DRIVING NORTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 September 1943, Page 3

DRIVING NORTH

FIFTH AND EIGHTH ARMIES STRIKING AT HEART OF ITALY. POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE AIR ATTACKS. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) ; • LONDON, September 19. British troops are pushing northward from the Salerno bridgehead toward Avellino, 59 miles east of Naples. Latest reports from Allied headquarters show that they are well on the way to their objective. The Allies on all parts of the Salerno front are driving on, striking at the heart of Italy. This drive, says the British United Press Algiers correspondent, is part of a huge sweeping movement by the Fifth and Eighth Armies to envelop the whole of the lower part of Italy. The Germans are on the run, but their tactics frequently force the Allies 1 to fight short and bitter engagements against rearguards vzho attack to cover the withdrawals of the German troops. The Berlin radio’s commentator, Captain Sertorius, said that with the landing of new powerful British forces the battle south of Naples had entered its second phase. “The fact that the first phase did not end with the expulsion and re-embarkation of the Fifth Army was explainable exclusively by the action of the British Navy,” he said. The Algiers radio says that Berne reports state that sabotage and opposition to the Germans is reported to be increasing in north Italy. Railway traffic between Germany and Italy is interrupted at many points. There is now no rail communication between Field-Marshal Rommel and Kesselring. The Swiss newspaper “Bund” says that small Italian units are still fight-

ing against the Germans in the neighbourhood of Rome. FOOD RIOTS IN ROME. Food riots in Rome continue. Armed peasants are resisting the Germans. The Swiss radio reports that the commander of the German occupation forces in Italy has issued a final warning to Italians “who might want to attempt to disturb public order and create nests of agitation.” Reports state that Field-Marshal Kesselring has deployed at least six divisions in the Salerno battle area. Algiers radio says that the situation has steadily improved in favour of the Allies following the junction of the Fifth and Eighth Armies. The Germans are still retreating on the north flank, but are fighting strong rearguard actions. The Allies have captured a series of ridges south-east of Salerno. Pilots returning to Cairo from raids on Italy report long lines t of stranded trains in all parts of Italy, following heavy damage to railway yards and installations. An indication of the intensity of the air attacks on Italy is that the Ninth United States Air Force has made eight attacks in the last 10 days, compared with a normal average of one raid in every three days.