DRIVE TO NAPLES

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 September 1943, Page 5

DRIVE TO NAPLES

GERMANS REINFORCED j ALLIES’ HUGE BARRAGE ; 'LONDON, Sept. 27. : “German resistance is stiffening on : the road to Naples with the arrival of - heavy reinforcements,” says the Bri- ' tish United Press correspondent with the sth Army. “The Germans are using camouflaged pill-boxes and al- : so prepared minefields and trenches. • The enemy- appears to be stalling for time in the hope that the Autumn rains will come to his rescue. Rain fell last night for the first time in nearly three weeks.” This correspondent also says that the Germans appear to be withdrawing northward beyond Acerno, where the Americans are developing a heavy drive. Acerno is about 14 miles east-north-east of Salerno. “Yesterday was the enemy s worst day yet in the battle on the Salerno front,” says another correspondent < with the sth Army. “The enemy is < clinging to his positions cave by cave i and ledge by ledge, and the only way < we can loosen his grip is by our long- i range guns. All dur guns have been ] systematically battering the enemy’s : positions. At one time they were go- ] ing all out for an hour, with hardly a pause between shell bursts.” ( The Germans are resisting stub- j bornly, but they are suffering crip- < pling losses from the Allies shellfire. < German prisoners say that in the last few davs some of their units have lost half their effective strength. The Allied advance is being retarded by demolitions, and German battle groups, consisting of infantry, tanks, and long-range guns, are harrying ‘ the Allied advanced units. ( The Bth Army, at the eastern end of the Allied line across Italy, was 1 last reported about 20 miles from the great air base of Foggia. ; Allied Headquarters in North Afri- • ca announces that 225 Axis aircraft have been captured on six Italian, air- J fields. Most ot the aeroplanes were ' intact or only slightly damaged. 1 FURTHER~CAPTURES ‘ (Recd. 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27. The Cairo radio says that the Germans have begun the evacuation of Foggia. An Algiers communique says: The ■ Eighth Army in the north crossed the . Ofanto River and captured Cerignola. i In the centre they are still in con- • tact with the enemy just north of At- [ ella, and captured Muro. The Fifth Army captured Calabrit- : to and Cassano. Algiers radio states: The sth Army . is slowly progressing against strong ; German entrenchments north of Sa- • lerno. [ Reuter’s correspondent with the ( sth Army says: The Germans are , looking uneasily over their shoulders j as General Clark’s' American forces further east forge ahead in the moun- ( tains, on a turning course. If their ] progress is maintained, the German ( forces will be compelled to retreat to- . wards Naples, or be outflanked. [ PROGRESS REPORT. ' i RUGBY, September 27. < Despite demolitions and obstacles ; in the shape of machine-gun nests, < which had to be taken one after the other, and despite blown up bridges. ] minefields and booby traps which the i Germans are using freely in their de- : laying action, the sth Army con- * finned to advance yesterday west ; and north ot Salerno. One corrcs- ] pondent says: Fighting in this area s has been fiercer than anything our i troops experienced in the Middle 1 East, North Africa, or Sicilian cam- j paigns. since Alarnein. Time and . again the outcome of the combats was decided by man to man encounters. , Our troop’s are advancing towards , Naples, and the Germans are withdrawing on I lie eastern front, fighting rearguard actions pivoting upon Ca’sano. which we captured yesterday'. , , Tim fall Army, in the lace ol slignt I opposition, advanced along the coast- I al road tight to the salt marshes of Marehorita Di Savoia, and in the in- i terior to Cerignola, on the direct line i io L~'oggi:.l. Leaving the Salerno Plain ' i-iplit'behind and following the with- ; di-awiiig Germans, our troops on the right Hank of the sth Army captured ; ptisi I mils »11itu111:11i ng a nest 01. road CTG.'isiiigs hi (he north-west sector. For sewn davs, these troops, lighting without rest.'have been consolidating their line, strengthening the avenues of supply over the mountains, and repairing bridges and roads blown ; up by the enemy in their retreat. CAPTURED PLANES. There was little air activity yesterday. as the bulk of the Northwest ‘ African' Air Forces were grounded by bad weather. Mitchells found some gaps in the clouds, however, and bombed enemy troop concentrations in the Sarno area. Fighter-bombers located 40 trucks and destroyed four of them. Fighterbombers attacked 40 trucks parked beside the road. A landing ground at Pomigliano Arco, near Naples, was attacked by fighter-bombers, two direct hits being scored on the runway and another on parked aircraft. No Allied aircraft were lost. The number of planes captured slightly damaged or intact on airfields In Italy amounts to a considerable figure. ' Six bases already have yielded 244 planes. Of these 77 were at Monte Corvino, Ravello, and 69 at Taranto. In Sicily, 1200 planes were found abandoned "in July and August. Foggia aerodrome, with at least a dozen satellite airfields, has been evacuated by the Germans on their own admission. Its possession will bring Allied bombers within 500 miles of the great industrial regions of Austria, to which much German war production has been removed since the destruction wrought by British bombers in the Rhineland and Westphalia. Reuter’s Algiers correspondent says the official count shows that the Axis abandoned 1200 planes in Sicily. GERMANS RETREATING. (Rec. 1.40 p.m.) LONDON. Sept. 27. The Germans on the sth Army’s right flank east of Salerno are fighting rearguard actions and making a general withdrawal., closely followed by Allied troops. The sth Army’s most striking gain yesterday was when it drove a deep salient into the strongly held enemy hill positions by the capture of Calabritto and Cassano, 25 and 20 miles respectively north-east of Salerno. The capture of Calabritto represents a ten mile American advance up the Sele River from Contursi. The Bth Army, in addition to Cerignola, captured Marghergita Di Savoia, on the Adriatic coast, 30 miles south-east of Foggia. IN THE BALKANS. GERMANS REINFORCED. (Rec. 10.50 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27. While Jugoslav Chetniks and Croat patriots are fighting desperperately to. maintain their hold on the Dalmatian coast, the Germans are reported to be pouring reinforcements into the Balkans. It is difficult to get a reliable picture of the situation in Jugoslavia, but it appears the Patriot armies have badly breached what the military experts consider the probable Axis defence line along the East Adriatic coast. Patriots hold Split and great stretches of the Dalmatian coast. The Berlin radio says that the pat-

