Mowrer: Axis in Sicily too spread out for offensive
Difficult communications, air attacks, hamper organized defense
By Richard Mowrer
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162 U.S. cruiser survivors rescued from Jap island
Destroyers sneak through unchartered straits to save crewmen from lost Helena
By Frank Hewlett, United Press staff writer
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
Southern Sicily, Italy – (by wireless)
When I went ashore on the south coast of Sicily about six hours after our first assault troops had landed, the beach was already thoroughly organized.
It was really an incredible scene – incredible in that we’d done so much in just a few hours. It actually looked as if we’d been working there for months. Our shore troops and Navy gunboats had knocked out the last of the enemy artillery on the hillsides shortly after daylight.
From then on, that first day was just a normal one of unloading ships on the beach as fast as possible. The only interruptions were a half dozen or so lightning-like dive bombings.
The American invading fleet was divided into separate fleets and each invaded a certain section of the coast and operated independently from the others. The fleet I was with carried infantry and was on the western end of the invasion. Our designated territory covered about 15 miles of beachfront.
Invasion fleet blankets the sea
Our fleet had hundreds of ships in it, all the way from tiny sub-chasers up to powerful cruisers. The bulk of it, of course, was made up of scores of new-type landing craft carrying men, trucks, tanks, supplies of all kinds.
Perhaps you visualize our whole force having been unloaded from big boats into tiny ones, then taken ashore. This happened only to the big transports which used to be ocean liners, and we had none of these in our special fleet. Actually, every ship in our fleet, except the gunboats, was capable of landing right on the beach. They were flat-bottomed and could beach themselves anywhere.
When daylight came, this immense fleet lay like a blanket over the water extending as far out in the Mediterranean as you could see. There wasn’t room to handle them all on the beach at once so they’d come in at signals from the command ship, unload, and steam back out to wait until enough were unloaded from the convoy to go back for a second load.
Little craft, carrying about 200 soldiers, could unload in a few months, but the bigger ones with tanks and trucks and heavy guns took much longer. It was not as especially good beach for our purposes, for it sloped off too gradually, making the boats ground 50 yards or more from ashore.
Most of the men had to jump into waist deep water and wade in. the water was cold, but a high wind dried off your clothes in less than half an hour. Your shoes kept squishing inside for the rest of the day. As far as I know, not a man was lost by drowning in the whole operation.
Not a single traffic jam
The beach itself was organized immediately into a great metropolitan-like docks extending for miles. Hundreds of soldiers wearing black and yellow armbands with the letters SP, standing for shore Police, directed traffic off the incoming boats.
Big white silken banners above five feet square tied to two poles and with colored symbols on them gave the ships at sea the spot where they should land. On the shore, painted wooden markers were set up immediately, directing various units to designated rendezvous areas.
Our whole, vast organization on shore took form so quickly it just lefty you aghast. By midafternoon, the countryside extending far inland was packed with vehicles and troops of every description. There were enough tanks sitting on the hillside to fight a big battle. Jeeps were dashing everywhere. Phone wires were laid on the ground and command posts set up in orchards and old buildings. Medical units worked under trees or in abandoned stone sheds.
Amazed natives stare in wonder
The fields were stacked with thousands of boxes ammunition. Field kitchens were being set up to replace the K rations the soldiers had carried on with throughout the first day.
The Americans worked grimly and with great speed. I saw a few cases of officers being rather excited, but mostly it was a calm, determined, efficient horde of men who descended on this strange land. The amazed Sicilians just stood and started in wonder at the swift precision of it all.
