NINE MILES FROM RANDAZZO

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24022, 10 August 1943, Page 5

NINE MILES FROM RANDAZZO

Allies Push On In Sicily THREAT TO GERMANS NEAR TROINA (N.2. Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. I. Randazzo, a*key road and rail junction on the northern slopes of Mount Etna, is now threatened by the Allied advance in Sicily. Pushing on after their capture of Bronte, Allied units were yesterday reported to be nine miles from the junction. “Large German forces are in peril of being trapped northwest of Mount Etna between the Bth Army, which has captured Bronte, and the American 7th Army, which is still meeting bitter resistance just east of Troina,” says the “Daily Telegraph correspondent with General Montgomery’s forces. “The Bth Army caii strike north of Bronte up the Simeto river valley against (he flank and rear of the Germans, who are believed to be concentrated on the hills round Cesaro.” The Algiers correspondent of “The Times” says that with the news that the Allies had taken Bronte came reports from Allied pilots that Randazzo was blocked to traffic as a resufi of air attacks. “Randazzo is a most important strategic point, he adds, “and its occupation would enable the Allies to cut off the Germans who have delayed too long their withdrawal eastwards through trying to hold the Allies at Troina.”

Reuter's correspondent at Allied Headquarters says that with the capture of Troina and Santa Agata, on the north coast, the whole German line is shrivelling. Every important town in Sicily except Messina is now in Allied hands. “The Germans have managed to get most of their troops from Troina, where they experienced one of the hardest battles of the campaign,” reports the British United Press correspondent with the 7th Army. “Americans who fought in Tunisia say that Troina was worse than anything there. One hill south of Troina was taken and retaken six times before the Germans were driven out under a hail of artillery fire and dive-bombing.” A “‘New York Times” correspondent says: “The Americans entering Troina found it a town of horror, emptied of Germans but amazingly alive with weeping and hysterical men, women, and children. The Germans made the town a fortress and deliberately neglected the elementary, humanitarian duty of evacuating the civilians. They looted every house before departing. Stubborn Defence “Everywhere along the line German resistance is very stubborn, and the Allied strategy must be based on its continuance. There is no quick or easy solution for fighting in such mountainous country. It is hard, determined slogging every day. in which our artillery, air support, and the steady pressure of our ground troops should unquestionably bring victory in the long run. If the Germans could not hold Troina they cannot hold anywhere else. We have paid a fair price for victory, but they have paid a heavy price to gain a few days more in Sicily." Although commentators in London are sounding a note of caution in view of the fact that 40.000 to 60,000 Germans are still fighting in Sicily, the Press Association’s military correspondent, summing up the general feeling, says. “The end is inevitable. The Allies’ advance continues successfully and steadily, with the Germans in a country lending itself to defensive action fighting determined rearguard actions and gaining as much time as possible with a lavish use of mines, boobytraps, and demolitions.”. The Algiers radio says it is officially announced that the American 7th Army and the Bth Army have taken 125,000 prisoners. “Hundreds of Allied aeroplanes are smashing against enemy attempts to evacuate second-line troops from Sicily across the Straits of Messina,” says the “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent in Algiers. “Our aircraft are ceaselessly bombing beaches and small craft in the four-mile channel. The Germans, hurrying to get troops away, are now using boats in the day Time, singly oc in small convoys. Enemy air resistance in the last 24 hours has been almost negligible.” Fall of Aderno A British United Press correspondent says that the British troops who occupied Aderno yesterday completed the final destruction of the main Axis defences round the foothills of Mount Etna. “The greatest barrage in the Mediterranean area since the Allied guns opened the way to Tunis drove the Axis rearguards from Aderno,” says the correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain with the Bth Army. “A tremendous weight of fire from approximately 180 25-pounders and larger medium artillery crushed