riots are receiving supplies by sea, and many Allied officers are aiding them. Axis sources also tactily admit the patriots cut the rail communications between Jugoslavia and Northern Italy by a statement that seven trains were held up on,- the line between Trieste and Jugoslavia. Some disbanded Italian troops are aiding the patriots, but to what extent it is impossible to ascertain. It is certain, however, that the patriots have taken over quantities of' Italian equipment,, which is enabling them to extend 'their operations. The “Telegraph’s” military commentator says: The mountainous shores of the East Adriatic, Albania, Greece, and the Aegean Quadrilateral surely constitute a front which the Germans will still try to re-es-tablish and hold. This front line, at present, is breached both in the Balkans and Aegean, and the Germans, reacting violently, are pouring in re-mlorcements, because they must re-establish this front at all costs PATRIOT SUCCESSES RUGBY, Sept. 27. The capture by Jugoslav partisans of Plevlja, sixty miles south west of Serajevo, Gacko and Avtovac, sixty miles north-east of Dupbrovnik, and Savnik, forty miles north of Getinje, is announced in a communique from headquarters of the Jugoslav People’s Liberation Army, broadcast bv the “free” Jugoslav radio. “in the Split area, the patriots have taken the initiative and are strongly pressing the Germans in the direction of Sinj, sixteen miles north-east or Split. ATTACKS NEAR ATHENS. RUGBY, September 27. A Middle East communique stated: R.A.F. Liberators and Halil'axes attacked Kalamaki aerodrome, near Athens, on Saturday night. Bom os burst on the dispersal area, and two large explosions were seen. Beaufighters left a merchantman smoking” after an attack at daylight yesterday in Eyros Harbour, which is 80 miles south-east of Athens and less than 100 miles from the new British bases of Samos and the Dodecanese. V/e lost one aircraft. CHRISTCHURCH PILOT RESCUED (N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) (Recd. 11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 27. The “Daily Express’s” Algiers correspondent relates how Flight Sergeant Clifford Raeburn Piper, of Christchurch, a great grandson of Raeburn, the famous Scots painter, spent a week behind the German lines in Italy. Piper shot down an ME. 109, but engine trouble obliged him to make a forced landing. He was stunned while landing and when he recovered he found a number or Italians standing by. They wanted to take him to the burning wreckage of the Messerschmitt, saying Your comrade.” But Piper ; replied: He is no comrade of mine.” They sent him into a thicket until dark because the Germans were looking for him. The Italians washed his bruises and gave him bread and water, and promised to return at dusk Piper waited for five hours, then dozed off. When he awoke he saw an Italian soldier whom he though was going to take him prisoner until he noticed the Italian had an overcoat over his arm and a bottle of water in each hand. The soldier called out: ‘English pilot'’" and Piper realised the promise'had been kept. He was given a pair of Italian Army trousers and “a thing looking like a dinner jacket and an overcoat.” The Italian took Piper to his home, where his parents «'a\ e him a meal. That night Pipei watched German track vehicles clatter: ng through the village looking toi him. He left the house next morning and spent four days under the trees, the Italians bringing him food and water. Then he made contact with the Americans.

