Evening star., 1943-10-01
BY RELMAN MORN,
Associated Press War Correspondent.

army finally hurled from its noun
tain StrongholdS, was in the plains !
Of Naples tonight, half a step ahead
of Allied troops who had won their
greatest victory since the battle of
Italy began.
1t was a triumphant and at the
same time completely crazy day. /
Five American correspondents, in /
blissful ignorance of their position, .
"captured' one town a half hour
before British patrols arrived
In the morning We were ducking
garlands of flowers, branches of
oleanders and flying lemons and
perSimmonS with which we were
greeted by the Italians. Before the
afternoon ended we were huddled
in doorWayS, caught between shells /
from German and British tanks.
We left headquarters early in the /
morning, intending to visit noun
tain sectors where the British for
five days previously had been ham /
mering German defenSeS beautifully .
chosen to, hold passes commanding
the entrance to the Naples plain,
Until today an advance of mile
had been considered a good days
progress.
None Expected Break.
The Germans had made good use
of the natural ADVANTAGES of the
terrain, and apparently expected to
hold their line for some time. The
British had pounded them unmerci-
fully, but nobody expected the break
that ca c,ISIa,l,- tnSov
We had expected to stop at the
ruined hamlet of Camerelle. but
when We arrived there We saw a
convoy winding through the noun
tainS ahead. Somewhat to our sur
prise, we reached the major city of
Nocera.
A few British reconnaissance We
hlcles were pushing along the road
beyond, and we were told American
troops were ALREADY in possession of
the neighboring city, but informa-
ton admittedly was fragmentary.
We decided to push on and raced
down the road in our jeeps, occa-
sionallv passing a British rcconnais-
sance car proceeding with caution.
Italians lining the road We're wild
NA'AA JON pIlNt Iii I w l. lNIl dllAl IiONClS
at us. Some Of them finally tagged
us down and told Herbert Matthews
of the New York Times. who could
speak Italian, that five Germans
with two machineguns were still,
hidden in the buildings ahead
Others Come Up.
Looking back We could see our
second iecp bringing Seymour Kor-
man of the Chicago Tribune. Farms
worth FoWle CHS correspondent.
and Serct. Dave Golding of the
Stars and StripcS-but no British
armor We decided to wait.
A few minutes later a British pa
troll arrived and went slowly up the
street to the first corner and in
stantly the rattle of German ma
chine gun broke the stiffness. Then
came the crack Of an antitank gun
While We lay low British infantry,
led by townspeople, slipped through
gardens and over walls to flank the
position, and it was finally silenced
with some prisoners taken.
Two miles across the valley at the
foot Of the hills We saw series of
heavy explosions which We identified
as Germans destroying their dumps
and vehicles The British had come
roaring down out of the hills so fast
they swept beyond the German
forces facing the Americans along
the lateral axis of the mountains
across from us. The Germans OBJ
Viously were pulling out at full speed
to prevent being encircled and were
destroying their equipment en- route
Their whole position had collapsed
Jownspeople Hysterical.
This town was full of crazy people,
literally insane with JOY. They were
so happy they were forcing cigarettes
on all Of us instead of begging them.
The bells We're ringing and it was
like fete day, with the war far
away
That didn't last long On the road
leading from the town to Pompeii
German tank and two Self-propelled
artillery pieces boldly emerged. The
tank planted itself squarely in the
center OF the road. Its big gun was
pointed at the turn in the street.
Nothing could come around that
vi II, llIt NhNil q UIS Ol ILl>Il tdllh,
without the Germans getting the
first shot and it would prove fatal at
that short range.
For a few moments We stood on
that corner, practically looking down
the barrel of the tanks big gun. 1t
was silent and seemingly dead there
In the road We saw British mortar
shells exploding all around it and
still there was no sign of life any
where in or around the tank We
must have been standing full in the
gunner's sights but there was moth
ing to indicate then that there was
any one looking through them.
Shaken by Gun Blast
We came to the conclusion that
the tank had been abandoned.
Crossing the street We began ap-
preaching 1t With the curve of the
road sheltering us A British tank
and a reconnaissance vehicle clat-
tered up behind us.
Suddenly there was crash that
seemed to shake the world.
What felt like blast furnace shot
past lis. A massive stone house
trembled from the conclusion and
the street was suddenly filled with
dust and smoke. 1t happened too
swiftly for realization. We felt only
the heat and the shock Then l
looked back over my shoulder.
The corner of the building where
we had been standing 10 seconds
before was blawn to bits. Two fig
ures, terribly still, lay beneath in a
hole where the shell struck. They
were Tommies with whom we had
been talking. One had borrowed a
match from us