The Wilmington morning star., 1944-02-20
YANKEES SLAUGHTER
GERMANS AT ANZIO

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GERMANS AT ANZlO
Continued from Page One)
tankmen and the Allied Naval
forces engaged in the battle.
Warning that further German
assaults could be expected, Gen.
Clar said that the enemy was
finding it increasingly difficult to
pick soft spots on the perimeter
of the beachhead.
Bomb Supply Dumps
In the days air battles over
the beachhead American medium
bombers shot down eight out of
20 German planes that tried to
intercept their bombing of Nazi
supply dumps around Ca-roceto.
Returning pilots said that five more
German planes were so badly dam
aged that they probably crashed.
The bombers blew up a gasoline
dump which sent flames spouting
200 feet in the air.
Seven German planes were shot
down by British fighters and two
by American fighter bombe-s.
A dispatch filed from the beach
head at noon today by Daniel De
Luce. Associated Press Cores
pondeat, summed up the situa.
ton as of that moment by say
ing: Field Marshal Albert Kes-
settings offensive is being held"
Telling story of swaying battle
in which the Germans attacked
with almost reckless sacrifice of
lives" De Luce radioed:
Il saw American doughboys and
tankmen hit back and recover in
two hours some ground that the
Germans had paid fo- with a
heavy loss of lives in "a hours
continuous fighting a day earlier"
Forces Allies Back
De Luce had filed a dispatch IL
hours previously declaring that
Kesselring by the weight of his
ineantry-armor blows, supported by
and air power, had fore
ed the Allies back in a sector four
miles wide. The correspondent as
serted, however, that the Allied
troops had prevented break
through and the Germans failed
to gain tactically decisive ground.
De Luce's censored noon dis
patch did not make clear whether
this four-mile salient was the
ground regained in the two-hour
battle mentioned in the later dis
patch.
On the main front south Of Cas-
sino as well as on the Anzio beach
head the Allies were engaged in
one of the decisive battles of the
war against German forces
brought from many parts of Eu-
rope. A new phase was indicted
win a reinforcement of the Fifth
army at Casino by Indians and
New Zealanders brought from the
Eighth army on the opposite side
Of Italy.
Another correspondent at the
beachhead, Haig Nicholson of Reu-
ters, said in a dispatch filed to-
day: allied forces in the face of
heavy attacks by day and by night
have made a slight and studied
from an advanced de-
tense line and launched a mum.
Der of counter-attacks when the
enemy was least expecting them.
Hard fighting is continuing and
there is no sign yet that the enemy
has expended his effort
The character of the beachhead
fighting was shown in one instance
cited by De Luce in which an
infantry units although
cut off by German advances on
both it's flanks, held fast for u
hours without budging an inch.
It was still holding as De Luce
wrote.
AS many as 80 German tanks
swarmed in the front zone at one
time Friday after the major bat
tie had been renewed at a. m.
kesselring's push was aimed along
the Albano-Anzio road and also
c-osswise to hit the American line
to the east at a right angle.
This obviously is the fullest
scale effort to throw the Allied
force back into the sea- said an
Allied headquarters spokeman.
Fifth army troops reinforced with
Indians and New Zealanders
fought into the southern edge of
Casino after attacks across the
Rapido River which apparently
put them into the railroad station
a mile south of town. But they had
not yet achieved a break-through
to relieve enemy pres
sure against the beachhead 70
miles to the northwest.