Evening star., 1944-06-04
u. S. Troops Race Toward Rome
With City Skyline in Easy View;
German Defenses Blasted Apart
5 of 18 Divisions
NeorIyWipedOu Out;
Enemy PiIIoging
BY the Associated Press.


ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,
NAPLES, June 3. - American
troops raced through Rome's
outer approaches from the south
and southeast tonight under
orders to destroy the retreating
German armies, five of whose 18
divisions already have been prac-
tically annihilated and whose
defensive lines have been blasted
apart.
With the city's skyline in easy
view of the advancing American
armor and infantry, it appeared
that within matter of hours Rome
might become the first European
capital to be liberated from the
Nazis.
1t. Gen. Mark w. Clark, COM
mander of the 5th Army, instructed
his subordinates, however, that the
immediate task was to pursue and
destroy as much as possible of the
German 10th and 14th Armies and
that entry into Rome would come
afterward.
$4,000 Prisoners Taken.
Besides the five Nazi divisions,
virtually destroyed since the present
Allied offensive began May II, sew
eral others have been battered bad
ly, and front~line dispatches tonight
said further progress was being
made toward the goal of annihila-
tion.
There was no word as to how
many Germans might be caught by
the American. British and French
troops converging below Rome and
be added to the $4,000 prisoners
captured by the Allies.
The belief grew, however, that
the Allied forces closing in on a
pocket in the northern edge of the
Sacco Valley still held by the enemy
could hope to trap only relatively
small proportion of the German
units which earlier had been re-
ported there.
This was supported by front-line
accounts tonight showing that, de-
spite its apparent speed, the Ger
man retreat was not rout.
Nazis PiIlage Countryside.
Edward Kennedy, Associated Press
correspondent with the 5th Army,
reported that "there were still many
German pockets behind US, raking
the road with machine-gun and
shell fire, but these were being
mopped up"
He said further that the Germans
were taking time in their flight to
pillage the countryside and were
leaving snipers behind to try to de-
lay the Allies.
Present distances of the Allies
from Rome were not disclosed, but
front dispatches indicated clearly
that they were short and growing
shorter.
The Americans were thrusting up
both the Appian and Casilinian
Ways and across open country,
while other Allied troops converged
on routes leading up to the city.
The British 9th Army, which had
pushed up through the Liri and
Sacco Valleys, made a junction with
the Americans on the Via Casilina
10 miles east of Valmontone shortly
before noon yesterday and continued
toward Rome on that route.
Mountain Positions Smashed.
Fifth Army fighters smashed
apart the Germans last mountain
GUS positions guarding Rome by
seizing most of the Alban Hills
dominating the capital on the south.
Descent from the hills would put
them within 10 miles of Rome's
outskirts.
The Berlin radio broadcast that
Rome now was free of armed
forces" indicating the possibility
that the city might not be defended.
Allied headquarters already had
announced that if the Germans
chose to fight for Rome, the Allies
will be obliged to take appropriate
military measures to eject them"
Tonight the Allied command
broadcast over the Free Italian
radio at Naples to Italian partisan
forces inside Rome, declaring
"Rome's liberation is at hand ano
apprising them of their duty to To-
cate mines and BOBBY traps which
the Germans might leave behind
and to prevent German sabotage.
The message, issued by Gen
Sir Harold Alexander, Allied COM
mander in Italy, said:
The liberation of Rome is neal
-. Do everything to prevent
destruction of the city. Prevent the
(Sna ITALY paoc h-OA