Völkischer Beobachter (July 20, 1943)
Im Dienste der jüdischen Vernichtungswut –
Terrorbomber griffen Rom an
Das neueste Verbrechen der britisch-amerikanischen Luftgangster
…
Munitionsdampfer in die Luft gesprengt –
Feindangriffe zurückgeschlagen
dnb. Rom, 19. Juli –
Das Hauptquartier der italienischen Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
Auf Sizilien wurden wiederholte feindliche Angriffe zurückgeschlagen. Im Verlauf der Kämpfe der letzten Tage hat sich die „Livorno-Division“ durch ihre tapfere Haltung besonders hervorgetan. Bombergeschwader und Kampfflugzeuge der Achse, die die Streitkräfte des Heeres unterstützten, griffen feindliche Truppen und Fahrzeugansammlungen wirksam an. Während dieser Kämpfe wurden vier feindliche Flugzeuge zum Absturz gebracht. Im Verlauf von Tages- und Nachtoperationen der italienischen und deutschen Luftstreitkräfte wurden der feindlichen Schiffahrt neue Verluste beigebracht. Ein 12.000-BRT.-Dampfer, der mit Munition beladen war, wurde von einem unserer Torpedoflugzeuge getroffen und in die Luft gesprengt. Ein schwerer Kreuzer und ein Dampfer mittlerer Größe wurden ebenfalls von Torpedos unserer Flugzeuge getroffen.
Eines unserer Aufklärungsflugzeuge zerstörte einen Bomber über Sardinien.
Am Montagvormittag warfen feindliche Fliegerverbände zahlreiche Bomben über Rom ab. Der entstandene Schaden wird zur Zeit festgestellt.
Zwei italienische Schnellboote, die zu einem starken Verband von Schnellbooten gehörten, versenkten in der Nacht zum 17. Juli bei Angriffen in den Gewässern zwischen Syrakus und Augusta einen großen Dampfer von rund 10.000 BRT.
Sowjets rannten an allen Frontabschnitten vergeblich an –
U-Boote versenkten 62.000 BRT.
dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 19. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
Die Sowjets rannten auch gestern gegen die Mitte und den Südteil der Ostfront vergeblich an. Sie erlitten dabei erneut hohe blutige Verluste und verloren 337 Panzer.
Am Kubanbrückenkopf stellte der Feind infolge seiner schweren Verluste im Laufe des Nachmittags seine Angriffe ein.
Am Mius und am mittleren Donez setzten die Sowjets ihre Durchbruchsversuche fort, die an der zähen Abwehr oder durch den entschlossenen Gegenangriff unserer Truppen scheiterten.
Nördlich Bjelgorod wurden die in mehreren Wellen angreifenden Infanterie- und Panzerverbände der Sowjets bereits vor der Hauptkampflinie zerschlagen.
Im gesamten Raum von Orel wehrten unsere Truppen in wechselvollen Kämpfen die an zahlreichen Stellen der Front vorgetragenen Angriffe unter besonders hohen Verlusten für den Feind ab.
An der übrigen Ostfront führten die Sowjets nur örtliche erfolglose Angriffe.
Die Luftwaffe griff mit starken Verbänden wiederholt in die Kämpfe an den Schwerpunkten der Abwehrschlacht ein und war in zahlreichen Luftkämpfen erfolgreich. Rumänische Jäger schossen hiebei 17 Sowjetflugzeuge ab.
Auf Sizilien leisten deutsche und italienische Truppen teilweise in beweglicher Kampfführung dem Feind weiterhin erbitterten Widerstand. Im Küstenabschnitt südlich Catania wurden von schwerer Schiffsartillerie und starken Fliegerkräften unterstützte Durchbruchsangriffe britischer Infanterie- und Panzerverbände abgewiesen. Deutsche und italienische Fliegerverbände bekämpften bei Tag und Nacht die Transportflotte des Feindes in den Gewässern Siziliens mit großem Erfolg.
Bei der Abwehr von Angriffen gegen deutsche Geleite an der norwegischen und holländischen Küste wurden ein feindliches Unterseeboot versenkt und durch Sicherungsfahrzeuge und deutsche Jäger fünf Flugzeuge abgeschossen. Vier weitere feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter ein Großflugboot, wurden über dem Kanal sowie über dem Atlantik vernichtet. Ein eigenes Jagdflugzeug ging verloren.
In der vergangenen Nacht überflogen nur einzelne feindliche Störflugzeuge das Reichsgebiet.
