OCCUPIED BY BRITISH FORCES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 September 1943, Page 3

OCCUPIED BY BRITISH FORCES

Allies Firmly Established South of Naples GERMANS CLAIM EXTENDED CONTROL OVER NORTH AND CENTRAL ITALY AND ALONG THE ALBANIAN COAST LONDON, September 10.. British forces, supported by the Navy, began landing at Taranto, in the heel of Italy, last evening and now occupy this great naval base, the second most important in Italy. The heel of Italy forms the gateway to Albania. The Germans in Albania are reported to be manning the coastal defences and to have taken over Valova and the coastal defences of Yugoslavia. An announcement from Hitler’s headquarters states that the bulk of the Italians have submitted in a reasonable manner to the requests of the German commander-in-chief. In Albania and Greece the whole of the Italian troops have surrendered and have laid down their arms. The Germans have taken over Italian shipping in the Aegean and airfields on the Adriatic coast. The Germans announce that the Italians in Southern France have handed over their arms to the Germans, who have occupied the Riviera and also Genoa and Spezia. The Germans report, in addition, that they are in control of several northern Italian cities, but no mention is made of the great cities of Milan and Turin. A German ultimatum was presented to the Italian military commander in Rome, who is stated to have yielded the whole area within a radius of 30 miles of the capital. The Algiers radio states that the greater part of the Italian fleet and merchant ships have put to sea. They got away from Spezia and from several other harbours. German resistance has failed to interfere with the plans of the Fifth Army, which landed in the Gulf of Salerno and the Eighth Army in the toe of Italy continues to advance. The Allied air forces are continuing to blast the enemy’s communications and other targets.