The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-02-02
The War On
 Many Fronts
(By United Press)

A1lleQ ulOu1lCd1I1 ITOOpS nave preached the German Gustav Line north of Casino on 8 front several miles wide in southern Italy, it was reported today, while in Russia re- ports from the northern front promised sensational" develop ments within the next 24 hours.
 Diplomatic observers, meanwhile saw far-reaching postwar 1mplica- tions in the Soviet Unions action last night in voting its constituent republics the right to conduct their own foreign policies and maintain their own army formations. The possibility was seen that Russia may seek to gain 16 seats at the peace conference after the war.
 The Allied break through on the southern front was achieved by American and French infantry units driving westward through the mountains in a powerful hanking thrust that imperilled the entire German line guarding the Via Ca- silina, inland road to Rome.
 Smashing through stubborn enemy resistance on the north flank, one American column bat tied its way to within mile of the enemy citadel, Fulcrum of the Gustav line.
 On the invasion front below Rome, American and British forces pressed armored spearheads east and north from their coastal beach head in a twin thrust apparently aimed at splitting the German armies in central Italy.
 The British wing of Lieutenant Mark w. ClarkS invasion forces was reported fighting in the outskirts of Camp Leone, 15 air miles from Rome, while the Americans were at the edge of Cisterna, 12 1-2 miles to the south, in the face of repeated enemy counterat- tacks. Radio Paris said the sound of heavy gunfire could be heard clearly in Rome from both Camp Leone and Cisterna.
 London quoted German radio re- ports that Field Marshal Albert | Kesselring, Nazi commander in southern Italy, had driven to the | beachhead area from Rome to as- sume personal direction of the Ger man defense.
 Developments
 The sensational developments on the north Russian front were ex- pected to come from Premier Jo- seph Stalin, possibly in a bulletin marking the first anniversary of the final victory of Stalingrad. Stalin may announce the crossing Of the Estonian border by Gen. Leonid A. Govorov's hard-driving spearheads, 1t was suggested, or perhaps the en- trapment and annihilation of rem- ants of the Germans Leningrad | siege armies.
 There were indications that en- emy resistance had collapsed com- pletely with the fall of Kingisepp, last German stronghold east of Estonia yesterday. as Govorov's forces overran at least four towns, the last only a half-mile from the | border, virtually at will
 Soviet guerrillas were reported | staying Germans by the thousands | in the northern woods and peat bogs into which they had fled in a ran- tic effort to gain the 27-mile-wide | escape corridor between Narva Bay and Lake Peipus. Other Russian forces were converging on Narva itself, pivotal rail and highway juno tion athwart the corridor four miles into EStonia.
 Steel Moose
 The moose of steel about more than | 150,000 Germans in the bulge that | once menaced Leningrad was tight | ened, meanwhile, by the rapid ad- | vance of Gen. Kyrl A. Meretskov's | Novgorod forces to within four miles of the Leningrad-PSkov highway and 12 miles of the Leningrad- Pskov railway, last practical exits from the shrinking salient.
 The February aerial assault on Axis Europe was opened last night by formations of speedy, twin-en- gined Mosquito bombers hitting Ber- lin in nuisance attack while the ravaged city still smouldered from four mass raids in the five previous nights.
 Diving through clouds and fog which kept the British heavyweights grounded, the RAF light raiders also hammered undisclosed targets elsewhere in Germany. One Mos quito was lost.
 The RAF reported, meanwhile, that its bombers dropped more than 20,160 tons of explosives on Axis Europe last month, including 10,416 tons in six attacks on Berlin, at a cost of 385 British aircraft. It was recalled that the Germans drop ped only about 7.50O tons of bombs