Ein Gespräch mit Generalleutnant Kawabe –
‚Die japanische Armee ist gerüstet‘
…
Deutsche Sizilienkämpfer im Urteil des Gegners –
‚Unvorstellbare Verteidigungskraft‘
dnb. Stockholm, 10. August –
Die Kommentatoren des Londoner Senders berichten über die Kampfhandlungen auf dem Kriegsschauplatz Sizilien, daß sich die Deutschen immer hartnäckiger und wilder verteidigten. Es sei unvorstellbar, mit welchem Fanatismus die wenigen deutschen Divisionen den von allen Seiten gegen sie mit größter Übermacht vorgetragenen Angriffen Widerstand leisteten. Von englischen Militärkritikern wird unumwunden zugegeben, daß die Widerstandskraft dieser deutschen Verbände bewunderungswürdig ist, um so mehr als sie einer vielfachen Übermacht gegenüberstünden. Daß es Montgomery bisher nicht gelungen ist, trotz des gewaltigen Einsatzes der englisch-amerikanischen Luftwaffe und schwerer Schiffseinheiten die deutsche Front zu erschüttern, stelle den deutschen Soldaten an der Ätnafront das beste Zeugnis aus.
Ein verwundeter englischer Offizier, der in ein Lazarett nach Gibraltar gebracht wurde, äußerte sich über die Härte der Kämpfe auf Sizilien, wie Lavoro Italiano aus Tanger meldet:
Wenn die Eroberung der Apenninenhalbinsel uns so viele Opfer kostete wie die Besetzung Catanias, so besteht die Gefahr, daß wir Engländer uns daran erschöpfen.
Rücksichtslose Ausplünderung
dnb. Berlin, 10. August –
Die ernsten Auseinandersetzungen zwischen den anglo-amerikanischen Besatzungstruppen und der Zivilbevölkerung in Sizilien nehmen täglich zu, wie die schwedische Zeitung Dagsposten am 6. August aus Lissabon erfährt. Das Auftreten der nordamerikanischen Soldaten ist herausfordernd und demütigend für die Bevölkerung, die auf Schritt und Tritt bewacht wird. Der gesamte Verkehr auf den Straßen unterliegt strengster Kontrolle.
In einem besonderen Befehl werden die anglo-amerikanischen Truppen aufgefordert, den Italienern zu mißtrauen. Die Beschlagnahme aller Lebensmittelvorräte auf Sizilien für den Bedarf der Besatzungstruppen hat zu Unruhen geführt. Der Wechselkurs, der von den Besatzungsbehörden für die Lira im Verhältnis zu Pfund und Dollar festgesetzt wurde, ist außerordentlich ungünstig und ist in Wirklichkeit rücksichtslose Ausplünderung. Für diejenigen Leute unter der sizilianischen Bevölkerung, die den Versprechungen der Nordamerikaner und Briten Glauben geschenkt hatten, ist das Auftreten der Besatzungstruppen eine bittere Enttäuschung.
Italienische Fliegererfolge
Verbände der italienischen Luftwaffe haben sich an den Einsätzen gegen die Häfen von Augusta und Palermo sowie gegen Schiffe in diesen Häfen während der letzten Tage und Nächte mit großem Erfolg beteiligt. In den angegriffenen Zielen wurden starke Brände und Explosionen von den Besatzungen der italienischen Kampfflugzeuge beobachtet. Italienische Jagdflieger haben in den letzten zehn Tagen 26 feindliche Flugzeuge mit Sicherheit abgeschossen. Die Vernichtung von weiteren fünf feindlichen Maschinen ist wahrscheinlich.
Feindlicher Schiffsraum versenkt
dnb. Rom, 10. August –
Wie der italienische Wehrmachtbericht vom Dienstag meldet, torpedierten italienische Flugzeuge in der Nähe von Sizilien einen Kreuzer sowie zwei Handelsschiffe von insgesamt 8.000 BRT., während deutsche Kampfflugzeuge in den Gewässern bei Augusta drei Dampfer mittlerer Tonnage versenkten und außerdem einen Kreuzer und zwei kleinere Einheiten trafen.
Neuer Innenminister
König und Kaiser Viktor Emanuel III. ernannte den Präfekten z. D. Senator Umberto Ricci an Stelle von Rono Fornaciari, der seine Demission eingereicht hat, zum italienischen Innenminister.
U.S. State Department (August 11, 1943)
Prime Minister Churchill to President Roosevelt
London, 11 August 1943.
Most secret
407.
Former Naval Person to President. Most secret and personal.
