ON MOVE IN ITALY

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 230, 27 June 1944, Page 5

ON MOVE IN ITALY

Entire Front LONDON, June 26. The Allies in Italy arc keeping up their pressure from the west coast right across the central mountains. The Fifth Army has pushed forward along a broad front and taken the port of Piombino, which is on the promotory opposite the north-eastern tip of Elba. It is about 50 miles, as the crow flies) from Leghorn, Italy's third biggest port, where the Germans are reported to be blowing up the port With the Germans once again iu retreat, the Fifth Army bus lieen taking many more prisoners. Its total bag since the offensive south of Rome began is more than 20.000. The Eighth Army has opened a new all-out attack against strong German mountain positions Io the east and west of Lake Trasimeno. says the Rome correspondent of the British United Press. A later message says the Eighth Army has overcome every resistance and taken a number of villages. Elements near the Adriatic coast have crossed the Chienti River. Desperate Defence. (By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright.! LONDON, June 25. On the central sector Eighth Army troops are still heavily engaged near Lake Trasimeno. but they have made limited gains, and our tanks have re-entered Chiusi. The Germans, according to Algiers radio, are fighting desperately and using every possible means of delaying the Allied advance. Kesselring is ruthlessly sacrificing men, weapons and equipment, but the Allied forces are holding the initiative. Natural defensive positions are favouring the Germans on the Eighth Army front, where the enemy is putting up a better organized defence. The Eighth Army on the Adriatic seetor also is progressing steadily through a defence belt which is better organized than anything which has been encountered for weeks. The Fifth Army spearheads beyond Follonica are rushing up the coastal road northward, states Reuter’s correspondent at Allied jieadquarters in Italy. Infantry and tanks are punching the Germans hard and forcing a withdrawal at most points in west Italy. This withdrawal is moving Kesselring back from ground favourable for defence. Other forward Allied troops, which are advancing ou the road to Florence, are now 15 miles from Siena. American and French troops of the Fifth Army have forced the Germans

back on a front of some 40 miles running inland from the west coast. On the coast itself, American infantry yesterday captured Salonica.

Across Minefields. A correspondent at General Alexander’s headquarters says that these advances involve crossing deep minefields in the face of heavy fire from selfpropelled guns and heavy tanks. The British United Press correspondent at Allied headquarters says it is revealed that the uncompleted aircrattcarrier which was bombed at Genoa on June 20 by Thunderbolts was the former Italian liner Roma, of 30,816 tons, a motor-ship, which was built m lJ2t>. Heavy bombers yesterday attacked oil installations in the Ploesti area, a railway repair depot at Craiova, and a railway bridge at Piatra. The escorting fighters made offensive sweeps in the Ploesti and Bucharest area. . Fighter-bombers struck at shipping in the north Adriatic and along west Italy in the area of Via Reggio. They attacked road junctions, motor transport, railways, bridges, and other targets in north Italy and north of the battle area. ~ ’ , More than 500 heavy bombers from Italy flew to southern France today to attack oil plants and railway yards at Sete, oil installations at Balaruc. anil three bridges across the river Rhone at Avignon.