Evening star., 1943-04-24
Troops Close In
Toward Mateur
And bizerte
British 1st Army
Takes Key Point
South. of Tunis
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
American troops, transferred
from the Southern Tunisian Y
front to the north, have ad-
vanced 6 miles toward Mateur,
Is miles southwest of Bizerte,
and the British 1st Army has
taken Long-Stop Hill, % miles =
southwest of Tunis, dispatches
from the front said today.
Another United States unit
hacked its way for seven miles
through stiff enemy fire northeast &
of Beja and to the north of the
Beja-Mateur road, fighting its way
hill by hill =
A French con1munique recorded
In London from North African
broadcasts said French forces had
advanced more than IL miles in
the Cap Serrat area in the last few
days.
This apparently placed the French
at least within % miles of Bizerte...
Cap Serrat is 35 miles airline from
the Tunisian naval base.
While the Americans pounded 8
forward in the most difficult terrain
OF all Tunisia and parried violent
enemy counterattacks. British 1stS
Army armor extended the Allied ad-
vances to practically all the Axis
western flank by hammering out a.
gain of six or seven miles in the
Goubellat-Bou Arada sector.
Record Number of Sorties.
Allied air forces bombers and
fighters yesterday flew a record
number" of sorties in collaborating
with the Allied ground thrusts, an
official statement said.
The sorties numbered l,5OO. Six
Allied aircraft were lost, against
the diminishing Axis opposition. v
While the British 9Th Army Of
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery
engaged in vigorous patrol work
during which it repelled a local
German counterattack on the south
ern front, the Americans advanced
to within 80 miles of Bizerte and
continued to maintain pressure
against determined enemy resist-v
ance.
American troops made success
ful attacks, capturing more than
100 prisoners. In several areas adj
vances Of many miles were made in
difficult hill country" said the COM
munique from Gen. Dwight D,
Eisenhower's headquarters. ~
Elements of the I'd United States
Army Corps commanded by 1t. Gen.
George S. Patton, jr. made thel
transfer along the length of the
Tunisian front over several diff
cult mountain ranges, a statemenfy
from the headquarters of Gen. Sir
Harold Alexander, Allied ground
commander, disclosed, and began
their attack through the heavy
brush covering the mountainsides,
at the first light of day yesterday.
Positions Consolidated.
Their offensive was directed from
both the north and south sides of
the road leading from Tabarca to,
Mateur.
| Units north of the road captured
the hills Djebel Mrata and Djebet
Ain Chouna, consolidated their posi-
tions and held them despite attempts
of the Axis troops to dislodge them
with the support of artillery.
The troops south of the road cap>
tured Djebel Rmel, 13 miles north-l
east of Oued Zerga.
Reluctant to yield even an inch of
this height, which commands areas
both to the east and west and which
Is located in the strategic area flank,
Ing the road from Medjez- -El-Bab to
Tebourba, the Germans made couns
terattack after counterattack from
noon to night. But the Americans
did not yield.
Djebel Ahmera, known as Long
Stop Hill to the British, was said IN,
dispatches from the front to have
been taken in armored fighting
which developed east of Mediez-El-
Bah yesterday. At Allied headquar-
ters, however. it was believed that
some mopping up remained to be-
done.
The hill, the strongest known
German position between Medjez-
El-Bab and Tunis, dominates tha
road into Tebourba and is about Il
miles southwest of that crossroads
on the coastal plain. V
Advancing from erich Ell Oued.
miles northeast of Medjez- FL Bah,
| (Soa AEpTNA Ooro O1