Evening star., 1943-01-29
y. S. Flyers Blast Port of Sfox
In New Blow at Romme|'s Route;
Reds Smash Ahead at Voronezh
British Clash With
Enemy's Reor Guard
In Zuuru Sector
By the Associated Press.

80 ebc SSoOSLdtco EIeSs
LONDON, Jan. 29.-The harbor
and railway yards of Sfax, sup
ply port vital for regrouping of
Axis forces in Tunisia, were off,
cially declared today to have
been hard hit by the 18th United
States Air Forces greatest raid
of the war, while British 9th
Army artillerymen dueled with
Marshal Erwin Rommels rear
guard in the Zuara area 35 miles
east of the Tunisian frontier.
The Axis betrayed jitters by radio
suggestions that the British 1st
Army already had started a big
move in the Tunisian theater, these
following unconflrmed reports that
the American ground forces there
had launched or were preparing an
offensive.
The broadcasts had no confirma-
ton, and today's communique from
Allied headquarters in North Africa
said There is no change in the
ground situation"
United States heavy and me-
dunn bombers, escorted by P-38
Lightning fighters, struck Sfax in
four waves yesterday. blasted the
rail lines and harbor facilities heav-
ily, left many fires burning and
shot down six Axis planes which at
tempted to intervene.
Heavy Damage Acknowledged.
A 18th Air Force spokesman said
the number of planes used was the
largest it had ever sent against a
single target. The Italian high
command acknowledged that dam
age was heavy.
The spokesman said the raid was
of "the saturation type"-which
suggests the loosing of hundreds OF
bombs in relatively limited area
and the first of its kind carried out
in the North African theater.
Axis troops and vehicles were
bombed and shot up in series of
other raids from the Pont Du FANS
area to the Ousseltia Valley and
three enemy bombers were reported
shot from a small formation which
attacked Algiers last night. From
all the operations, two Allied air
craft were reported missing.
The gradual shortening of Marshal
Rommel's narrow escape corridor
is illustrated by the fact that Sfax,
on the uo1er curve of the Gulf of
Gabes. lies only $50 miles hy air
1x
Although Rommel assigned ar
tillery to the rear guard in the area
OF the Tripolitanian port, London
military sources reiterated the opin-
ion that he would not make a real
delaying stand before he reached
the Mareth line.
May Be Merely a Screen.
well-placed observers said it was
not yet apparent that the 5th Amer
lean Arny's operations in the Gaf-
sa-Maknassy area of Central Tu-
nisia were of sufficient weight to In
dicate an attempt to cut ahead OF
Rommel and block his retreat.
These sources said the moves
might be designed merely as
screen to protect the Gafsa Air
port-the best in the region.
Axis broadcasts suggested that the
Allied plan was to sandwich Rom
mel between the Americans and the
British 9th Army if he attempted
to hold the Mareth Line or the
narrow passage between the Chott
Djerid salt marsh and the sea.
One broadcast declared that 1t
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied
commander in chief, had already
sent the British into an attack in
the region of Bou Arada and MedJez-
El-Bab.
The German news agency DNB,
however, was quoted as saying that
Axis successes against the French
in the central sector were greater
than at first thought" and that the
necessary shifting Of British and
American reinforcementS had left
Allied forces mo longer in position
to carry out their tasks"
Something Big Brewing.
The possibility that the Allies had
launched a determined effort to
drive wedge between the Rommel
and Won Arnin forces was given
color by a combination OF reports
from various sources indicating that
something big was brewing,
Among these indications was a
48-hour conference at Gen. EiSen-
hower's headquarters bringing to-
getner Gen. George C. Marshall,
United States Army Chief of Staff,
and Gen. Sir Howard Alexander,
British Middle East commander,
along with other high American
and British officers.
A thrust to MaknaSsy would place
the Allied Tunisian armies within
rs miles of the Mareth Line, where
some of Rommel's forces are re-
ported to have taken refuge, and
200 miles from the British 9Th
Army, swapping at the heels OF his
rearguards in Tripolitania.
A communique issued in Cairo to-
day indicated that the British, con-
tinuing their westward drive, had
reached the vicinity of Zuara, which
is 65 miles beyond Tropoli