Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-04-24
War TODAY
High Mountains
Give ROmme
Natural Defense
Nv CAPT JOHN II. eRAIGE

By CAPT. JOHN II. CRAIGE
wntten Especially fer Int N,us service
THE CAPTURE Of Fnhdavillo
BY Gen. Monteomc,yS Eighth
Army brings United Nations
forces in Tun.>ia 10 the Grand
Dorsal Mountains which form
defensive wall before B.zcrte
and nlnlS
& Thus the campaign 20 Dust
Field Marshal RommelS Nazl
and Italian forces from North
Africa has entered lis seminal
stage.
The North African q palgn
T. has been fought over as great a
I variety Of different landscapes
and climates aS any in history
Z Since their flight from Lihya the
/ Nazi-F Fascist forces have waged
rear-guard action on sand deS-
erts and deserts composed OF
bare granite rock.
y They have given hit-and-run
battle on fertile coastal plains,
: also on salt marshes, and on
4 bottonless SeacoaSt hogS. Now,
as the end approaches. the war
has moved into high mountains.
THE 12O-NILF arc Of steep
hills and sharp-cut valleys. wall
Ing off TuniSia's cotIin-carper,
forms a curving barrier not I'M
: like the eastern creSt-llnc Of the
Allegheny Mountains in Penn
sylvania.
Unlike Pennsylvania. Tunisia
possesses few highways Such
roads as exist traverse narrow
defiles winding through forests
~of mountain peaks, the tallest
= Of wh1ch reach Attitudes between
5000 and 1000 feet.
On the north and south end of
the arc, where the mountains
approach the sea. the barrier is
highest and most difficult. To-
ward the center, two principal
highways follow comparatively
straight and level valleys con-
verging on the plain of Tunis
from Pont du FANS in the south
and Medjez-el-Bab farther north.
Width of the belt OF noun
tains through whic h Allied
forces will be obliged 10 fight
their way is little more than
a dozen miles by the northern
route, approximately 20 by the
Pont du Fahs gap.
Dispatches from the front
make il evident that advancing
F, United Nations forces are en-
oountering a variety Of Alpine
warfare such as they have not
witnessed since the campaigns
OF Norway and Greece.
AXIS SHARPSHOOTERS are
10 be found in every hill. Noun
tain guns and howitzers make
life miserable for advance
guards. Roadways. and the
whole floor of the passes
through which the advance must
he made. are thickly sown with
Axis land-niines. II lack ing
through a mountain barrier of
this description is a tough Job.
Estimates indicate that Rom
mers army, and the force Of
Col. Gen. Won Arnim already on
the ground. total in the neigh
borhood of 100000 combatants
or from a dozen TO Is divisions.
This allows approximately one
division Of defenders for every
10 miles Of front with two or
three divisions in reserve. In a
mountainous area where much
Of the line can be held with
very few men this force should
prove ample for the tactical
needs of The situation.
Weakness Of Rommers posi-
ton is that II consists of a
single line. Once United Ma
tons forces make a penetration
OF the barrier at any point they
can concentrate in the rear of
the entire crescent Of hills. fore
ing the evacuation or capture OF
all Of the defenders Of the 100
mile arc.
BESIDES THE main passes
entering the coastal plain occu-
pied by Tunis and Bizerte. there
are about a dozen roads running
through smaller passes penetrat-
ing the mountain barrier. In
addition 10 these there must be
hundreds Of goat tracks and
narrow human trails crossing
the range.
Length Of time il viii take 20
drive RommerS troops from
their mountains has been Vari-
ously estimated in informed cir
cles at from six days 20 six
weeks. Once the barrier Of hills
Is penetrated. the action in Tu-
nisis Will enter is final stage.
which Will consist Of the close
investment and siege OF the
fortified cities of Bizerte and
Tunis. OF these the former is
by far the more formidable