Main Axis base bombed by U.S.
Enemy forces move across desert toward Egypt
By Leon Kay, United Press staff writer
Cairo –
The U.S. Air Forces, cooperating with the Royal Air Force, heavily bombed the main Axis Libyan base of Benghazi, a communiqué disclosed today, but frontline messages reported strong enemy forces moving across the desert against Egypt.
Despite effective Allied aerial attacks, it was reported that Nazi Marshal Erwin Rommel had pushed important units eastward along the Mediterranean coastal road from captured Tobruk past Gambut and in the direction of Bardia.
London as early as Saturday night reported that advanced Axis units were probably in Bardia.
Axis to resume battle
These operations in the past 24 hours strengthened belief that Rommel would waste no time in resuming the battle against the British Eighth Army on the Egyptian frontier. Military sources said, however, that it was likely the enemy would attempt to avoid a head-on assault on the Sollum-Halfaya Pass fortifications.
Instead, it was believed Rommel would attempt to pierce the frontier line well south of the coast in the hope of enveloping the main British forts.
Frontline reports said that Rommel’s forces included a star German parachute corps which aided in the capture of Tobruk. They would be used to strike in Egypt behind the British lines.
The U.S. Air Forces’ operations over Libya were the first desert attacks by American fliers.
American B-24 bombers, which carry four tons of bombs and are known as “Liberators” to the British, joined with the RAF in a heavy raid on the main Axis Libyan base of Benghazi Sunday night, “causing many fires, damaging railway sidings and harbor moles,” the communiqué said.
The operations of the American planes, under command of Col. H. A. Halverson of Iowa were against supply lines of Nazi Marshal Erwin Rommel, who is massing forces for a quick offensive against Egypt.
Attack Axis convoy
At the same time, RAF torpedo planes attacked an enemy convoy of two medium-sized merchantmen escorted by destroyers and scored hits on one merchantman.
The attack on Benghazi involved a 300-mile flight from Egypt over enemy territory, while RAF pilots in British and American-built planes were hammering at enemy forces closer to the Egyptian border.
Previously, the United States Army bombers had joined with the RAF over the Mediterranean in an attack on the Italian Fleet which put out from Taranto in a vain effort to intercept a British convoy before the fall of Tobruk. The Italians were turned back and 35 hits were scored on two battleships by the Americans.
Recall Romanian raid
American B-24 bombers had also been in action in the Black Sea area, four of them landing in Turkey after reportedly bombing the Romanian oil fields.
British Middle East Headquarters reported that Imperial mobile forces were “active” yesterday in the Libyan area south of Fort Capuzzo and that “slight” enemy activity was noted in the frontier area during the day.
A London military commentator said:
There was a temporary lull yesterday – temporary because the Germans will lose no time in making their next move, and this move obviously will be an attack on Egypt. They may be attacking us, for all one knows.
Paratroops hit Tobruk
Circumstantial statements that Rommel used against Tobruk parachutists of the picked force of Lt. Gen. Kurt Student, long based in Crete, increased anxiety here and hardened belief that the Axis forces would lose no time in pressing their attack against the new British line on the Egyptian-Libyan border.
According to dispatches from the front, Rommel used the parachutists to take the inner defenses at Tobruk after dive bombers and heavy guns had made them an inferno.
Expect mass assault
The British, South African and Indian troops of the garrison defended themselves stoutly, shooting many of the parachutists in the air, but were finally overwhelmed, it was reported.
It was believed here that the parachutists had been sent from Crete, where they made the first conquest by airborne troops in history, to Libya and that their planes had taken off in Libya for the assault.
Now, it was believed, Rommel might at any hour order the attack against the Egyptian frontier line and at the same time use his parachutists far behind the lines to attack lightly-defended communication lines.
See attacks on Cyprus, Syria
Gen. Student was reported to have as many as 250,000 parachutist troops in Crete and Greece, who have been waiting for months for orders to attack Cyprus and Syria.
Use of parachutists against Tobruk was regarded as a rehearsal.
An authoritative informant direct from the front brought the word that the Germans and Italians were expected to attack at once, hoping to press their advantage and smash through into Egypt and toward Suez.
Allies remain confident
This expectation was increased by news from Malta that airplane attacks on that stronghold were steadily intensifying. Seven enemy planes had been brought down in 24 hours.
Front dispatches reported that thick clouds of smoke still enveloped Tobruk and that aerial reconnaissance indicated the garrison had managed to blow up oil and supply dumps.
The atmosphere here was surprisingly good considering the blow which the Allies had suffered in the fall of Tobruk.
Egyptians as well as others seemed confident that Gen. Neil M. Ritchie’s Eighth Army, now holding a strong line, would be able to drive back any German attack with the aid of men and supplies moving in from the Middle East.
The present British line was believed to be a strong one, based on the Fort Capuzzo-Sollum-Halfaya Pass natural defense triangle. There was some speculation whether the Germans would decide to attack from the Sidi Omar area 30 miles inland.
