THREE MEN IN A JEEP

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 7, 4 October 1943, Page 5

THREE MEN IN A JEEP

How Naples “Fell” HYSTERICAL CROWD GREETS ALLIES

(Received October 3, 7.45 p.m.) LONDON, October 2.

INoel Monte cabled that Naples was “taken” by a jeep carrying three American correspondents and himself “We drove in ahead of the British and American patrols which were waiting outside the city,” he said. “Thousands of yelling, hysterical people rushed up and tore us bodily -from the jeep and smothered us with embraces. The crowd grew till 20,000 were pressing round the ieep, where we stayed till the first patrol cars arrived. They were then swamped under an avalanche of screeching humans. “Above the hubbub, cries of ‘Saved’ and ‘Liberty tor Everyone. Long live Britain and America!’ were heard. Hundreds of Italian soldiers fired their rilles into the air. It must have been one of the most amazing scenes in Italian history, and certainly in the. history of Berlin radio said bitter street fighting against Italian rebels occurred during demolitions in Naples and the Germans had to fight fiercely before completing its destruction.

The Germans are reported to have evacuated Naples before our troops entered. The city is reported to have been cleared of Germans. The battle for Naples, specially on the British wing, was as stiff as any fighting in North Africa, says Reuter’s Algiers correspondent. It caused casualties by the thousand, but not tens of thousands as the Germans claimed. The Germans hung on to the city till the last possible moment, but its fall was inevitable after tlie British break-through in the Salerno mountains earlier in the . week. ' Correspondents say that the Germans strove to make the destruction of the port of Naples, which is capable of taking the largest vessels, drawing 36 feet of water, as complete as possible, but engineers report that it may be made usable within a few days. It is expected that the harbour will soon be busy'with Allied shipping. Joy-Ride for Troops. The advance over the last 12 miles to Naples was a joy-ride for the British and Americans, said a Reuter correspondent with the Fifth Army yesterday. The German resistance ended at Torre Annunziata on Thursday night, and the Germans tied under cover of darkness after lighting all day. The Allied spearheads were already pushing .on beyond Naples toward Aversa and Capua. Their eyes are on Rope, about 100 miles ahead. Algiers radio said that Italian troops co-operated in the capture of Naples, guarding the lines of communication and leaving the Allies free for offensive action. A column of the Fifth Army, outflanking Naples from the east, captured the city, which was in ruins when the Allied troops made their triumphant entry.’ All German pockets of resistance have been mopped up, the radio added. The death-blow to the German stand was the pummelling which Allied battleships lying offshore gave the defence positions. Algiers radio said yesterday that Allied bombing attacks had cut the Naples-Rome railway at six points. Berlin radio said that the High Command was about to make completely new defensive'dispositions in central Italy in accordance with principles on which movements on the Eastern Front were based. The German command intended to hold as short a line as possible. . Five Divisions Escape. The entry into Naples was made at 8 o’clock yesterday morning. Reports from Allied headquarters state that five German divisions defending Naples managed to get away. Many of the enemy’s rearguards, including some of his finest troops, arc said to have been wiped out. Naples is one of the greatest prizes to fall into Allied hands. It is the biggest city in southern Italy and one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean. Before the war more than 10,000,000 tons of shipping passed in and out of the port in a year. The city has often been described as the most beautiful in the world, but the Germans, according to all accounts, have made it a city of ruin and desolation. For the past week there has been a huge black pall of smoke hanging over it.