BRIDGEHEAD GAINED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 September 1943, Page 3

BRIDGEHEAD GAINED

AND ADVANCES MADE EARLY PROGRESS BY EIGHTH ARMY. ALLIED PARACHUTE, TROOPS IN ACTION. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) (Received This Day, 10.55 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 3. The Eighth Army, after heavy fighting, has established a bridgehead and made advances in the toe of Italy, fierce opposition being met, mainly from German troops, says messages from Algiers. The first reconnaissance, pilots returning from Italy reported that Allied forces were still pouring into Italy at 10 a.m. today. The Vichy radio declared that the Allies had established bridgeheads at 50 different points, from Reggio to north of San Giovanni. The Berlin radio stated that the British were now advancing against Scilla and the other invasion forces were moving eastward, with many tanks. The radio added that violent battles had been raging since the British landed from over 1000 vessels north of Reggio Harbour and claimed that the British were suffering heavy losses. Reports from the Italian frontier, quoted by the British United Press Madrid correspondent, say 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 apparently was being directed against them from Axis guns in the hills. Allied warships were steaming around the landing craft shelling the enemy positions. The pilots report that no opposition was encountered in the air. Despite the intensive softening-up process achieved by the immense Allied air and artillery superiority, the landing was not without difficulty. Hills rise 900 feet above the region dominating the narrow coastal strip and beaches on which the invading troops disembarked. Enemy guns can easily be concealed in the hills, from which they command a wide field of fire. The terrain made the landing far more formidable than on Gallipoli. The landing in the silence of the night sharply contrasted with General Montgomery’s previous attacks, which were made by moonlight. The Algiers radio appealed to Italy to welcome the Allied armies. “The Allied advance,” it said, “is the logical and inevitable consequence of recent events. The Sicilians are already enjoying the fruits of liberation. Italians, welcome the Allies as your forefathers welcomed the liberating armies of Garibaldi! Out with the Germans!” Reuter’s Stockholm correspondent says that, judging from the first German comments on the Allied landing reaching there, Berlin spokesmen are already preparing the public for a possible retreat in the toe of Italy.