Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-01-24
french Mareih Line
IN lunisia May Be
Refuge for RommeI
er'tish Believe Horbor
at IripoIi Soon Can
Be Made Major Base
BY EDWARD KENNEDY

H'eo Press War Correspondent
,h oAIhO, Jan. 23.-Tripoli fell to
.,le brltish 9Th Army TODAY after
on epic l,300-mile drive from the
;a.pproaches of Alexandria, and with
a,. ~ehe the last bit of the Italian
Nm, nipire that Mussolini had gam
icy On a German victory.
once a far-away, ultimate goal
- 'iie brltlSh, the smouldering Cant
oal Oh Irlpolitania has become only
VlGslly important way-station. for
yen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomerv's
sololers scarcely paused at the port
Ihey Numbered on to the West in
pursuit OF Marshal Erwin Rommel's
aiIlka korps remnants, beating
"ioiig the coastal road to the refuge
VI the French Mareth line 65 miles
Tripoli. ~ -''''e' - yin
columns of black smoke crlrled
up from the ancient city throughout
last night as the enemy carried ont
demolitions. ~ - 0''
A. Inc British expressed the belief
liie excellent harbor, now cIuttered
WIN hulks of ships sunk by the
NAf' and United States Air Forces.
coulo be put in operation as a ma
Lot oaSe Within short time. The
oaSeel Benito Airdrome, IS miles
oeioW the city of 100000, likewise is
expected to be a major forward air
oase Tor assaults on the Germans
and Italians striving desperately to
MAINTAIN a toehold in Libya and
Tunisia.
Escaping With Half of Force.
Rommel, who had 10 divisions
massed in deep defenses at the
egyptian bottleneck of Ell Alamein
IN October, is escaping with less
IMAM half his men-63,0 900 by some
estimates-into Tunisia, seeking a
junction with the army of Col Gen.
Jurgen Won Arnim.
His plight still was serious. how
ever, because he had lost so much
equipment at Ell Alamein that no.
where along the retreat was he able
10 stand up and fight effectively.
The only major pauses in Gen.
Montgomery's advance were before
Ell Agheila, 400 miles east of Tripoli.
and before the Wadi Zem-Zem, 100
miles east of there. In both cases,
the pauses apparently were caused
by the problem of consolidating
heightened supply lines and of rest
ing and recognizing weary troops.
The harbor of Tripoli will do
much to ease the British supply
problem, since the Mediterranean
feet of the Royal Navy controls the
sea and the Italian feet still lies
in its harbors, reluctant to come
out and fight
The great demolition and bomb
set fires in Tripoi served as funeral
pyres rising in Mussolinis dream
of re-establishing a new Roman
empire. Since stabbing France in
the back in 1910 when the republic
was collapsing and the British were
almost at wits end, Mussolini in
turn has lost all his African pos
sessions: Somaliland. Eritrea, Eth
opia, and now Cirenaica and
Tripolitania-which together form
Libya.
rounded by PhoenicianS.
Tripoh, one of the worlds most
venerable cities, was founded 5000
years ago by the Phoenieians and
since has been ruled. by the Car
thagenians, Romans, Arabs, Barbary
pirates. Turks and Italians.
When the Barbary pirates ruled
1t, the young United States paid
$4,000 tribute annually between
1895 and 1901. Then the fedgling
United States Navy was sent to
blockade the port and those dicta-
tors and plunderers of old were
beaten in a war that lasted four
years.
Many of its massive arches have
been Scared by bombs. One of
white marble embellished with
sculpture was erected by the Ro-
mans soon after Christ was cruel
fed. More recently, Mussolini
erected several arches at road juno
lures outside the city.
The old city, with its Roman
walls and Turkish quarters, has
changed little in the 80 years of
Italian rule, but the Italians built
pretentious modern city with
governors palace and government
buildings outside the walls.
Thousands of italian peasants
settled on farms in the green oasis
country to the east of Tripoli, but
Mussolinis ambitious colonization
project was a failure.