Evening star., 1943-03-31
Mureth Line Bottle
Proves Allies Masters
Major Eliot Declares Britons
And Americans Are Superior
To Best Nozis Con Offer
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.

10 Best Nozis Con Otter
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.
No praise can be too high for the gen.
eralship which has given Gen. Bernard
l.. Montgomery another victory over the
Afrika Korps The battle Of the Mareth
Line will go down in history as a shining
example Of that combination of cool
deliberation in planning, boldness in
execution, and the calm acceptance Of
we'll calculated risks which have distin-
guished the great captains of history
throughout the ages.
But it is perhaps Of even greater i'm
portance for us to realize the superior
quality Of the troops whose fighting
powers made the victory possible. 1t is
good to know that we have such 4 gen.
eral as Montgomery on our side. 1t is
even better to know that given proper
training and equipment, the men of the
free nations can beat the best that Ger
many has to offer. The Afrika Korps Is
the cream of the Wehrmacht. Every
officer and man is q picked, carefully
selected, specially groomed, individual
lighting unit. Germany has nothing bet
ter-indeed, it may be doubted If Ger
many has anything else as good. But
these picked German soldiers were not
good enough.
In the caves and gullies and foxholes
Of the Mareth hills, the soldiers Of Brit
ain, Of New Zealand, Of South Africa. OF
YnN{ Wyif fno fn
too and bayonet to bayonet, and drove
them at last in headlong rout from their
chosen and carefully prepared positions.
It is dinlcult for any one who has not
seen fighting Of this sort to realize how
much depends upon the leaders Of small
units-platoons and squads-and upon
tho individual fighting qualities Of the
soldiers themselves. The general and his
star can make the best plan; division,
regimental and battalion commanders
can give tho most perfect orders for
carrying those plans into execution: but
in tho last analysis, victory depends on
the battle worthiness Of little groups Of
tired, mud-spattered. hungry fighting
men. facing the agony Of wounds or the
oblivion of death with grim determina-
ton to conquer and with utter confidence
In themselves and their leaders.
It Is for this reason that the battle Of
the Mareth Line marks q turning point
in the history Of this war. From this
point we go forward in the utter certainty
that we are better men than those op-
posed to us: for what Britons can do,
Americans can do also, and in the hell
Of Mareth it has been proven once again
that tho men Of the free nations are the
masters on tho battlefield Of tho ma
chine-like robots of Germany granted
only that their training and equipment
be reasonably equal.
stand in the Gabes area seems open to
doubt at this moment. Gabes itself is in
British hands, but for some distance
north OF the town the terrain lends itself
to the purposes Of defense. before the
hills and salt marshes break away into
the wide coastal plains. However, there
Is here no such cover from air lombard
ment as in the Mareth positions, and the
calculated fury of Montgomerys pursuit
after Ell Alamein forecasts q pressure no
less relentless now. Much, OF course.
depends on the Americans along the
western flank of Rommels line Of re-
treat. If they can advance, the trap will
close on the desert fox The presence of
the British fleet of Gabes suggests the
further possibility Of landing In Rom
mels rear-a landing which the Germans
probably do not have the air power to
resist.
Once again Rommel may try to play
his old game Of delaying the British by
mines and fortihcations and concentrat-
ing his armor for a swift flight to the
north; II Gen. Patton can bring Rommel
to action before he can get away, and
hold him long enough for Montgomery
to come up, the last chapter Of Rommel's
remarkable career may yet be written in
blood on the sands Of the Tunisian
coastal plain. If not, Rommel will even
tually join Won Arnim in Northern Tu-
nisia to make his last stand, with his
back to the sea, in the semi-circle OF
hills covering the approaches to Tunis
and Bizerte. There when the steel ring
Of the Allied armies has solidified from
sea to sea. the last phase Of the battle OF
Africa will be fought.
Copyright. 1e43. N. Y Tribune, Inc)