Evening star., 1944-05-21
Half Of Germans Front in |ta|v
Driven Back as Far as IS Miles;
5000 Planes Hit Invasion Coast
Axis Forces Lose
Heavily as They
Flee in Disorder
Sy the Associated Press.

ALLIED ADt2UARTERS, Ma
Piles, May 20.-American and
French troops, smashing through
the crumbling Hitler Line,
pounded the whole southern halt
of the German front back today
In a wide swing toward a new
wall anchored at Terracina-
only Is miles from Allied might
massed on the Anzio beachhead
(The French radio in Algiers
said Polish troops had captured
Piedimonte, reported to be the
northern anchor of the Hitler
Line)
The Germans lost heavily in men,
tanks and guns as they were being
forced back in disorder up to Is
miles to a new switch line" from
Pico to Terracina, headquarters de-
clared.
The 9th Army successfully as
saulted the fortified line farther
north and the French punched
deeper into the mountains in the
center.
IS Miles From Beachhead,
The Nazi switch line" runs from
Pico in the middle of the Italian
front 81 miles southwest through a
horseshoe shaped mountain ridge to
Terracina on the sea. The lower
half Of the Hitler Line originally
had run through Pico to American
captured Formia, nearly 20 miles
east of Terracina. Visualizing on a
clock what this swing means in ter
ritory-it is as though the long
hand (pivoting at Pico) had moved
from 6 (Formia) to 8 (Terracina)
Associated Press Correspondent
Sid FEEDER, travelling with the ad-
vancing 5th Army along the coast
reported from the front late tonight
that the Americans had reached a
point IS miles from the Anzio beach,
head without meeting more than
casual opposition"
If the point reached was
along the coast it would mean
that the Americans were within
about 10 miles of Terracina, base
of the new German line. Early
Saturday the London radio re-
ported that the 5th Army was a
little more than 20 miles from the
beachhead, but no source of this
reort was given and late front
dispatches failed to confirm it,
Mr.. FEEDER reported that the
enemy had been retiring before the
Americans for the last two days so
fast that they left piles of equip
ment, including cannon with 90
mile range, along the route.
cThe German nigh command
acknowledged loss of Campodi-
mele, southwest of Pico and
within a few miles of the Pico-
Terracina line0
$500 Nazi Prisoners Taken,
In nine days of this offensive in
tended to crush the German 10th
Army, $500 Nazi prisoners have
been taken, with more coming in
and the Germans have suffered
considerable losses in dead. in
Vulnerable guns and~tanks, and vast
supplies.
The enemy nevertheless resisted
stubbornly, and the campaign re-
manned hard slugging match with
the Allies trying to throw in power
full new blows while the Germans
still are groggy. Formidable Ger
man defenses still guard the Liri
Valley and the mountains in the
Casino area, and front dispatch
from the 9th Army cautioned that
apparently very costly fighting
still is in prospect" Moreover, the
advances have increased Allied sup
ply difficulties.
United States troops plunging
through the coastal sector captured
the Appian Road junction of Itri,
the seaport of Gaeta on a short
peninsula to the south, and drove
north from Itri, sweeping up vast
booty denoting hasty German with
drawal.
Allied warships shelled Terracina,
and the air arm, flying 2,270 sorties
yesterday, blasted heavily again at
the creaking German rail and
highway supply network.
Hammering at German Hitler
Line Notifications in the north, 9th
Army tanks and troops thrust
through barbed wire entanglements
to the fringes of Aquino in the Liri
Valley, and opened an attack on
another stronghold, Pontecorvo.
Polish Forces Advance.
Still farther north, Polish forces
fighting through high mountains
seized Villa Santa Lucia, two and
a half miles northwest of Casino
Monastery, moved up into Piedi-
monte, just off Highway 6, the roac
to Rome, and mopped up other
heights
A dispatch from Associated Press
Correspondent Lynn 'Heinzerling
with the 9th Army in the Liri VAL
ley, said the Germans had aban-
doned some equipment in falling
back in this sector, but declared
the Germans had line of strong
positions barring the broad valley
and highway, guarded especially by
towering, mile-high Mount Cairo
Here the Germans dug in, placed
antitank bitches, and strung barbed
wire about 10000 yards across the
entire valley" sometimes to a depth
of 20 feet.
Mr.. Heinzerling warned of every
costly fighting" likely ahead anc
said both sides were preparing "fol
the bloody test soon to come"
In the central sector French
troops captured SAINT Olivia. Monte
Mandrone, commanding the roao
from Pontecorvo to Pico, and severa,
other heights.
Allied headquarters disclosed the
Germans, apparently to save thei,
leaders prestige, had changed the
name OF the Hitler Line to Dora
Line.
The Germans new line on which
{see ITALY. Page A-5J