Evening star., 1943-01-21
Allies Capture Two New Points,
Pus h Romme| Closer to Tripo|i;
Russians Drive On Toward Rostov
Axis Forces Score
Tunisiun Advance
Against French
Hy the Associated Press.


LONDON, Jan. 21.-The Brit
ish 9th Army, with a Fighting
French desert column on its left
flank, today pushed Marshal En-
win Rommel's hard-pressed rear
guard down the coastward slope
from Nefusa Ridge to probably
within 35 miles of Tripoli in a
continuing advance past the hill
village of Tarhuna and the
coastal road town of HONS.
The occupation yesterday of the
towns, one 40 miles southeast and
the other Sc miles east of Tripoli
was announced in today's Cairo
communique which said Gen. SiI
Bernard L. Montgomery's forces
pushed on "in close contact with
the enemy retreating to the west"
Under steadily mounting aerial
assault the Axis withdrawal showed
signs of disorganization, but in
formed sources said there was no
authoritative indication that bomb
battered Tripoli was being evacu-
ated.
The occupation of the port by the
British was regarded, however, as
simply a matter of time, perhaps q
few days.
Looking beyond the windup of the
Iibyan offensive, British sources de-
clared the Tunisian campaign should
be concluded by April if the Allies
hope to take full advantage of the
North African springboard this sum-
mer for real European second
front.
Axis Makes New Advance.
On the Tunisian land front, where
1t was suggested that new Axis Of
fensive thrusts might be intended to
hold open corridor for Marshal
Rommel's withdrawal, Axis troops
under Col. Gen. Jurgen Won Arnim
made new advance against French
positions southwest of Pont Du Fahs.
This was in the section where a
communique yesterday disclosed a
German penetration of miles. To-
days war bulletin described the new
gain as "a small advance" and said
Allied bombers and fighters, includ-
ing the French Lafayette Escadrille,
were striking in support of the
French troops.
Minor engagements continued in
the Bou Arada region north of the
French positions. There a German
thrust was reported yesterday to
have been repulsed after a hard
msuling.
Reports from the front said the
German penetration in the ridged,
ravine-cut country southwest of
Pont Du Fahs created a fluid front
from which one of the decisive
battles of the Tunisian campaign
might take form.
& Counter Move Expected
Allied plans for a counter-move
were kept secret, of course, but it
seemed certain that one was in the
making.
The Allies kept their ascendancy
In the air on both sides of the
dwindling Axis position.
A United States communioue said
B-24 Liberators raided Tripoli in two
separate attacks without the loss of
q plane.
I'm the first attack" the COM
munique said, bombs burst along
the Spanish mole starting fires which
we're confirmed by our aircraft
reaching the target area later. A
probable hit was scored on a mer-
chant vessel.
''In the second attack the target
was almost totally obscured by cloud
coverage, but the bombs found their
mark and started a huge fire that
caused columns of black smoke to
penetrate heavy cloud coverage at
10000 feet"
Other Allied planes bombed Axis
troops dug in along the coastal road
between HONS and the capital.
The adjacent Axis air base at
Castel Benito was bombed anew,
and enemy troops and transport
concentrations near Tripoli were
under virtually incessant attack.
,Torpedo-carrying Allied planes
sank one ship and damaged two
others off the Tunisian coast anc
sent another to the bottom in the
Aegean Sea,
-, Enemy Tanker Attacked.
From the west, Flying Fortresses
and British Bisleys kept up their
battering Of military camps and
supply routes behind the enemy's
Tunisian line American Billy Mitch
ell bombers, escorted by Light
nings, attacked an enemy tanker
between Tunisia and Sicily and left
1t hard hit.
The Italian communique, report
Ing 1900 prisoners captured on the
Tunisian front in three days, sale
positions which had been gained
there were being consolidated.
The German communique, how
ever, said the positions were helt
against strong enemy counter
attacks, but reported them I'm
proved considerably in some places.
The news that the Fighting
French actually had made contac
with the onrushing British afte
sweeping northward across hun
dreds Of miles of Libyan desert wa
disclosed last night in a communi
que from Brig. Gen. Jacques L.
Clerc's headquarters.
Gen. LIE Clerc said his troops nov
were brilliantly taking part witt
their British allies in the advanc
on Tripoli, moving steadily forwart
on the 9th Army's flank, thus com
pressing Marshal Rommels f1eeinj
Afrika Korps into a narrow stril
along the Mediterranean coast.