STEADY ADVANCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 October 1943, Page 3

STEADY ADVANCE

MADE BY ALLIED TROOPS IN ITALY AGAINST DOGGED GERMAN RESISTANCE. HILL POSITIONS TAKEN BY AMERICANS. LONDON, October 19. The Allied offensive is methodically moving forward in Italy. The brunt of the fighting is being borne by the infantry — British, Canadian and American. In hard fighting yesterday, the Allied forces ivon another mile or two from the enemy’s tough rearguards. The Americans in the hills have gained three or four miles. These hills dominate the coastal plains and command either side of the Upper Volturno Valley. One place reached by the Americans is six miles beyond Capua. British forces in the coastal sector have made a slight advance towards the hills, where the Germans will probably attempt a stand. FIRES BLAZING BEHIND ENEMY FRONT. EIGHTH ARMY PATROLS PROBING DEEPLY. (Bv Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, October 18. Severe fighting is expected along the coast of Italy, a foretaste of which has already come in the shape of several heavy counterattacks, all of which were repulsed, says Reuter’s correspondent at Allied headquarters. The Germans’ resistance is stiffening on the central sector as General Montgomery’s drive westward increasingly menaces the Germans’ left flank on the Volturno. Offensive patrols from the Eighth Army operating five miles ahead of the main forces which fought their way into Montecileone found the Germans in considerable strength. Desperate street fighting occurred before our men withdrew after inflicting heavy losses. The immediate objective of the Eighth Army’s thrust along the FoggiaRome road is the vital communications centre of Isernia, 20 miles north of the captured town of Vinchiaturo. General Montgomery at Isernia, by swinging 20 miles along the road westward, could cut the German retreat by the inland highway from Capua to Rome. Fires which are visible behind the enemy lines along the whole front indicate that the Germans are continuing to scorch the countryside as they retreat. ALLIED REPORT SATISFACTORY PROGRESS ON LAND. AIR ATTACKS EXTENDED TO YUGOSLAVIA. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.0 a.m.) RUGBY, October 19. Allied Headquarters in North Africa state: “Eighth Army patrols continue to be active. Montecilfone has been captured, and an enemy counter-attack in the central sector repulsed. “On the Fifth Army front progress has been satisfactory. Gioia and Liberi have been captured, and our troops continue to push northward from the Volturno River, from which the enemy has been cleared. “Medium bombers and fighter bombers attacked marshalling yards and a railroad bridge at Skoplje, in Yugoslavia. Fighters attacked airfields in the Rome area, and further north light bombers attacked Catiglione and Cassino. Composite units attacked enemy fortifications at Anchise and Bojano, and communications at other points. Light bombers attacked transport on the east coast road on Sunday night. One of our aircraft is missing.”