NEW AXIS LINE IN SICILY

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 268, 7 August 1943, Page 5

NEW AXIS LINE IN SICILY

North Of Mt. Etna

FALL OF PATERNO ANNOUNCED

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.)

(Received August 6, 9.10 P .m.) LONDON, August 6. The capture of Paterno, at the foot of Mt. Etna and 1 3 miles from Catania, was announced yesterday. This cuts the railway road round Etna. Today, the enemy is reported to be retreating in good order to a new defence line north of Etna. One of the greatest concentrations of Allied planes ever assembled is now pounding the Germans’ way of retreat to Messina. The Eighth Army has fanned out from Catania in two sweeps which have pushed back the German rearguards from the southern slopes of Mt. Etna and brought final victory in the Sicilian campaign near, says the Algiers correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain.

Eighth Army troops have also captured Misterbianco, south-east of Paterno. The vanguard of the Eighth Army was reported yesterday to be keeping in contact with the retreating Germans. The Algiers correspondent of the "Daily Express” says that as a result of the capture of Paterno, the remaining Germans in the Catania plain are trapped, as the three-mile wide coastal corridor east of Etna is under 'incessant bombardment from the Royal Navy, and is blocked by landslides.

Strategic Bottleneck. Paterno was a strategic bottleneck-con-trolling both entry into Catania from the west and the Axis-held road through Randazzo northward toward Messina, Ihe Allies are now threatening the Randazzo area. The town of Randazzo lies on a ring railway round Mt. Etna. . Messages from Sicily yesterday reported the capture by the Allies of Gerbini. where the big -air base and a network of nine smaller fields 12 miles west of Catania are now completely in Allied hands. "The Axis forces in the northern sector were reported yesterday to be retreating before the American- advance to the Cape Orlando district. . American columns after passing Croina were marching toward Bronte yesterday.