The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-05-03
War On Many Fronts

yards OF Acheres, France.
The attacks carried forward the
operations Of between 1000 and
1000 American and British planes
yesterday on ct least IS targets,
most Of them railway yards serving
the French invasion coast.
italian Operations
In the italian operations yester-
day and last might, British and
American bonbers struck ports and
railway centers on both coasts and
inland. Among the many places hit
were Genoa, Livorno Lcghorn)
Spezia, Piaccnza, Parma, Orbetello,
Fano Florence, Orvieto. Castel Mag
giore Faenza and Ancona.
The weight and range of the at
tackS were taken as indications that
the Allies plan new offensive action
in Italy and probably southern
France. The enemy Vichy radio for
instance, said they "can be taken
for general softening up preceding
an attack in the very near future.
Other German stations broadcast
repeated warnings to the people Of
Europe to be prepared for heavy
simultaneous blows from the east,
west and south.
On the italian land fronts, there
was intense patrol and artillery ac-
tivity on both coasts and in the GEN.
ter, perhaps presaging a renewal Of
major offensive action. A signifi-
can't report from the front said the
Germans had flooded large areas OF
the Pontine marshes south Of Litto-
ria on the west coast, apparently In
expectation Of an Allied drive in
that direction.
Russian Communique
A Russian communique said Red
army bombers had made another
heavy attack on the Polish COM
munications center of ILwow, the
fourth In two weeks, and the fifth In
as many nights on major targets on
the central and southern fronts. In
land action, the Moscow report told
merely Of repulsing German thrustS
in several sectors, but the German
high command reported that strong
Russian tank and infantry forces
had opened q new offensive on both
sides Of the middle Siret river In
northeastern Romania.
In the midst Of the speculation
about invasion, German broadcast
to the continent declared that Ger
many is braced for the final battle
in the east and invasion from the
west, having abandoned hope OF
splitting the Br;tish-American- Rus
sian coalition and getting a COM
promise peace. An otherwise llncon-
firmed Stockholm dispatch to Lon
don said the Germans had shifted
so divisions from the Russian front
to meet the Allied invasion.
In the Pacific
In the Pacific, the smashing sea-
air attack by big American nava
task force and land-based bomber.
on Truk and other Japanese strong.
holds in the Caroline islands wa;
regarded in Pearl Harbor as q con.
vincing demonstration that Japan!
outer defenseS are at the mercy O
our forces.
In three days Of operations, Is.
enemy planes were destroyed anI
great damage done to shore installa
tons. None Of our ships was hi
and air losses were light, although
about 80 flyers were missing, tn
communiQue said. Allied force
meantime continued their stead
ground advances in northern Nel
Guinea while bombers hit enem
bases all along the coast.
In northeastern India, an Allie
communique reported progress in tn
hills north of Kohima, whree severa
Japanese positions were taken an,
Kohima's water supply probably re
covered from the enemy. Othe
Allied forces made progress in thei
advance northwards towards Ko
hima from 1mphal.