| Show V t British Seize Foggia I wr Naples Battle Nears Crisis Yanks Chop hop Hole In German Line North of Salerno V Eig Eighth th Army Races 22 Miles Miles' in Day DayTo DayTO DayTo To S 'S Surprise e Nazi Defenders of Biggest Air Base in Southeast Italy V ALLIED HEADQUARTERS North Africa Sept 28 UP UP- UP V British troops in a 22 mile 22 mile advance captured Foggia the bigg biggest st air base and transport center in southeast Italy and the battle battis- of Naples rag d toward an n imminent crisis Tuesday Fighting hand to 10 hand and yard y yard rd Lieutenant General Mark W. W Clarks Carks Fifth arm army chopped one to two miles through the German Ge Geman Ger man hedgehog defenses north of ot Salerno Assault forces reached the hills hills' dominating the town of Nocera five miles from Salerno on the direct road to Naples and 20 miles below the big port itself Nocera became a no mans man's land landas as th the nazis found it too hot to hold But they still overlooked the town making it difficult for forthe forthe the allies to move in The ferocity of the Salerno fighting was confirmed confirmed con con con- firmed finned by prisoners of the panzer division who said 55 53 per percent percent percent cent of their effectives were killed wounded or prisoners of the Amer leans As the British Eighth army anny pushed ahead 22 miles to seize Foggia and its 13 air fields and the towns of Melfi and Leoni were occupied in 10 the center the fall of at Naples appeared near ear for three re reasons S V V VV The On On The unremitting pressure pressur of f the tile Fifth army to the porth north Tw Two The The of at th the Americans to th t st who advanced ad the Fifth army anny right flank five miles z iles to to overrun V U miles due east of Naples s. s V Three Three The The whirlwind dash up up th the east coast by the Eighth army giving the allies a a. a system m of landing land land- landing ing grounds from which TIghter lighter planes will be only a few min minutes tes from the Naples battlefield Nazis Must Decide The German command must de decide dedde de de- cide now whether to make a stand under undera a gre great t increase in bombing and gunning raids or pull out of the Naples region while the pulling is good A possible possible- tip on the decision was the fact that the nazis had razed Naples by all accounts The new allied line now runs from Foggia 24 miles southeast to 20 miles southwest to Vernosa eight miles northwest Jo to o Melfi southwesterly to Muro climbing northwest again to Cas Cas- eight miles west of Leoni Leon nine miles almost due west to Cassano 13 miles s southwest to San Cipriano nine miles west to Preg ato and four miles west to a point below Nocera It is about miles mile long Surprise Germans The battle for Foggia was fought Monday afternoon when Eighth army mobile forces sped ahead of ot the main body and entered the town apparently taking taking- the nazis by surprise After considerable casualties were inflicted on V the enemy in the words of a the town was in British hands by 3 p. p m. m V American warships maintained patrols in the waters of southwest Italy near the battle zone guard- guard Continued oi on Page Two Column Three r F British Capture i Foggia Foggi l Crisis Crisi Nears Hears at af Naples Continued from Page Tut One oat in ing alU allied shipping in supplies sup plies piles and reinforcement reinforcements and standing by to o support the land Jand fighting with their gunfire J Capture Limited Objectives The headquarters on the land fighting indicating that the crisis In the crucial battle battle battle bat bat- tle below Naples was as not yet at hand band said The Eighth army advance continues continues con con- north of ot the river Foggia has been captured with considerable casualties inflicted upon the enemy The Fifth army advanced ad and captured limited ob ob- ob- ob J ves It was only a day earlier that General Sir Bernard L. L Montgomery's Montgomery's erys ery's men had burst across the river and were marching across the Foggia plain 22 miles mile from the town itself The capture of Foggia gave the allies awes a rail raU highway and air base of strategic and tactical tance All of southern and central Italy are within easy reach of pla planes es based there and the radius of feasible operation Includes a large portion of the western Bal Bal- kans The main air field is the Gino Gino- Lisa drome around which 12 fighter tIghter air fields sprawl out within within with with- in a radius of ot 25 miles The cluster cluster cluster clus clus- ter is comparable in importance to the Gerbini chain in east east cen cen Sicily which commands the battle zones around Catania and most of ot northeastern Sicily Two miles from Foggia proper which is 80 miles across southern Italy from Naples the Lisa Gino-Lisa drome is ringed by satellites varying varying vary- vary ing ng in size from land strips yards wide by 1000 yards long to imposing bases ases TOm From Foggia railroads and highways radiate in every lon tion The collapse of German resistance resistance re- re istance there raised a long range threat to the eastern wing of ot the Naples defenses cutting their communications and easing the task ask of ot the Fifth army units already already al- al ready eady pushing up directly east of Naples Fighters and fighter bombers of ot the he northwest African air force joined in the battle Monday al although al- al though hough impeded by bad weather which kept the heavy and medium bombers aground The French campaign in Corica Corsica Cor- Cor ica sica appeared to be nearing a victorious vic vie orious conclusion The Germans evidently putting up little more than nan a token defense of ot the island were falling back on the extreme northeastern fingertip of Corsica with no indications that a stand was contemplated |
