Evening star., 1943-10-02
Allies Smashing On Past Naples
Against Sharp Nazi Opposition;
Road to Rome Declared 'Open'
9th Army Spreads
Out From Foggio,
Taking Two Towns

By the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, Oct. 2.-British
and American troops, feverishly
welcomed by the surviving popu-
lation of Naples, forged on past
that devastated city today
and fought steadily northWard
toward Rome and the next de-
tense line of the Germans.
"a Reuters dispatch from AL
lied headquarters quoted a mill
tary spokesman as saying the
road to Rome is now open. The
town of Benevento is directly
threatened
He added that the American
5th Army was already we'll
north of Naples" Eenevento is
80 miles northeast of NaplesD
Meeting sharp opposition by Ger
man tanks, mortars and machine
guns, the forces of 1t. Gen Mark w.
Clark were said in a communiuue TO
be making good progress, both to the
north of the captured port city and
to the east.
9Th Army Takes More Towns.
The British 9Th Army Of Gen. Sir
Bernard L. Montgomery. speedily
spreading over all the Foggia plain.
meanwhile, captured San Severe, Is
miles north of Foggia, and LuCera.
IL miles northwest of that air base
center. Allied headquarters an
nounced.
All the Monte Gargano Peninsula
the spur Of the Italian boot-also
has been occupied in a 30-mile ad-
vance by Gen. Montgomery.
spokesman said.
Allied troops entering the city Of
Naples. once famed for its beauty,
found the water front a solid area
of ruin. reports from the battlefront
said, but the rest Of the city was
orderly.
Gen. Clark himself entered the
city yesterday afternoon, and the
first advance patrols which took
over the occupation we're followed
by steady stream Of troops, tanks
and vehicles.
All Of the city's million people
who had remained in Naples through
the bombings and then survived the
German reign of terror joined in a
happy welcome to the Allied war
riors who drove through the city in
pursuit of the retreating enemy.
Water Front Buildings Razed.
A military spokesman said mill
tary police had taken over control
of the city until local police could
be reorganlzed Tor the task.
Before retreatinC the Germans
heavily mined the city'S streets, but
as fast as they finished the job, the
Neopolitans dug out the explosives
and, according to reports given the
Allied vanguard, buried them on the
road north Of the city over which
the Germans were about to retreat.
Gen. Clark's troops found few
buildings near the Naples water
front habitable as a result of heavy
bombings and systematic German
demolitlons.
The greater part of the town itself
had been spared by the bombers,
Italian officials said, but extensive
damage was done to the central and
eastern portions when the Germans
mined buildings and set others aflre.
CTodays German communique
gave the German people the first
official announcement on the AL
lied capture of Naples 1t said
the city was evacuated after mill
tarv installations had been de-
stroyedD
Port and Rail Station in Ruins.
An official report at Allied head
quarters said: The port and rail-
way station are in ruins. The port
is a graveyard of Axis shipping.
Some of the craft had been SAL
vaged and repaired by the Germans,
only to be scuttled few days ago.
Warehouses, docks and all har-
Dor installations had been bombed
so often that repairs became futile
Under German orders, however, the
italians had to work day and night
to clear away the rubble and re-
construct landing quays. They had
to defy bombs and carry on to pro-
vide port facilities for the Germans" p"
The Germans obviously were de-
termined to hold back the hard
hitting. high-speed Allied armored
columns until new defense lines
could be prepared somewhere to the
north. The enemy's armor was re-
ported fighting very vigorous rear
guard action north of Naples and
giving ground only foot by foot.
The same type of action was en-
countered by American troops ad-
vancing through the mountains
north and northeast of Avellino to
the east of Naples. They we're
running into mortar and machine
gun positions, which had to be
rooted out one by one.
On the Adriatic coast, however,
Gen. Montgomery still was meeting
light opposition. His capture of
Lucera tightened the Allied hold
on all the 13 airhelds in the Foggia
area.
The number of Neopolitans who
met death during the German reign
over the city will never be known.
Italian officers reported to Allied
commanders. They said the COM
plete casualty figures had been de-
stroyed when the enemy blew up
the police headquarters.
The Allied air forces hammered
every one of the retreat routes of
the enemy north of Naples, and also
from Corsica, where American
Rangers and Corsican patriots we're
closing in relentlessly on Bastia, the
German evacuation port.
RAF Wellingtons dropped heavy