I have just arrived after a most swift and agreeable journey on which it has been possible to work continuously. The Warden Family are looking forward keenly to their visit to Hyde Park where we propose to arrive the afternoon of the 12th. Are we right in thinking we should all bring our thinnest clothes?
I send you herewith (see my next telegram) the draft of the monthly announcement about U-boats which I have prepared in concert with the Admiralty. Let us discuss it when we meet and a day or two’s delay beyond the 10th in its release is not important.
Warmest greetings to all.
President Roosevelt to Prime Minister Churchill
Washington, 11 August 1943.
Most secret
344.
Your number 407.
Regret delay in replying. Suggest thin clothes but be prepared for a variety of weather. Delighted to see you in any costume.
ROOSEVELT
Prime Minister Churchill to President Roosevelt
London, 11 August 1943.
Most secret
409.
Former Naval Person to President. Personal and most secret.
Eden suggests that our Tangier representative replies to Badoglio’s Emissary Berio as follows.
Badoglio must understand that we cannot negotiate but require unconditional surrender which means that the Italian Government should place themselves in hands of Allied Governments who will then state their terms. These will provide for an honourable capitulation.
The instructions would continue:
Badoglio’s Emissary should be reminded at the same time that Prime Minister and President have already stated that we desire that in due course Italy should occupy a respected place in New Europe when peace has been reestablished and that General Eisenhower has announced that Italian prisoners taken in Tunisia and Sicily will be released providing all British and Allied prisoners now in Italian hands are released.
This is simply made up of our existing declarations. If you approve it in principle, please cable at once direct Eden at Foreign Office as I shall be on the move. If text does not meet your view, we can discuss it on arrival. I think Italians ought to have an answer as soon as possible. It will, at any rate, make it easier for them to decide who to double cross.
I have also received what follows in my next from U.J. You will see I am restored, if not to favour, at any rate to the court. I have sent reply which also follows.
It is quite cool here and very pleasant and everything is ready for you in Citadel which is admirably suited to our needs. It was indeed a happy inspiration which led you to suggest this particular rendezvous at this particular moment in Canadian politics.
President Roosevelt to the British Foreign Secretary
Washington, August 11, 1943.
Secret
Priority
Personal and secret to Winant for Eden from the President.
I fully approve Former Naval Person’s proposed reply to Badoglio’s emissary Berio in Tangier as recommended by you.
ROOSEVELT
740.0011 European War 1939/30658: Telegram
The Minister in Sweden to the Secretary of State
Stockholm, August 11, 1943.
2516.
Acting Chief Political Division Foreign Office states that reports from Rome have convinced Foreign Office that Badoglio tried to make an arrangement with Germany for removal of German troops from Italian soil. If successful, he had intended to capitulate, but as he was unable to persuade Germans to agree to this his next step is indefinite.
Same officer states as his personal belief that holding tactics still in practice on eastern front indicate continuation of modified “Hitler strategy” hence he believes Hitler still controls military forces and that this will shorten war by causing a quicker depletion of German military power than if generals had their way and shortened front immediately without sure loss of men and material as present strategy demands.
JOHNSON
The Pittsburgh Press (August 11, 1943)
ITALIAN NAVY BASE SHELLED
Randazzo’s fall near as Allied forces advance
8th Army and Yanks join at vital pass, push ahead despite Nazi demolition tactics; shores of Italy sighted
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Driving up the coast of Sicily, the British 8th Army has captured Guardia at the end of the Allied advance line on the island (broken line). Allied troops drove toward Randazzo (arrow), the center of the Axis prepared defenses (solid line). British warships moved into the Gulf of Naples to shell the Castellammare di Stabia naval yards, and also bombarded railway bridges at Cape Vaticano, on the instep of the Italian boot (lower left map).
Allied HQ, North Africa –
British warships, steaming one-third of the way up the Italian west coast, bombarded a naval yard in the Gulf of Naples while Allied ground forces pounded along the Sicilian coast to within sight of the Italian mainland, it was announced today.
One British 8th Army column captured Guardia in a two-to-three-mile advance along the east coast road bordering Mt. Etna and came within sight of the toe of the Italian boot for the first time. Only 14 miles to the north lay the Axis base of Taormina.
Other 8th Army forces consolidated their junction with the U.S. 7th Army north and west of Bronte, 22 miles to the northwest, in a general advance toward Randazzo Pass, controlling the last good road between the Sicilian east and north coasts.
Sea control asserted
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s communiqué said:
Progress continues to be made whilst our troops overcome enemy resistance and deal with obstacles he is having.
