The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-12-07
The War On
Many Fronts

American troops seized dominant
mountain positions overlooking the
main highway to Rome and Rus
sian tanks and infantry ripped deep
into the Nazis' Ukrainian defenses
today, amid persistent reports Of
an Anglo American-Turkish confer
enoe that might open a new land
front in southeastern Europe.
Axis reports, partially confirmed
/ by the British press, sad President
Roosevelt and Prime Minister
Churchill were comforting in Cairo
with Ismet Inonu, president of Tur-
key. The reports suggested the dis
cussions centered around the posi-
BILE use of Turkish Thrace-the
hack door to the Balkans-aS an
invasion route for powerful Allied
armies massed in the middle east.
There was no official confirmation
of the reports, but Swedish re-
ports yesterday said the Nazis had
rushed heavy reinforcements to the
Bulgarian Turkish frontier in anti
cipation of an imminent Allied at
tack from that direction.
o1lIluAOdAlCOIDAy, ONoC1NC1O
in London predicted that 100000
American, British and Russian
troops would be hurled into a eli
lnatic three-way attack on Europe
before spring.
These forecasts, obviously linked
with the Allied war of nerves against
Germany, indicated that 100000 to
/ 050, 900 American and British troops
would be used in the invasion of
western Europe alone.
Strong Defenses
On the Italian battlefront, mean
while, American units of It. Gen.
Mark Clark's Fifth Army battled
through strong Nazi defenses in the
Canine Maggiore mountain barrier
on the road to Rome and swept on
to the northern rim of the noun
tain line above the Liri River VAL
aey.
American forward observation
posts overlooked the flat country
stretching northward along the Via
Casilina, the historic invasion high
way to Rome.
German troops fought desperately
to stave the American advance,
which threatened momentarily to
collapse their main mountain de-
fenses on the western flank of the
italian line.
At the same time, Gen. Sir Bernard
T.. Montgomery'S British 9th Army
thrust an armored spearhead across
the Moro River in eastern Italy and
smashed head-on into the make
shift German defense line 10 miles
below the Pescara river running
from Ortona on the Adriatic coast
to Guardiagrele, is miles inland.
Bad Weather
Bad weather over the battlefield
grounded the Allied tactical air
force, but American heavy bombers
sv,armed out over German occupied
greece to blast the Kalamaki and
Eleusis airfields outside Athens.
The RATS giant night bombers
r, NAMED grounded for the second
fraight night, apparently because
Of storm and fog over western Eu-
1ope.
In Russia, massive Soviet and
G erman armies continued their see
saw battle all the way from White
Russia to the Lower Dnieper bend,
with the Red Army holding the
initiative everywhere but on the
salient west of Kiev.
Waves Of Tanks
Nazi Field Marshal Fritz Erich
Won Mannstein hurled waves OF
tanks and infantry against the Rus
sian-held salient in an effort to
throw the Soviets back to the east
bank of the Dnieper beyond Kiev,
but Moscow reported that all at
tacks had been halted.
Farther south converging Rus
sian armies plunged to within seven
niles Of the twin railway functions
II Khirovka and znamenka, which
ssntrol all the remaining German
.eM railway lines III the southern
Ukraine east OF Odessa.
cADture Of tbs two functions