CANADIANS STORM GERM DEFENCES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 294, 11 December 1943, Page 5

CANADIANS STORM GERM DEFENCES

NORTH OF MORO

Eighth Army Pressure On

Pescara Increased

N.Z. Press Association—Copyright

Rec. 11 a.m.

LONDON, Dec. 10

The Canadians, who are now firmly entrenched north of the Moro River, in Eastern Italy, have beaten off a strong German counter - attack. Reuters correspondent in Algiers says that tanks, supporting the Canadian thrust, met strong resistance from the German 26th Panzers. The fiercest fighting went on near SanLeonardo.

The Canadians who crossed the Moro stormed and penetrated the elaborate German defences and advanced in strength along an eightmile front. The Germans, who were pushed back on the coastal flank, burned four villages, which they now hold.

Vichy radio said that the Eighth Army's pressure against Pescara and the road from Pescara to Rome has increased in the past 24 hours. Violent fighting is in progress for both Orsogna and Guardigrele.

Reuters correspondent reports that the Fifth Army has captured important heights south-west of Venafro, Central Italy, dominating the Rome road. The Fifth Army now controls Mignano and is shelling it from nearby heights.

Algiers radio stated,that all mountain positions south of Mignano are in the Fifth Army's hands, but the Germans still hold numerous defence positions, north of the CapuaRome road. Flood waters on the Garigliano River and its tributary, the Liri, are receding. The Fifth Army forces at Massalavalie, seven miles south-west of Mignano, have made an important haul of first-class equipment, which the retreating Germans abandoned. An Allied staff officer revealed that the German 15th Panzer Grenadiers, which bore the brunt of the Camino and Maggiore fighting, suffered severe casualties.