the Germans’ final positions and forced them to evacuate the town. They retired to . the high ground north of the town,” , . Reuter’s correspondent m Sicily says that the capture of Aderno means not only the loss to the Axis of the last east-to -west road, but also the cuttingoff of the Axis forces who are west of Catania. Correspondents agree that General Montgomery’s outflanking movement which sealed the fate of Aderno was made across the worst country yet encountered in Sicily. The correspondent of the British United Press says that the Canadians carried out an extreme flanking move;, ment, pushing north as far as the area south of Troina, but the enemy’s Mount Etna line would probably still- be standing if the 78th Division had not punched a way through the middle of the German defences by taking Centuripe. “The movement, which A'as brilliantly conceived and executed, started after the capture of Agira,” he adds. “The Canadians, even before Regalbuto fell, had moved into the roadies# mountains on the extreme left of the outflanking move. They gradually won their way north-west of Aderno, from where they menaced the whole southern half of the Germans’ Mount Etna line.” "Military Classic” The correspondent; continues: "The 78th Division’s campaign in Sicily was a little military classic. They were brought up secretly, and the impact of a whole new division in an unexpected blow gave us Centuripe after a violent struggle. The success of the entire operation depended on the flanking force arriving north-west of Aderno at the time the other troops had passed Biancavilla to threaten Aderno frontally. “The Canadians in the outflanking column used bulldozers and explosives to make a road between Troina and Regalbuto, as far as the Simeto valley. Within a matter of days a large force of Canadians, with vehicles and guns, was rolling down the Simeto valley over a route only previously traversed by mules. “The Allies were about to launch a general attack against the enemy’s Etna line when they found the Germans were withdrawing hurriedly. The Germans got out as soon as they found the 78th Division threatening them frontally and the Canadians moving in on their line of retreat round Mount Etna. “The withdrawal has given us the western side of Mount Etna, except for opposition from isolated rearguard parties.” Night-fighters and intruders based on Sicily destroyed 77 enemy aircraft, probably destroyed eight more, and damaged six.in July, according to » message from Malta, which adds that this is a record for any overseas command of the Royal Air Force, if not for the United Kingdom as well.

BULGARIA MAY SEEK PEACE OPINION OP OBSERVERS IN TURKEY (Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, August 8. The crisis in Bulgaria may lead to the fall of the pro-Axis Filov Government, says a message received in Istanbul from Sofia. Kiosseivanov, the former Premier, who tried to keep Bulgaria neutral, has, it is reported, returned to Sofia suddenly from Switzerland, where Bulgarian Minister he has been virtually in exile. Kiosseivanov, it is stated, reported immediately to King Boris and presented a pessimistic account of the Axis position. Observers in Istanbul say that Kiosseivanov may soon overthrow Filov and begin negotiations with the Allies. The London “Ooserver” sees, as a result of the Russian victories, the possibilities of the present situation in Italy recurring in the Balkans. "As sure as the threat to Sicily encouraged popular opposition to Mussolini, so the Soviet advance in the Ukraine will lead to a popular uprising in the Balkans.” it says, “Like the Italians, the Balkan peoples even now can see themselves reduced to the role of an outpost of German Nazism.”

ONTARIO ELECTIONS FAILURE OF LIBERALS DISCUSSED (Rec. 7 p.m.) NEW YORK. August T. ‘‘The Ontario election was more spectacular and more significant than had been anticipated, as the defeat of the Liberals was unexpectedly emphatic, '* says the Ottawa correspondent of the “New York Times.” “The Progressive Conservative Party is certain of forming a government. The result may fairly be interpreted as giving the future political pattern for the whole country. “Both the Progressive Conservative and the Canadian Commonwealth Federation Parties claim that the Liberal debacle reflected public discontent with Mr Mackenzie King, and even Liberals have conceded that the electorate seemed weary of the present Federal Government and anxious to try new men and new methods. Even the fact that the Government had brought the country successfully through the war did not prove good electoral material against the argument that it should have done better, or against the promise of a new and vastly improved social order.”