Allies drive deep into Axis Sicilian lines
Land and air raids pave way for pushing enemy into sea
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied armies bit deep into the center of the Axis last-ditch defense line in northeastern Sicily and smashed enemy front and rear bases with mounting aerial attacks today in apparent preparation for the final all-out offensive to drive the remaining German and Italian forces into the sea.
A big-scale blitz against the narrowing Axis bridgehead was indicated following small gains by Americans and Canadians on the 40-mile front stretching from San Stefano on the north coast through Nicosia and Agira to Catania on the east coast.
Patrols attack
Spirited Allied patrol attacks were reported at all key points and both sides were engaging in sharp artillery duels, while Allied air squadrons hammered at enemy transport and concentrations around Mt. Etna and hit at targets on the mainland. British warships again bombarded the Italian coast.
Coincident with a front dispatch reporting indications that the German 15th Panzer Division is withdrawing before the Americans in northern Sicily, a communiqué said. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s 7th Army had moved forward at several places.
In the center of the Allied front, the Canadians pushed ahead through strong opposition while Allied planes pounded the Axis “escape” bridgehead in the northeast end of Sicily. On the British 8th Army front below it, patrols punched at German defenses in small but successful skirmishes.
Resistance stiffens
The Americans met stiffer resistance as they moved eastward against Axis defenses anchored at San Stefano, but they edged forward steadily over rough terrain along the 40-mile front.
Frontline dispatches today said Canadian forces have captured Nissoria, three miles east of Leonforte, and U.S. troops have made new gains in the direction of San Stefano.
The Canadian struck at the Axis line below Nicosia, on the southern end of the American line, and were slowly bending it back. Capture of Nicosia had snapped the links between the enemy forces on the center of the American flank and wedged the outer defenses of the chief Axis line of strongpoints protecting the Messina bridgehead.
The Axis forces had been rammed back into an area small enough for Allied aircraft, enjoying complete superiority, to blitz their remaining foothold on the island much as was done in the final phase of the Tunisian campaign.
Bomb airdrome
Reaching 50 miles above Rome, U.S. Flying Fortresses battered the Viterbo Airdrome yesterday against weak enemy opposition, a headquarters announcement said.
A dispatch from the British 8th Army headquarters in Sicily said RAF pilots had seen trucks filled with men moving eastward through northern Sicily toward the narrowing Axis bridgehead around Messina.
Alfred Wagg, United Press correspondent, reported that British warships, in the second bombardment of the mainland since the Sicilian campaign began, hit a bridge yesterday and sent six-inch shells into railroad lines near Crotone on the sole of the Italian boot.
One merchantman was left sinking and two escorting warships, including a destroyer, were set afire in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Flying Fortresses set a half-dozen fires and touched off one huge explosion at the Viterbo Airdrome. Three other Italian airdromes, all around Naples, were hit in heavy raids Wednesday night and yesterday.
The Tactical Air Force concentrated behind the enemy’s Sicilian front, bombing the harbors of riposte and Messina. RAF Warhawks and Kittyhawks damaged a merchantman and the ferry docks at Messina.
U.S. Warhawks carried out sweeps over northern Sardinia.