BID TO HOLD LINE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24761, 8 December 1943, Page 3

BID TO HOLD LINE

GERMANS REINFORCED BRITISH REAOH MORO RIVER (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON. Deo. 7 The Eighth Army on the coast road up the Adriatic has reached the Moro River line 10 miles north of the ( Sangro River. Fifteen miles inland, in the neighbourhood of Orsogna, { the Germans have brought up fresh t troops and are defending important ( roads running north and west. \ The Eighth Army, which is now • under 15 miles from Pescara, is fighting another river battle along the Moro River. The British United Press corre- ] spondent in Algiers reports that re- ; treating Germans have blown up bridges over the Moro. More demolitions are going on further up the coastal road. Heavy rain in Eastern Italy is addj ing to the difficulties of the winter 1 battle. The Germans are making a stand .along the banks of the Moro ' River, where strong reinforcements have been brought up in a bid to hold 1 this new river line guarding Pescara. The Moro, which runs into the Adriatic just north of San Vito. offers a far i less formidable barrier than the Sangro River, but it is heavily swollen by rain. The enemy is showing no signs of retreat, says a correspondent at Allied headquarters. A regiment of the fam- | ous 90th Panzer Division, which has ' arrived to reinforce the troops- facing ithe Eighth Army, represents the i strength of an English brigade. ; In spite of this powerful reinforcement our troops are still pushing forward in the coastal sector. We have reached the vicinity of, Casoli, three miles north of Lanciano. Our tanks j and infantry have wiped out enemy machine-gun posts and captured a flame-throwing tankCOASTAL ROAD SHELLED NAVY ASSISTS ARMY (Reed. 5.85 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 6 Two British destroyers on Thursday afternoon bombarded the coastal road between Pescara and Giulianova, says a Navy communique. Bridges and other fixed targets were fired on and at least one direct hit was obtained on a bridge. The same two destroyers on Thursday night shelled Ancona and San Benedetto. Three coastal craft were sunk in the same area and two others damaged and abandoned by their crews. One was left sinking. Shore batteries opened fire in both bombardments, but neither casualties nor damage were suffered by our ships. Other destroyers operating in the central Adriatic east of Pescara early on Friday sank a small enemy merchant vessel. An agency war correspondent lists four of the destroyers engaged as the Quilliam. Loyal, Queenborough and Raider. CLOSE AIR SUPPORT LONDON, Dec. 6 The weight and concentration oi Allied air power which can be brought to bear on the battlefields in Italy progressively increases. Thus the Eighth ! Army's attack, launched on the night ' of November 27-28 from its bridgehead over the Sangro against the German ■ winter line, has been given sustained . find close air support on a scale greater than ever before in Italy, in spite of | bad weather. 1 During the week leading up to the 1 attack, from November 21 to 27 in-: • elusive, in this eastern battle area alone ; some 1600 sorties were flown by Allied medium, light and fighter-bombers in support of the bridgeheads already 1 established and in preparation for the > actual assault. In the three days following the attack over 1200 bombing sorties were flown in support of the Allied ground r! forces. On the day prior to the attack, L | the peak day of Allied close support. • i the sorties numbered about 24 times the German equivalent in this critical - action. ; SALONIKA RAIDED | BOMBINGS IN THE AEGEAN L (Reed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 6 A Middle East air communique states ' that Royal Air Force heavy bombers : attacked a railway station at Salonika s last night and started fires in the yards. During the day American bombt ers attacked shipping off Leros. One f vessel was left listing and smoking x after being abandoned and two others were damaged. Simi harbour, in the . Aegean, was bombed on Saturday and 3 buildings on the quayside were hit. . None of our aircraft is missing. 1 ARMY FROM MEXICO 5

- SERVICE IN THE PACIFIC 5 (Reed. 9.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 7 r Addressing a Mexican Senate committee, the President, General Camacho, indicated that the Government k had decided to send a Mexican exf peditionary force abroad to fight side . by side with the Allies in the Pacific, j reports the New York Times' corres--5 pondent in Mexico City. General Camacho added that, no matter what , the place, they would have a dis- ' tinguished part. He hoped it would be 'j the Philippines to co-operate in the rej conquest of islands from the Japanese. The correspondent says military j circles report that the Government has already started the preparation of a 3 force composed entirely of volunteers. ; BARRACKS DYNAMITED • 100 NAZI SOLDIERS KILLED (Reed. 0.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 6 Guerillas at dawn to-day dynamited , the Roche barracks at Grenoble, France, killing at least 100 German soldiers, states a report from Zurich. This was a reprisal for the Germans' refusal ' to return 500 Grenoble hostages who , had been sent to Germany. The Geneva says the guerillas previously , sent emissaries with a white flag to the J Germans, and told them that if the hostages were not returned sabotage 1 would start on an unprecedented 6cale. DISTASTEFUL TO FINNS UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER (Reed. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 6 ."I, do not believe there is a single Finnish citizen in his senses who would consider unconditional surrender possible," said Risto Ryti, President of Finland, in a speech on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of Finnish independence. "We have surmounted all difficulties and perils," he added. "Now are we asked to surrender unconditionally. The example of one unconditional surrender we have witnessed offers us little inducement to follow it. The world knows that Finns are tough runners. Long-distance races are won in the last half-mile." Among congratulations Ryti received was a telegram from Hitler. WARNING TO SATELLITES LONDON, Dec. 6 A warning to Rumania, Hungary and Finland that they will suffer the same harsh fate as Germany unless they abandon the Axis before Hitler's final defeat, is given by the Moscow journal War and the Working Class. "They are lying low," says the paper, "and trying to detract attention from their participation in the war against the Allies. They still hope that certain irresponsible political meddlers in Britain and_ America will save them from their inexorable fate. "The heavy responsibility for the numerous _ crimes against the Soviet people weigh on the consciences of the present rulers of these countries."