Evening star., 1942-07-10
u. S. Bombers and
British Subs Hit
At Supply Lines
ey the Associated Press.

CAIRO, July 10.-British mo-
bile columns southwest of Ell
Alamein squeezed Field Marshal
Erwin Rommel's armored right
flank back toward the sea today,
while United States bombers and
British submarines sought to cut
his Mediterranean supply line.
CA British broadcast quoted re-
ports from Ankara that the Axis
was moving reinforcements to
North Africa from the Balkans,
pulling German troops from Yu-
goslavia and even Crete in an ef--
fort TO restore Marshal Rommel's
striking power)
British headquarters announced
that long-range United States bomb
ers hunting Axis ships in the Medi-
terranean shot down two German
fighter planes which attempted to
intercept them.
Can Admiralty communque in
London credited a single British
submarine with sinking one mer-
chant ship from a strongly
guarded Axis convoy bound for
Libya and sending a naval aux
iliary vessel to the bottom)
Sharp Angle Eliminated.
The change in Marshal Rommel's
line eliminated sharp angle where
the German front turns back to the
west. Now the line forms an arc ex-
tending from the coast west OF Ell
Alamein into the desert some 80
miles south of Ell Daba.
The British maneuver apparently
was a continuation OF the sallles
which hard hitting armored patrols
have been carrying out daily to keep
Marshal Rommel on the defensive
and thereby postpone a showdown
in the battle for Egypt.
Allied bombers and fighter
bombers, meanwhile, were reported
to be blasting at the Axis leaders
tenuous lines of communication and
were credited with destroying more
than so enemy transport vehicles In
one assault.
Normal Activity Elsewhere.
The announcement reporting
Marshal Rommel's latest withdrawal
said:
I'm the southern sector our mobile
columns engaged enemy forces, in
cluding tanks, and forced them te
move northward.'
The communioue did not specify
the size of the forces involved, bu'
apparently the engagement Wa'
purely local in character.
Elsewhere in the L-shaped front
the bulletin said, there was merely
normal artillery and patrol activity
yesterday.
Flank Threats Countered.
Military advices indicated tina
Marshal Rommel's movements hav
been confined almost entirely t.
countering threats to his right fan
in the week that has elapsed sine
the British beat off an all-out as
sault on their positions at I
Alamein, some IS miles west @
Alexandria.
While there was no expectatio
here that Gen. Sir CLAUDE Auchln
leck's harassing tactics might com
pei Marshal Rommel to execute
general withdrawal, the Britis
seemed satisfied that they wei
keeping the willy Axis chieftain
busy he could not regroup his force
for a new offensive.
The British patrols have bee
getting in some of their best VOL
at night. stabbing here and thel
at the German right flank, whlc
has been bent back toward tt
west.
Nazis Dislike Night Fighting.
From information cleaned fro
prisoners, the British said the
forays were preventing the weal
Axis forces from getting the re
they needed after their rapid 80
mile drive across the desert. TT
Germans, they declared, have SHOW
an aversion to night fighting al
have tried to plan their operatio
so that the troops can get reaso
able amount of sleep.
Observers believed Marshal Ror
mel would like to avoid gene1
engagement for two or three wee
in order to rebuild his striki
power.
Military circles declared it W
question merely of time un
either Marshal Rommel or CT
Auchinleck felt his forces were ST
ficiently rested and reinforced
strike a blow on a scale to force t