EIGHTH ARMY’S HARDEST FIGHT IN ITALY

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 12, 9 October 1943, Page 5

EIGHTH ARMY’S HARDEST FIGHT IN ITALY

More Than Holding Its Own In o Struggle For Termoli (By Telegraph. —Press Assn.—Copyright.! LONDON, October 7. The stiffening German resistance and the breaking of the weather have slowed up the Allied forces in Italy on the Fifth Army’s front. Rain and mud are aggravating the difficulties which the British and Americans are meeting from enemy minefields and demolitions as they slowly press on, while at the eastern end of the extended battle line in the Termoli area Kesselring is fighting grimly to ward off the outflanking threat to Rome.

The main interest at present is centred in the fierce struggle at Termoli, where both the Eighth Army aud the Germans have been reinforced. Reuter’s Algiers correspondent reports that troops of the Eighth Army west -it Termoli are fighting their toughest battle since they landed in Italy. Kesselring hurried troops from the Volturno area iu a .bid to throw General Montgomery out of Termoli. German artillery poured down a heavy lire from commanding heights about five miles outside the town. Enemy tanks came on in clusters, supported by infantry, but the Eighth Army gunners and infantry did not yield an inch of ground during the all-day battle. Germans Use Bombers. Meanwhile, other forces of the Eighth Army, moving up from the south, bridged the flooded Biferno River under shellfire and established a firm footing on the north bank by nightfall. The Germans in the Larino area hold a strongpoint iu a mountain barrier which rises to 15,000 ft., from which they command the road to Rome.

Reuter’s Algiers correspondent _ says that in the critical battle which is developing in the rain-soaked countryside before Termoli General Montgomery’s men arc more than holding their own. Kesselring fears an Allied break-through to Pescara, 60 miles to the north. The Germans are using bombers against the Eighth Army for the first time since the British landed in Italy.

The Algiers correspondent of the British United Press says that earlier statements that the Fifth Army had smashed its way across the Volturno River were corrected today with the announcement that our troops had crossed the Calore River, a tributary of the Volturno. This means that the Volturno has not been reached. The Germans are holding high ground north of the Volturno in considerable force.

The Fifth Army is now contending with the difficulties of the flooded countryside. Constant rain has flooded the lowlands between Naples and the Volturno River, which the Germans expect to hold in strength as a delaying line. The Allied line at ptesent runs from eight miles south of the mouth of the Volturno River, through Averse to Maddaloni, and to a point 11 miles east of Benevento, then northward to Termoli.

Likely Nazi Withdrawal. A representative of the combined Press with the Fifth Army says: “'lhe Germans are likely to withdraw to the hilly country near Rome which resembles the gorges round Salerno. Demolitions Of every conceivable kind block the roads, and mines are also delaying the 1' lith Army’s advance to the Volturno. lhe enemy is leaving rearguards in awkward pockets. They have been instructed to fight to the death. “The German withdrawal to the Volturno is chiefly in the direction of the Capua area. We are occupying an increasing number of airfields as the Ger-, mans retreat, all with aircraft on„them, numbering in some cases hundreds. A naval communique states that there has been considerable naval activity on the right flank of the Eighth Army on the Adriatic coast. Yesterday two British destroyers bombarded railway and military targets north-west of Termoli to dislocate the enemy attacks in that area. An air communique states that heavy bombers of the North-west African A.ir Force attacked Mestre, near Venice, hitting marshalling yards, warehouses and engine shops. Medium bombers attacked highways and road junctions at Migano, Formia and Isernia, while fighters and fighter-bombers attacked motor transport in the battle area. During these and other operations six enemy aircraft were destroyed. Three of our aircraft are missing.