LEMNOS TAKEN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 251, 23 October 1944, Page 5

LEMNOS TAKEN

BY ALLIED FORCES

Four Hundred German Prisoners Captured On Island

Rec. 10 a.m. LONDON, Oct. 22. It is officially announced that Allied forces have completely occupied the Greek Island of Lemnos, in the Aegean Sea. A naval communique from Mediterranean Headquarters says that the Allied forces landed from naval craft at dawn last Monday. By Tuesday afternoon they had occupied iMudros, the chief town, after some street fighting. Mudros was the main Allied naval base for the Gallipoli campaign in the last war. A few of the German garrison got away to sea, but naval guns destroyed many of their boats. Four hundred Germans were taken prisoner on the island. The British cruiser Argbnaut destroyed a big enemy tank landing craft near Lemnos on Wednesday. The whole of the Cyclades group of islands in the Aegean Sea have been liberated, says the British United Press correspondent in Athens. Greek guerillas have taken over Andros, the last island to fall.

Half of Greece Liberated Advancing rapidly in Central Greece, British forces are nearing Lamia, 60 miles beyond Thebes, 90 miles north-west of Athens and 120 miles south of Salonika. - A Mediterranean communique states that Lamia, from which the enemy is reported to have withdrawn, is being approached by British patrols. Offensive operations bv our air forces are being earned out. Additional troops and supplies have been landed.

A correspondent states that by now almost half of Greece has been liberated. ■ , • The Germans are withdrawing northward from the Salonika area, where thousands of troops are now using the Eastern Albania route, as the original one through Northern Greece is becoming impracticable. The Germans in- Greece are withdrawing northward with all possible speed, writes an Athens correspondent in a delayed message. Although no real battle has been fought since the enemy left Athens, guerillas are harassing the enemy all the way along the route of their retreat. British forces are following close on their heels, but are being delayed by demolitions. It seems clear that the Germans are determined to fight their way out and not to surrender, but the area they are now coming to is strongly held by guerillas, and their chances of getting their main forces away are decreasing daily. Although the heavy demolitions at Piraeus harbour are delaying the •unloading of ships, measures for the •relief of the civilian population are now being started. Naval aircraft again attacked enemy rail transport in the, Volos area destroying one locomotive and damaging 20 trucks, reports, the Mediterranean Sea communique. The island of Kos was bombed by several aircraft on Friday, while on the previous night the destroyers Termagant and Tuacan, operating on the western side of the entrance to the Gulf of Salonika drove ashore and destroyed a south-bound enemy destroyer.