SICILIAN VICTORY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25309, 20 August 1943, Page 5

SICILIAN VICTORY

PRAISE FOR TROOPS DETAILS OF AXIS CASUALTIES (.Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 19. “ Speaking as an American, I am as proud of the Eighth Army as anybody, and I am especially proud that the Americans now have an .army which is a worthy partner of the Eighth Army,” said General Eisenhower, speaking in Algiers. He added that General Sir Harold Alexander was now in a position to swing “ a one-two punch ” whenever he thought fit. General Eisenhower later referred to the armies as “ General Alexander’s double-barrelled shotgun.” He expressed surprise that the Italians, who had been left to fight a rearguard action to cover the German evacuation, fought so well. General Eisenhower said that of the 75,000 Germans known to have been in Sicily 24,000 were killed or wounded and 6000 to 7000 captured. He added that how many Axis troops were killed trying to cross the Strait of Messina would never be known. He implied that it was a large figure. He said he was disappointed that a single German escaped. Enemy Loses 167,000 Men General Eisenhower added that Axis losses in Sicily totalled 167,000 killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. About 135,000 were taken prisoner to August 10. Not fewer than 32,000 were killed or wounded. The enemy lost 260 tanks and 500 guns. Up to August 12 the Allies shot down or captured on the ground 598 German and 415 Italian planes. Allied losses in the entire campaign are estimated to be 25,000The German Overseas News Agency claimed that about 40,000 Axis troops, including 4500 wounded, reached the mainland, as well as 9699 vehicles, 100 guns, and 47 tanks. , The British United Press correspondent with the American Seventh Army says the Axis claim that the German forces escaped with all ec l ul P" ment is nonsense. “When the Seventh Army marched in yesterday Messina was jammed with abandoned guns, 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 the Italian troops surrendered wholesale. Hardly a building in the city remained intact. The docks particularly are a mass of jumbled stone and steel.” Messina in Ruins All correspondents’ stories of the occupation of Messina_ stress the damage caused by Allied bombing. Reuter’s says the town area was practically down to ground level, and not a single building escaped damage. The British United Press states that the Allied bombing so impressed Italian soldiers that they remained in air raid shelters for four hours after the Allies entered the city. When the 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 the Germans looted the shops before they left and killed anyone who tried to stop them. 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.