Over the Wire--

CAIRO--Allied troops swarming through widening gaps in the north, central and south sectors of the Egyptian front, have captured 1,459 Axis prisoners, routed Nazi tanks in the first armored clash, and are pulverizing the enemy line with the greatest British artillery blasts since the Battle of the Somme in World War 1, it was revealed tonight.

American tank crews, which held one sector of the front line, were presumed to be in the thick of the battle.