Evening star., 1943-05-06

over 2 miles up"
In the Straits of Sicily, 6 mile
west of Maritime Island, B-25S es
corted by P-38s swooped down nea
water level over an unescorted con
voy of three small vessels and hi
all of them. One vessel was sunk
another was damaged and the thirt
was left in flames.
B-26s, escorted by P-38s, scoret
added direct hits on motor vesse
lying offshore east of Cape Zebih
which is 10 miles east of Bizerte.
In the Sicilian Straits in earl,
morning a formation of Mitchell
and Lightnings engaged and sho
down six Savoia- -Marchetti g.
transports and 3 of the IL O.
more fighters which made up thei
escort.
(The italian high command
communique, broadcast from
Rome and recorded by the Asso-
ciated Press, declared that Ger
man and italian troops stood
firm in the western sector of the
Tunisian front yesterday Gin sus-
tanned and hard defensive fight
ing" 1t reported that about 10
Allied tanks were destroyed by
fighter-bombers. Sixteen Allied
planes were said to have been
shot down. 1t was added that
ssfro,,, ororofjoy,c nf tho y,oc% fou,
days six of our planes failed to
return"
(The German communique,
broadcast from Berlin and re-
corded by the Associated Press,
said that several Allied attacks
in the northern and central Sec
tors of the Tunisian front had
been repulsed and that east of
Mateur, 13 of "a attacking tanks
were destroyed. Other Allied
motor vehicles were destroyed by
Axis aerial forces, the COM
munique said Axis heavy bomb
ers attacked harbor installations
along the Algerian coast last
night, it was reported0
The American ground forces II
Northern Tunisia were up agains
new enemy positions as they pushee
up the road to Fefryville and drove
southeastward from captured Ma
teur toward a junction with tht
British 1st Army.
Americans Mop Up,
The last of the enemy force!
stranded in the mountains by tht
swift American advance through
Mateur was reported mopped-up
but American troops advancing
toward Bizerte both north and south
of Lake Achkel were encounterine
new Axis strong points.
French troops, moving along the
northern coastal area, already hae
pushed out into the plain leading tt
Bizerte in the Cap Koran area, II
miles west of the great naval base
The American column driving
northeastward from Mateur was re.
ported only miles short of the i'm
portant supply center of Ferryville
already badly battered by Allied
bombers and now under the fire ot
American artillery. Ferryville is
across the lake of Bizerte and about
8 miles from the city of Bizerte.
(The Berlin radio reported in
a broadcast recorded by the As
sociated Press today that Amer
ican and French colonial troops
moving on new Axis positions in
the Mateur region suffered con-
siderable losses Tuesday" from
artillery fire of the advanced
fortiflcation works of Bizerte.')
The drive southeast of Mateur was
aimed at Tebourba, 18 miles west
of Tunis, and front dispatches sale
that Eddekhila, 6 miles west of Te.
bourba, already had been taken by
patrols. The Germans
who have been contesting bitterly
a 1st Army thrust east of Medjez-
El-Bab, were thus threatened by a
f1anking movement from the north
and a junction of American and
British forces.
Axis Armor Dwindles.
The British veterans of Dun.
kuerque who for two weeks have
stormed hill after hill were pressing
firmly toward Tebourba and the
plain leading to Tunis after smash
ing strong German counterattack
Tuesday in which IL enemy tanks
were destroyed. The blow was a
hard one for the dwindling Axis
armor strength in Africa.
The 10Th French Corps of Gen
Louis Marie Koeltz in the south was
reported last night to have ad-
vanced many miles in the direction
of Djebel zaghouan in spite of bittel
enemy resistance and in spite o1
violent artillery fire" Earlier these
French forces had been reported
only eight miles from the German
stronghold at zaghouan, % miles
south Of Tunis.
Uniformed sources in London
were not so optimistic as some
'front.' dispatches tending to In
dicate that Bizerte might fall
quickly They pointed out that
it still is the strongest position
left to the Axis in Tunisia and
said Axis armies undoubtedly
would hold onto every possible
section as long as possible because
OF the great force of Allied forces
thus pinned down.
(Cape Bon, it was said, is the
next best area for stand be
cause of its airdromes and the
possibility of receiving aerial sup
plies under fighter cover from
Pantelleria, only 70 miles away.
Tunis itself, with a population of
100000, is the least defensible po-
sition.)
Stock Avernnes