The Wilmington morning star., 1943-05-04

The War .
BY GLENN RAD,

The United States Arm1'
won its greatest victory ry mas ips
war wa, over eN, the forces Of AdeI, 81 AA
Ter; The capture of Mateno1o Gs aoolt Hjt
Of OF the m outstanding achieveurls r Is On.
the Tunisian campaign, wnss lrents e
comparison etan;oa B with the exploits dtsny .:
stored s'la British Eighth r'p Armro Of ts
" Two weeks OF battle over sos a,S b
sseovI ehe worst terrain in Africa Ssa' ,a
Second ; Army Corps has a.. b.
down some of the enemv,. sfo>
units, thrown him from hin 0slt
hl!l' halted his most violnn4 m ~
terattacks and finally ly'r com,s. y
him to abandon a citv tb.+ +l'E;G
only behind Tunis and I3a. P;,.e
military Importance. DlleI>
These American division,
skilled, veteran troops. M OcS, >. AA
from objective to obiectiUo' lal
dash and efficiency not p s,,,,' SA
ed oy any other force in the ' tisIs sa1s
nave taken full revenge for r selt IL
February defeats at Faid pa..sH D., ulsH
SID bou lid. Compelled to t'S tsal s1a
secondary role while the + Fisaa TAKE
Army was reducing the Mssaal sa,a
line and the First Armv @,s,a W.,
cracking the Axis west wall va Sa'
have! nave now claimed the spotligs,9 c' rs9
Twice General Alexander p'u,sas osal
mander of Allied Ground Foroal ros'
has paid them tribute, first g''s', =.
the efficiency of their n,ons. l,,s, l0t
into the northern sector froe, e,ilsaN 81
ell Guetar region in the Sn,4S rr 'ls
where the tide of battle had 5VuulI "11;.,
ed past them-and recently f1 fo,
their superb fighting qualities Ut
Mateur is a position of such ~,
portance that it is incopceiv,n. l-I,'
that the enemy would have vielaas sIS's
1t If he had had anv cboio.
Through it runs the onlv rai1p'n ,
link between Tunis and Bizerte !.
is also an important highway i,,cs' IN ~
ton although the direct Tunis.Pi S'
zerte road is about 10 miles to tba M
east. Its capture brings the Amer. @
leans to the edge of the T,mi,
plain, with roads following broad
valleys leading 18 miles northsa M ,t
to Bizerte and "a miles southesst
to Tunis. The heights commandns
these roads undoubtedly will bs
bitterly contested. But the loss NJ
Mateur places the whole Axis mn.
sition in peril; further American
advance like that just accomplish.
ed would split Won Arnim's force,
in two.
Moreover it is likely to have
important repercussions on other
sectors. 1t indicates that the Ay,
commander is near the end Of his
mobile reserves, which may have
been pretty we'll spent in the vi.
cious counterattacks of the last few
days. The units facing the EIGHTH
Army in the south and the First
Army in the southwest may have
to withdraw to new lines, permit.
ting the British tank forces 10
reach comparatively open com,
try in which they can bring their
full power into play.
The plunge to Mateur, coupled
with the French advance along the
coast to a point IS miles from
Bizerte, raises the possibility that
the final Axis stand may be made
in the Tunis-Cape Bon region ra
ther than at the great naval baSt
on the north coast. B7crte ma,
fall first. Undoubtedly it has for
midable defenses but it is posSbl
that the strongest of these lib
those of Singapore, look toward tn
sea and were not raised agan'
an enemy approaching by land.
In any event the America
breakthrough suggests that the 7
nisian campaign is nearing the
nal phase. AS the Axis perimet
around the bridgehead contract
drawing the defenders into an ev
narrower space, the ability Of d
Allied air forces, already enloyI
a broad margin of superiority
inflict punishment will be great
increased. 1t would be unwlse, ne
ever, to expect any sudden CT
lapse: there doubtless is b1tt
fighting ahead and a stiff price
be paid for victory. But the sig
are clear that the time Adolf II
Ter has purchased in Tunlsla
enable him to mobilize h S
sources for the defense OF Euro
is rapidly running out.