SICILIAN VICTORY

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 August 1943, Page 5

SICILIAN VICTORY

GENERAL EISENHOWER’S TRIBUTE AXIS TOTAL LOSSES HEAVY Men, Guns, Tanks, Planes, and Ships

RUGBY, August. 18. General Eisenhower praised the Allied soldiers, says a correspondent at Headouarters in North Africa. He said: '“They are equal to-day to any in the world.” , A Figures up to a week ago put the Allied losses at 25,000 killed, wounded, missing and taken prisoners in the Sicilian campaign. The correspondent adds that the Axis casualties in Sicily numbered 32,000 killed or wounded, and 135.000 prisoners. Enemy tank losses excluding the present week numbered 260, and guns 502 up to August 12. Thousands of vehicles of all kinds and quantities of stores are still being collected on the battlefield. ' . General George Marshall, American Chief of Staff, addressed congratulations to Admiral oi the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham, General Alexander, Air Marshal Tedder, General Patton and General Spaatz, expressing admiration for the triumphal conclusion of the Sicilian campaign, and their support of Genera] Eisen-h°lteis-estimated that the Axis has evacuated from twenty to thirty thousand troops from Sicily, and that the Germans have five or six more divisions in the peninsula of Italy. LAlErt.

Up to yesterday nearly I'7oo enemy aircraft were destroyed m the air, on the ground, or captured. AirMarshal Tedder has reported to General Eisenhower that 1100 Axis aircraft were actually counted on the ground in Sicily. The Allies tank losses were 103, and gun losses 251. Both figures are about hall The enemy’s, and both included those sunk during the landings. Between July 1 and August 17 the Allies lost 274 aircraft. . During the Sicilian campaign the Allied air forces made more than 12,000 sorties, and 750 tons of bombs were dropped on Messina alone. British and American troops are organising captured areas and mopping up isolated groups of Axis soldiers. The air offensive continueo to the last moment of the evacuation, which war's far less successful than the Germans pretend. Between August 5 and yesterday our aircraft destroyed or damaged 306 enemy boats to medium-sized merchantmen. General Eisenhower, who has returned to his headquarters, described the Sicilian campaign as an example of what could be accomplished by all three services working together. It was a real victory and the troops had done everything the best troops in the world could do. That remark applied to all three serivces. Speaking as an American, General Eisenhower said he was as proud of the Eighth Army as anyone could be, and he was also proud that the Americans had now brought up an army which was a worthy partner to it. RELIEF AT~CAPTURE (Recd. 1 p.m.) LONDON, August 18. All correspondents’ stories of the occupation of Messina stress the damage of Allied bombing. Reuter says the town area is practically down to ground level.'Not a single buildingescaped damage. The British United Press states that the Allied bombing so impressed the Italian soldiers they remained in the air-raid shelters for four hours after we entered the city. When news reached them that the city was in our hands, they poured out mad with excitement and relief, cheering, applauding, shouting, and shaking hands with the British and American .troops. Italian women hugged and kissed British tank force men. Civilians said that the Germans looted the shops before they left and killed anyone who tried to stop them. The Associated Press reports that the first Americans to arrive in Messina accepted the city’s unconditional surrender, and drove Italian leaders to American headquarters. Jubilant residents, playing drums and horns, formed an impromptu street parade for the conquerors. It is impossible to describe the damage. The earthquake which levelled the city in 1908 hardly caused more destruction. The centre of the city is a labyrinth of tangled wreckage. ATTACKS MAINTAINED (Rec. 11.45 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 18. The Allied armies have begun to regroup to be ready for the next round—the biggest offensive yet, right inside the fortress ol Europe, declares the British United Press Algiers correspondent. The attack against land communications on the Italian toe has been so effective that the Germans are now trying to withdraw their forces from Reggio di Calabria to Palmi (25 miles to die north-east). Fighter-bombers are harassing the vessels they are using. Following the conquest of Sicily, Allied planes are now attacking Axis communications far into Italy. The Allied planes heavily raided railroad and highway life lines into the southern provinces of Italy after destroying or damaging 306 evacuation vessels in the final round of the Sicilian campaign. The British United Press correspondent with the American 7th Army says that the Axis claim that toe German forces escaped with all their equipment is nonsense. ‘When rhe 7th Army marched in yesterday Messina was jammed with abandoned gun’s, vehicles, and other booty. The road for four miles into Messina was lined with knocked-out and abandoned vehicles. There were practically no Germans in Messina, but Italian troops surrendered wholesale. Hardly a building in the city remains 'lb tact, and the docks, particularly, are a mass of jumbled stone and steel. INVASION OF MAINLAND (Recd. 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 18. Most authoritative British and American observers believe an Allied invasion of Italy will come soon. It is considered likely that when the invasion of Italy begins simultaneous moves will be made against the Balkans, Sardinia, or Southern France. Morley Richards, the “Daily Express’s” military writer, says that Allied landings in Italy may be expected at any moment. General Eisenhower has established a magnificent strategic position; he has ports from which to strike in one or more of three directions. He could move through Sardinia, and Corsica to Southern France, or to Italy or the Balkans. The attack on Italy may be synchronised with other Mediterranean offensives, for the Allies have a second large force based on Cairo and a third in Syria. The “New York Times” says Italy remains in the war only as a prisoner of Germany; it can be rescued only by a determined show of Allied strength—to impress the hesitant Badoglio Government, to encourage the population which is crying out for peace, and to chase the Germans out. The New York “Daily News” says Italy is ready to quit the war. This happy result will be achieved by splitting the Italian people from their Fascist leaders. It would be worth

