Current Events October 22, 1943;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY OCTOBER 22, 1943:

Reinforced German armies battled desperately last night in a thus-far unavailing effort to halt the Russian
breakthrough southeast of Kremenchug which threatens encirclement of all Nazi forces in the great Dnieper
Bend.
Strong reserves, hundreds of planes and extra equipment from other sectors were hurled against the steadily
advancing Soviet juggernaut, but the Red Army was already ten miles past Pyatikhata and within 27 miles of the great Ukraine iron center, Krivoi Rog. Indicative of the grave anxiety prevailing in Berlin regarding the situation was a dispatch from Stockholm quoting the Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet.

With the Germans having abandoned most of the Volturno plain and withdrawn to a new defense line represented by the Massico ridge north of the river, the Fifth Army was hurriedly bringing up men and
material last night for a new assault.
There appeared to be developing a race between supply units of the Fifth and German sappers constructing entrench- ments along the Massico ridge in prepara- don for the expected Allied onslaught on this next barrier in the drive for Rome

Another large contingent of U.S. troops, including several hundred WACs, has arrived at a British northwest port, it was announced yesterday.

A single Flying Fortress group, commanded by Col. Edgar M. Wittan, 32, of Portage, Pa., blasted 59 enemy aircraft from the skies over Munster to set an all-time record for one group on one mission.
In addition, confirmed records showed, ihe ten planes which returned from 'the raid—half a dozen were lost
—accounted for six other enemy planes probably shot down and eight more damaged.




              THE STARS AND STRIPES
            Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
                                                  New York,  Y.—London, England                       Friday, Oct. 22, 1943



Desperate German Attacks Fail
To Halt Reds in Dnieper Bend;
Increasing Threat Stirs Berlin
Tank Battle Rages
In Melitopol; Kiev
Climax Near
Reinforced German armies battled desperately last night in a thus-far unavailing effort to halt the Russian
breakthrough southeast of Kremenchug which threatens encirclement of all Nazi forces in the great Dnieper
Bend.
Strong reserves, hundreds of planes and extra equipment from other sectors were hurled against the steadily
advancing Soviet juggernaut, but the Red Army was already ten miles past Pyatikhata and within 27 miles of the great Ukraine iron center, Krivoi Rog. Indicative of the grave anxiety prevailing in Berlin regarding the situation was a dispatch from Stockholm quoting the Berlin correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet.
The correspondent said that the German High Command's official spokesman asserted: "After a month's fighting, the Red Army has achieved its goal—a breakthrough." Blackest of War
The spokesman later modified this to "deep penetration," but the German communique was the blackest of the war, the Swedish writer declared.
The Russians had left the Dnieper 50 miles behind at some points as they drove forward into the Dnieper Bend from Kremencnug. In two days' fighting in this area alone the Germans lost more than 3,500 dead and 2,000 were taken prisoner. They have been forced to give up six railway stations and more than 100 settlements.
Many of the Ukraine's villages were being wiped out in the fierce fighting. The Communist Party newspaper Pravda said in Moscow that nothing was left of some of them but heaps of clay. Hundreds of small orchards were being laid waste by artillery fire and huge tanks that rumbled through them.
At Kiev, Russian infantry, cavalry, tanks and artillery were massed north of the city for the final assault on the capital of the Ukraine, already encircled.

Fifth Prepares
For Assault On
New Nazi Line
Germans on Ridge North
Of Volturno Plain; 8th
Seizes Key Heights
With the Germans having abandoned most of the Volturno plain and withdrawn to a new defense line represented by the Massico ridge north of the river, the Fifth Army was hurriedly bringing up men and
material last night for a new assault.
There appeared to be developing a race between supply units of the Fifth and German sappers constructing entrench- ments along the Massico ridge in prepara- don for the expected Allied onslaught on this next barrier in the drive for Rome.
The ridge stretches inland from the sea for 28 miles from Mondnagone to Venafro, above the headwaters of the Volturno.
Minor gains were made by the right flank of the Fifth, while the British Eighth Army, fightina farther to the east, captured a group or" important heights dominating Baranello, a few miles west of Campobasso.
From these positions, the Eighth looks down on the first few miles of the road from Vinchiaturo to Isernia, and any further German retreat in this sector would imperil Marshal Kesselring's flank
along the Massico ridge.
Allied aerial onslaughts against the Germans behind the lines continued. Flying Fortresses,' Liberators and
Marauders smashed bridges, roads and airfields. Three enemy coastal vessels were set on fire in the Adriatic by Italian based Warhawks.
Railway yards at Nish, in Jugoslavia, were bombed and strafed by Mitchells and escorting Lightnings. New air attacks on the Rhodes and Cos airdromes in the Aegean were reported, as well as additional blows on the islands of Melos and Syros.

Another Large
Convoy Lands
Another large contingent of U.S. troops, including several hundred WACs, has arrived at a British northwest port, it was announced yesterday.
The troops, representing many branches of the service, were part of the second contingent whose arrival has been reported this week.
Crowds lined the streets of the port city as the WACs marched along singing service songs, but it was their silk stockings and not their voices that the curbstone onlookers envied.
Fort Group Destroyed
59 Nazis at Munster
EIGHTH AIR FORCE BOMBER
STATION, England, Oct. 21—
A single Flying Fortress group, commanded by Col. Edgar M. Wittan, 32, of Portage, Pa., blasted 59 enemy aircraft from the skies over Munster to set an all-time record for one group on one mission.
In addition, confirmed records showed, ihe ten planes which returned from 'the raid—half a dozen were lost
—accounted for six other enemy planes probably shot down and eight more damaged.