Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-05-12
War Today
Tunisidn Triumph
Laid 10 Allied
Strategy Speed
b, MAJ. PAUL RABoRG

THE SMASHING DATED va
tons victory m fUnisia t5N
altered an prcCcdcrt> 7 'nis
war 10 date established hA p'os l-
Gus combat
The ANS forces were attacked
with a icroclty. speed and '0na-
ciouS follow'through.tn5' placed
the occupation troops az The
deRoeracic> lu 11u'> and Rltcfic
before the bcalaU,3 German
high command could move 'iS
own defense UNITS INTO fighting
positions within those cities.
Gen. Eisenhower amazing
strategic plan and us accom-
plIShUen' caused ihc collapse ui
Hitler Aiuka horp>
Nothing remains for the 18Th
group Of Allied armies bur TO-
mop up. literally atthcir lelSure-
these once proud legIons Of the
fuehrer
/ BY PRECEDENT IL War-
every eHea tt4-tt--t t hat ,rr-tr--r-i
fghting resistance has been 70
long costly battle 10 overcome.
This precedent started with
Madrid. was carried on by Mos
COW. Odessa. Scva>topo, Ro,-
TOW. NovoroSSISk, StaAnCrad and
many others
House 10 house fighting was
known As the most deadly and
the most slow Why then did
Bizerte. one Of the great for
tress cities OF the world, literally
collapse without firing shot
Why? Because the Second
L. S. Army Corps attack against
Bizerte and the First British
Army which was thrown At
Tunis were faster than any that
have yet been known in this war
against well organized defense
lines.
: UNITS OF the Second l.. (.
Army Corps captured ferryNllie.
which u seven or eight miles
from Bizerte. Just Is minutes
later. our tanks rolled into that
French naval haStlon They
didn't wait for reconnaissance,
They didn't look for mines or
booby-traps; they just charged
in al automobile speed
This was something the AXIS
high command was convinced no
orthodox, well-informed enemy
would do.
The entrance OF the First Brit
ish Army into TunlS was timed
and performed in exactly the
same manner.
The Axis high com m n d
thought il had A nice solid line
OF prepared defense from west
of Bizerte on the Mediterranean
Coast, due southwark around
Tunis, and then eastward 70
about Enfidaville. The great Ger
man general staff felt this line
might be forced back but would
never be broken.
GENERALS EISENHOWER
and Alexander planned two lines
Of attack. The Second Corps in
the north was apparently aimed
at nnis; instead IT branChed
northward 10 Bizerte
The First Army attack was
likewise directed Al TuniS, hut
the AXIS tfought-ft was 10 JOIN
in support of the American Sec
ond Corps rather than be a sep
arate spearhead
Gen, Eisenhower directed that
there should be sufficient re-
serves backed up behind each
attack 10 insure that both as
saults would 60 through AZ high
speed regardless of losses. In
other words, no m after how
many men fell. get il over with
fast so that IN the end the total
loss would be less.
Reading between the lines We
hear OF battalion a thousand
mem Of which one company
$3.50 mem survived. A battalion
CO m m q n d { r was quoted ~
saying
II sent q company forward.
never heard from II again. I
sent small groups forward; none
of them ever came back. sent
individuals forward; they disan-
peared."
Thus you can vision the fright
ful hell Of war the Eighteenth
group Of armies passed through
In high gear. full speed ahead