NOTES ON THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 149, 26 June 1944, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

THREE FRONTS

FRANCE, ITALY, RUSSIA

" The battle for Cherbourg seems now to have reached its decisive stage, with American troops forcing their way into the city through the German defence system, now broke* into pieces which still form here and there pockets of resistance. The fall of Cherbourg, apparently now imminent, should be the forerunner of a general Allied advance in Normandy. In Italy the Allies are coming up against a stiffer resistance in the centre,, designed no doubt to give Kesselring time to organise the PisaRimini "Gothic Line," some 70 miles to the north. The Russian offensive round Vitebsk :s spreading north and south on a wide front.

The capture of Cherbourg will mark the end of the first complete stage .of the Allied operations in Normandy by. giving the bridgehead a first-class port for deep-sea vessels, superseding beach landings of men and material, so subject to. fickle Channel weather. It will release a large American army

to drive south beyond the foot of the peninsula, while the British-Canadian army holds off and presses back Rommel to the south-east. This will be the next stage in the liberation of France, but hard battles may'have.to be fought first. The "Gothic Line." In Italy the Allies have again to meet the dispositions of a commander of great ability, Kesselring, whose retreat from Rome is now coming to a line on which the enemy seems determined to attempt a stand. The line may run from Rimini on the Adriatic to Pisa, on the west coast, just north of the River Arno, after the Tiber, the chief river of central Italy. On the other hand, Kesselring may choose to anchor his line at Ancona, the best port on the Adriatic north of Bari and south of Venice. Between Ancona and Rimini, a distance of about 60 miles, the road and railway run close to the coast at the foot.- of the Apennines, with numerous streams to cross on the way, similar country in most respects to that which the Eighth Army' has traversed since last October from Termoli through Ortona and Pescara, country easy to defend. On the west coast Kesselring may decide to withdraw to the vicinity of Carrara and Spezia, where the Apennines again come down to the sea. The Aficona'Spezia or Rimini-Spe'zia line would mean the abandonment of Florence in the Valley of the Arno. The reported demolition of harbour works at Leghorn, the port of Florence, south, of the Arno, may indicate a withdrawal north of the plain of Pisa. The distance across the , peninsula between Rimini and Pisa is about 120 miles air-line and between Rimini and Pisa another 20 or 30 miles. Both lines are longer than Kesselring's original "winter line," which was less than 100 miles. Round Lake Trasiinene, This part of Italy into which the Allies are now advancing is mountainous, but not quite so formidable as the "winter line" from Ortona to the Gulf of Gaeta, and theconpnunications are better. The stiffest enemy resistance is round Lake Trasiinene, which commands the road to Florence from Rome up the Tiber through Orvieto and along the Chiana Valley to Siena, to join the Pisa-Florence Arno Valley line at Empoli. At Chiusi, scene of heavy fighting, there is the junction of a line to Florence through Arezzo, and another railway leaves' this at Lake Trasimene .to link up with the Apennine railway from Rome through Terni and Perugia. There are also many good roads, including the highway through Siena. This region is one of the most picturesque in Italy, well populated in 'the many fertile valleys, with ancient towns like Arezzo, Cortona, Perugia, and Spoleto, famous in history. It is interesting that the River Chiana, which formerly flowed into the Tiber, now discharges most of its waters by means of a drainage canal into the Arno, converting a swampy region into fertile farm land. Only a small portion of the Chiana watershed now drains into the Tiber. Chiusi, in the Chiana Valley, a few miles to the; west of Trasimene, is the old truscan city of Clusium, the home town of Lars Porsena, of Horatious defending the bridge fame ("Alone stood brave Horatius"). Its great attraction today is the Etruscan Tombs, going back to the earliest days of Italian history. Advance in Russia. The Russian offensive in the northceiitral sector of the Russian front looks like developing into a vast sweep to the Baltic, cutting the German eastern forces in two, with , the Pripet Marshes between, and liberating White Russia, the last stretch of Russian soil held by the invader. It is too early to speculate on its ultimate objectives, but the results may soon be far-reaching. The Finnish campaign of the Red Army is also going well, but there is a big stretch of country to cover west of the Murmansk railway before the heart of Finland is reached. The Germans in Finland under General Dietl do not seenryet to have come into action. The Russian southern front is no doubt waiting for developments elsewhere.