Evening star., 1944-02-10

The flerceSt of the beachhead at
tacks came in the area north and
west Of Carroceto (Aprilia), where
heavy fighting continued as British
forces sought to stem the enemy
plunges.
Three of the enemy thrusts were
directed against American positions
west Of Cisterna, but they were
beaten back and the doughboys re-
captured some ground.
tHomer Bigart, New York
Herald Tribune correspondent
representing the combined Amer
lcan press, in dispatch dated
last night, said the situation was
little less grim" for the Allied
troops because of heavy casualties
inflicted on the Germans.
The Germans had gained such
superiority in numbers, however,
that even the annihilation of a
German battalion meant only
momentary relief" he said.
British artillery crews have had
no rest for Sc hours, he added
Position Is Defensive One.
Although the Americans seized
the initiative in gaining some
ground west of Cisterna, an Allied
headquarters spokesman said the
position of the beachhead as a whole
was defensive one at present, with
the Germans probing the perimeter
from the northern coastal area to
its southern extremity.
Allied air forces struck heavily at
German gun positions, communica-
tions and other targets just in front
of the beachhead line, but these
apparently did not prevent the
Germans from building up their
strength. The violence of the Ger
man artillery fire was increasing
and the pressure of the German
attacks was mounting.
The fighting at Casino went into
It's seventh fiery day with no rest
for either side.
Under a grim canopy of smoke
and dust from mortar and artillery
fire, the Germans clung to the
greater part of the town, following
to the letter their orders to resist
to the bitter end.
German and American tanks rum
bled through the streets and en-
gagged in short sharp clashes at
polnt-blank range. Doughboys crept
among the stones to stab, shoot and
Kill with grenades the foe concealed
in dugouts and ruined buildings.
The Germans thus lost few strong
holds.
Northwest of the town the Ameri-
cans slowly approached the crest OF
Mount Casino after having reached
a point at one time within rs yards
of the ancient monastery at the
peak.
This hill was being used by the
Germans as the keystone of their
defense of Casino at it's foot. and
the Americans were shoWering one
side Of it with artillery and the other
with bombs as they worked their
painful way through pillboxes and
emplacements held by the Germans
as tenaciously as the cellars of the
town itself
Monastery Spared.
Some of these pillboXes were pro-
tected by concrete walls at their
mouths, and the Germans in them
were receiving supplies at night.
They were using the monastery itself
as an artillery observation point, but
the ancient Landmark of Christian
culture still had been spared by
American artlllerymen.
Shells whiZzed around the old
towers where many civilians were
reported sheltering, but there was no
confirmation of reports that the
monastery had been hit.
The Germans even put in counter
attacks both north and south of
Casino to relieve their position,
striking up Mount Albaneta, mile
and a half northwest of the town.
where they were repulsed.
Below Casino they struck in the
mountainous sector of Mount Or
nlto, two and half miles northeast
of Castelforte, but on this Garigli-
ano River front the British also
threw the Germans back and made
slight gains.
Action on the 9th Army front
was limited to patrolling because of
adverse weather.
Allied bombers, in sweeps off the
west coast of Italy yesterday, hit
three merchant vessels near Corsica
and one in the French harbor of
Nice, the announcement said.