Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-04-26
Long Stop Hill 5heued
Heavily 10 Prepare
Way for Infantry
Nozis Fought to Bitter
Finish, Although They
Expected to Be Ousted
BY WILLIAM H. SLOVENIAN,

forelen Correspondent of The Star ana
Chicago Daily News. s.
NEAR MEDJEz-EL-BAB, Tu-
nisia, April % Delayed Long
Stop Hill, which dominates one of
the principal roads to Tunis,
north of MedjeZ-El-Bab and which
was commonly recognized as one of
the strongest German positions in
Tunisia, was occupied by Allied
troops at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon
in the second of the two strong at
tacks which they had made on it
with violent artillery support.
In the course of their offensive,
which had begun near Bou Arada
early Thursday morning and had
spread to the Northern Tunisia
front at 8 o'clock last night, the
Allies also occupied Two Tree Hill,
an extremely important height east
of Bou Arada, pushed onto the
Goubellat Plain where they fought
a series of disjointed but successful ;
tank engagements against German
armored units, and pushed north
from Medjez-El-Bab, east of the
road to Tebourba, to reach high
ground north of Grich-E Ell ued,
about five miles north of Medjez.
Germans Expected Defeat.
All through the fighting the Ger
mans fulfilled the promise one Ger
man prisoner made yesterday
Thursday when he announced,
I'VE know we are going to get licked,
but we are going to fight to the
bitter finish" Opposition was heavy
everywhere despite the fact that the
Germans had clearly been out
guessed and were at their wits end
to cope with the fierce, determined
attacks which were being put in
against them at key points all the
way from Bou Arada to Sedjenane.
What happened yesterday and
again today was enough to show that
we would have lodged a bitter battle
on our hands before the .Boches were
finally sent back to the continent.
The storming of Long Stop Hill,
6 miles northeast of Mediez, pro-
vlded a never-to-be-fo forgotten sight.
Preparations had begun at o'clock
last night when hundreds of Allied
guns launched an avalanche of shells
on its eastern slopes up which the
infantry was preparing to charge.
The sky f1ared and the air doomed,
The attack which was put in AFTER
ward was delayed and, due to the
failure of the infantry to clear some
ground behind them of machine
guns and mortars, the attack was
not pressed home.
Guns Plaster Hill.
The second and successful at
tempt began at 1870 O'Clock this
morning when guns plastered the
hill with creeping barrage that
lasted two hours and % minutes
and paved the way for the infantry
all the way from the starting line
to the final dominating height at
the northeastern end of the hilly
mass.
Tanks were in immediate support
OF the infantry and endless SQUAD
rons of bombers went over to dis
rupt the -enemys supply lines.
We watched the spectacle from
the same crossroads, west of Med
Jez, from which We watched Long
Stop bombarded on Christmas eve
when it was unsuccessfully stormed,
1t was raining then and we had
only a handful of men to hold the
hill when we took it. They failed
to hold it. Today Long Stop stood
out in brilliant sunshine over a sea
OF golden daisies and brilliant red
peoples. Today We had men and
guns and planes and this was only
one part of the real offensive.
Tonight we are preparing to pre-
vent the Germans from retaking
the hill as they did once before,
and one had feeling that we would
finally make the long grade.
tCopyrignt, 1913, ChicGgo Daily News Inc)