Deutsche Unterseeboote versenkten im Kampf gegen den feindlichen Nachschub erneut zehn Schiffe mit 62.000 BRT.
The Pittsburgh Press (July 20, 1943)
U.S. BOMBS JAP FLEET BASE
Army air thrust sets many fires at Paramushiro
Big Liberators also score near hits on ships close to enemy’s North Pacific ‘Pearl Harbor’
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YANKS DRIVE AHEAD OF CENTRAL SICILY
Allies report outbreaks in Italian ranks
Catania battle still rages, resistance crumbles elsewhere
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Bulletins!
London, England –
The Algiers radio reported tonight that fighting is going on in the suburbs of Catania.
London, England –
Algiers radio reported tonight that American military experts have said that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Commander-in-Chief, is ready to invade Italy “as soon as it is considered advisable.”
Allied HQ, North Africa –
The see-saw battle for Catania raged more bitterly than ever today, with the British 8th Army tightening a stranglehold on the east coast port, while an Allied communiqué reported signs of mutiny among Italian troops elsewhere in Sicily.
The U.S. 7th Army surged northward through the middle of Sicily, closing in on Enna and seeking to cut the island in two. Reports indicated that opposition in that sector was crumbling to little more than token resistance.
Nazi paratroops attack
But there was furious fighting at Catania, where attack and counterattack followed in rapid succession and the Germans threw paratroops into action as infantry in their desperate efforts to hold off the forces of Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery at Catania and westward around the Gerbini Airdrome.
Gen. Giulio Cesare Gotti Porcinari, commanding the 54th Naples Division, was captured – the fourth Italian divisional commander to be taken prisoner.
The 8th Army had established a number of bridgeheads north of the Simeto River, which runs just south of Catania, and have held them against many fierce thrusts by Nazi tanks.
Gerbini airdromes threatened
The line held by Gen. Montgomery’s men starts on the sea and runs inland about 22 miles to Ramacca, passing south of the Gerbini Airdrome area which had been reported gravely threatened by the Allied troops.
The Americans who took Caltanissetta were pushing on northward in mid-Sicily toward the important road junction of Enna and had reached the Caterina area, which lies west of Enna.
Thus, the Canadians were hacking forward directly toward Enna while the American attack had swung slightly to the west in the Caterina sector, where roads lead to the north coast without passing through Enna, main Axis base in central Sicily. This suggested that the Americans might push on some 30 miles toward Termini Imerese on the north coast without waiting for the fall of Enna.
Allied casualties light
The Canadians smashed back several enemy counterblows. Casualties among the Allied troops in this sector and most other areas were comparatively light.
The Canadians, approaching Enna from the southeast, ran into stiffening resistance by reformed elements of the German 15th Panzer Division and were slowed down somewhat. The Allied pincer is about 10 miles from Enna.
On the western end of the line, where the Americans took Agrigento and Porto Empedocle, the Allied line was being extended along the coast and is now approximately 100 miles long on the south coast.
It was in this sector that opposition seemed least and many Italian units – largely Sicilian – surrendered en masse.
British military observers in London said that the speed of the American advance threatened to deal a knockout blew to the whole Italian resistance in central Sicily. Radio Algiers said both U.S. and Canadian troops have reached Enna.
Catania was already in flames from repeated bombings, the latest Sunday night, and naval bombardments. 8th Army patrols stabbed at the enemy defenses while gathering strength for an all-out assault to capture the city, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s communiqué said.
Radio London said British troops at last reports were only 2.5 miles from Catania with the battle for possession of the city now raging. A Vichy broadcast, quoted by Radio Algiers, said the British succeeded ion piercing the German lines south of Catania at heavy cost, while Berlin reported British attacks from the south and through the mountains from the west.
Yanks drive two ways
The communiqué said the Americans were driving both northward toward central Sicily and northwestward along the south coast toward Sciacca.
The communiqué said:
They report little resistance in the west, where hundreds of the enemy have been giving themselves up. There are many indications of mutiny by Italian troops commanded by German officers.
