BATTLE FOR CATANIA BECOMES FIERCER

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22093, 17 July 1943, Page 5

BATTLE FOR CATANIA BECOMES FIERCER

air force and navy assist land forces LONDON, July 16 M ith German crack troops attempting to bar the way to the Catania plains the fighting in Sicily has become fiercer, but the Allies continue to make good progress. The area they occupy is roughly 90 miles long and varies in depth from 15 to 40 miles. Twenty thousand prisoners have been taken and many have been sent to Africa. Eight Sicilian airfields are in Allied, hands and good use is already being made of them. The air forces are maintaining a terrific offensive all over the island and against targets on the mainland. Naples and Foggia were among the targets heavily damaged vesterday, and last night Lancasters from Britain joined in with an assault on electrical plants in northern Italy which provide power for many Italian railways. British forces stand on the edge of the wide Catania plain, where crack German troops are opposing them. Fighting is now on a different scale. The battle for Catania promises to be fierce and might well decide the fate of Sicily. The Eighth Army is gaining ground and has inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. The navy is lending powerful support. At the western end of the front American forces are pushing toward the centre of Sicily in very difficult country. Fourteen more towns in Sicily are now in Allied hands, says an Allied communique. Bitter fighting has taken place, particularly in the eastern sector, where the Eighth Army made further progress against German troops, who desperately contested every inch of ground. Severe losses were inflicted on the enemy in the W'estern sector.