The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-10-01
Continued From Page One)

You'd to the north and northeast,
bombed their truck conveys
The Allied communicate covered
action only to 6 p. H.. Wednesday
and fresh gains ranged from one
to five miles near the Gulf OF
Naples.
Allied casualties we're heavy.
Incomplete figures, excluding most
Of he v;olrte ac:i n leading to
the bursting of the final mountain
barrier south of Naples, showed
8, 7O8 British and American troops
killed, wounded Or missing.
Three British correspondents
killed by a MARKELL tank at the
edge of the Naples plain Tuesday.
They were A. B. Austin of the
London Daily Herald, Stewart G.
Sale of Reuters and William j.
Munday of the London News
Chronicle and Sydney australia
Morning Herald. A fourth British
writer, Basil Gingell of Exchange
Telegraph, was injured slightly.
They were the first correspondents
killed by enemy action in Sicily
or Italy.
British divisions of the Fifth
Army suffered 5,211 casualties be-
tween September 900 and the
Americans through September IL
of the same period lost 3,497 men.
The high proportion of casualties
considering the number of troops
| involved, gave an indication Of
the fierceness of mountain fight
ing by the infantry which pre-.
ceded the armored surge into and
beyond Pompei.
AS the Fifth Army advanced on
Naples, great columns of smoke
and flame leaped from the city
of horror. Engineers did yeornen
service in swiftly digging out
minefields. In contrast, the Eighth
Army pushed along the Adriatlc
and beyond the great air center
of Foggia without encountering
extensive mines or effective re-
sistance.
(The German comnunique hint
ed at the evacuation of Naples
later reported from Stockholm,
saying: ''Harbor installations
have been thoroughly destroyed
to prevent enemy landings. Sever
est measures have been taken
against Communist riots. The
enemy in general followed up oul
movement with rather weak for
ces. British tank forces pressing
strongly south of Vesuvius were
halted" The Berlin dispatch tt
Stockholm said that "Communis'
revolt and extensive sabotage part
ly forced the evacuation of Naples
and added that ''rebels" were as
sisting the Fifth Army south Of
Naples)
The Foggia plain, which extends
80 miles north of Foggia, was de-
clared almost entirely under AL
lied domination.
The fall of Naples will compile
ment the earlier seizure of Fog
gia, 80 miles to the northeast. The
great harbor of Naples is large
enough to accommodate ire
mendous marshalling of Allied
might, just as the 10 Foggia all
fields will base the predominant
air forces. Naples harbor has beer
wrecked extensively, and upward:
of 30 ships have been scuttled tt
block its docks. Allied experience
in North Africa and Sicily, how
ever, showed that harbors canno-
be permanently sabotaged.
Bright, windy weather prevailed
instead of heavy rains. allowing
medium bomber to destroy brid
ges, roads and functions within 4;
miles of Naples to the north
northeast and east.
Main targets were Cancello
Piano, Amorosi. Castlevenere
Apollinaire, Benevento and For
mia. All are on German retrea-
routes. Fighters and fighter-bom
bers patrolled the 'fBenevente
battle area, attacking targets Of
opportunity" the Allied commu
nique said. Beneveno is 80 miles
northeast of Naples.