Evening star., 1943-01-10

bombed and hangers and work.
shops razed.
cat Brach the Fighting French
were deep in the Gebel es Soda,
or Black Mountains, and within
200 miles of junction with the
British 9th Army at Wadi Zem-
Fem on the Mediterranean coast.
Brach is on the direct caravan
trail to Tripoli.
Tunis and Sfax Bombed.
CThe British 9Th Army, 1870
miles east Of Tripoli in the Wadi
, lem-Zem region, sent its planes
to attack the Withdrawing Axis
forces between HONS and Ziliten,
Is to 80 miles east of Tripoh. No
report was made on ground
forces. 9th Army planes also
bombed Tunis and Sfax in
Tunisia.
CThe 9th United States Air
Force struck shipping and har-
Dor facilities at Tunis in daylight
Friday, a Cairo communique said,
but results were obscured by
heavy clouds. One challenging
German plane was destroyed.)
The Allied air forces hammered at
Blzerte for almost an entire day,
despite heavy fighter opposition and
a curtain of anti-aircraft fire. They
did most of their bombing through
holes in the clouds. A spokesman
for the 18th United States Air Force
summed up the action thus:
In the first raid, Flying Fortresses
were attacking the airdromes where
they scored hits. The docks and
shipping also were attacked. ''
The next raid was at FerryviHe
nearby and hits were observed on
Oil tanks and docks.
THE third. time, the, Fortresses
attacked the Bizerte naval base"
The escorting Lightnings drove
through wall Of flax to attack and
strafe ground targets thousands of
feets below the higher Flying For
treSses.
Two Bridges Destroyed.
Mitchell, Marauder and Boston
bornbers with Warhawk fighters
escorts roamed up and down the
eastern coast of Tunisia. attacking
targets wherever they could be
found.
Two bridges at Grava and a rail-
road junction 35 miles southwest
of Sfax were reported destroyed.
At Kalae Kebura, miles west of
Sousse, other railway targets were
hit. The Kairouan airdrome was
raided and four fires were set.
Bostons, escorted by Warhawks,
blasted concentrations of tanks
near Gabes. In this action, the War
hawks had their first large en-
counter with the German Focke-
Wulf 1905, shooting down two and
damaging others without loss to
themselves. The German communi-
que said only slight fighting took
place in North Africa and that %
Allied planes were destroyedD
The widespread actions were part
of the allied plan to thoroughly dis
rupt Axis communications and raw
age their supply ports, softening
the enemy for the impending Of
fensive that is expected next month
after the rains ease up erasing the
mud.
Gen. Spaatz, who has been COM
mander of United States Air Forces
in the European theater of opera
tions, will be in command of Maj.
Gen. James H. Doolittle's 18th
United States Air Force as we'll as
the RAF in Tunisia. He joined Gen.
Eisenhower on December at a
time when the enemy had air super
iority. Since then, the Allied Forces
have been built and developed swift
ly and have gained at least meas
ure of sky control, vital for land op-
erations.
Terrific Air Struggle Near.
Headquarters announced that in
the two months ending January
the Allies have destroyed 344 en-
emy planes and lost lat. American
losses were rs, and their score of
the enemy was 140.
The end of the rainy season is
certain to bring terrific air Strug-
gle over Tunisia. Not only to free
North Africa but also to break the
German hold on the Mediterranean
bottleneck, observers here believed.
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