from Sicily and the western Med
iterranean to aid his outnum-
bered Nazi air force)
The British, in turn, made ever
greater use of Royal Navy planes
against Axis land forces. These
navy flyers fiercely attacked Axis
concentrations Thursday night be-
tween the coastal road and the
shore west of the British positions
Other naval aircraft destroyed
thousands of gallons of gasoline
at Axis-held Matruh.
Five Axis Planes Shot Down.
The RAF itself concentrated
chiefly in the southern sector OF
the front, and a British commun-
ique said violent explosions anc
fires were touched off among Axis
transport vehicles and tanks yes.
terday. Five Axis planes were LISTED
as shot down. The British lost
seven but saved two of the pilots.
On the ground, Australians ant
some South Africans moved from
their Tel ell Elsa position southwark
to gain a second parallel ridge yes
! terday, but an Axis counterattacl
! forced them to withdraw from SOM
of their gains later in the day. Th
British positions on the main ridg
of Tel ell Elsa remained intact.
In the central sector of the 40
mile line the Germans mounted al
attack of their own with truck
borne infantry, but British Indian
astride the ridge of Ruweisat re
pulsed them with losses.
AS far as was known here, ther
was little armored fighting yester
day. 1t was disclosed, however, tina
in the course of fierce tank battl
in the central sector Thursday 2
Axis tanks, mainly German, wer
knocked out. The British subse
quently blew up 81 of these.
Significant Air Blows
This attrition of the Axis armo
makes all the most significant tn
| (See EGYPT, Page A-3D