Evening star., 1943-10-01

OTL OTtdt fTlZe Tor Allies.
The possession of Naples was q
great prize for the Allies. however.
who may now pour in through the
port a great army with its supplies
for the task opening ahead.
In preWar days Naples ranked as
1taly's greatest port next to Genoa
as we'll as a great manufacturing
city.
Its extensive docks and water
front presumably will be of great aid
to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's s
quartermasterS as soon as divers and
engineers have cleared the clogged
halbor channels and ship berths,
Strengthened out the tangled COM
munication lines and moved the
debris from the streets.
Naples was the primary objective
OF Gen. Eisenhower when the 5th
Army was landed on the beaches OF
Salerno September 9, because it was
necessary to obtain large port from
which to direct future operations.
1t took just % days to win the prize
Nearly Third of Peninsula Won.
A little less than a month after
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Mont gomery' S
G>h Army landed on the Italian toe
September 3, the Allies thus were in
possession of nearly third of the
Italian boot from which to press
their growing offensive.
CThe United Nations radio at
Algiers. in broadcast recorded
by Owl, said naval experts at
Allied headquarters estimated the
harbor of Naples" in its most i'm
portant aspects. can be made
serviceable in eight days from
now"
Gan NBC broadcast from Allied
headquarters said the outer Ge-
fenses of Naples were deserted by
the Germans three days ago. and
1T is possible that the city's in
ner defenses were deserted at the
same time, though the Germans
fought a stubborn rearguard ac-
ton"
The German communioue said
the only important fighting in
Italy yesterday was south Of
Mount Vesuvius" and declared
British tank thrusts were repulsed
there
The powerful British and Amer
ican armored columns which pushed
into Naples reached their objective
by taking Tore Annunz:ata. steel
town on the shelf of land between
the bay and Vesuvius, late Wednes-
day.
Tore Annunziata is 9 miles south
of Naples.
Menaced by Hundreds of Mines.
They then had to fight cautious
! battle with German rearguards
manning antitank guns in orchards
and other places of concealment
| root out hundreds of mines anc
overcome numerous obstacles anC
| demolitions.
While these forces battle toward
the great pail of smoke that hac
hung over Naples for days. other
American and British forces ad-
vanced to the east of the city and
dlCng tne ACrlatlc.
Americans speared forward for lC
miles and captured Avellino, &c
miles due east of Naples in an en-
crcllng maneuver which poised a
threat to the German retreat to
the Volturno.
AVelllno. a city of 5000. is a focal
| point of six roads on the trunk high
| way between Naples and Foggia and
is only II miles south of Benevento
| another important communications
center on the Volturno.
Meanwhile, the British 9th Army
was officially reported making a
rapid advance northward from
Foggla and Manfredonia along the
Adriatic. although today's COM
munique made only a cryptic state
ment that the progress was "ac-
cording to plan"
Nazi Flank Threatened.
Foggia. center of a whole chain of
airfields, is only l65 miles from
Rome and the Foggia plain extends
lnorthwsrd to within l4O miles of
tne capital city.
That the Germans were faced with
the necessity of making a stand
against this flanking movement was
indicated, however, by reports that
Gen. Montgomery was now in con-
tact with strong rearguards of the
enemy. Previously he had been
meeting negligible opposition.
Beyond Naples itself lay a num-
Der OF large airfields within a radius
OF Is to Is miles and it appeared
likely that several of these would
fall into Allied hands shortly.
Refugees received within the
Allied lines for several days had
reported that the Germans, stune
to fury by Italy's capitulation, were