SLICED THROUGH

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 164, 13 July 1943, Page 3

SLICED THROUGH

CANADIAN ASSAULT Italian Coast Defences Soon Overwhelmed Rec. 1.30 p.m. RUGBY, July 12. Slicing through the Italian coastal defences in the night and dawn of the landings on a long crescent beach, the Canadians, with a crack British formation on their right flank, over-ran the Paehino Peninsula within 24 hours and established an invasion bridgehead, according to a delayed eye-witness' account of the assault and the first 24 iiours. The correspondent continued: "It was one success after another in this Canadian-British sector. As the greatest combined operation in history was launched the Canadians advanced into hilly country northwest and west of Paehino. The coastal defenders put up only a mild light. Tho first wave of assault companies of a famous Canadian regiment landed on a sandy beach at Costa del Lambra 'The CanaGian casualties on the first day were very light, under 40 being reported. The Italian beach defences, which folded up like a concertina, were merely barbed wire and some machine-gun posts, which fired a few bursts and then gave up. On one beach the enemy was evidently counting on a sand bar, 15ft off shore, as a natural defence, but the Canadians surprised them completely by landing in heavy surf and battling ashore through water up to the waists.

I "Coastal batteries shelled the boats, but the firing was erratic. The Canadians went through the beach defences in minutes and struck inland, mopping up groups of Italians en route. The Royal Navy had been giving the troops magnificent gun support the whole day and not a single enemy aircraft was seen. "The beach looked like a big traffic jam, with tanks, guns and trucks ploughing through sand to the roads leading inland," the correspondent continues. "It was almost unbelievable to the Canadians that the first stage could be so easy. At night bombers attacked the troops near the beach and tried to hit the ships under the glare of flares, but the raid only lasted about 30 minutes and was not effective. "Our ack-ack from the ships and the shore was terrific. The Canadians, who were trained in Britain for the assault, sailed straight from there to Sicily without being attacked at any stage. They described the 2000-mile unopposed journey as 'fantastic'"