GOOD PROGRESS IN ITALY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24051, 13 September 1943, Page 5

GOOD PROGRESS IN ITALY

Allies Take Salerno And Taranto

Bth ARMY MOVES ON STEADILY (N.Z.P.A. —8.0. W.) (Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 11. The Allies are making good progress in the Naples area, in the toe of Italy, and in the Taranto area. A communique from Allied Headquarters says: “Troops of the sth Army continued to establish themselves ashore yester* day, beating off several counter-attacks. .The port of Salerno has been captured, and steady progress inland is being made. The Bth Army has maintained the rate of its advance. British forces have continued the occupation of Taranto.” The occupation of the naval base of Taranto was begun on Thursday, night. The latest messages say that British forces are now pushing out strong patrols in three directions; to the east, towards Brindisi; to the north, towards Bari, and to the west, towards the eventual junction with the Bth Army. Reuter’s Algiers correspondent says that the operation at Taranto was a complete success. The British forces occupied the city and naval base with surprising swiftness. Few, if any, of the Italian warships in the harbour were capable of putting to sea. New Allied landings near Salerno are reported, and according to a Berne message an Allied convoy previously reported to be on its way to Albania changed course and put into Brindisi, where it is disembarking troops.

A land and naval battle between German tanks and Allied ships marked the early stages of the battle for Salerno, according to reports from Algiers. The British encountered only slight resistance in the initial stages of the landing, but the Americans met savage resistance from the outset. Fierce fighting occurred on the beaches on Thursday, and the Navy went in close to the shore to give accurate fire as requested by the landing parties. The naval gunners broke up German tank attacks aqd returned the fire of enemy artillery, enabling the sth Army to secure bridgeheads and progress steadily inland. The Official German News Agency claims that German counter-attacks threw back two American thrusts. The first force, after capturing Salerno, drove towards Naples, but withdrew to the northern shore of the Gulf of Salerno after a battle in which it suffered heavy casualties. The second force, after landing north of Pasetum (which is a few miles south of Salerno) under cover of British naval guns, thrust' against the, railway and coastal road south of Salerno. This force was on the point of taking Eboli, but German motorised units in a surprise counter-attack against the flanks forced the Americans to withdraw to the coast. The agency claims that many prisoners were captured; and that all roads and railways are firmly in German hands. It adds that German troops control the major part of the Italian peninsula. New Landing Reported The agency also reports a new American landing in the Sorrento Peninsula, between Naples and Salerno. The attitude of the population in Salerno when British forces entered the town was friendly. On the island of Ventotene, a correspondent says, the Allied landing forces met with no resistance whatever from the Italians, but Germans surrendered only after fierce fighting, during which 91 were captured. Among 200 prisoners captured while the Allied forces were consolidating the bridgehead south of Naples the elements of three panzer divisions have been identified—an indication of the probable strength of the German resistance in this area. ;

ing fast and fighting only very smallscale delaying,actions after his losses at Pifzo. Although the enemy has blown up several important bridges he has failed to check our troops, but this caused our infantry to march many miles before diversions could be made and their transport could catch up with them.

Our sappers are doing splendid work with bulldozers in making diversions or building new bridges in the shortest possible time. Our artillery is following very closely on the heels of the infantry and is always within range of support. After driving the enemy from Pizzo, where the main Bth Army joined up with the force which landed there from the sea, our troops began pushing forward again yesterday afternoon towards Nicastro.

At various points on the beaches of the Gulf of Eufemia were groups of burnt-out German landing craft. Some had been shot up by our Air Force, but many had been destroyed by the Germans themselves, who had been unable to get them away by sea because of the presence .of the Allied navies. Littering the roads were many burnt-out German vehicles. Clash With Rearguard The correspondent adds: “I followed our advanced infantry up the roads towards Nicastro to-day. A small German rearguard was only a few hours in front. They made no attempt to hold us until they reached the river Amato, about eight miles from Nicastro, where they had blown up a four-arched bridge, The enemy had a strong position with pill-boxes overlooking the bridge, and as we approached he opened up with mortar bombs and machine-gun fire. We returned the fire immediately with mortars, ma-chine-guns, and a few shells from our 25-pounders. “The enemy at once made off, leaving the road clear for the sappers, who were travelling just behind the leading company with bulldozers to begin work and make a crossing of the riverbed. The infantry did not wait for this, but waded knee-deep through the river up a steep bank and into the hills on , the northern side." According to the Algiers radio the Bth Army, which has made an advance of 25 miles in one day, is now in control of 125 miles of coast.

The Bth Army continues to push forward at great speed. A correspondent with the army, cabling yesterday, describes it as then being south of the important town of Nicastro, some 15 miles west of Catanzaro across the narrowest neck of the toe of Italy.

The correspondent adds that the enemy rearguard in front is also mov-

A correspondent at the Allied headquarters says that the Bth Army is now advancing more rapidly along a 65mile front from a point on the west coast two miles east of Lameza to a small fishing village on the east coast •called Marina di Radalato. Demolitions are still laid extensively, but very few of the enemy have been met, indicating that the Germans are still withdrawing to the north-west. One of the Bth Army’s immediate objectives, Catanzaro, was displaying the white flag on Friday.

GOVERNMENT OF ITALY BADOGLIO SAID TO BE IN PALERMO (Rec. 10.0 p.m.) LONDON, Sept. 12. According tc neutral reports, Marshal Badoglio and General Ambrosio, the Italian Commander-in-Chief, the King and Queen of Italy, and the Crown Prince have arrived at Palermo, which is expected to be the new seat of the Italian Government.

Marshal Badoglio and King Victor Emmanuel last night, in broadcasts recorded in the United States, urged the Italians to abide by the terms of the armistice and defend the nation against German attacks.