MAY PULL OUT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVII, Issue 23111, 27 January 1945, Page 5

MAY PULL OUT

Kesselring’s Plans In Italy LONDON, January 25. All the war correspondents on the Italian front are discussing the possibility o£ Kesselring planning to pull out troops from Italy, says Reuter’s correspondent at Allied Headquarters in Italy. Explosions behind the German lines in the neighbourhood of Alfonsine, on the Eighth Army front, may indicate demolitions. Moreover, Allied patrols probing the central sector are finding difficulty in reaching the enemy and where they are in action; the Germans have always used ammunition sparingly. If he has decided to pull out, Kesselring will face a difficult task because the escape routes will be blasted mercilessly from the air. In spite of adverse weather this month the Tactical Air Force kept enemy communications in Northern Italy in a state of disrepair, writes an Agency correspondent. It is estimated that since the attacks on the Brenner route compelled the enemy to revert to steam locomotion instead of electric, the tonnage carried has dropped from 24.000 a day to less than 700. For 14 days in January the Brenner route lias been blocked at more than one place. Since January 1 the Tactical Air Force has destroyed more than 1000 motor vehicles and damaged as many more, destroyed more than 100 locomotives, and damaged 376, destroyed 601 rail-cars and damaged more than 2000.