BATTLE NEAR SALERNO

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24052, 14 September 1943, Page 5

BATTLE NEAR SALERNO

Very Heavy Fighting

Bth ARMY CAPTURES . i COTRONE

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

’(Rec. 11.10 p.m.)

LONDON, September 13,

Very heavy fighting is going on between Allied and German forces in the Salerno area, south of Naples; and in the foot of Italy the Bth Army has captured Cotrone, a big railway centre and port on the east coast about 100 miles from the tip of the toe.

Td'-day’s communique from Allied Headquarters says: “Troops of the Bth Army continued their rapid advance. Little or no resistance is being encountered, but extensive demolitions are causing some delay. Cotrone has been captured in good condition. Our troops are advancing further north along the whole front.

“North of the Taranto area our forces continued to enlarge their bridgehead and pushed back strong German forces.

“Very heavy fighting continued in the Salerno area, where the Germans are offering determined resistance to our thrusts to break through their positions.”

The Algiers correspondent of the Mutual Broadcasting Company says that the Allies have penetrated the outskirts of a strategically important town five and a half miles inland from Salerno. The town, he adds, is completely in ruins, and fighting is also going on beyond the town.

The opposition in the Salerno area js described as the hard core of German resistance, but the Allied divisions are firmly established. Progress inland is tough and slow but, as one correspondent puts it, “It is progress.’’ The naval base of Brindisi was taken in full working order. In addition to a first-class harbour capable of taking big ships, it possesses a fine airfield which will bring the Balkans within closer range of Allied bombers. It is a mere 70 miles across the Adriatic to the coast of Albania. The Algiers radio says that Bari, tome '3O miles up the coast from Brindisi, is also now under Allied control. In the Taranto area the Germans have left several good airfields for the Allies. , , “Every coast of southern Italy has yielded one port to the Allies, and through these stream troops, munitions, and supplies. The traffic will soon be helped by Italian shipping, and it will have the further assurance of safety from the Italian fleet,” says the Algiers correspondent of ‘‘The Times.” “The position of the air war is also changing fast, for the Apulian Plain is jtudded with airfields within 150 miles of Naples. . x “For the Germans, despite all that JHitler said, there is a very significant fhange of fortune. Germany’s armies p southern Italy are threatened from Elbe sides; they see their communicatees destroyed by Allied bombers, and they know the Italians working on them now oppose the Germans, at least passively; they also know they may. lose the use of coastal seaborne traffic, for even the Adriatic is no longer safe from our warships or amphibious expeditions. The Germans, if they attempt to stand on any line south of Naples and Bari, are either very sure cf themselves or very desperate. “The capture of Brindisi by land forces from Taranto not only brings

two major Italian ports into our possession but must imply that the Otranto Peninsula, with its airfields, will be ours as soon as 1 we have landed enough troops for its occupation. Our troops from Taranto have fanned out to the north and have made contact with enemy troops of the Ist German Parachute Division. Our troops are therefore about half-way to Gioja, where there is an excellent airfield.

‘‘The Naples bridgehead is safely established, and reinforcements and supplies are being landed ahead of schedule. The opposition in the Naples area is ferocious, as it must be if the Germans are to win time for the evacuation of men and supplies from southern Italy and the establishment of a defence line wherever they consider the rugged Italian peninsula offers the best chance ‘‘Position Generally Good” ‘‘By yesterday the penetration over the whole front averaged a depth of about four miles. The position in the Naples area generally is good, but no rapid advance to the north is possible until the position in the south is more strongly consolidated and fighter airfields are in operation. ‘‘The Bth Army made striking progress during the week-end, reaching the waist of Calabria. Opposition here is slight, and difficulty is experienced in maintaining contact with the enemy. The total advance from Reggio was, yesterday, 75 miles. ‘‘The next stage is likely to present greater difficulties if the enemy offers strong resistance, because the peninsula broadens and mountains form a broad block. Only along the shore to the east is there any low land which is fairly open. ‘‘The Allies’ greatest hope of a speedy advance lies in the fact that the Germans dare not delay for fear of whfit is happening elsewhere.”