Evening star., 1944-01-04
j. 5. .Fortresses
Smash bearinq
Plant in Italy
Turin RuiI Yards
Also Hit; Weather
Slows Land Fighting
BY the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS. AL

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al
giers, Jan. 4.-American Flying
Fortresses knocked out the bear
ing plant at Villa Perosa in
Northern Italy yesterday and
battered the Turin Railway
yards, 1t was announced today
while in the ground warfare 9th
Army Indian troops seized hill
and advanced inland from the
Adriatic.
Soggy terrain stymied large scale
land fighting, but American troops
probed defenses of San Vittore
guarding the Rome road and other
patrols also stirred up the Nazis.
Radio France at Algiers said
today the Allied 5th Army had
carried out new raid beyond
the Garigliano River, penetratin
a mile and a half into German
positions" United States Gov
ernment monitors in New York
heard the broadcast,
Allied flyers wrecked or damaged
dozens out of hundreds of German
supply trucks found Snowbound In
mountain passes and bombed the
Yugoslav ports of Split and Sibenik
Main Plant Building Wrecked.
The Fortresses of the 18th Ali
Force, soaring out for the first time
under command of Maj. Gen
Nathan TWining, wrecked the main
building of the Villa Perosa plant
producing 8 per cent of the Nazis
output of bearings. Villa Perosa is
% miles southwest of Turin.
CA Berlin broadcast declared a
terror attack was made yester-
day on the communications CEN
ter OF PlStoia, 81 miles northwest
of Florence.
t"Numerous residential quar-
ters were struck and the civil
ian population sustained heavy
losses, the broadcast said. The
square in front of the cathedral
received direct hits and the
cathedral, dating from the 18th
century, was heavily damaged.
On the 9th Army front. Indian
forces captured a hill a mile and
half from recently-won Tomasso
and advanced up the road from
Ortona almost to Tollo, miles in
land.
Nazis Shell Mignano.
The Nazis replied to American
patrol stabs on the 5th Army sector
with a shelling of Mignano.
The main Fortress blow was de-
livered against Villa Perosa. and
photographs showed the main build
ing. 600 by l,200 feet, at the bearing
plant was hit directly. Other hits
were scored on nearby buildings ap-
parently housing workers. There
was little doubt the plant making
bearings for airplanes. tanks, SUBJ
marines and other war vehicles
would be out of operation some
time.
Two waves of bombers struck
Villa Perosa, meeting fairly heavy
antiaircraft fire, but no fighters.
Turin Rail Yards Blasted.
Two other formations simultane-
ously pounded the rail yards at
Turin, meeting nearly 80 German
fighters. A good concentration of
bombs hit the yards. sidings. ware
houses and industrial detectives.
starting fires and severing the main
line railroad.
Medium bombers ranged across
the Adriatic to blast docks and rail-
way installations at Split and ST.
benik on the Dalmatian coast. while
other raiders attacked a large con-
centrati of troops at Prijedor in
Yugoslavia.
Light bombers and fighter bomb
ers lashed at the Germans in the
battle area throughout the day, hit
ting at motor transport in the
Avezano area. gun positions near
Cervara and also carrying out an
other raid against the port of
northwest of Rome.
Seven enemy planes were de-
stroyed against a loss of three Allied
aircraft.