The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-14
The War On Many Fronts
By LOUIS F. KEEMLE IKYmlinA Rnnaa War Ehlina.

The Red Armies pounded the melting German lines with increas- ing vigor along the 500-mi!e Ukrairl- ian front today while the Allies maintained their steady air blows both in western Europe and the Italian Peninsula.
 Important developments also were shaping up in the diplomatic field.
 The most notable advances made by the Russians were at the t1orth- western end of the front between Tarnopol and Proskurov, on the Lwow-O Odessa Railway, and in the triangle between. the souths of the Dnieper and Bug rivers.
 Marshal Gregory K. ZhukoV's First Ukrainian Army made new break through southeast of Tarno- pol to take Skalat, 52 miles from the Rumanian and l05 miles from the CZechoslovakian borders.
 The Third Army in the south after capturing the port and rail center of Kherson near the mouth of the Dhieper. began closing in from the northeast and southeast on the more important communica- tions hub of Nikolaev.
 In the center, the Second Army pressed rapidly towards the Ger man stronghold of Vinnitsa; captur- ing 160 communities and advancing to within l7 miles of the objective
 Rumanian efforts to get peace terms from the Allies still met with no success, while Finlands negotia- tions for an armistice with Russia struck a s1ag. Stockholm under stod Russia had rejected Finland's counter proposals, but the rejection did not close tbe door and hope was still held that 8 solution might be found.
 The Pacific war was marked by the extension of the American hold oa the Admiralty Islands, where two more of the group were occu- pied, and repulse of Q suicidal" ate tack on the American positions on Bougainville in the Solomons by the. isolated Japanese. forces there. Between 5000 and 4,000 Japanese took part in the attack and 1000 of them were killed, American headquarters estimated.
 Pearl Harbor reported that Amer ican planes bombed i've Japanese bases in the Pacific in one day, ranging from Wake Island to Nauru l,200 miles to the south in the Gilberts.
 The haste of the German retreat and their heavy losses in men and equipment indicated that this great est of Russian offensives might not be halted short of the Dnieper, and only temporarily there while the Red army smoothed out its rear supply lines for the drive into Ru- mania.
 Moscow reported that the present offensive already has cost the Ger mans more than 63,000 killed and O,000 captured. The total for the various Russian drives on the entire front this winter was placed at 350,000 Germans killed and 44,000 captured. These casualties on the Ukrainian front especially were ac- companied by @ demoralizing loss of equipment.
 Tn the air war, British heavy bombers made another mass at- tack during the night on Le Mans, key Nazi communications center no miles southwest of Paris, while wo-engined bombers struck at Frankfurt and other targets in vest ern Germany.
 Both British and American war planes smashed at the rail and highway network supplying the Ger mans in southern Italy, especially in the Rome area. The Rome radio reported that heavy bombers at. tackled in that vicinity again at mid-day.
 On the, diplomatic front, the Ale lied attitude towards Fires re- fusal to oust potential Axis espion- age agents stiffened appreciably. Prime Minister Winston Churchill told commons that the restrictions on travel between Britain and Fire are the first steps to isolate southern Ireland from the outer world dur ing. the critical period now ap- preaching" There was no threat in. his statement, however, of an economic blockade" of Fire.
 The Russians caused c diplomatic stir by extending recognition to the government of Premier Pietro Badoglio ip Italy. Italian quarters ct Naples believed Great Britain