Show Greek Attack Marks Fall S By J. J II H. and GEORGE S United Press Staff Correspondents 1 t y WITH THE GRE GREEKS GREEK ARMY IN THE IN THE S ASTRO SECTOR via Athens 7 p. p m. m Dec 8 8 was was vas captured captured cap cap- cap cap- bared shortly after noon Monday when the Greeks stormed the thelast thelast thelast last Italian stronghold in the center of town The Italians mostly from the Second Bersaglieri division used heavy tanks to block the narrow streets The Greeks fought their way from house to house attacking attacking attacking attack attack- ing the tanks like mad men pushing push push- ing ng rifle butts into treads on the tank runners or dropping from the he balconies of houses and pushing grenades through the gunners' gunners lookout slots Antitank units helped shell the Italians from barricaded buildings The assault began at dawn and proceeded with the precision of a afield afield afield field maneuver Greek batteries in the surrounding hills flashed viciously in the half-darkness half signaling signaling signaling sig sig- sig- sig the battle The shells fell around a solid-looking solid mosque on I the o outskirts where the Italians held the main road under control Five shells landed dead on the target target target tar tar- get and the doomed roof collapsed like a cracked eggshell We saw saw sw the Italians run for cover outlined outlined outlined out out- lined by the glow of burning store store- houses Greek machine who had worked down to the outskirts of town under cover of darkness caught them in a cross We saw two e fall The heaviest fighting ended quickly and the Italians evacuated ever everything but a skeleton suicide force to cover the retreat The sure-shooting sure Greel moun- moun ContInued on en Pa Page e Five Column Five a I HELLENES WIN BITTER BATTLE Continued from Page One tain taro artillery cleared out the last Italian remnants from heights and villages around then from the foothills below the Greek fought toward the center of town At this point the Greek artillery artillery artillery artil artil- lery no longer could assist the infantrymen in- in infantrymen infantrymen in in- because the Italians and Greeks were too near one an fill fill- filli i other I At 1030 a. a m. m a young artillery offic officer r shouted excitedly to his i crew and pointed toward heavy Italian tanks advancing along the road machine gunning the hillside hillside hillside hill hill- side apparently in belief the Greeks were hidden there Tanks Opened Fire The tanks moved out of sight behl behind d the spur of the mountain I and we couldn't see the effect of I Ithe the shells that began whining over I our heads and exploding to send i echoes booming through the val val- valI I ley The Italian advance guard I was only yards away their machine guns blazing It wasn't clear whether the attacking attacking attacking at at- tacking tanks came from Argiro Argiro- castro or the three suburban vil vil- lages The siege of was directed from a fortress in a village village village vil vil- vil- vil lage high on zon a mountain overlooking overlooking overlooking over over- looking the countryside like an eagles eagle's nest est where the Greek divisional divisional divisional di di- visional command set up Far below a main road winds to through a valley flanked with snow-capped snow peaks some of them hidden In to the swirling swirling swirling swirl swirl- ing clouds The advance was a feat in mountaineering Torrential Torrential Torrential Torren Torren- rains had made the steep village village village vil vil- lage streets as slick as glass The village is built of slate-like slate slabs of the same stone as the surrounding surround surround- ing mountains and must have been invisible to high-flying high Italian bombers Greek officers stood under a balcony balcony balcony bal bal- cony with their field glasses trained on tiny figures on the opposite opposite opposite op op- op- op mountain ridge semaphoring news of the battle in the Argiro Argiro- castro valley below Get News of Battle Inside the large house used as headquarters log fires cast their glow over colored brightly-colored rugs and there was a tangle of field telephone wires From an inner room a radio transmitter spluttered spluttered spluttered out news of the battle or transmitted fresh sh orders from the high command somewhere behind us Calendars from the United States adorned the walls The house belonged belonged belonged be be- longed to a Greek sailor Athanas One calendar showed the city bottling works of Pittsburgh Mass Photographs of and his relatives taken in Worcester Mass lined one wall The carved wooden ceiling was done in the Greek national colors colors blue blue and white On our visit there Mrs was making coffee for the Greek officers She wore the attractive Greek costume with white headdress headdress headdress head head- dress and blue skirt During Italian Italian Italian Ital Ital- ian occupation she had kept the costume hidden |