THE CURTAIN RAISER

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 30, 4 August 1943, Page 5

THE CURTAIN RAISER

SMASHING AIR OFFENSIVE

LONDON, August 3,

Reuters correspondent at an advancecZ Allied' airfield on the island says that fighters and fighter-bombers from jfche famous Desert Air Force raised the curtain for General Alexander'te offensive. Before the troops drove ■ forward Allied planes smashed supply centres behind the enemy lines and rSlso attacked the ports in northeastern Sicily through which the Germans ■ were rushing arms and equipment, for their troubled, forces. War- ■ hawks and Kittybombers blasted road junctions and vulnerable bridges in a great bid to cut the enemy off from his- >fines of retreat.

fl^e Kittybombers . are giving the Eigltoth Army very close support.. On oner'occasion they bombed enemy positioiaa less than 1000 yards from the British front line. This entailed care-ful.'.pin-pointing: of the target area. The pilots are specially briefed for tvwar" phases "of attack, one in daylight

"JXspita

and the other towards du.sk. They have been so successful that they have received thanks and congratulations from military commanders.

ENEMY DESTROYING DUMPS.

The British United Press correspondent, writing from an advanced Allied airfield, says that the enemy is blowing up dumps. "From dusk last night till dawn today dull explosions accompanied by the other noises from the battle line indicated that the Germans were blowing up forward ammunition dumps in the Mount Etna region. The night sky was glowing for hours from fierce fires at dozens of- points along the horizon, lighting up miles of country. The whole front line at dawn appeared to be covered by a pall of smoke," he said.

British troops of regiments from the south-east of England made a grand climbing assault against a town standing on a veritable pinnacle on the slopes of Mount Etna, says Reuters correspondent with the Eighth Army. The Allied attacks on this front are now being co-ordinated into a triple converging drive towards the hinge in the German defences in the Etna foothills. All three drives are making good progress.

Street fighting is going on on two important hilltops on the edge of the valley of Simeto. The Germans' resistance is expected to be extremely bitter, as they are standing on their final • positions before Etna. Our men drove into one town as a result of magnificent work by tough troops who learned in Tunisia all there is to know about mountain fighting.

ENGLISHMEN'S GREAT SHOW.

This town, perched on a rocky peak, is approached by a road which consists of a succession of hairpin bendsj; and is also badly cratered. It is a! place where one determined man can create serious difficulties for 100. Nevertheless, the men from the English regiments who tackled the job put up a great show in such a fantastic position. The fiercest fighting of the day. occurred in the area of Hill 224, some miles south-east of the town, which the Highlanders took on Sunday night in the third thrust-

That the Germans are realising the threat, which is developing to their backs-to-the-wall positions is shown oy the way they are throwing in everything at their disposal in spite of the fearful losses in men and at the risk of some disorganisation. Only one battalion of a Hermann Goering regiment remains out of four. The others have been disbanded after suffering extremely heavy losses, and the gap thus left in the line has been filled up with any kind of reinforcements. Only 50 out of a batch of 200 prisoners were Germans, the remainder being Italians from the Napoli Division, which is believed to have been wiped out.

Events in the centre will inevitably have a great effect on the position south of Catania, where the Germans must already be looking anxiously towards their right flank.