Precision In the North

The British First Army shifted its stance last week, getting ready to strike a blow toward Tunis and Bizerte at the proper moment. For some time Axis artillery had dominated the road from the sleepy, red-roofed little town of Beja to the important road junction of Medjez-el-Bab. Before the First Army could strike either east or north, that road had to be cleared.

"It was a local action," wrote TIME Correspondent Charles Wertenbaker, "but it was accomplished with precision which showed that the British troops were well seasoned by the winter's fighting. Six of us watched the barrage which preceded the infantry attack and a pretty thing it was too. There were nearly 200 guns, twenty-five-pounders and mediums, along a front of nearly six miles. The barrage began at 3:15 and for ten minutes the hills were lit by lightning flashes and the thunder of guns rolled all along the front.

"At 4 o'clock flares and Very lights began going up as infantry advanced; enemy shells made bright bursts close at hand; tracers made changing patterns. . . . Infantry took the heights and swept around the flank of the enemy. The road was cleared."

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