STRONG DRIVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25427, 7 January 1944, Page 3

STRONG DRIVE

10-MILE FRONT FIFTH ARMY ATTACK FIGHTING IN SAN VITTORE (Rec. 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, Jan. 6. British and American troops of the Fifth Army have launched a strong attack against the German mountain positions covering Cassino, six miles away. The Americans have broken into the stronglyfortified village of San Vittore, and by last night had captured half the town. The attack began at night in a blizzard, with snow and high winds, and by dawn the Americans had broken into San Vittore. The battle raged throughout the day. Every house in the village had been heavily fortified, and the Americans were met with a hail of fire from all arms. They pressed home their attacks with great determination, however, and by nightfall had captured half the village. Apart from the fighting at San Vittore, other forces made advances of about one mile in depth over a front of 10 miles in grim mountain country along the line of the main road to Rome. The Germans have constructed a strong belt of fortifications round Cassino, and a correspondent says that it will take “ some cracking.” The bad weather caused an alteration in the plans for air support in the attack. Medium bombers were grounded, but fighter-bombers made daring low-level atatcks on enemy positions. On the Adriatic coast stiff fighting is continuing three miles north of Ortona.

Lieutenant-general Leese has taken over the command from General Montgomery at a time when the Eighth Army is facing very strong delaying action, says Reuter’s Algiers correspondent. The Germans have 10 divisions stretched from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea, with the most

intense resistance in the coastal sector facing the Eighth Army. The Germans also are holding one division in close support and two in reserve; their aim—besides preventing the Allies from reaching Rome, or demanding the highest price for every inch of ground—is to gain time for building up striking reserves in the north. The Germans have been putting specially-trained mountain ' troops across the Apennines, and on Tuesday they launched strong counter-attacks against a 180 ft hillock three miles north of Ortona. Their main defence line, from which the counter-attacks came, lies a mile ahead of the hillock along the south bank of the Arielli River. Prisoners recently captured in Italy say the enemy is now feverishly building up new defensive positions in the rear of the battle area, writes a correspondent from Allied headquarters in North Africa. These are several miles deep and concentrated on the lines of the Todt system, which will impose the maximum amount of delay in our advance towards Rome. Some of these formidable fortifications, which, are reached by communication trenches, will be supplied with machine-gun posts and mortars, not only built all along the new defensive line, but at vital points of the old line—probably in the vicinity of Cassino, San Vittore, and also in the Pescara area.