Evening star., 1944-05-22
Yanks Capture Three Mountains
Northeast Of Terracina> but Pull
Back Advance Patrols rom Civ
Allies Smash On
As Nuzis Throw In
All of Reserves
MAP on Page A-5.)

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,
Naples, May % R.-American
troops have seized three noun
tains northeast of Terracina, but
advanced patrols which pushed
into that coastal anchor city it
self only "a miles from the Anzio
beachhead have withdrawn,
headquarters announced tonight.
The German high command has
thrown all its reserves into a des-
perate effort to halt the Allied drive
toward Rome, headquarters de-
clared, but the Allied armies
smashed ahead again today all
along the front.
United States troops entered Ter
racina, sea bastion of the Nazis'
third defense wall in Southern
Italy, after nine mile advance
along the coast, but later pulled
back.
French Close in on Pic0.
At last reports, American forces
had established a line miles
northwest of Terracina. The Amer
leans were pushing farther into the
hills on the Terracina-Pico line de-
spite intense opposition. Northeast
of Terracina they took Monte Ma
rino, Monte Autone and Monte Ca
piccio.
Farther inland, French trops
closed in on Pico in the center of
the line and elsewhere made prog
ress.
Seventeen German divisions. some
of them badly mauled in the fighting
of the last 10 days. now are COM
mltted on the main and Anzio beach
head fronts, and the Nazis have no
reserves left south of Rome, head
quarters declared.
Poles Enter Piedimonte.
On the northern flank. Poles en-
tered the bastion of Piedimonte on
the northern edge of the Liri Valley,
and the 9th Army was laying siege
to Pontecorvo on the lower Side of
the valley.
The Germans rushed reinforce
nents from the north INTO The sag
ging coastal line sector against the
Americans, and 1t. Gen. Mark w.
Clark's troops quickly captured 100
prisoners from them.
French troops toward the center
took, lost, and then recaptured to-
day Monte Leucio, west of Pico, on
the road from Pontecorvo. Cana
dians penetrated the Hitler Line
northeast of Pontecorvo, on the low
er edge of the Liri Valley, piercing
barbed wire entanglements, head
quarters said.
The first troops to push into
Terracina-only "a miles across the
Pontine marshes from the Anzio
Beachhead-had reported only light
German resistance.
Germans Counterattack.
On the beachhead itself United
States patrols pushed out miles
from the right flank of the peri
meter in daring stab and the
Germans reacted with a sharp coun-
terattack southwest of Cisterna.
The Germans threw their 26th
Armored Division into desperate
fight on the main front to save the
flank of their Hitler Line defenses
A headquarters spokesman said
Allied losses had been ''considera-
ble," but not too high in relation
to results achieved and the extreme
casualties inflicted on the Germans.
(The German high command,
suggesting Pico already might
have fallen, broadcast that Allied
troops had broken into the town
repeatedly, but had been thrown
back. 1t acknowledged heavy
pressure at Pontecorvo, and said
the Allies had been repelled
northwest of that city, with AL
lied bridgeheads set up across
the Liri yesterday" being wiped
out. A Swiss broadcast said Pom
tecorvo had been taken by the
3th Army0
Allied headquarters said the Ger
mans were putting up determined
resistance" all along the 9th Army
or northern front.
Parts of Marshes Flooded.
Parts of the Pontine Marshes
ahead of the Americans at Terracina
have been flooded by the Germans
and made impossible. The rate Of
advance the 5th Army troops could
maintain across the area remained
problematical.
Street fighting ragged yesterday in
Piedmonte after Polish infantry and
tanks, supported by the British
from the south, had virtually en-
circled the town the preceding day.
Piedimonte formed one of the Hitler
Lines most vital bastions.
An official report said enemy
troops in the town were surprised
by the swift encirclement and many
were taken prisoner.
5000 Prisoners Taken.
The total of the prisoners taken
since the offensive in Italy was
AdullSilCd liz" SOiIC WtlI
5000 and the number increased
hourly as mopping up continued in
the newly areas and de-
lenses fell one by one
The German high command was
reported shifting fresh troops across
Italy from the Adriatic sector, at
the same time swinging other units
from south to bolster resistance in
the Pico area. These German REIN
forcements were joining in futile
counterattacks.
Monte Passignano Taken.
The advancing Americans also
seized Monte Passignano, a mile
north of Fondi, as we'll as Monte
Casa Reccio, 8 miles northwest of
the same town.
In the Liri Valley, which affords
(See ITALY, Page A-5.)