TAKEN BY POLES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1944, Page 5

TAKEN BY POLES

GOTHIC LINE OUTPOST

BASTION OF MAIN DEFENCES

,-j ...^■oi«i —nsas Association —Copyright) RlS',. l?- 3-° 4 p -™- LONDON, August 31. .Polish troops captured the Adriatic ?.° *v- T^ esaro» and o«tpost of the SwS c ne> *fter a shar» fi^ht 'fa which the enemy suffered heavy casualties, says the Exchange Telegraph agency's Rome correspondent. British troops captured the town of Consuma, 16 miles east of Florence. ' The "Daily Telegraph's" correspondent on the Adriatic sector expresses the opinion that any Allied breakthrough of the main Gothic Line defences will leave, the Germans no alternative but to rush back to the Alps and abandon all northern Italy Pesarp is not in the Gothic Line proper he says, but the Germans have built strong defensive positions around it, ..so connecting it with the Gothic Line tnat Pesaro can be described as a bastion of the line. « "So^ and British troops had to fight their way past strong concrete defences which the Germans had built to protect the southern approaches to Pesaro across the Foglja River and thence *to the Gothic Line proper" says the correspondent. "The Germans immediately retaliated with concentrated mortar and machine-gun fire and counter-attacked late on August 30 m strength. Fierce fighting raged in the street, with the R.A.F. bombing the northern approaches to the city and also the German fortifications.' The city finally fell today. "Returning patrols, reported that the Germans at many places failed to mine the Fogha and its northern bank. Minefields elsewhere were as deep as 300 yards. The fact that the Allies forced the Foglia and reached points in the Gothic Line suggests that the enemy under-estimated our strength and was not prepared for our attack." Today's Allied communique from Italy says: "The Eighth Army patrols in the Adriatic sector crossed the Foglia River on a broad front and are now meeting with strong resistanqe from Gothic Line positions on high ground on the north side of the river. We qccupied Ui-bino, in a difficult mountainous sector of the Apennines. Allied patrols are approaching the Foglia River north of Urbino. Our troops in the upper Arno and Tiber valleys have made a further advance and are now close to the Gothic Line. Eighth Army troops north of Pontassieve met with stronger resistance, but captured further important features. "There is no change in the situation on the Fifth Army *|ro.'nt."