THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Monday, July 12, 1943. SICILY ASSAULTED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25275, 12 July 1943, Page 2

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Monday, July 12, 1943. SICILY ASSAULTED

The dramatic news of the Allied landings in Sicily opens a new and fateful chapter in the world war. The forces of democracy, after having beaten off, then driven back into Europe, the Axis armies which threatened the world, have moved against them into their own closeguarded territory. If Pantellaria and Lampedusa did not, in the strictest geographical sense, belong with Europe, there can be no doubt that Sicily is an authentic part of the Continent to which the western partners in the Axis are now practically confined. On the course of the fighting comment is not required. Nor is it necessary, in the light of the cabled news, to emphasise what must be clear to all—the formidable nature of the Allies’ first European assignment. The job has been planned to the last detail and entered upon with the utmost dash and efficiency. General Eisenhower, who can claim the honour of opening the campaign against Hitler's vast European fortress, has observed the rules which General Montgomery is reported to have summarised for him in succinct language: “ Never move before you are ready, limit your objective to the means at your disposal, and put every man into the picture.” At his disposal the Com-mander-in-Chief has great resources in men, ships, and barges and aircraft, but it is obvious that in the operations now being carried out not superiority of numbers—the Axis has, by estimate, very large forces on Sicily—but a superior concentration in attack and in the strength and use of weapons, including naval ■and aircraft, will predicate success. In its determination, its weight and the initial vantages secured on Sicilian soil' this first bold stroke against the Axis in Europe proclaims its careful planning. While the battle for Sicily is still undecided its possible significance must stir both Allied and Axis minds. Does Sicily precede Italy? The prior need, if -the Italian mainland is to be the first main goal of the Allies, is the reduction of the island outposts— Pantellaria, Sicily, Sardinia, perhaps Corsica—which form the Duce’s “ Tyrrhenian Wall.” The assault on Sicily, after air-and sea attack which has progressed steadily for several weeks, shows that at least in the preliminary aim of destroying Italy’s island screen the Allies have made their decision. But this does not arbitrarily presage invasion of Italy. For the more complete protection of Allied shipping, which is now using the Mediterranean freely—and by Axis report for the movement of great convoys of troops and supplies—and for operating by*’surface patrols and submarines against Axis shipping in the Mediterranean, Sicily is a desirable possession. In invasion not directed primarily at Italy, but at the South of France, or at Jugoslavia through Southern Italy, or at Greece through Crete — which is receiving heavy attention from Allied bombers—Sicily could become an important accessory. And in the event that the main blows which the Axis has been awaiting are to fall elsewhere, in Northern Europe, the present operations would still be a most logical prelude.