YUGOSLAV TROOPS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXIII, Issue 258, 29 September 1943, Page 5

YUGOSLAV TROOPS

ENTER NORTHERN ITALY THREAT TO GERMAN REAR (N.Z. Press Association.—Copyright.) (ltec. 11.55 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 28. Yugoslav partisans who have driven into Northern Italy are threatening the German rear in Italy The partisan forces, after crossing the frontier, are reported to have engaged in heavy fighting near the ports of Trieste and Fiume. Allied officers attached to the partisan forces are acting as advisers.

To-day’s German communique states that strong bands in NorthEastern Italy and Dahnatia have been encircled and are being wiped out. The communique claims that German troops yesterday stormed and captured Split. It also claims that German battle units landed on Corfu Island yesterday after the Badoglio troops occupying the island rejected an ultimatum to surrender. The German troops, supported by air and Inaval units, broke the resistance, took prisoner several thousand Italians, and quickly occupied the whole island. GREEK GUERRILLAS. A mission representing the guerrilla army in Greece has been rebuffed by the Greek and Allied leaders in Cairo. The mission, consisting of six guerrilla leaders, went to Cairo to consult King George of Greece, the Greek Government, and the Allied High Command on political issues. They urged that three members of the Greek underground movement be included in the Greek Government, one of them as Minister of the Interior. They asked King George to undertake that he wou'd not return to. the Greek throne until the people had decided by a plebiscite whether they wanted the monarchy restored. Their requests were refused. Correspondents at Cairo say it is difficult to estimate what effect the failure of the mission will have on future events in Greece and the relations between Greece and the Allies. It is not known whether the guerrilla leaders’ demands reflect the views of the majority of Greeks.