5th ARMY GIVES GROUND

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24053, 15 September 1943, Page 5

sth ARMY GIVES GROUND

Bitter Fighting In * Salerno Area RAPID PROGRESS BY ’ Bth ARMY (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) Bitter fighting continues in the Salerno area, and the Germans have recaptured some of the ground previously taken by the sth Army. In the toe of Italy the Bth Army is making rapid progress. These developments are reported in to-day’s communique from Allied Headquarters in North Africa. It says: “Troops of the Bth Army continued their rapid advance yesterday and took Cosenza (an important railway town 30 miles north-west of Catanzaro). Our troops are continuing their advance, ineffectively opposed by demolitions. North and west of Taranto our troops are active.

“Very heavy fighting continues in the Salerno area. The Germans are counter-attacking desperately, and at certain points they have regained some of the ground taken by the Allies.”

A British Broadcasting correspondent with the sth Army emphasises that the German resistance, in the Salerno area is very strong. “It is clear that the enemy was well prepared to meet us on the beaches,” he says. “Some of their defence positions now in our hands are the work of much labour. We have every reason to be satisfied with our progress. The fact that we were able to seize a bridgehead at all in face of German resistance is itself a major success.”

The Official German News Agency last night claimed that the sth Army had suffered a big reverse in the Salerno battle. It asserted that at least one American division was wiped out, more than 2000 Americans taken prisoner, and more than 60 tanks captured. .

The‘British United Press observes that these reports, if true, indicate that the AlJies are moving across the ankle of Italy, probably intending to cut off the whole foot.

The battle in the Salerno area is described as one of the fiercest of the war for its size.

According to the Berlin radio three Allied divisions were yesterday pushing inland more than 10 miles from the coast south of Salerno, and were battering against German forces blocking the road to. Potenza. They had reached Eboli. 16 miles from Salerno, where heavy fighting was going on after attacks northward towards Naples had failed.

North of the heel of Italy Allied forces are reported to have captured Altamura, a strategic rail and road junction less than 100 miles east of Naples. Troops advancing from Brindisi have captured Bari, the chief commercial port in southern Italy. This is the most northerly point of the Allied penetration.