FIEBGE OPPOSITION MAINLY GERMAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 57, 4 September 1943, Page 7

FIEBGE OPPOSITION MAINLY GERMAN

INVADERS MOVE NORTH

(By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright.) Bee. 11 a.m. LONDON, September 3. The Eighth Army, after heavy fighting, has established a bridgehead and made advances in the toe of Italy. Fierc& opposition is being met, mainly from German troops, according to messages from Algiers. The first reports reaching Allied headquarters from the Italian invasion bridgehead state that the British and Canadian troops are pushing inland towards a 6000-foot mountain which is the bone of the toe. of Italy, The Algiers correspondent of the British United Press says that the first British troops went ashore under cover of a heavy hail of mortar shells frgm assault craft and a thick smoke-screen. The first men ashore knocked out enemy pill-boxes, batteries, and roadblocks, and infantry then fbegan to advanca through lemon and olive groves strewn with mines. The enemy apparently left plenty of minefields, but the Eighth Army had little trouble with them. ' . . . The advance is" continuing into the mountainous country behind the coast. The opposition so far has been mainly from artillery batteries'ln the mountains. .. ~ . The British United Press adds that the troops of the Eighth Army have begun a long and tough drive northward -towaros vital airfields from which the* Germans' most important industrial centres can be blasted.

The first reconnaissance pilots returning from Italy reported that Allied forces were still pouring into Italy at 10 o'clock this morning.

FIFTY DIFFERENT BRIDGEHEADS

Vichy radio declared that the Allies had established bridgeheads at 50 different points, from Reggio to north of San Giovanni, which is eight miles north of Reggio. ■ , Berlin radio stated: "The British are now advancing against Scilla, 11 miles north-east of Reggio, and other invasion forces are moving .eastward with many tanks." The radio added that violent battles had been raging since the British landed from over 100 vessels north of Reggio harbour, and claimed that the British were suffering heavy losses. Reports from the Italian frontier, nuoted by the Madrid correspondent of the British United Press, say that the Allies are advancing along vital roads from their landing points towards the nearest railway junctions. The Allies dropped parachute troops in the rear of several strong Axis coastal positions. The British United Press correspondent at an advanced flying field in North Africa cables that pilots covering the Italian invasion report that Allied invasion craft were still streaming to the Calabrian coast six hours after the landing began. Heavy fire 'was apparently being directed against them from Axis guns in the hills. Allied warships were steaming around Hhe landing craft, shelling the enemy positions. The pilots report that they en- ' countered no opposition in the air.

LANDING DIFFICULTIES. Despite the intensive softening-up process achieved by the immense Allied air and artillery superiority, the landing was not made without difliculty. Hills rise to 900 feet above the region dominating the narrow coastal strip and the beaches on which the invading troops disembarked. Enemy guns can be easily concealed in the hills, from which they command a wide field of fire. The terrain made the landing far more formidable than that at Gallipoli. The landing in the silence of the night was in sharp contrast with General Montgomery's previous attacks, which were made by moonlight. Political considerations may enter into the picture to such an extent that the Italians may decide to put up only . a token resistance. It must be pointed ■ out that the nature of the country in *this part of, Italy does not make for quick advances. It is a land of hills and bridges, far more difficult than 1 Sicily. The Allied air attacks preparatory to invasion destroyed many railway bridges which would have facili- • tated our progress. The successful establishment of our bridgehead must automatically cut the coast railway around the toe of Italy. The area inside the railway is almost entirely mountainous, with few roads. The Axis forces will therefore be spilt in two except for the positions they hold in the mountains.

Ofbservers in London expect that the Allies will invade Italy further north than the toe, where today's landings were made. It is unlikely, they say, that the Allies will be content with a slow drive up the foot of Italy. <The military writer for the "Evening Standard" says that the Allies will j probably occupy the toe of Italy and I both shores of the Strait of Messina to give free and unhampered passage for the main body of the Fleet and for transports. APPEAL TO ITALIANS. Algiers radio has appealed to Italy to welcome the Allied armies. "The Allies' advance," it said, "is the logical and inevitable consequence of recent events. The Sicilians are already enjoying the fruits of their liberation. Italians, welcome the Allies as your forefathers welcomed the liberating armies of Garibaldi. Out with the Germans." Reuters Stockholm correspondent says: "Judging from the first German comment on the Allied landing reaching here, the Berlin spokesmen are_ already preparing the public for a possible retreat in the toe of Italy."

The Berlin correspondent of the Swedish newspaper "Allehanda" quotes a Berlin spokesman as saying: "Strategically, the German and Italian positions are unquestionably unfavour-