South Yorkshire Times – Saturday 15 May 1943

Now For It

Whatever hopes the Germans had of making a Sebastopol of Bizerta or a Bataan of Cape Bon died a swift death when General Alexander launched the thunderbolt which he had so shrewdly and discreetly prepared last week.

The German defence was slashed wide open. Two mortal thrusts at Tunis and Bizerta were followed by the systematic cutting to pieces of all organised resistance in this last bridgehead of the Axis in Africa.

All that is left for Hitler and Mussolini is to make play with their fortress builders, now frantically mixing concrete on the northern shores of the Mediterranean. And even this effort brings no commensurate reassurance. There are too many doors to the “Fortress of Europe,” for any of them to be effectively barricaded. Once again Hitler has sacrificed his soldiers by the hundred thousand, as he did at Stalingrad, and with no better result. Seeking to minimise the disaster the Nazi commentators, in an uninspired chorus, bleat about the valuable time which their stand in Tunisia has gained; the all-important delay that has been imposed upon the Allies. There is nothing very cogent about such reasoning. The handful of troops of the First Army who went so near to snatching Tunisia soon after the first Anglo-American landings could have done no more than hold the territory thinly if they had succeeded. Time would have been needed to build up the masses of men and material now strategically deployed on this new front. The six months needed to throw out the Axis have been well used by the Allies. A mighty striking force has been accumulated on the Axis flank, which, in any event could hardly have been assembled more quickly. The net result to the Germans and the Italians is that they are the poorer by many divisions and facing the task of withstanding invasion which now stares them in the face. Time so dearly gained is a doubtful bargain.

There has been no “Dunkirk” for the trapped troops in Tunisia in the sense of any organised attempt at extrication. Beyond a fanfare or two and the broadcast of a few funeral marches the Reich wastes no sentiment on its cannon fodder, and even periods of mourning in the post-Stalingrad manner now seem to be frowned on. Italy had planned such a demonstration, it appears, but Mussolini, probably sternly prompted by his senior partner, called it off owing to possible repercussions on Fascist morale. The dissolution of the German front in Tunisia provided many moments rich in poetic justice. The victory was directed in the field by General Alexander, who discharged the painful duty of finally withdrawing the B.E.F. from the Dunkirk beaches; many of the soldiers who took part in that evacuation savoured the satisfaction of exchanging the role of hunted for that of hunter; the Tenth Panzer Division, which secured the breakthrough for the Germans in France, met its fate in the general debacle; and the French commander in the South Western sector had the exquisite pleasure of answering an Axis enquiry about an armistice by offering the Casablanca terms of unconditional surrender, a bitter pill indeed for the “conquerors” of France.

For the Allies Tunisia is indeed a famous victory. It uncovers the enemy’s defences, and has inflicted grievous losses in men and equipment. The greater task lies ahead. Jubilation over victory must not blind us to this fundamental fact. The Second Front, whatever form it may take, and wherever it may be opened, cannot be far off. The fiercest, the most crucial phase of the war is about to make the supreme call on the firmness and fortitude of our common purpose.