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Grey River Argus, 21 October 1943, Page 5

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GERMAN FLANKS BY sth. AND Bth. ARMIES A New Line ON THE GAUGHANO RIVER TEN MILES NORTH OF VOLTURNO. LONDON, Oct. 19. Allied Headquarters -in North Africa stated Fifth Army forces had with the Eighth Army rolled back German flank forces. On the Firth Army front progress was satisfactory. Gioia and Liber! were captured and troops continued to push northward from Volturno, from which the enemy had been cleared. Reuter’s correspondent at Allied Headquarters described the battle of the Volturno as “over and won,” and said these synchronised assaults of the Fifth and Eighth Armies threw the whole Allied line a step forward. A Columbia Broadcasting System correspondent stated: The Volturno phase of the fighting is over and a battle is beginning for the Garigliano River front. The Fifth Army’s eastern flank has made considerable progress to high ground dominating this front The Allies captured 23 towns and villages in a general advance yesterday. Included in the Fifth Army’s captures in a rugged sector northeast of Capua were Pontelatone, Alvignano, Liberi, Gioia and Faicehio. These were taken by the Americans. The British, lower down the river, captured Brezza. The German News Agency to-night admitted that the Fifth Armv was fighting ten miles north of the Volturno. Algiers radio said Fifth Army foirces advanced' sixteen miles into the heights dominating the Volturno Valley. A , . The British United Press Algiers corresnondent says: The left flank of the Fifth Army is freed along the stretch of the Volturno River from the mouth to Capua and is pressing on to the line of a canal, three miles further north. The right flank of the I Fifth Army is pushing ahead on the eastern side of Capua, where the Volturno takes a sudden right angle bend. ~ 1 A Stockholm paper “Svenska Dagbladet” stated: A German evacuation of Rome is only a matter of days. German officials are pouring from the city northwards. Only skeleton military forces remain. The Germans cancelled all orders for wai supplies delivered in a month. A skeleton force in the Romy region arrested Italians, thought likely to cooperate with the Allies. The Stockholm “Social Demokraten” stated: There has been a new influx of troops and tanks m Northern Italy for eventual battle. This has brought the Germans’ total strength to 30 divisions. Many new troops came from France and were intended originally for tbe Russian front. The Germans confiscated the fortune of Arminese, the industrial proprietor of “Giornale d’ltalia” and “Popolo Di Roma,” whose arrest was reported on October 17. His fortune was nearly one and a-half million sterling, at the pre-war rate of exchange.

Eighth Armv MEETS RESISTANCE IN CENTRE. LONDON, Oct. 19. Allied Headquarters in North Africa stated patrols of the Eighth Army continued active. Montefalcone was captured. Algiers radio said the Eighth Army assisted the Fifth Army to roll back enemy flank forces. Another report said Eighth Army forces advanced three to four miles against formidable opposition and captured San Stefano and Ripabottini, south-west of Morrone, where the enemy pocket of resistance was wiped out, and also Monticilfone. Reuter’s correspondent reports that the Eighth Armv is being subjected to constant attacks by numbers of enemy tanks, and says strong resistance is being encountered on rough high ground south-west of Campobasso. Another report stated the enemy is to some extent holding positions m the mountains in the central sector.. The Berlin radio claims that strong Allied forces were repulsed in the central mountain regions near Baranallo, which is six miles west-south-west of Campobasso. Berlin radio savs that at least four British regiments and one Canadian regiment were wiped out, and other troops were badly mauled. Italian Clergy MASS ARRESTS BY NAZIS. (Rec. 9.20.) NEW YORK, Oct. 20. The “New York Times’s” Berne correspondent states: In spite of energetic protests by the Vatican, the Gestapo has started a mass “clean-up of Catholic Prelates and Priests throughout Northern Italy. Priests are being charged With preaching anti-German propaganda. Neutral informants report that priests throughout Italy have flayed the racial violence, sacking and plundering which have followed m the wake of the Nazi troops. Arrested, priests will be court martialled. They mav be sentenced to deportation, or worse. Count Sforza (Rec. 11.10.) LONDON, Oct. 21). The Bari (South Italy) radio says: Count Sforza, leader of the Free Italian Movement in the United States, has arrived in Italy.