FRESH GAINS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21149, 17 July 1943, Page 3

FRESH GAINS

CATANIAJN RANGE unifiedTattack SIX AIRFIELDS TAKEN

STIFFER FIGHT LIKELY

(By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, July 15. Our forces in Sicily have made considerable gains north of Augusta and in the south of the island. At least six airfields are now in our hands and some are being used by our fighters. The Messina ferry come in for increasingly heavy attacks from Allied bombers. Allied troops made fresh gains on both the western and eastern sectors and to-day’s communique also reports successful operations by air-borne and parachute troops. Allied fighter planes are now operating from the captured airfields and from Pantellaria in support of the advance. The communique says: “During the last 24 hours our ground forces made considerable gains. In the eastern sector, the British Eighth Army advanced some miles beyond Augusta, which has been firmly se- , cured. In the western sector, the American Seventh Army captured another important aerodrome and several dominating hills. Both British and American air-borne and parachute troops carried out successful operations. At least 12,000 prisI oners have been taken during the past five days.” ; A correspondent at Algiers says that ■ the Allied forces are now moving ■ along together in one unified plan of ■ attack. In the west, the Americans : are driving up from the north through : woody country threatening lines of ■ communication in the centre of the i island. In the east, the British 1 advance carried out troops through ’ to the plain of Catania and this drive I now directly threatens Catania itself. Italians’ Complaints r “Up to now, the enemy resistance i has not been nearly as strong as was ; expected, but it seems highly prob- ! able that he will fight for Catania j and generally we expect resistance to ; stiffen. Most of the 12,000 prisoners 1 captured were Italians and 8000 • already have been evacuated. We > now have seven of the Axis airfields in ; Sicily and a seaplane base.” The town of Catania is believed to ; be within range of the heavy guns ol > the British forces pushing northwards . along the east coast of Sicily, according to a correspondent at an advanced Allied base in North Africa. He says that with the capture of a key airfield from which Allied planes can operate the air battles in Sicily are almost won. According to other correspondents, Italian prisoners taken in Sicily are complaining bitterly of the lack of equipment due to the corruption of the Fascist Government. They also complain that the little equipment that is made available to the Italian army is completely obsolete. This, they alleged, was due to the fact that members of the Italian Government have interests In most armament firms and will not spend money on new machinery which could produce more up-to-date weapons. Reports also indicate that the Italians have not any modern field guns and that there is a shortage of old types. The latter report is borne out by our troops discovering that a number of coastal defence guns on the island were wooden dummies. The rift between Italian and German troops is widening, the correspondent adds. Polish Troops Captured Another despatch tells of the capture of Polish troops in the German Army. Two had brothers who fought in the Polish Army and are now prisoners in German prison camps. One actually fought in the Polish Army against the Germans and had then been captured, released, and conscripted into the German Army. Most oi the men came from the Polish corridor, Danzig, or Upper Silesia, and because of their German names were listed as racial Germans. Most of them were 19 or 20 years old and had had six or eight months’ training. As soon as possible they got across to the Americans. They could scarcely find words enough to express their delight at being captured. As • the correspondent adds, this seems to be another glaring example of Hitler’s shortage of man-power. The German Army in its prime would never send into the front line troops who could not speak German and who must, from personal experience, be anti-German. Sidelights upon the armada which carried the invasion army reveal the meticulous care with which the operation was planned, writes another correspondent. From a naval operational point of view, the most amazing feature of the whole scheme was the fact

that hundreds of vessels sailing from scattered ports arrived off the Sicilian coast within an hour of the appointed time. In the whole brilliant operation, only one ship was lost. Navy’s Strenuous Job Unfavourable weather caused a delay in landing to the extent of an hour or an hour and a half on some of the beaches, but with so many transports and vessels of all kinds with a warship escort bringing together a great organisation the speed and efficiency with which the sailors did a difficult and strenuous job enabled the Allied tanks to be landed 75

minutes after the first wave of invasion troops went ashore. Allied battleships and cruisers bombarded several points around the island coast on the night of the invasion and the following nights. One of the strangest operations was that in which two destroyers captured Pozzalo, a small village on the south-west coast, and took 20 prisoners. On the morning of July 10, the despatch adds, when the combined operation stai'ted it was known that the Italian Fleet was raising steam. So far as is known to-day, it is still raising steam. A heavy tank and infantry battle is being fought south of Catania where, for the fix'st time, the advancing Allied forces are meeting strong resistarlce. London military observers believe that the full force of the best Axis troops and equipment is now coming into action. The Allied forces captured Lentinia and Carlentini, between Augusta and Catania, and Bruso, four miles west of Augusta, and Mellila, five miles south-west. The Americans captured the aerodrome at Biscari, about 12 miles east of Gela. The Associated Press correspondent in Algiers says that heavy opposition is now being encountered as the Germans and Italians attempt to block the Eighth Army’s advance on Catania. The Axis command apparently has decided to concentrate, most of their forces in the eastern coastal area. Our main coastal forces are still moving on, but the Germans are drawn up in strength, supported by tanks and artillery.