A strong force of British cruisers and destroyers boldly asserted the Allied command of the sea and air around Italy by steaming up the west coast to the Gulf of Naples Monday night and sending a stream of shells into the Castellammare di Stabia naval shipbuilding and repair yard only 20 miles southeast of Naples.
It marked the deepest penetration yet of Italian waters and carried the British naval forces more than 200 miles north of Palermo.
Allied advance slowed
Simultaneously, another Allied naval force shelled railway bridges at Capo Vaticano on the instep of the Italian boot below the Gulf of Saint Eufemia, over which Italian military trains for southern Italy must move.
The Allied advance toward Randazzo on the northwestern slope of Mt. Etna was in the face of fierce resistance, including murderous mortar bombardments from German guns mounted on heights commanding roads from Bronte and Cesarò.
The British and Americans were also slowed by extensive enemy demolitions. Blasted roads and bridges enforced halts of several hours while sappers and bulldozers filled in the craters and built makeshift bridges.
Germans face trap
Of the 120,000 prisoners announced yesterday as in Allied hands, the U.S. 7th Army captured 92,000 and the British 8th Army 28,000. It has not been specified who took the 5,000 prisoners who have since been taken.
A British broadcast heard by CBS placed the Americans within two miles of Randazzo, but emphasized that the report had not been confirmed.
The fall of Randazzo would put Italo-German armies in their worst predicament since the Allies blasted through the Tunis plain and swarmed onto the Cape Bon Peninsula in May.
British and U.S. bombers continued to concentrate to concentrate their cargoes on Axis transport clogging the roads running north and northeast from Randazzo toward the evacuation ports of Messina and Milazzo.
Planes in action
Other planes kept up constant patrols over Messina Strait to break up evacuation attempts.
An Italian communiqué reported that Messina was “intensely and repeatedly bombed.”
On the north coast, the U.S. 7th Army consolidated the positions reached in the successful landing at the mouth of the Rosmarino River some 45 miles west of Messina.
A German broadcast said that a violent Axis artillery barrage thwarted fresh American landing attempts east of Sant’Agata on the north coast.
Mainland in sight
The advance to within sight of the Italian mainland was made by the British troops moving up the east coast. From a vantage post on the side of Mt. Etna the British could see, some 35 miles distance, the Italian promontory known as Capo dell’Armi, where there is a small fighting village of the same name.
They could also see, looming up in the distance behind this point, the 6,000-foot Aspromonte Range.
The 8th Army advance netted the important communications point of Guardia, where the Messina-Catania highway swings inland for several miles. The area also has four railroad tunnels.
Messina bombed, Italians say
London, England (UP) –
Messina, on the eastern corner of Sicily, was “intensely and repeatedly” bombed by Allied air forces yesterday, an Italian communiqué broadcast by Radio Rome said today, and Axis troops are engaged in “hard defensive” fighting on the island.
Italian torpedo planes were said to have damaged an Allied light cruiser and two medium-sized vessels off Sicily last night.
A supplementary announcement said 124 persons were killed and 352 wounded in recent air raids on Turin, Milan and Genoa.
Germans claim hits on ships
London, England (UP) –
German bombing planes in attacks on Allied-held Sicilian ports hit and damaged 16 vessels, including a large warship and a destroyer, in attacks yesterday and last night, a German communiqué broadcast by Berlin radio said today.
The communiqué said vaguely that Allied attacks were repulsed in Sicilian land fighting.
Admitting local Soviet breakthroughs south and southwest of Vyazma on the Russian front. The communiqué said 348 Soviet tanks were destroyed yesterday, including 61 near Belgorod.
Fourteen bombers were said to have been shot down over Nuremberg last night during an air raid which caused some damage to residential and public buildings.
Japs in death stand –
Yanks launch Bairoko drive
Enemy troops bottled up on New Georgia
By Brydon Taves, United Press staff writer
…
Sixth meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill set
Prime Minister arrives in Canada for crucial strategy talks
By Robert W. Keyserlingk, United Press staff writer
Québec, Canada –
Strict military secrecy today surrounded plans for the sixth meeting of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill and it could only be assumed that it would occur “somewhere in America” within the next few days.
Mr. Churchill arrived yesterday from an East Coast port where he reached Canadian soil after a journey from London. The General Staffs of Great Britain, the United States and Canada were engaged in strategy talks here designed for a quick knockout of the Axis.
The Roosevelt-Churchill meeting will be a British-American affair, it was revealed. Mr. Roosevelt said in Washington yesterday afternoon, soon after Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King announced that Mr. Churchill was in Canada, that no representative of Soviet Russia would be present. Mr. Roosevelt indicated his disappointment. Nor will there be a Chinese representative.
