Evening star., 1941-04-21
MiIe-High Mountain
Pass Near Metsovon
Taken, Nozis Say
Ps the Associated Press.

PS the Associated Press.
BERLIN, April 21.-German
mechanical forces have pushed
southwark "far beyond Larisa"
in pursuit of Greek and British
troops retreating on the Plain of
ThessaIy. the German high COM
mand said today.
Other Nazi forces operating to the
west seized mile-high mountain
pass near Metsovon, 40 miles north
west of captured Trikkala, after
crossing the Pindus mountains, the
daily war bulletin said.
The communique emphasized air
assaults against British troop trans
ports along the Greek east coast. A
7,000-ton merchantmen was said to
have been destroyed in the Port of
Volos and two transports were re-
ported heavily hit" at Khalkis.
Another transport was sunk from
convoy in the Mediterranean, the
high command said.
Authorized sources previously had
said that the Nazi mechanical units
were rolling steadily southwark after
the retreating Greeks and British
across the whole 60-mile width of
the plain of Thessaly in Central
Greece.
New Threat TO Greeks.
The German seizure of Metsovon
Pass offered a new threat to the
Greeks retreating into Northwest
ern Greece from Albania along an
ever-narrowing path.
Italian forces which are pushing
the Greeks across the border say the
retiring forces have only one main
road left open. that which runs
southwark from Ioannina. Met
sovon Pass is Is miles east of loan
nina, which in turn is about the
same distance from the Albanian
border.
In advancing across the Thessalo-
man plains the Germans had a clear
sweep of territory before reaching
the Othrys mountain range standing
IN front Of Lamia, which is so miles
south of Larisa. This range sweeps
westward and connects with the
massive Pindus mountain range, but
is penetrated by passes.
Beyond Lamia the approach to
Athens narroWS to the 40-mile wide
isthmus between the Gulf of Cor
NTH and the Atalante Channel.
which separates the mainland from
Eyvoia Island. There was no official
indication, however, to what point
the British and Greeks had with
drawn.
German commentators said the
Reichswehr's panzer units should
traverse that plain, which extends
roughly IS miles to the south before
running into the southern mountain
chains, easily and effectively in what
they called the final phase" of the
war
Other Nazi forces, operating to the
west, crossed the Pindus range and
took possession of mile-high passes
near Metsovon, 40 miles northwest
of Trikkala, authorized sources said.
Greek resistance was said to be
crumbling following the taking of
Trikkala, 40 miles west of previously
captured Larisa, and the British,
constantly harassed from the air,
were described as withdrawing to-
ward harbors.
tAthens dispatches acknowl-
edged that Greek and British
forces were falling back)
Hitler Marks Birthday.
Somewhere behind his advancing
troops, Adolf Hitler observed his
SD birthday yesterday in a flower
decorated railway dining car in the
presence of military leaders.
The Germans said the Greek cam
paign was progressing satisfactorily
in all sectors, including the west,
where some Greek units were de-
scribed as apparently disbanding"
before the Italian advance.
Nd1A OAopdCSllCS 1IOiIl GIlG ITOnG
used the words "a second Dun
kerque" with increasing frequency
in mentioning the British and the
commentary Dienst aus Deutschland
said the British were heading for
Lamia and the ports of Volos and
Khalkis.
The capture of Trikkala, reported
by the German high command yes
terday close on the heels of the
taking of Larisa, left the Germans
on line less than $50 miles from
Athens and the Nazis said their air
force was hammering at troops on
the single road leading south from
LariSa.
Trikkala, a town of $4,000, gives
the Germans a grip on the rail line
winding through Central Greece
from Salonika to Volos.
The Fuehrer spent part of his
birthday celebration, described as
marked by "soldierly simplicity"
poring over military maps and re-
ceiving fluctuations of his army,
navy and air force chieftains. Radio
announcers at the scene said he re-
sponded to each OF the greetings
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