FIERCE FIGHTING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1943, Page 4

FIERCE FIGHTING

ITALIANS GETTING STRONG GERMAN SUPPORT AMERICANS ADVANCING WEST. COUNTER-ATTACKS REPELLED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.20 a.m.) RUGBY, July 13. A broadcast from the Algiers radio says the battle in Sicily is becoming more fierce, with the Germans strongly supporting the Italian field units. British and Axis forces clashed two miles west of Floridia. The Americans 'are advancing east of Gela, having repelled fresh Axis counter-attacks. Reuter’s Algiers correspondent says units of the South African Engineering Corps, who have been in the vanguard in all the North African campaigns, are with the Allied forces in Sicily. They have the most important job of seeking water supplies. Shortage of water will be one of the early problems the Allied troops will have to face, as the island lacks an adequate supply even in peace time. According to,a statement by the Algiers radio tonight, the Allied troops now occupy ever 300 square miles of Sicily.

NAVY’S TASK IN THE INVASION OF SICILV GREATEST OF THE KIND EVER UNDERTAKEN. BRITISH FIRST LORD’S SURVEY. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) RUGBY, July 13. “The largest amphibious' operation ever attempted,” was the description the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr A. V. Alexander) gave to the Sicilian invasion, when speaking to the Foreign Press Association in London today. He re? vealed that between November, 1942, and January 8, 1943, we landed over a million tons of supplies, over 400,000 personnel, and over 40,000 vehicles, in North Africa. Referring to the breaking of the blockade of Malta, Mr Alexander said: “From July, 1942-, until May, 1943, we sank 346 enemy ships on the Mediterranean supply lines.” Turning to Sicily, Mr Alexander continued: “Here is the largest amphibious operation ever attempted. It has been carried to the place of landing by the Royal Navy and the United States Navy, despite the most difficult weather, with a skill and determination which reached the highest naval standards, and for which we should all be grateful to those who carried through the enormous task of planning, and those who so brilliantly got all to the right places just at the right time. Also we ought not to forget that hundreds of merchant ships have been engaged, and that we owe them a great debt. In the great task which still lies ahead of us in Sicily, we can be confident that our naval forces and merchant ships, with the assistance of the air forces, will do their utmost to maintain our troops on land, with all the supplies they need, until the campaign has been completed in Italy.” Mr Alexander also paid a tribute to the splendid co-operation of the United States Fleet, and to the smaller but valuable naval units of our other allies, and stressed the importance of naval power as the determining factor in the present war.

AUGUSTA PORT VALUABLE AS NAVAL BASE. APPROACHES SWEPT OF MINES. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 12.20 p.m.) RUGBY, July 13. A North African communique states that Augusta had been bombed and that mine-sweepers had swept a passage to this port, which is important as a naval base. The communique also states that our naval operations, in which more than 3000 vessels and craft of all types are taking part, are proceeding successfully.