Fifth Army Troops Enter Genoa

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 99, 28 April 1945, Page 5

Fifth Army Troops Enter Genoa

JOIN UP PARTISANS

ITALIAN CAMPAIGN SAID TO BE VIRTUALLY ENDED

N.Z.P.A.—Copyright—Rec. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, April 27. Fifth Army troops entered Genoa to-day. This is confirmed in a special communique from Allied Headquarters in Italy. "An Allied task force entered Genoa this morning," it states. "Italian Partisans previously captured a large part of the city. The condition of the port is not yet ascertained." The Daily Express correspondent says that Partisans who joined the Allies in Genoa have already pushed 20 miles to the west and taken Savona. The communique added that troops of the Fifth and Eighth Armies were also crossing the Adige River at many points, which will place them in front of the enemy's Adige line behind the river. The entry into Genoa means a 50-mile advance along the west coast since the Fifth Army captured Spezia on Tuesday. Allied Headquarters officially stated that strong enemy resistance was being met in some localities, but generally the resistance was slight. The enemy on the Eighth Army front has been unable to break off contact with the pursuing British forces sufficiently to enable him to reorganise his scattered and demoralised units. The Daily Express correspondent says that Partisans hold all the radio stations in Northern Italy, also the entire Italian-Swiss frontier. The correspondent adds that the Italian campaign is virtually over and the German armies routed. "It is just a chase now and we are finding more and more bridges intact and even capturing demolition teams on the way to blow up bridges," he states. "There are fewer minefields because the Germans had no time to lay them. We captured an entire supply train, even a tank column trying to escape. It looks as though neither troops nor equipment will reach Bavaria in strength." The free Milan radio states that Allied forces were entering Genoa. The radio also says that patriots, operating between Genoa and the Po River, had overcome all resistance, Crossed the Po and were driving northward.