1500 SORTIES

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 120, 16 February 1944, Page 5

1500 SORTIES

Flown By Allies Over Italy LUFTWAFFE QUIET (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, February 15, Today’s communique from Allied advanced "headquarters in Italy says that pressure was maintained both on the main Fifth Army front and the beachhead. In the beach-head a small enemy atack was repulsed. On the Eighth Army front our patrols were aggiesrive ail along the line. Our heavy bomb.ers attacked targets in Modena, Brescia, Ferrari, Mantua, Verona, and Aresto, and medium bombers attacked Perugia and Leghorn. Enemy supply dumps, lines of communication, troop concentrations anl transport were bombed and strafed oj our fighter-bombers, and our fi o hter maintained patrol.over the battle lines and beach-head. 1 In all, the Mediterranean Air Force flew approximately 1500 sorties against an approximate 60 . by the enemj. Twenty-one enemy aircraft were siwv down, for the loss of one of ours. _ Correspondents say that fierce fi o htm s continues in and round Cassino. A Benedictine father, formerly resident in the Mount Cassino monastery and now living in London, said the fact that the Germans, defying the Popes appeal, should turn it intoan armed fortress, was heartbreaking. Those know in“ the monastery felt great concern fo. its* library. It was the finest in Europe, and contained 80,000 volumes, manuscripts. In the church, the & noint was one of the finest examples ot Baroque architecture in Europe, aolazfc with gold, precious mosaics, and Uess z°The Vatican radio says that though Un evacuation of refugees irom the Papal village of Castel Gandolfo has begun more than 10,000 remain because it -a not yet possible for them to go e*where. Consequently any warlike agUot. against the village will not only be an offence against ‘ extra-territorial ri»hts, but will also affect thousands of humo-e and defenceless country people, including women and children. Allied headquarters announced on ba--urday that Castel Gandolfo was considered to be within the battle area The German radio announced that flare from British and American plane? in the last raid on Rome fell on the loot of the Papal Palace in Vatican City, starting a fire which fire-guards coptrolled. Several parts of the flare were taken to the Pope, who examined tnem. In the rubble-bound streets of Cassino the Americans stormed their way torward another 200 yards with the Germans fighting bitterly all the way. The Germans put in a heavy counterattack against Monte Casteliano, miles north-west of Cassino, but it did not get them far, and it cost them 10J Ce 'There has been snow on the Eighth Army front, and the mountain roads are blocked.

ENEMY INTENTIONS Beach-head Drive Which Failed

(Received February 15, 7.30 p.m.} LONDON, February 14. While General Alexander’s Anzio army stands firm after 10 days’ violent counterattacks, dispatches from advanced headquarters indicate that the Germans-are massing troops and panzers north of the beach-head, says Reuters Algiers correspondent. Meanwhile, enemy pressure has cased round the fringe and the fierce battles of the past few days have subsided into sporadic engagements in Uie Carrocetto area. , A correspondent says that particularly heavy losses have been inflicted on the German 715th Infantry Division, which was rushed down from France. A correspondent in Algiers says that despite the fury and frequency of the German attacks in the last 10 days the Allied line in the beach-head area remains to all intents and purposes just as it was on February 1, and we have now taken more than 2000 prisoners. Against hundreds of flights on our side, the Germans sent about 30 . planes to attack us, and for a Second time within a few days one of their targets was an Allied field hospital in . the beach-head. Attack Which Failed. '

Some new facts about the position in Italy, particularly in the beach-head area, were given today by a correspondent writing from- Naples. He says that though the Anzio landing took the Germans by surprise, they were quick to seize the advantage of internal supply lines and the excellent defensive country. At Hitler’s orders a large and powerful force was rushed from southern France, northern Italy and Yugoslavia. Then, last week the big attack was launched. It was intended to cut through our positions and reach the port of Anzio itself. For four or five days there was fierce and bloody fighting, with heavy losses on both sides, but the German plan failed. The most the enemy was able to do was to pinch out one narrow salient in the British sector. The correspondent says that though there was no doubt that many enemy formations were badly mauled, further vicious attacks can be expected. a ' Weather Factor.

To meet the beach-head threat to their main flauk by the Allied troops who won a foothold in the Gustav Line near Cassino, the Germans have built up large forces, and a correspondent says it is probable that there are now some 17 German divisions fully committed against the Allies in southern Italy. The weather is still an important factor. The season has not yet arrived when the Allies can take it for granted that they will be able to use their armoured force, to deploy their guns, and to put their planes into the air without one of those Sudden weather changes which throws everything out. but even under present difficulties there is evidence that the air attacks are telling on the Germans. Those who move about in the forward area can see how economical the Germans have to be in using their shells, and a captured order referred to the shortage of equipment and the difficulty of getting replacements and laid down most stringent regulations about the recovery of damaged weapons. MESSAGE TO TROOPS (British Official Wireless.! RUGBY, February 14. The Germans on the Italian front are getting more and more tired and have suffered more losses than the Allies, said General Mark Clark, commander of the Fifth Army, in a message to his officer’ and men. “The next step/’ he said, “is for the two parts of the Fifth Army to join hands in a victorious march into Rome and to the north. That portion of the Fifth Army which is fighting in the Anzio beach-head I congratulate upon your splendid accomplishment. You undertook and carried out'with conspicu ous skill a bold assault. You caught the enemy by surprise, forcing him to effect a sudden and expensive change of plan and to rush forces from northern Italy, France, the Balkans, and the Cassino front in an attempt to meet th* emergency you created.“With the forces we have already in the beach-head, ineluding heavy armouh and those still arriving, we welcome Ins assaults, for it gives you an additional opportunity to kill your hated enemy i.i large numbers. It is an open season on the Anzio beach-head and there is no limit to the number of Germans you can kill.

1 hose of you who are fighting in the moutaius on the Cassino and Garigliano front I commend for your dogged determination and- persistent progress. I urge you on to ever greater effort to brcaK through the enemy’s thinned-out lines and crush him on your way northward. Remember that the enemy is- tired. He dreads your repeated attacks, each more keenly than the last. You have killed him by thousands. Give him no rest. bhoot everyone who shows his head. He must give way. *T know you have fought a long time, and we have taken our own losses, but lie has suffered more. He knows he is doomed to defeat and knows the extent of. tlie contribution the troops of the fifth Army have made to the victory that is sure to come. “Again, as your commander, I salute the valiant Fifth Army.”