| while for the Allies at least to try to do the same thing to Hitler and his Nazi party. j “GET READY” WARNING 1 (Recd. 1 p.m.) ; LONDON, August 18. The Algiers radio to-night broadcast a special “get ready” warning to the occupied countries from what : was described as “the Allied High Command, London.” i The message said: “It is time for ! you to prepare all youi' actions and ■ perfect all your preparations. All ‘elements ready to contribute to the ' success of the eventual operations on j French metropolitan territory must !be fully equipped for their tasks. ! Everyone of you must ask yourselr ' what you can possibly do on the day i when you hear the call of the InterAllied High Command. We urge you ,to perfect all preparations most '' speedily, but with the greatest care, i The people of the occupied country which is chosen to be the first to weli come the Allies will be notified at the ; last minute. You have in the past 'heard similar messages from Allied ! Headquarters. You have just heard I one of the greatest importance. General Eisenhower stated in Algiers: “We are ready to go at any i minute.”

GERMAN ORDEALS LONDON, August 18. A German war correspondent on the Berlin radio stated: The Allies never gave us a moment’s respite in Sicily. During the last days we had no water, and with scorched throats we faced a ceaseless spray from the machine-guns of dive-bombers, we were exposed to high-flying bombers, and cowered under a terrific barrage from heavy Allied batteries, Then naval batteries joined in. Allied planes hovered constantly over our heads, and the enemy chased us all through our retreat. Whenever the Tommies felt like it, they ordered the naval guns to shell us. Bridges collapsed like toys, cutting off our armoured forces in the retreat. Only our faith in our leaders kept us going. GERMANS ASSUME POWER LONDON, August 18. Disintegration in Italy is gathering speed as the people realise that, with the Sicilian campaign over, the moment is nearer when overwhelming Allied strength will descend upon them. Widespread Allied aix* attacks against airfields w.hich are the usual prelude to an Allied offensive are already going on over the Italian mainland. . , “ ‘Because of Italian inability to maintain order,’ 19 German divisions in the North Appennines are administering martidl law, according to reports reaching Switzerland from Italy,” says the “New York Times’ correspondent in Berne. “The move is understood to be part of the Wehrmacht’s preparations for the last-ditch defence of the fortress of Germany. The Mayors of Milan, Verona, and Como resigned in protest, and were immediately arrested. The German assumption of power followed bitter clashes between Italian police and peace demonstrators.

“Evacuees from Milan report that fires are still raging after Sunday’s raid, and that thousands of wounded and dead are still trapped under mountains of wreckage. There are reports of widespread beginnings of a nation-wide general strike which a left-wing coalition has proclaimed for Monday.” ITALIAN-GERMAN CLASHES (Rec. 9.40 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 18. Clashes are occurring between Italian and German troops who are being moved from Southern Italy to northern areas, reports the Associated Press Stockholm correspondent, quoting reports seeping through the Italian censorship. The Zurich correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper, “Dagens Nyheter,” reports encounters involving German troops, but says it is impossible to say how serious they are. New peace demonstrations have broken out in Rome, Naples, Milan, and. Turin.

A message from Lisbon says that an Italian diplomatic mission of five, including Dr. Angelis, of the Foreign Office, arrived at Lisbon yesterday. They left Rome after the second Allied bombing last Friday. JUGOSLAVS EXECUTED LONDON, August 17. Reuter’s Stockholm correspondent stated: Terboven personally ordered the execution of more than three hundred Jugoslav war prisoners in Northern Italy. German Storm Trooper firing squads carried out the execution, which was ordered ostensibly to prevent the spread of typhus, from which several* of the prisoners were suffering.