Evening star., 1943-10-17
Allies Seize II Italian Towns
Beat Off Savage Counterattacks;
Nazis Reported in Full Retreat
Fierce Battle
Fought North
OF VoIturno
BY EDWARD KENNEDY.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, AL
GIERS, Oct. 16.-Allied troops
smashing forward all across the
Italian front have captured two
vital road functions and 10 other
towns from the Germans, who
were reported officially today to
be counterattacking savagely
and renewing their aerial sup
port in a desperate effort to
break away from close-quarter
combat.
The battle north of the Volturno
River reached new high point of
fury as the Germans laShed out re-
peatedly with terrific commensurate
designed to disrupt the Allies long
enough to permit an orderly Nazi
withdrawal, but the American 5th
Army struck back with such speed
and power as to upset the enemy's
plans.
radio France at Algiers said
In broadcast recorded in Lon
don that the Germans north of
the Volturno were in full retreat)
Both the 5th Army in the west
and the British 9th Army in the east
threatened to outf1ank the Germans
Volturno line after hurting the stub
bornly resisting enemy forces back
with lightning advances ranging up
to miles.
Increase Threat to Flank.
In the northward thrust which
carried them 5 miles beyond the
Galore River, 5th Army forces cap
tured Cerreto, 9 miles northeast Of
the point where the Galore meets
the Volturno, to increase their threat
to the enemy's Volturno flank.
Crashing swiftly through stiff op-
position, 9th Army troops about 25
miles to the northeast pushed ahead
miles to capture the important
road functions of Campobasso. vir-
tually in the center of the Allied
line across the peninsula, and
Vinchiaturo, miles southwest.
With the fall of these two points,
the Allies gained control of vital
inland rail and highway communi-
cations and were in position to
menace the whole flank of the Ger
man defenders on the Volturno line
by a penetration deep behind that
fighting front.
Several of the enemy's fercest
counterattacks were launched in the
region of Caiazzo, a mile north of
the Volturno, but the 5th Army
finally routed the Germans in grim
fighting there and now has the town
firmly in its possession.
Amorosi Also Falls.
Amorosi, 5 miles east of Caiazzo
on the east bank of the Volturno,
also fell to the 5th Army, which
gained control of the high ground in
that important sector. The taking
of Amorosi enabled the Allies to
straddle the Volturno along miles
of its northWard bend above it's con-
fuence with the Galore.
At several points the Germans
lunged out toward the river in at
tempts to reduce the bridgeheads
through which 1t. Gen. Mark w.
Clark's 5th Army is bringing more
men, guns and tanks up to the fight
ing areas.
Other towns and villages which
fell before the combined assaults of
the 5th and 9th Armies were Castel
Campagnano, mile south of
Amorisi; Telese, three miles east of
Amorosi; San Guiliano, three and
half miles southeast of Vinchia-
turo; Cercepiccole, four miles south
east of Vinchiaturo; Matrice, four
and half miles northeast of Cam
pobasso; Morrone. four miles south
west of Cascalenda; and Campo
leito, eight miles northeast of Cam
pobasso.
Official reports from Gen. Clark's
1Coo TTAJV po1o A.