Yanks advance 55 miles
Americans near Marsala, also 15 miles from north coast
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Bulletin
London, England –
The Algiers radio said tonight that U.S. and Canadian troops had occupied heights dominating the northern seacoast of Sicily.
Allied HQ, North Africa –
Axis defense collapsed rapidly in central and western Sicily today as U.S. and Canadian Armies captured 18 more towns and slashed through Castelvetrano to within 22 miles of the westernmost tip of the island while other columns pushed swiftly toward the north coast.
At Washington, Acting Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson said the Americans had advanced about 20 miles beyond Castelvetrano and were in the outskirts of Marsala, on the westernmost tip of Sicily. This was an advance of 55 miles in less than three days.
The fall of Castelvetrano gave the Allies one of the most important airfields in Sicily, which had been used by the Axis for air patrol over the Sicilian Strait.
The British 8th Army was still locked in furious battle at Catania, but the rest of the allied lines surged forward at the rate of a mile-an-hour in some sectors, with the Americans driving nearer to Termini and Palermo on the north coast.
Large enemy elements were believed isolated in the western part of Sicily. The Americans were last reported 15 miles from the north coast.
The swiftest advance was made by the Americans, who covered 35 miles in 36 hours as they swept Menfi on the south coast and captured Castelvetrano, only 22 miles from Marsala at the western end of the island.
Among the other towns captured were:
WESTERN SICILY: Bivona, 37 miles east of Castelvetrano and 20 miles north of Agrigento; San Stefano village, near Bivona (not the San Stefano on the north coast); Ribera, 20 miles east and south of Castelvetrano; Casteltermini, 45 miles east of Castelvetrano; Caltabellotta, 10 miles north of Sciacca and 25 miles east of Castelvetrano.
CENTRAL SICILY: Santa Caterina, 10 miles northwest of Caltanissetta; Mussomeli, 18 miles northwest of Caltanissetta; Campo Francos, 14 miles west of Caltanissetta; Marianopoli, 12 miles northwest of Caltanissetta; Pietra Perzia, five miles south of Caltanissetta; Piazza Armerina, 18 miles southeast of Caltanissetta; Mirabella, 20 miles southern of Caltanissetta.
EASTERN SICILY: Ramacca, 22 miles southwest of Catania; Mineo, 28 miles southwest of Catania; Patagonia, 24 miles southwest of Catania.
Field dispatches indicated that the northernmost point reached by the Americans in the western part of the island was about 15 miles south of Palermo. The capture of Palermo or Termini, both on the north coast, would break the last Axis communications lines in the north and split the island in two.
The Allied advances exceeded the most optimistic pre-invasion expectations. It was understood that the Axis forces threatened with isolation in the western and northern parts of Sicily were almost all Italian, as the Germans had withdrawn toward the northeast corner of the island where a final stand, based on Mt. Etna, was expected. The Italian forces left behind were reported to lack modern weapons in many instances and the American advance was meeting little resistance except at few points.
The Allies now hold more than half of Sicily, most of the good airdromes and some 400,000 prisoners, as well as vast quantities of war material seized in good condition.
The Italian 26th Division was surrendering piecemeal in western Sicily with many reports of Italians shooting German officers who attempt to prevent them from surrendering.
One group of Italians which shot their Nazi officers came over to the Allied lines carrying white flags, smiling and singing.
The Allied advance has now pushed forward on an average inland depth of 35 miles from the coast and the Americans have extended their western flank from 50 to 60 miles.
Axis holds corridor
The fall of the Enna communications center in mid-Sicily hastened the German withdrawal northeastward toward Messina. The enemy still had a narrow corridor on the north coast for movement of troops eastward, but this was being closed steadily.
Radio Algiers said that Palermo, Marsala and Trapani appeared to have been abandoned by the Axis.
Axis reinforcements to stiffen the northeastern defenses were apparently still arriving. Many paratroopers were being put into the frontline defenses by the enemy.
The London radio reported that allied paratroopers had been landed behind Catania, putting that east coast port under attack from three sides.
The Battle for Catania continued with unabated ferocity. The British 8th Army inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans and made some progress.
The crack Hermann Göring Division, the 15th German Panzer Division and paratroop elements were reported taking full advantage of the natural defenses offered by three large rivers and innumerable rushing streams in a so-far futile effort to stem the slow, but steady British 8th Army advance.
An Algiers broadcast said the fall of Catania could be expected hourly with the situation of defending troops becoming desperate at all points.
Canadian troops were hammering forward in the central sector, between the American and British flanks, against what the communiqué called “determined resistance.”
