U.S. CASUALTIES IN SICILY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24020, 7 August 1943, Page 5

U.S. CASUALTIES IN SICILY

FIGURES GIVEN BY MR STIMSON (8.0. W.) RUGBY, Aug. 5. American casualties in Sicily to July 22 totalled 501 killed, 3870 wounded, and 2370 missing, according to the United States Secretary of War (Mr H. L. Stimson). Mr Stimson said that the American losses were moderate, considering the nature of the fighting and the terrain, and he added that the British casualties were not a great deal larger than the American. Enemy prisoners now totalled about 100.000, and the number of killed and wounded was also believed to be substantial. Allied unity in the Mediterranean theatre, which he had just visited, was unprecedented in history, said Mr Stimson. He hailed the Russian capture of Orel as a major victory. The loss of Liberator bombers in the raid on the Ploesti oilfields amounted to 20 per cent., but a devastating blow had been struck at the vital Axis oil resources. Mr Stimson disclosed that 177 Liberators participated in the raid, out of which between 15 and 20 were shot down over the target, and as many more failed to return. Eight were forced to land in Turkey. A message from Cairo says that less than 24 hours after their return from the Ploesti raid 20 officers and men of the 9th United States Air Force were decorated with the Purple Heart by the commanding general at an American base hospital in the desert. Lord Grantley Dead.—The death has occurred of Lord Grantley, who was known as the “father” of the House of Lords.—London, August 6.