Imperial Valley press., 1943-05-12

nphant close.
J. Allied armies, smashing the last
Axis resistance in Tunisia, captured
Nazi Col. Gen. Jurgen Won Arnim,
leader of ali enemy forces, while in
Washington there was speculation
that new offensive plans for Brit
ish and American forces in the Far
East were being formulated.
Won Arnini succeeded NaZi Mar
shall Erwin Rommel as head CT the
Axis forces when Rommel returned
to Europe in March. He formerly
was an artillery expert and was re-
garded as one of Germany's best
defense leaders.
He was one of the highest Ger
man officers yet captured by the
Allies in Africa.
COMPLETE DEBACLE
The inability of the Axis ranking
officer to escape even by air indi-
Gated the completeness of the Ger
man debacle in Tunisia, where AL
| lied air forces had smashed enemy
runWayS and transport planes and
blasted small ships in which few
troops had tried to flee to Sicily.
Caught in a tightening circle of
steel, the once vaunted German vet
Grams gave up in droveS on Cap Bon
though they still had guns, food,
ammunition, and good positions, in
a series of wholesale SurrenderS eX
pected to reach 10000 men in addi
ton to tremendous booty. British
officers who had fought off the
enemy until rescued from Dunkirk
scornfully commented that the enc
my packed up even before he was
hit" on Cap Bon.
On the roster of the Churchill
party which arrived in Washington
, Tuesday, were the names of Field
Marshal Sir Archibald P. Wavell,
Admiral Sir James Somerville, and
Air Marshal Sir Richad PeirSe, the
commanders of British land, sea
and air forces in the Indian theater.
OTHER MEMBERS
Other members of Churchill'S
party included Gen. Sir Alan
Brooke, chief of the Imperial gen.
eral staff; Admiral of the Fleet Sir
Dudley Pound, first sea lord; Air
Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal,
chief of the British air staff
Also Lord Leathers, minister of
war transportation; Lord Cherwell
! the prime ministers statistical Of
ficer; Lieut. Gen. Sir Hastings L.
Ismay, chief staff officer to the
minister of defense; and Brig. E. 1.
c.. jacob, assistant secretary Cmili
tary) of the British war cabinet.
White House Secretary Stephen
T. Early said the war experts who
accompanied the prime minister
would meet with the American staff
chiefs, while Mr.. Roosevelt and
Churchill hold a series of intensive
conferences.
From time to time Mr.. Roosevelt
and Churchill probably will parti
cipate in the joint staff meetings.
The lineup for series of intens-
i've strategy conferences in Wash
ington was disclosed as Allied arm
les ripped into the last l5-mile-wide
pocket of Axis resistance in Tunisia.
where the end Of the campaign was
a matter of a comparatively few
hours.
CHOPPED TO BITS
The last core OF German and
Italian resistance was being chop
ped to bits after the British had
cncirCled the enemy troops who fled
to Cap Bon peninsula and smashed
organized opposition.
Possibly 10000 Axis troops still
we're fighting in the pocket south
west of the Cap Bon peninsula, into
which British and French spear
heads were probing from all direc-
tions. The number was falling rap
idly as they bowed to the hundreds
and thousands to the unconditional
surrender terms of the Allies.
As resistance crumbled in North
Africa, planning and speculation
both Allied and AxiS-leaped ahead
to prospective developments, with
an invasion of Europe bulking large
in all the surface signs.
The Washington meeting of Mr.
Roosevelt and Churchill, flanked by
their top military experts, indicated
that there would be no delay on
the part of the Allies in exploiting
their African victory and speeding
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