Evening star., 1943-11-14
|Apennine Villagers
Groan as Germans
|Scorch Their Earth
BY DANIEL DE LUCE.
Associated Press War Correspondent.

nc"oSioIcu 6IcSS war CORRESPONDENT.
ROMERO, Italy, Nov. IL de-
layed.-This little Apennine village
OF 1900 souls reeks today of the old
fires which the Germans lighted and
dozens of stone houses have been re-
duced to gaping craters by enemy
mine explosions.
Rionero stands at the 3,20O-foot
crest of the pass over which runs
the mountain highway from Isernia
to Rome.
Ahead only to 7 miles the erst-
while peaceful settlements Of AL
fedena, Castel Di Sangro, Scontrone
and Montenero are burning.
In sparkling winter sunshine of
the first clear day this week Italian
refugees groan with. helpless fury at
the sight of the Germans scorching
their earth. Two nights ago the
Nazis abandoned Rionero, putting to
the torch some 40 buildings and
blowing up others in tremendous
blasts which temporarily de-
molished via Roma" the street
which threads the village from end
to end.
4 Persons Slain.
Four persons were shot dead by
enemy machine-gunners for trying
to salvage household treasures from
their burning homes.
"One was an old woman, one a
young girl and the others men,"
said grizzled Tony Andreano, Sc,
who came back to his Italian farm
years ago but left his son, Alberto, OF
Cleveland, Ohio, to grow up an
American.
Yesterday British Eighth Army
patrols occupied Rionero. The viii
layers were so sunken in grief and
fear that they neither cheered nor
offered the usual bouquets of flow-
erS
This still is virtually the front
line. Odd shells still whistle over
head.
At noon "a Allied bombers at
tackled the enemy around burning
Alfedena. High gray clouds of
smoke hang over that village now
in an otherwise cloudless sky.
Wounded soldiers, fires, the con-
fused rumble of distantly exploding
bombs contrast fantastically with
the calmly grazing f1ocks of sheep
in the nearby green fields and the
peasants-men. women and children
and hoeing the damp
earth of fertile hillsides between two
ranges of snow-capped mountains.
Nazis Flee Without Battle.
'Via Roma" which disappears
over the rugged horizon ahead
seems to this correspondent neither
impossible nor impregnable. Rio
nero is 80 miles in a straight line
and 100 miles by road from the
eternal city Of Rome. German de-
molitions now in progress indicate
the enemy's position is being aband-
oned without a standup battle.
The 9th Armys progress the
past week has been triumph of en-
gineering.r If our sappers keep on
dealing SO successfully with de-
stroyed bridges and mined roads Al
lied infantry and artillery will con-
tinue to push the Germans back
The Americans are coping aggres-
sively with German resistance to the
west and 9th Army commanders
give them high marks for their
fighting penetration of the strong
points on the British flank. On the
east coast the 9th Army itself
is patrolling actively.
The march on Rome goes slowly
but surely forward.
Rionero represents a nine-mile
jump ahead in the central sector
from 1sernia. 1t is symbol of Ger
man ruthlessness and is certain to
be avenged later by the Italians.
A Miracle of Faith.
ToothleSs, dust stained Limo Sapri !
whose sons Dominic and Armando
are believed by him to live now at
1887 Washington boulevard, Cleve-
land Heights. Ohio, took me into
Rioner's three churches, San Bar
tolomeo, Trinita and Santa Maria
Carmello.
In each candles still stood upright
In holders beside richly draped al
tars and polished holy vessels un-
touched. Stained glass windows had
been broken, but otherwise the
churches escaped damage although
the buildings around them had been
erased by German demolitions,
That was miracle of our faith"
said Limo Sapri.