12 de Maio de 1943: vitoria completa dos Aliados na Africa do Norte

Este dia na História,  do New York Times:

Tunisian Resistance Ends in Rout of Germans; Gen. Von Arnim and 150,000 Men Captured; Pacific Believed Roosevelt-Churchill Topic

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African War Over

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110,000 of Captive Total Believed German -- Booty is Huge

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FEW STILL RESISTING

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British and French Draw Ring Tighter Around Pocket in South

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By FRANK L. KLUCKHOHN

Wireless to The New York Times

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Allied Headquarters in North Africa, May 12 -- The war in Africa is over, it was officially announced tonight.

Col. Gen. Dietloff von Arnim, the Prussian Commander in Chief of the Axis forces in North Africa, has been captured by the British, apparently on Cap Bon. In all, 150,000 prisoners are believed to have been taken since May 5, when the final assaults on Tunis and Bizerte began. Twelve generals have been captured.

[Of the 150,000 captives, it was estimated that some 110,000 were Germans and the remainder Italians, The United Press said.]

This brings to 400,000 the total of Axis prisoners taken since the North African campaign aproached Lieut. Gen. Sir Bernard Freyberg for peace terms somewhere north of Enfidaville, the New Zealand commander said two words: "Unconditional surrender."

General von Sponeck announced that he would fight to his last bullet. Then, that Prussian point of military honor having began satisfied by fire from British guns heavier than his own, he surrendered.

That the end would come within a few hours was apparent by noon today, after British tanks, with infantry hanging on their sides, had toured the coast roads of what might have been the strong fortress of Cap Bon in virtual joyrides. Every time a tank pointed its gun, hordes of prisoners came in to give up. Moreover, the Germans and Italians had begun surrendering en masse to the French commanded by General Mathenet.

The French, defeated in 1940, received the surrender of 25,000 Axis soldiers, including two German major generals. The Americans announced today that they had taken 37,998 prisoners, of whom 33,498 were Germans.

Reichsfuehrer Hitler's disastrous adventure in North Africa can at last be gaged in full. It was a complete and final disaster and few, if any, of his men escaped. The American, British and French all played a major part in the final victory.

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