NEWS OF THE WEEK
WHAT may be the last prolonged battle for Tunisia began when the Eighth Army launched its attack on Monday and gained its first objectives, breaching the enemy lines in the neigh- bourhood of Enfidaville. That is all that is known as this is written, except that the fighting is continuing and that it is particularly fierce and bloody. That was to be expected. General Eisenhower was well advised to give warning that the remaining stage of the cam- paign would be slow and costly. The enemy holds immensely strong positions all along the front, and his policy is obviously to protract resistance as long as possible. But Allied air-strength looks like proving the decisive factor, and more rapidly than had perhaps been counted on. The destruction of 70 of the great troop-carrying Ju. 52's at the week-end is a heavy blow struck at Rommel's trans- port, and if more such machines expose themselves to Allied attack they will no doubt go the same way. Moreover, with the Luftwaffe apparently powerless in this theatre the concentration of bombing on the Tunis-Bizerta area will be almost intolerable. The Allies have been working to a time-table. The dates embodied in it are of course secret, but the sands left in the glass, there is reason to believe, are few. Time-tables are often upset. Hitler's constantly have been. Montgomery's, on the other hand, as a rule have not.
