DRIVEN FROM RIVER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 October 1943, Page 3

DRIVEN FROM RIVER

GERMANS ON VOLTURNO LINE Fifth Army Offensive Continues DETERMINED OPPOSITION Al.) IFD LANDING BEHIND ENEMY’S FRONT LONDON, October 15. British and American troops of the Fifth Army are keeping up their offensive all along the Volturno line, in Italy, against determined opposition and repeated counter-attacks. The rain has .come on again. By last evening few Germans were left on the north bank of the river, and already bridges have been thrown across to carry all the necessary weapons and vehicles. Americans on the right flank combed out enemy positions in the hills north-east of Capua. The country immediately north of the river is completely*dominated by the Allied guns. Our troops have encountered minefields. Reuter’s correspondent said that the extension of our bridgeheads over the Volturno enabled heavier weapons to reach the vanguards of the Fifth Army. The Allies have immense reserves and also every conceivable' weapon for this big push. The crossing of the Volturno must rank as the most important Allied military success since the capture of Naples. A correspondent states that on the coastal sector the enemy’s flank was turned by an Allied seaborne landing. The Royal Navy got British infantry and tanks ashore and these forces pushed inland six miles from the sea. One report states that the landing forces have already joined up with forces advancing from the south. . On the centre of the line, on either side of Capua, the Allied forces are engaging the enemy on the road running to Rome. Further east, the position is particularly tough. The Germans have masses of artillery in the hills to protect their forces on the plains. The Allied troops waded across the river in this area at some places and have advanced beyond the river from two to five miles. The Eighth Army is keeping up its attacks with a flanking move in the central mountains and further east. The German radio says Vinchiatura has been evacuated. This is a town on a road running across country towards which the Eighth Army has been steadily working. The North-West African Air Force has maintained its strong coast to coast offensive in support of both the Fifth and the Eighth armies.