AXIS COMMANDERS FOOLED

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

AXIS COMMANDERS FOOLED

Alexander’s Strategy UNEXPECTED WEIGHT OF U.S. THRUST (Received August G, 9 p.m.) LONDON, August. 0. ‘•The Axis generals iu Sicily were fooled by the strategy of General Alexander,” says the “Daily Express” military writer, Morley Richards. “The Axis commanders iu Sicily fell for the same trap as they did in Tunisia. Apparently, they did not expect an American blow of such weight in northern Sicily. “When Lieut.-General Patton, commanding the United States forces, kept to Palermo to occupy the western part of the island, the Germans thought their right* flank was secure from attack. A great part of the enemy strength was concentrated to cover the opposite flank, where the Italians and Germans were opposed by the Eighth Army and the Canadians. General Patton, with exemplary speed, swung eastward with scarcely a pause after tailing Palermo, and punched a series of holes into the northern defence. This was a remarkable achievement —a spectacular feat of organization and fighting skill," adds Mr. Richards. An admission by Rome radio that the raid by the Allied air forces on Naples on Wednesday was the “heaviest and most terrific of the 96 terror raids against Naples,” has again focused attention on the major part the air forces are playing in the successful operations in Sicily. Reuter’s correspondent at Allied headquarters says that the alteration in strategy of the Allied air forces operating from North Africa and newly-won bases in Sicily hastened and accentuated, the crumpling of enemy resistance culminating in the fall of Catania.