CAIRO--Britain's desert army, heavily reinforced since its defeat in Libya, clashed head-on with Marshal Erwin Rommel's entire South Africa Corps on a 22-mile front west and south of the Egyptian port of Matruh tonight, attempting to prevent another disastrous encirclement such as that at Tobruk a week ago.
Striking out from hastily fortified positions on a battle line of their own choosing, the British got in the first blows as Rommel's forces advanced within range in three strong columns. The line extended from the Mediterranean coast west of Matruh, 22 miles south to Hamza, and one of Rommel's columns was deploying farther south as if to extend the front.
It still was an extremely fluid front and the main peril to the British position was in the south, where the German 15th began driving south from Hamza to attempt a break-through that would enable it to come up on Matruh from the east, encircling that vital port the same port the same way it did Tobruk.
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