BOLOGNA TAKEN

Grey River Argus, 23 April 1945, Page 5

BOLOGNA TAKEN

ALLIES ADVANCING On Ferrara and Specia (Rec. 6.30.) LONDON. April 22. Bologna has been captured. General Mark Clark said this is the beginning of a final victory in Italy. A British United Press correspondent reports Bologna fell after a converging attack by Fifth and Eighth Army forces. Germans fought haid at the gates of the city, but the tremendous weight of the Allied ollensive swamped the defences. Polish and American troops entered Bologna from three sides, and later, the Italian Anti-Fascist troops, who, for the first time are participating in the capture of a big city, mined them. The church bells pealed out. The civilian welcome, was far less enthusiastic than that in Rome. The centre of Bologna virtually was undamaged, but the western and the southern outskirts have been damaged by bombs and shells. Bologna is strategically the most important city of the Po Valley, controlling practically the entire communications system. The city fell after a week of very bitter fighting. Elsewhere on the Italian front the position remains very fluid. Eighth Army troops crossed the Indice River, where Germans had built up a strong defence line. The Eighth Army troops used flame-throwers, overran defences, and established a bridgehead six miles north-east of Bologna. German forces, further north-east, are frantically throwing in tank reinforcements in an attempt to stem an Allied drive to Ferrara. • Fifth Army troops entered Sarzana, and are now seven miles due east of Specia. (Rec. 7.40). LONDON, April 22. The Fifth Army, since the entry to Bologna yesterday, rushed rapidly on and seized San Liovan, nine miles north-north-westward, states a communique from Allied headquarters in Italy, issued late on Saturday night. Brazilians captured Zocca. 20 miles south-west of Bologna. Fifth Army troops, aided by partisans, occupied Sestola. Strong opposition is being encountered on the west coast. -British troops advanced three miles northward and captured Marrara. Other elements reached points two miles north-west of Budrio. An Exchange Telegraph Agency correspondent in Italy stated: It is officially pointed out that the Germans are withdrawing along their Italian line except on the west coast.