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Arnim is unlike most of the Wehr-macht's professional military men in that he comes of a noble and wealthy landed family. The family has boasted admirals, generals, statesmen (one, who had been ambassador to France in Bismarck's time, was accused of embezzling state papers and fled Germany), poets (one was the romanticist Ludwig Achim von Arnim, author of Des Knaben Wunderhorn).
Marshal Rommel reportedly asked for Jürgen von Arnim as coequal commander in Tunisia. The two had worked together on tank tactics through the years. In the early days of the reconstituted Wehrmacht, Arnim commanded the First Panzer Regiment. Later he was shifted back to infantry, which he commanded in Poland. He helped develop the cooperation of tanks and infantry within armored di visions, and in hilly Tunisian terrain where the uses of tanks are limited, his expertness in such liaison will be valuable.
His Orders. Albert Kesselring's job in Tunisia is to hold on as long as possible. He is an officer of the Luftwaffe, as is also Colonel General Alexander Lohr, who commands ground forces in the Balkans. As an air officer, his job will also be to try to effect an ending to the Tunisian campaign which is less bloody than Dun kirk, less shocking to Germans than the failure at Stalingrad.
In the early stages of the German defense of Tunisia, Kesselring's air transports daily flew in hundreds of troops, much equipment. His performance was a masterpiece of air supply. It made possible the whole Axis campaign in Tunisia. Now the campaign is approaching an end. To the extent that Allied airmen allow, Kesselring sooner or later will have to reverse the process.
Early this week the Allied air forces shot down a two-day total of 96 planes. The craft, mostly huge transports, were engaged in running a ferry service between Sicily and Tunisia. No one seemed to know whether the planes were carrying power to or from Tunisia. Paris radio said to, Cairo sources said from. It was possible that Kesselring had already begun the exit by air.
Supremacy Is Not Enough
"We've been continually on the offensive—the enemy has been on the defensive in this air war."
The speaker was Lieut. General Carl Spaatz, U.S. commander of Allied Air Forces in Northwest Africa. He was explaining an exercise in war and semantics —the movement of his forces from the realm of "superiority" to that of "supremacy." This had been achieved by the three arms of his command.
Coningham for Immediacy. The Tactical Air Force is under the command of Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham, formerly the Eighth Army's brilliant air officer. It is, said General Spaatz, designed for "immediate results." Its job is to attack, with fighters and light and medium bombers, enemy troops, transport, airports and battle planes. One day last week, Air Marshal Coningham sent Marauders and Spitfires against 28 Axis planes parked on Oudna Field, south of Tunis; Hurri-bombers, Spitfires and Bostons against one large concentration of Afrika Korps vehicles; and Warhawks against another.