RAIDS ON NAPLES

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22620, 28 June 1943, Page 5

RAIDS ON NAPLES

Surrender Leaflets Dropped '7.30 p.m.) LONDON. June 26. Leaflets calling on the population to surrender were dropped by Allied bombers during the latest raids on Naples, says the Rome radio. Fortresses had to shoot their way through swarms of enemy fighters to reach Messina in yesterday s raid, says the Algiers correspondent of the Columbia Broadcasting System. It is officially reported that antiaircraft fire over the target was intense. Italian and German fighters pressed the attack from all directions. sometimes ignoring their own anti-aircraft fire, and forcing the Fortresses to make eight firing and bombing runs. One of our bomber flights was trailed to within sight of the African coast. “The fighters were as thick as gnats,” said one American gunner. Reuters Algiers correspondent says that 200 tons of high explosives and incendiaries were dropped on Messina yesterday. A Rome communique admits that extensive damage was caused by the Fortresses raid on Messina. Causalities were 81 killed and 85 wounded. Reggio de Calabria, one of the two mainland terminals of the Messina Ferry, was also raided. Rome radio says the Allies have made 72 raids on Naples since April 30. Neapolitans have spent 243 hours in air raid shelters. The semi-official newspaper “Popolo d'ltalia” gives three reasons why the invasion of Italy is regarded as imminent. <l' The systematic air bombardment of Italian and Sicilian towns and ports; <2» Increasing concentration of air. naval and landing forces in North Africa: ‘3) The presence of heavy British naval units at Gibraltar and their reinforcement bv the United States.