Evening star., 1944-06-09
German Forces
On Adriiatic Side
of Italy Retreat
Allies Roll Ahead
For First Time on
Entire Front
BULLETIN.

BULLETIN.
ROME (P.-Allied head
quarters today announced
capture of Viterbo, Vetralla
and Tarquina.
BY the Associated Press.
ROME, June German forces
guarding the Adriatic sector have
started to retreat to avoid encir-
clement, and for the first time
since launching their offensive,
nearly a month ago, Allied troops
rolled forward today along the
entire Italian front.
Striving to maintain close contact
with the fleeing enemyA who has
shown no disposition as yet to make
a determined stand, the Allied 5th
Army raced steadily north and
northwest from Rome.
1t. Gen. Mark w. Clark's columns,
driving north from the capital, oc-
cupied the entire Lake Bracciano
area and moved on to capture
Caprarola, "a miles north of Rome
on the east side of Lake di Vico
and about 10 miles southeast of the
highway junction town of Viterbo.
IS Miles North of Rome.
To the northwest, Allied units
racing on from Civitavecchia were
reported by front line dispatches to
be shelling Tarquinia., SIS airline
miles from Rome and about 3 miles
inland from the Tyrrhenian coast.
(The German high command
today announced the abandon
ment of Tarquinia.)
An Allied spokesman said that
among prisoners taken in the Lake
Bracciano area were Nazis from the
goth German Luftwaffe Field Diyi-
sion.
This division came to italy from
Denmark, which according to pris-
oners, it left only a week ago." the
spokesman said. THE Goth Luft-
waffle Field Division differs from the
normal infantry division only in the
fact that its personnel is drawn from
the Luftwaffe ground staff, as in the
case Of the Hermann Goering Panzer
Division"
Nazis Start Withdrawal.
The five-month standstill on the
lines in the Adriatic sector ended
with the Germans starting a with
drawal between the coast and Cree
chic, miles inland. Eighth Army
forces moved up 2 miles and occupied
Tollo, which is only TX miles from
the provincial capital of Chieti. The
Nazis promptly began shelling the
advance.
In the 5th Army surge north of
Rome, the troops moved 7 miles
north to win the Bracciano area.
Another element seized the town of
Sutri, miles north of Lake Brac-
ciano.
The 9Th Army conformed with
this drive by continued thrust
northward along the east side of
the Iiber, but progress there was
slower due to demolitions and mines
Just east of the Tiber 20 enemy
antitank and propelled guns
were knocked out in the vicinity of
Monterotondo, whose capture was
announced yesterday. 1t. Gen. Sir
Oliver Leese's forces have gone sev-
eral miles beyond Monteorotondo.
Other Towns Occupied.
The towns of Agosta and Palom-
bara-Sabina were occupied during
Ia 10-mile thrust north of Tivoli.
Farther east, 9Th Army units ap-
preached the village of Civitella
Roveto, only 71a miles south of
Avezanno on Highway 81.
Civitavecchia, Italy's seventh port
in tonnage handled, was found to
have escaped serious damage.
Destruction of 1875 vehicles and
% rail cars, and damage to at least
ITO more vehicles, was credited to
Allied fighters and bombers in the
steady bombing and straf1ng of en-
emy communications yesterday.
American heavy bombers attacked
submarine dry docks at Pola IS
miles south of Trieste, and Raj
I1dHAdACo, ilDcl dIOlS ana WelllIlR-
tons early today blasted big rail
yards and repair shops at Mis- in
Yugoslavia
$500 Sorties Flown.
The Mediterranean Army Air
Force flew 1,500 sorties and de-
stroyed four enemy aircraft at a
cost of six Allied planes missing.
Correspondent Daniel De Luce,
with the 5th Army north of Rome,
reported American field guns began
shelling the struggling German
rearguard on the outskirts of
Tarquinia yesterday. He said there
was no sign of any real German
defense line in the rolling coastal
hills he described as "a dead ringer
for California"
Enemy formations still were elud-
ing capture, afoot and in horse con-
voys, despite the Allied high COM
mands hopes that the German
Army in Italy might be annihilated,
MI De Luce wrote.