Evening star., 1941-04-17
Two Nozi Divisions
Reported Destroyed
In Mt. Olympus Area
Decisive Bottle Seen;
Fighting Is Fierce
In KuIubuku Area
BY the Associated Press.


ATHENS, April 17.-An OBJ
server returning this evening
from the Mount Olympus battle
front declared that mass in
fantry and tank attacks south Of
Servia had cost the Germans
"two divisions in casualties in
two days"
British and Greek forces are en-
gagged in a fierce battle with Ger
man mechanical units in the Kala-
baka region of the Grecian front,
the outcome of which is expected
to prove decisive, authoritative
sources said this evening.
Kalabaka is some 80 miles with
in Greece, near the center of tina
Allied defense line, and is the rail-
head gateway to the lowlands OF
Thessaly.
The latest reports say the Allied
defense lines are holding steady.
but reliable informants made no ef-
fort to minimize the seriousness OF
the situation.
They did, however, urge Greeks
to close their ears to omlnous
rumors and to await the outcome
of the struggle"
Well to the northeast Australian
troops were reported by British
sources to be holding their lines
saults in the vicinity Of Servia,
northwest of Mount Olympus. The
Germans say they have taken
Servia)
A vicious battle was raging at
the entrance to Sarandaporon Pass,
near Servia, with the Australians
reported inflicting very heavy
losses on the Germans
Five German dive bombers were
reported shot down by the Bren
guns of a tank company.
These Stukas had hammered at
the mountainous British-Greek line
with the power of long-range ar
tillery to clear the way for the
battle of Kalabaka.
The Germans also we're pounding
at the eastern entrance to Metsovo
Pass, which leads westward through
the mountains by a backdoor route
to Ioannina, capital of Epirus, from
which the Italians were turned in
their first attacks last November.
"a London communique said
the German pressure was in
creasing all along the British
frontO .s.s
20 Miles Into Greece.
The Germans already were some
10 miles deep in Northern Greece.
and were driving toward Kalabaka
in the center, in an effort TO reach
the important railway center Of
Larisa to the southeast, and to flank
the British out of their Mount
Olympus positions on the Gulf Of
Salonika.
Allied artillery and machine-g guns,
thickly studding the steep slopes,
| threw murderouS fire into German
infantry and tanks, which surged
forward beneath the waves Of
Stukas. German casualties were de.
| clared to be severe.
Greek newspapers reported that
the bayonet-Skilled Greeks were able
to check the Germans in any hand
to-hand combat that developed in
the war of machines.
For the first time in q week
Athens had "a hours without an air
raid alarm as the NaZis brought all
their air power to bear on the battle
zone.
Heavy Fighting In Progress.
British sources said heavy fight
ing was in progress in several sectors
of the new defense line thrown
across the Greek peninsula and the
Allies were reported moving up REIN
forcements to meet the German
thrusts.
(The War Office in London,
however, declared it had no con-
f1rmation of reports-attributed
to German quarters-that the
Allied line had been pierced south
of Mount Olympus)
Kalabaka, the immediate objec-
tive of the Germans on the central
front, is about 80 miles south Of
Grevena and the northern terminus
of a railway to Athens.
From LariSa, south and east of
Mount Olympus, branch line con-
meets with this railway at Trikkala,
Il miles below Kalabaka.
Between Grevena and Kalabaka
rugged mountain range constitutes
formidable obstacle in the path
of the German advance.