Evening star., 1943-10-02
NopIes-und Beyond

Naples is ours. This great port
city fell to General Mark Clark's
mixed American and British Fifth
Army on the twenty-th day after
its landing on the Salerno beaches
some fifty miles to the southwark.
Naples was, of course, the primary
objective of that undertaking 1t
is the one first-class harbor on Italy's
west coast south of Spezia and Genoa,
which lie in the extreme north, and
is thus the necessary base for the
supply of big expeditionary army
coming by sea. For that reason the
Germans fought stubborn delaying
action to give time for their engineers
to wreak the greatest possible dam
agee on the Neapolitan docks,
harbor installations and other utili-
ties, which had already suffered from
Allied air bombings. Between the
two demolitions. Naples is probably
a scene of devastation which may
take some time to clear up. Never
theless, a natural harbor cannot be
obliterated; SO we may expect that
before long Naples will become a
practicable base of operations.
One of the urgent tasks before
the Allies will be the restoration of
living conditions for Naples dense
population of nearly a million souls.
The Germans are reported to have
Systematically looted and terrorized
that hapless mass Of humanity,
which must be demoralized, desti-
tute, and on the verge of starvation.
The next strategic objective is
Rome, which lies 100 miles to the
northwestward. The road to Rome
presents many difficulties against a
determined enemy. The Germans are
repeatedly preparing their first stand
on the line of the Volturno, a sizable
river which flows from the noun
tains inland through narrow coastal
plain to the sea. Behind the river
rises a spur of hills which almost
touches the coast, and there is an
other patch of hill country beyond.
That means the probability Of hard
fighting for the first sixty miles,
when the coastal plain broadens into
the Campagna and the Tiber valley.
The second half of the road to Rome
should thus be the easier. OF course,
we should realize that the coastal
lowlands are backed by the noun
tain chain of the Apennines which
form the backbone of the narrow
Italian peninsula, and those heights
are in German hands. Between the
Volturno and Rome there is not
single easy pass across the noun
tains, so liaison with the British
forces working up the parallel
Adriatic coast will be impracticable,
and care will have to be taken to
guard lines of communication be-
tween Naples and the northward-
moving front.
1t is, of course too soon to fore
tell whether the Germans will try to
defend Rome as they did Naples.
President Roosevelt likens the ad-
vance on the Eternal City as cru
sade to liberate the Pope from Nazi
domination. Even Hitler may hesi-
tate to incur the odium of the Ro-
man Catholic world by bringing
devastation upon the venerated seat
of the Papacy. Yet Rome's strategic
Importance is so great that military
exigencies may prevail over religious
or political considerations. The
course of events will disclose the
decision of the German high COM
mand. Meanwhile, much must be
done before Naples can be restored
to it's normal utility as port of
entry and the full striking power of
the Allied invasion is attained.