Evening star., 1944-05-20
Allies Forcing Nazis to Retreat
To Third Defense Wall in Ita|y;
String Of Fortifications Taken
Peril to Enemy
On Lower Half of
Front Increasing
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,
Naples, May 20.-Allied troops
have seized a string of the
strongest Notifications in the
Hitler Line and in vigorous ad-
vances are driving the Nazis
back along the entire lower half
of the Italian front to yet third
defense wall, it was announced
today.
Allied headquarters declared the
Germans now were being forced
back upon the switch line" running
southwest from Pico in the center
to Terracina on the coast-a pull
back that would make wide swing
of the Southern Nazi front to the
southwest from Pico as hinge.
(The German high command
announced the loss of Campodi-
mele near the center, Az miles
south and slightly west of Pico,
and within a few miles of the
switch line itself)
Assaulting the sagging Hitler line ]
Americans on the south won Itri and
Gaeta, the French advanced in the
center and the British 9Th Army on
the northern flank shook the Hitler
line even in the Liri Valley by put
ting under shattering attack the
town of Aquino and the mountain
stronghold of Pontecorvo-already
in effect outfianked by the French.
$500 Nazis Captured.
Huge stores of booty were en-
veloped by the Allies, and more than
$500 Nazis have been captured in
this offensive which is smashing
ever closer to the 5th Army forces
on the Anzio beachhead.
fThe London radio, in a broad
cast recorded in New York by the
Blue network, said the 5th Army
was "a little more than 20 miles"
from the Anzio beachhead peri
meter.
Can NBC broadcast said Allied
forces had captured Monte Pizza
four miles north of Itri)
Terracina on the coastal end of |
the switch line is 20 miles west of
Formia, which had been the south
ern anchor of the Hitler Line.
Allied warships shelled Terracina
and roadways, the Navy announced.
Many fires were started after a
dump was hit.
Allied planes. pursuing their cam
paign to disrupt the flow of supplies
to the German front. attacked the
Italian west coast ports of La Spezia,
Genoa and Livorno and several
railway bridges in Northern Italy.
Enemy Given No Respite.
Describing the determined Allied
ground drive, the communique said:
Giving the enemy no respite,
the Allied armies in italy have
pressed forward with great vigor
all along the battlefront and the
battle for the Adolf Hitler line
has begun.
This swift movement, despite
difficulties of terrain, has prevented
the enemy from stabilizing his fore
most line south of the Liri River.
THE troops of the 5th Army have
already captured commanding fea-
lures in this sector. The enemy is
therefore now being forced back
upon the switch line which runs
approximately from Pico to Terra,
Gina. This switch line protects the
flank of the enemy line across the
Liri Valley.
The 9th Army now is engaged in
heavy fighting on the Adolf Hitler
Line all along their front"
10th Army Positions Jeopardized.
The position of the entire German
10th Army south OF Rome was
jeopardized.
(The Swiss radio, quoting re-
ports from Bari SAID Allied troops
have entered the Province of
Rome.
(What the broadcast meant by
the Province of Rome was not
Immediately clear. The report
suggested the possibility. however,
that 5th Army troops on the
Anzio beachhead just below the
Italian capital might have broken
(See ITALY, Page ABB