ALLIES PUSH NORTH

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 305, 20 September 1943, Page 5

ALLIES PUSH NORTH

Germans On Run At Salerno

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (Rec. September 19, 10.15 p.m.) ’ LONDON, September 19. British troops are pushing northward from the Salerno bridgehead toward Avellino, 59 miles east of Naples. Latest reports from Allied headquarters show that they are well on the way to their objective.

The Allies on all parts of the Salerno front are pushing on, striking at the heart, of Italy. This drive, says the British United Press Algiers correspondent, is part of a huge sweeping movement by the Fifth and Eighth Armies to envelop the whole of the lower part of Italy. The Germans are on the run, but their tactics frequently force the Allies to light short and bitter engagements against rearguards who attack to cover the withdrawals of the German troops.

Berlin radio’s commentator, Captain Sertorius, said that with the landing of new powerful British forces the battle south of-Naples had entered its second phase. “The fact that the first phase did not end with the expulsion and re-embarkation of the Fifth Army was explainable exclusively by the action of the British Navy,” he said. Algiers radio says that Berne reports state that sabotage and opposition to the Germans is reported to be increasing 'in north Ital£. Bailway traffic between Germany and Italy is interrupted at many points. There is now no rail communication between Field-Mar-shals Rommel and Kesselring. The Swiss newspaper “Bund” says that small Italian units are still fighting against the Germans in the neighbourhood of Home.

Food riots in Rome continue. Armed peasants are resisting the Germans. The Swiss radio reports that the commander of the German occupation forces iu Italy has issued a final warning to Italians “who might want to attempt to disturb public order and •create nests of agitation.” Reports slate that Field-Marshal Kesselring has deployed at least six divisions in the .Salerno battle area. Algiers radio says that the situation has steadily improved in favour of the Allies following the junction of the Fifth and Eighth Armies. The Germans are still retreating on the north flank, but are fighting strong rearguard actions. Tlie Allies have captured a series of ridges south-east of Salerno. Pilots returning to Cairo from raids on Italy report long lines of stranded trains in all parts of Italy, following heavy damage to railway yards and installations. An indication of the intensity of the air attacks on Italy is that the Ninth United States Air Force lias made eight attacks in the last 10 days, compared with a normal average of one raid in every three days. Enemy Infiltration. (British Official Wireless.)

RUGBY, .September 18. According to British Official Wireless, a message from Salerno says that the Germans who are withdrawing m the southern sector counter-attacked on Itnday. Round the centre and northern section the situation remains unchanged, with the bitterest fighting round White Cross and Pimple Hills. The main weight of the German attack is still in the north. Infiltration tactics remain the principal form of enemy delaying policy. Yesterday and today warships shelled the enemy heavily. Many prisoners were taken today, including deserters. Another correspondent says that now that the main body of the Eighth Army force has almost reached the 1 if th Army, the German stand round Salerno is coming to an end. But before they leave the Germans are doing everything possible to harass the Fifth Army, which is.growing larger every day as reinforcements arrive. Each German withdrawal is preceded by an attack. They arc probably trying to keep our forward infantry busy in the hills while they remove ammunition and supply dumps farther north to prepare for the next stage. Their delaying action has led to a series of small confused battles In the hills The enemy is Holding most firmly the narrow mountainous strip round Saerno itself. British infantry are fighting to regain three hills two miles from the main Salerno road, from which the Germans can shell us. For the last few days the Germans have made an attack every day, always on a different part of the beachhead. Now that the beachead period is nearly over, it is possible to say what General Clark s army has achieved. There is no doubt that if the Fifth Army had not landed when it did the Eighth Army would still be fighting hard much farther south. At least no German panzer divisions were diverted from the Fifth to the Eighth Army front. The bulk of four or five divisions has been thrown by the Germans against the Salerno area. It is not surprising we did not break through at once when it is realized that the enemy knew almost exactly where and when we were going to land. But now that a break-through cannot long he delayed, what matters is the knowledge that a landing can be made against strong opposition, even if the enemy knows where and when you are _ coming, provided the enemy’s air force is as weak as the Luftwaffe in Italy. Concentrated Withdrawal. A reporter with the Fifth Army in the Salerno area, writing on Saturday, says: “The Germans definitely conceded defeat this morning when Allied overnight patrols reported a concentrated withdrawal of all the German forces south of the Sole River. The enemy is taking up new defensive positions. This reaction has developed out of steady offensive pressure by the Fifth Army from its beachhead positions, and has been intensified by the Eighth Army’s threatening advance. "No full-scale offensive by the Fifth Army has yet been mounted, but General ('lark’s troons are moving confidently into favourable ~ Jumping-off positions to be

ready when the heavy reinforcements now rolling over the beach roads have taken their places in battle order.” On Friday the same reporter said: “Both the Allies and the Germans are taking advantage of the lull to regroup their forces and reinforce certain areas. Today’s quiet is certainly the prelude to HEW lighting on a larger scale than ever.”