ALLIED SUBMARINES ACTIVE

RUGBY, Sept. 27. Mlied aircraft and submarines are ink in o, heavy toll of Germans trym o , evacuate from Bastia in Corsica On the island French troops continue to harass Germans in tm north-eastern corner of the island. KnSy has been forced to evacuate an airfield and rail junction halfwav up the east coast. The Germans are continuing' to evacuate men and material from Bastia, and from a noint ten miles south, but they are beiim' badly handled by Allied troops mid the British Navy. British summarines operating oft Corsica and the Gulf of Genoa torpedoed and sunk one large and three small supply ships. Seven more ships ha\c been damaged. ITALIANS AS ALLIES EIGHTH ARMY’S PROTEST LONDON, September 27. The first issue of “The Eighth Armv News” has been published on the Italian mainland. It sharply ie minds Italians that they are defeated enemies. It says: ‘'ltaly surrendeied unconditionally. But what do vie find? Our soldier is wishing to change his money. He finds it difficult, it noc impossible. Italians quibble about a rate of 400 lire to one pound sterling. Before Italy became our ally, oui Army could commandeer typewriters, printing presses and paper. Now we have to be more careful, in some cases we pay for these things. Many Italians are under the imoression that we are going to spare their country that just retribution that a just victor normally demands. With all due sympathy lor the Italians' sufferings under their selfchosen friends, we should set their minds straight on this. Italians who sincerely chcor us to-duy slso checi ed 'Mussolini. Now they find that they backed the wrong horse. Many of our comrades were killed by Italians. Therefore many of our soldiers bristle at the idea of having Italians as allies.” A British Associated Press correspondent in Southern Italy says: British and American troops generally show considerable coolness to Italy s conception that she is now an ally. Most of the troops outspokenly declare that they do not want the Italians as allies. The first issue of the “Eighth Army News” carried greetings from Marshal Badoglio, who wrote: “In the common struggle which awaits us, Italian soldiers will march side by side with their British comrades against the German oppressors for the liberation of Italian soil and the final victory.” PROVISIONAL CAPITAL z LONDON, September 27. A British Associated Press correspondent in Southern Italy says:— King Victor Emmanuel, Crown Prince Umberto, Marshal Badoglio, and members ■ of the Italian Government are in a South Italian to\vn, which is in effect the provisional capital. Italian soldiers in the town are armed. Italian sentries guard ail the vital points and Italian troops man the defences. A British officer in this town told me: “We are getting practically everything we ask. About' 70 per cent, of the Italian officers are cooperating with us.” FIGHTING IN NORTH LONDON, Sept. 27. The Palermo radio says that Italian resistance is increasing in Milan and Turin, where fierce fighting is going ’ on between Germans and Italian sol•diers and civilians, including women.

Skirmishes between Germans and Italians are also going on in Rome. BROADCAST PROPAGANDA (Recd. 12.10 p.m.) LONDON, September 27. Cairo will soon become the centre of a Russian-organised campaign to stir up anti-Nazi unrest in the Balkans. The Soviet Government has been granted the use of the Egyptian Broadcasting System for news broadcasts to the Balkans. The programmes will be arranged by Georgi Dimitrov, who was Secretary-Gen-eral of the Communist Internationale until it was disbanded last May. Dimitrov, it is reported, then visited Bulgaria secretly to assist his brother Ivan Dimitrov, the Bulgar guerrilla leader, in arousing opposition to the Nazis.