The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-12-29
The War On
Many Fronts
(By United PreSS)

through a 65-mile gap in the Ger
man defenses west of Kiev today
and famed out in three directions
toward the old Polish and Ru-
manian frontiers. while American
bombers struck again at Nazi-occu-
pied Rome and British Eighth Army
troops seized the Adriatic anchors
Of the enemy's Italian line.
Surging westward through crum-
bling enemy resistance, Russia's
First Ukrainian army fought its
way into the northeastern and
southeastern suburbs of Korosten
in an 11-mile advance that threat
ened momentarily to engulf that
key five-way junction on the main
OdesSa-Leningrad railway.
All along the 65-mile front the
Germans were falling back with in
creasing speed as the Red army
pressed what appeared to be full
scale drive to break through to
the Bug river in Poland and to the
Rumanian frontier, thus trapping
hundreds of thousands Of Nazi
troops pinned down In the Dnieper
bend.
The northern wing of the Russian
offensive captured Bekhi, four miles
northeast of Korosten, while Sec
ond column drove into Khotinovka,
51s miles southeast of the junction.
Less than so miles to the south,
the Russians cleared the way for a
direct assault on the enemy strong
hold Of Zhitomir by capturing the
town Of Korostishev after a fierce
street battle in which virtually all
the German garrison was ami
hilated.
The southern flank of the Russian
offensive arc broke into Pavlach,
38 miles northeast of Berdichev and
20 miles northeast of Kazatin, two
important junction towns athwart
the main railroad line to Rumania.
In northern White Russia, the
First Baltic army beat off savage
German counter attacks around
Vitebsk and frightened its arc
around that enemy bastian. More
than $500 German officers and men
were killed in 10 futile counter
attacks on that sector.
Allied air forces returned to the
attack on German targets after q
fortnight Christmas lull ex-
pjlained officially as caused by bad
weather. British based Mosquito
bombers attacked detectives in
western Germany, while American
medium raiders hammered in con-
siderable strength at the network
of airdromes in the northern and
southern suburbs of Rome.
German broadcasts reported q
heavy death toll in the Rome raid
and advanced their usual claims of
serious damage to cultural and reli-
gious monuments. Reports from
Allied headquarters in Algiers in
dicated, however, that the raiders
had struck a damaging blow at the
Guidonia, Centocelle and Ciampino
airdromeS.
Furious ground fighting flared up
all along the battlefront on the road
to Rome highlighted by the 9th
Army's capture of Ortona and the
Apennine transport junction of Cas-
tel Di Sangro, keystones of the Ger
mans Adriatic line.
The ten-day battle of Ortona,
probably the bloodiest engagement
since the week-long fight for Troina
In Sicily, ended yesterday with vic
torious Canadian troops moving on
past the town through snow and
sleet toward their next major OBJ
jective-the port of Pescara, Adria-
tic terminal of the main lateral road
to Rome.
With the Adriatic anchor of their
line cracked open, the Germans also
fell back from important strong
holds inland where Indian and New
Zealand forces won CaStel Di San
gro and strategic heights little more
than 10 miles south of the Pescara-
Rome road.
On the 5th Army front, Moroccan
trcops continued their slogging adj
Tance across the 3,00O-foot Mainar-
e mountain mass, while American
roops improved their positions near
IAN Vittore, outpost of the Casino
licenses guarding the inland road
10 the Italian capital.
HCW AdFdl dCCIOIl dlSO Was re-
ported from London in the wake of
the Royal Nays spectacular sink
ing Of the 26,0O0-ton Nazi battleship
Scharnhorst.
An undetailed communiQue said
British surface units and coastal
command planes sank three Ger
man destroyers and an AxiS block
abe runner In the Raw NJ EiSrav
The date Of the sinkings was not
Immediately revealed.
News Of the air-sea battle, in
which a number OF other German
destroyers were damaged, aroused
speculation that the Nazis might be
9smhltng tI1etr tew remaining sxr-
face warships r. Q desperate effort
to halt the flow Of Allied troops and
supplies across the Atlantic to Great
Britain and the Mediterranean.