The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-10-04
The War on
Many Fronts

7 NY SAAAeNA 8AN@9t
Allied troops kept the Germans re-
treating along the bomb torn roads
TO Rome today with q leap-frcg adj
vance up the Adriatic coast and q
thrust across the Galore river that
may have pierced the enen1y's first
defense line above Naples.
Driving relentlessly to prevent the
Germans from getting set British
Eighth Army troops, adopted tactics
perfected In Sicily for an. anphiv-
, ious operation up the east coast to
Termoli, $50 miles east and slightly
more to Rome. n
Advancing from Foggia, the main
body by General Sir Bernard L
Montgomery's troops quickly caught
up with the landing forces who won
Italian points within easy over
water reach Of the Balkan Ralmatia
coast where Jugoslav partisans were
reported engaged in heavy fighting
against the Germans.
Allied Fifth Army forces captured
Benevento, 35 miles northeast Of
Naples, then won q crossing over
the Galore river which with the
Volturno to the west was believed
to be the first spot where the enemy
would try to stand after being
driven from Naples.
Knock Out Bridge
Ahead Of them Allied planes
knocked out q vital railroad bridge
at Capua, possibly trapping some
Gef,1nnYa raad ey,,oras sas,r,.s,a .Aa..,.
roads and rail routes due north of
Naples and ranged SO miles above
Rome to unload blockbusters on the
Civitavecchia marshalling yards.
The pace of the Allied advance
and its accompanying areial offen-
sive appeared designed to forestall
any German attempt to dig In below
the italian capital for a major bat
tle.,
Across the Adriatic on the Ralma-
tan coast JugoSlav PArtisans, who
some reports said were getting regu-
lar Allied supplies, were locked In
furious struggles with German reg
ular army troops trying to forestall
any Balkan invasion In strength.
German conviction that their
position east Of italy was becoming
shaker was evidenced by an at
tempt to retake the Island Of Cos,
OF the Turkish coast, from British
forces that seized 1t Sept. 81 as @
base for attacks against Rhodes,
Crete and Greece.
Fight Desperately
British troops were fighting des-
perately to wipe out German sea
and air landing forces but there had
been no report on the battle since
yesterdays communique. The island
was believed to be manned by O
Royal Air Force regiment.
The air offensive against Ger
many from British roared into the
fourth day Of one Of the wars most
sustained series Of assaults with
American flying fortresses pentrat-
ing deep into the reich war indus
trial area to bomb Frankfurt.
The giant planes were escored by
Thunderbolt fighters equipped with
special gas tanks for their S00-mile
round trip flight-longest ever at
tempted by such crawl.
The fortress assault was the sew
enth heavy blow against Germany
during the four-day period and fol-
lowed by only q few hours o Royal
Air Force attack on the aircraft and
arms center at KaSsel in which "a
big bombers were lost. oNGre than
1000 tons Of explosives were believed
to have been dropped on aKssel.
"A Planes Shot Down
In the smaller operations against
Axis-held Holland and France,
allied planes shot down "a enemy
fighters while American medium
bomhers equalled their record Of 200
sorties In a single day yesterday.
IN Russia, the Germans appeared
to be giving up their bitterly-held
foothold in the northwest Caucasus
and planning o withdrawal on the
northern end Of their lines as far
back as the Baltic borders Of Lat
via and Lithuania.
Soviet troops were within % miles
Of Magilev, key to enemy defenses
In White Russia, but were being
\ slowed by, heavy autumn rains. Rus
STA reports said the German air
force was leveling everything from
Mogilev westward for 100 to 200
miles.
In the northwest Caucasus, NaM
armies pulled out Of Taman while
Russian planes bombarded their es-
cape ships in the Black Sea.
Red army reinforcements were
being rushed to the Dnieper to rn-
dertake large scale crossings but
were meeting stiffened German de-
lenses at the river itself, which Hit
Ter has ordered his battered troops
to hold.
Forces In Position
In the Pacific, Gen. Douglas Mac
Arthur's forces were In position to
break the Japanese hold along all
the north New Guinea coast tGser
a 93-day campaign in which most of
five to six enemy divisions-possib-
ly 10000 men-were defeated.
Allied troops showing inland up
the Markham River Valley threat
ened to outflank Wewak and Ma
dang, Japanese bases northwest of
Finschhafen, which was captured
Saturday by Australian troops.
Seizure of Finschhafen put the
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