Evening star., 1943-01-23
zuara SheIIed
AS Nazis Flee
Into 1unisia
Rome Mourns Loss
Of Empire; Berlin
Admits Evacuation

The British 9Th Army wrested
Tripoli from the Axis today and
the conquest of Premier Musso-
lini's African empire was all but
complete.
Rear guards left behind by Mar
shall Erwin Rommel to slow the
pursuit of his main forces into
Tunisia were overwhelmed and the
British took possession of the
burning city at S am, officials an
nounced in Cairo.
Sixty miles west of Tripoli, British
warships later today bombarded the
port of Zuara, indicating that not
all of Rommel's haggard legions had
yet escaped into Tunisia.
In London, the Admiralty said
light British naval forces shelled
the port and set big fires. The
attacking warships suffered neither
damage nor casualties, it was added.
Mourning the loss of Tripoli. the
Rome radio said today that "the
great struggle which Italy has been
waging for % months in North
Africa is coming to an end"
Enormous Loss Admitted.
In a broadcast recorded by the
Associated Press the Fascist an
nouncer admitted the Italians had
suffered enormous losses in the
desert campaign and attributed the
Axis retreat to the British 9Th
Armys superiority in men and equip
ment.
Emphasis was placed on the part
played by the British Navy in ham,
pering the flow of supplies to Mar
shall Rommers forces. A great part
of Britains submarine fleet had been
concentrated in the Mediterranean,
the broadcast said.
Berlin likewise officially acknowl-
| edged the loss of Tripoli.
The German high commands ver-
sion of the retreat, as broadcast by
/ the NaZi radio, said.
'The German Italian panzer
army disengaged itself last night
from the enemy according to plan
after warding off heavy enemy at
| tacks. In the course OF this move
ment toward the west Tripoli was
evacuated without fighting after all
supplies and war materiel had been
removed and the harbor destroyed.
United Nations headquarters In
North Africa said German para
chute troops were dropped behind
| the Allied lines in Tunisia in a
fruitless attempt to break up re-
| sistance to the Axis tank thrust
down the Kebir River and the Ous-
seltia Valley.
Most of the Nazi sky troops were
quickly rounded up, it was an
nounced.
German and Allied ground forces
| continued to fight in the Ousseltia
Valley, below Pont du Fahs, while
American and British planes bombed
and shot up the Nazi columns
Ousseltia, 81 miles below Pont du
Fahs, was the target of the eastern
most of two German assault coll
umns.
Allied Bombers Attack Bizerte.
The communique also reported
Allied bomber attacks on the air.
| drome at Bizerte on the night of
January 21-22, and blows the same
night at rail and road communica-
tions behind the enemy's lines.
Three raids were made on the Ell
| Awena Airdrome at Tunis yesterday
! by United States heavy and medium
| bombers, escorted by P-38 fighters.
| which hit aircraft on the ground
and left many fires burning
| During one of these attacks, the
! communique said, three enemy
| fighters were shot down.
A sweep of Allied bombers and
| fighters over Tunisia and Sicily
| struck freighter with bombs, and
destroyed six more Axis planes, the
communique said. Five Allied air.
craft were reported missing after
the various operations.
British War Chief Halls Victory.
British War Secretary Sir James
Grigg, skipping the pending mop
up of the western reaches of Libya,
said the fall of Tripoli Completes
the destruction of the Italian en-
pire in Africa"
The British "have had the un-
grudging help from American sup
tSee AFRICA, Page A-3J