Photos show heavy damage in Rome raid
Railroad yard blocked; only five attacking planes lost
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer
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Dangerous curves ahead –
New clothes creations emphasize silhouette
It’s hips-hips-away, fashion designers warn milady in wartime fall showing
By Maxine Garrison, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
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Yanks at edge of Munda base
Enemy believed trapped on New Georgia
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer
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Post-war plan demanded by GOP faction
Policy association to put pressure on Congressmen and committee
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
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Flying reporter sights fires in Rome from 30 miles at sea
Nero’s famous blaze was only flicker compared with bomb-set conflagration, McMillian says
By Richard D. McMillan, United Press staff writer
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
Southern Sicily, Italy – (by wireless)
The American assault upon the southern coast of Sicily was divided into sections, each operating independently under sub-commanders and with the troops brought here in separate fleets, each commanded by an admiral.
I traveled with the section that was assigned to the western third of the Americans’ designated territory. We had to take about 14 miles of beachfront. This force itself was subdivided into sections, each with an equal amount of beach to take.
The assault troops found nobody at all. The thing was apparently a complete surprise. Our troops had been trained to such a point that instead of being pleased with no opposition, they were thoroughly disgusted.
At two beaches, the opposition was trivial and soon over. On a fourth beach, it was stronger and the beach wasn’t occupied until after daylight, but even so, it was minor league defense in every sense of the word. Our sector covered the territory on each side of the city of Licata.
When I went ashore, I landed about two miles east of the city, waded ashore, and hitchhiked a ride into town with some engineers in a jeep. Licata is a city of about 35,000 with a small river running through it. It has a wide main street and a nice little harbor.
The buildings are of local stone, dull gray and old, but very substantial. The city is so colorless it blends into the surrounding dry countryside and you can’t see it a few miles away. A hill rises right behind the city and there is a sort of fort on the top.
Sicilians plenty bomb-jittery
When daylight came, we looked at the city from the boat deck and could see the American flag flying from the top of this fort, although the city itself had not surrendered yet. Some Rangers had climbed up there before daylight and hoisted our flag. The city hadn’t been bombed. The only damage came from a few shells we threw into it from the shops just after daylight. The corners were knocked off a few buildings and some good-sized holes were gouged in the streets, but the city got off pretty nicely.
Apparently, most of the people got out the night before, although we did see two or three hundred on the streets during the day. All the stores had their Latin-type shutters pulled down tightly. Although we hadn’t bombed right around here, the people certainly were bomb-jittery.
During an air raid by the Germans, I saw two soldiers herding about 100 civilians down the road to a prison camp, and when the shooting started at the German planes overhead, the people all took to an adjacent field and lay there cowering beside the little rows of grain that gave no protection at all.
They looked terrified and wouldn’t move when the soldiers ordered them up, and finally one soldier had to fire into the ground beside them to make them move.
Ernie laughs at defenses
Their defenses throughout our special sector were almost childish. They didn’t bother to mess up their harbor, nor to blow out the two river bridges which would have cut our forces in half. They only had a few mines on the beaches, and practically no barbed wire.
We’d come prepared to fight our way through a solid wall of mines, machine guns, artillery, barbed wire and liquid fire and we even expected to hit some new fiendish devices. Yet there was almost nothing to it. It was like stepping into the ring to meet Joe Louis and finding Caspar Milquetoast waiting there.
The Italians didn’t even leave many boobytraps for us. I almost stepped into one walking through a field, but it obviously had been dropped rather than planted. At the docks, we found whole boxes full of them that hadn’t even been opened.
The roadblocks outside town were laughable. They considered merely of light wooden frameworks about the size of a kitchen table around which barbed wire had been wrapped. These sections were laid across the road and all we had to do was pick them up and lay them aside. They wouldn’t have stopped a cow, let alone a tank.
The civilians in town told us they were sick of being starved by the Germans and didn’t want to fight us. It was obvious they didn’t, but in these early days we have little contact with other American forces so it’s possible maybe that the Italians laid down here in order to fight harder somewhere else.
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