The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-11-08
Continued From Page One)

A general attack drove the Ger
mans back from the Trigno river
along a 19-mile front inland from
the Adriatic, and the few remain
ing Nazi strongpoints near the Tri.
gno's headwaters were left unten-
able.
This onslaught turnbled seven
major towns and numerous villages
into the hands of Gen. Sir Bernard
L. Montgomery's British, Cana
dian, and Indian troops including
Montedorisio. four miles south
west of Vasto. Six other important
towns captured i ma line southwest
from Vasto along the Trigno front
were Cupello, Furci, Palmoli, TUT
lilo, Celenza. and Bagnoli, the lat
ter IA miles northeast of Isernia.
Aloft, Allied planes ranged wide
yesterday. u. S. Warhawks pounc-
ed on a concentration of 200 Ger
man war vehicles parked at Met
kovic on the coast of Yugoslavia,
destroye 40 and damaging so more,
and other fleets ripped up enemy
tanks, motor vehicles, and trains
in Italy in an exceptionally sue
cessful series of operations.
The heaviest fighting aground
was met by American Doughboys
driving north and west into the
mountains from Venafro. There the
Nazi command threw in reinforce
ments in furious effort to retain
the heights dominating the main
inland highway to Rome-the Via
Casilina-running through the mar
row mountain gap at Mignano only
10 miles short of Casino.
The enemy, who in recent weeks
has seemed consistently to have
underestimated the mountain fight
ing skill of U. S. troops, apparent
ly fully realized his danger too late.
From their new vantage points,
Flark's forces are looking over the
broad valley through which flow
the headwaters of the Garigliano
river as well as long tributary
the Liri interviewing from the d.
rection of Rome.
West and northwest from the
hills behind Mignano, open coun-
try extends Is miles, affording a
path for cutting beyond the Auru-
nci mountains.
The Germans outlook on the
Eighth Army front was equally
bleak. The Nazis had staked con-
siderable portion of their available
armor in fruitless struggle in
the last three days to halt the tre-
drive that wiped out their
Trigno river defenses and now has
driven them back to within mile
of the little Sinella river. Their
next major stand is likely to be at
tempted along the Sangro river, IA
miles above Vasto.
Fall of Furci, 10 miles southwest
of Vasto and six miles north of
the Trigno, represented the farth-
est point in the inland advance of
the Eighth Army.
Thus the full year, ending today,
since Allied troops landed in North
Africa to rid one continent of the
Nazis and take a springboard to
invade another, found the Germans
compelled to abandon plans for for
holding in southern Italy with a
comparatively small army.
Besides the damaging raid on the
motor vehicle park at Metkovic,
the P-4O Warhawks also STRAIT
ed a train at Ploca in Yugoslavia |
in another dash in support of Yug-
oslav guerrilla troops. The Met
kovic attack caught the Germans
by surprise.
Flying F'ortresses of the New U.
S. 18th Air Force. hit the north end
of railway bridge at Orbetello,
IS miles northwest of Rome, and
tracks near Montalto di Castro to
the south. Lightnings pummelled
railroad bridge near Viterbo and
tracks near Lake Bolsena, a bridge |
between Terni and Perugia, the
Targuinia airfield and trains and
trucks near Civita-Vecchia. All
these raids were in the central area
north of Rome on main routes |