The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-11-14
NAILS in ITALY
HIT ALLIES HARD
CONTINUED From Page OneJ

on Wednesday. After losing them
to the Germans in Thursdays
counterattacks. They smashed
forward Friday and not only re-
gained the lost ground but won
new positions.
The Eighth Army was engag-
ed principally in sending out pa
trolls, one of which crossed the
Sangro river and wiped out a
German machine-gun nest. To
the south they repealed a Ger
man counterattack in brisk fight
ing between Allied-held Casalag-
nida and Nazi-held Atessi, and
succeeded in occupying important
high ground.
The struggle during the past
week has demonstrated conclu-
sively that the Germans still cher
1sh the hope of staving off a real
attack on Rome for months, there
by multiplying any prospects the
Allies have of using Italy as
Jumping off point for further as.
saults against Axis-held Europe
In the spring.
The terrain and the weather as
well as reinforcements of several
divisions which the Nazi command
moved into the line during the
past week combined to give Gen.
erals Clark and Montgomery one
of the toughest assignments any
Allied commanders have yet fac
ed.
The Germans have II divisions
(perhaps 10000 mem on the line
now, and the Americans, smuggling
it out with tough enemy veterans
from the Russian front, found that
the mountain strongholds around
Mignano had been prepared with
meticulous care.
Machine-gun, mortar and even
artillery positions have been blast.
ed out of sold rock lodges with
mines of every type planted along
every avenue of approach.
The advent of winter on the bat.
tlefront found this situation:
1. The Allies are 40 miles
past Naples but still are vir-
tually double that distance
from Rome a month and a half
after Naples was taken and
over two months after Mar
shall BadOglio's capitulation.
z. The Allies have achieved
two detectives in securing
great air system around Fog
| sla ana are compelling tho
Germans to throw into combat
more than half of all divisions
they had in Italy when tho
Italians quit.
3. Foggia's airfields remain
only about IS miles from the
front lines, closer than desir-
able for permanent bases Of
the four-engined bombers
whose winter assignment is to
beat Axis communications and
industries to a pulp.
4. Rome Itself Is valuable
primarily from a political
standpoint. From the stand
point of ground forces operat-
ing against really vital ana
strictly military objectives, bet
ter targets are roughly 24O
miles beyond the present front
- Florence, Leghorn, Rimini
and the entry to the great Pc
valley.
Heavy mining by the Germans
caused trouble to themselves in
one incident yesterday in which
Americans of the Fifth Army cap,
tured hill, killing 80 Germans
and wounding 80 officers. In their
retreat the Nazis ran into one of
their own minefields and suffer.
ed further casualties American
casualties were one killed and
three wounded.
The Germans on the Fifth Al
my front put up their most stub.
born resistance in the Venafro
and Mignano regions, which they
. apparently considered the most
vulnerable part of their lines, fo~
deep Allied wedge there woulo
threaten other points of their line
To the west along the Tyrrhen-
ian coast the German patrols were
increasingly active, crossing the
Garigliano river in some instances.
Headquarters disclosed today
that Allied destroyers and Raj
planes joined in bombardment
of enemy positions along the Gull
of Gaeta north of the Gariglianc
river Tuesday night and again a,
dawn Wednesday in support Of
Fifth Army operations.
The planes dropped flares and
bombed as the warships shelled
The Allied air command sen,
planes to bomb the Germans in
the Balkans again yesterday. Nit
chells hitting an oil refinery at
Berat and the nearby Kucove air
field in Albania and American
and British fighters strafed
landing ground at Mostar, Yugo.
slavla.
Air operations over Italy were
widespread yesterday, the Allies
hitting at German supply lines.
-V-
SUES ARCHRISH0p