Evening star., 1944-02-16
Siege Guns Open
Bomburdment of
Monastery Hill
MAP on Page A-3.)
BY the Associated press.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al
giers, Feb. 16.-American siege
guns have opened a concentrated
bombardment of Monastery Hill,
following the destruction of the
historic Mount Casino Abbey,
and breaches have been opened
in that main sector of the Ger
man line overlooking the town
of Casino, Allied headquarters
announced today.
To the west, along the invasion
beachhead, the lull in ground fight
ing continued, with only patrol
clashes in the Cisterna and Car
roceto (Aprilia) areas, COM
munique said.
q Headquarters said Carroceto was
in German hands Fierce fighting
has swirled in this neighborhood,
with canning factory there chang
ing hands four times Allied forces
had pushed miles north of Car
roceto to the outskirts of Campo
leone, 16 miles below Rome, but
German counterattacks forced them
back. Carroceto is 10 miles north
of Anzio.
Warships again battered the Ger
mans ringing the beachhead and
Raj Wellingtons flung down block
busters in a night attack.
Rome Suburbs Raided.
While Allied heavy bombers gave
direct support to infantry on both
the beach and Casino front, ABS
Invaders struck sharp series of
blows at railroad yards in the
suburbs Of Rome, plastering the
Trastevere and Tiburtina freight
yards through which German sup
plies and reinforcements were mov-
ing southwark. (The Paris radio
said the Rome area was attacked
again today and that Castel Gam
dolfo was hit yesterday
The Germans launched their
first attack in several weeks against
9th Army positions along the Adri-
attic, sending infantry and light
tanks against Indian troops. The
assault, described as on a small
scala" was beaten back.
douglas Amaron, Canadian
Press war correspondent, said in
a dispatch from the 9th Army
front that columns of smoke, OBJ
served Monday night on the
coastal road about 6 miles north
west of Ortona, were believed to
have resulted from German
demolitions in anticipation of a
renewed Allied offensive)
In the town of Casino, doughboys
were forcing their way through
blistering machine gun fire from
steel-reinforced concrete pillboxes in
the dwellings. These strong points.
protected by armor plate to 4
inches thick, each are held by two
men, aiming machine guns with
periscopes without exposing them
selves.
Monastery Destroyed.
Photographic recon aiSsan e
showed that the Benedictine Mon
astery was destroyed yesterday in
the attack by United States heavy
and medium bombers and artillery
fire. Only small portion of the
west wall was left.
1nfantrymen who watched the as
sault said the bombing was "ex-
tremely accurate and successful"
Immediately after the panles left,
Allied artillery shells began drop
ping into the monastery ruins and
the entire area around.
The Germans may have tried to
rush infantry back into the ruins.
but whether they succeeded was not
known here. The bombing smoked
out nearly 300 Nazis.
The American Air Force disclosed
that four waves of Flying Fortresses
hammered the monastery with
many tons" of high explosives and
lncendiaries. The last waves of
bombers dropped the incendiaries.
German infantry presumably was
still in possession of Monastery Hill.
Weather Clears.
Clearing weather brought virtual
ly every type of Allied aircraft into
action, and Liberators also struck at
the Poggibonsi rail yards 20 miles
south of Florence. Nine enemy
planes were downed, including four
oven the beachhead, while the Allies
lost one.
One formation of invaders caught
string of nearly 200 freight cars
in the Tiburtina yards on the out
skirts of Rome. hitting them with
(See ITALY, Page A-3.)