To discuss strategy
Observers here and in Washington and London agreed that the two leaders would discuss strategy on the worldwide war front and believed their discussions and decisions would be conveyed to the two other big members of the United Nations – Russia and China.
The fall of Benito Mussolini, the expected invasion of Italy after Sicily finally falls into Allied hands, the internal situation in Germany, the prospects of opening an offensive to retake Burma this fall – all these were subjects they were expected to discuss.
The result of their conference was expected to be demonstrated by action on one or more war fronts soon. It was recalled that the invasion of French North Africa followed one of their talks; that the invasion of Sicily was planned at their conference at Casablanca.
Meets War Cabinet
Mr. Churchill met with the Canadian War Cabinet today, and it was immediately assumed that their talks revolved around greater use of Canadian forces in England, perhaps in a direct thrust against the continent.
Accompanying the Prime Minister was the Lord President of the Council, Sir John Anderson.
Meanwhile, parallel talks were proceeding between the Canadian and British Chiefs of Staff and were scheduled to continue all day, according to official announcement.
Have big force
Since Dunkirk, the Canadians have been building up a huge force in England, the bulk of which has not yet seen action. Their commander, Lt. Gen. A. G. L. McNaughton, has referred to his forces as “a dagger pointed at the heart of Berlin,” and the unofficial speculation was that now, at last, plans were being completed to plunge the dagger home.
The War Cabinet meeting took place in the Château Frontenac Hotel which has been taken over by the military and naval staff of the United States, Great Britain and Canada.
Mr. Mackenzie King accompanied Mr. Churchill on the drive down from the ivy-covered citadel atop Cape Diamond to the Château, and also attended the War Council meeting.
As Mr. Churchill’s ear entered the courtyard, he was greeted by a crowd which shouted:
We want Churchill!
Mr. Churchill, in black suit and derby with the usual uptilted cigar, drew applause when he gave the “V-for-Victory” sign while posing for photographers.
Accompanying Mr. Churchill from Britain were chiefs of the General Staff Gen. Sir Alan Brooke, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound and Air Chf Mshl. Sir Charles Portal, and the chief of the Commandos, VAdm. Lord Louis Mountbatten.
Also with him were Mrs. Churchill and their daughter, Mary Churchill, who is a subaltern in the British Auxiliary Territorial Service, and Wg. Cdr. G. P. Gibson, who led the British bombers which wrecked the Möhne and Eder Dams in the Ruhr Valley.
Pacific War Council, Roosevelt convene
Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt discussed future strategy with the Pacific War Council today in preparation for his new and important conference with Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the near future.Dutch Ambassador A. Loudon, who acted as spokesman for members of the council, told reporters that future strategy was discussed.
Others who attended the conference were Sir Ronald I. Campbell, British Minister, representing Lord Halifax; Canadian Minister Leighton McCarthy, and Australian Minister Sir Roland Dixon.
The Chinese, who are represented on the council, did not have anybody at today’s meeting.
Names of high U.S. officers who are here were not revealed, although an official statement said the “General Staffs of Great Britain and the United States” met with the Canadian War Cabinet yesterday.
Chiefs of Staff of the three Canadian Armed Forces were here – RAdm. Percy W. Nelles, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Stuart, and Air Mshl. L. S. Breadner, as were most members of the Canadian War Cabinet Committee, Defense Minister J. L. Ralston, Munitions Minister C. D. Howe, Navy Minister Angus MacDonald and Air Minister C. G. Power.
Mr. Churchill’s arrival – announced with customary dramatic suddenness shortly after 4 p.m. yesterday – occasioned no real surprise. For days, the imminence of another Roosevelt-Churchill conference had been discussed not only in Allied capitals but by the Axis radios as well. Cause for the speculation was the series of United Nations victories which brought with them a number of pressing problems.
Problems listed
These included:
-
The fall of the Mussolini government and the possibility of Italy seeking peace.
-
The successful Russian summer offensive and continued Soviet dissatisfaction with the Allied failure to open a front on the continent of Europe.
-
The reported widening breach in Germany between Nazi and military elements and sagging morale on the German home front.
-
The necessity for drastically shortening the time between planning and operations.
Soviet plans cited
In addition were Russian post-war plans for Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia and possibly others whose unofficial committees in Moscow either rival national governments in London, or, like the German committee, have no counterpart or other recognition in other Allied capitals.
Mr. Churchill and his party arrived in six special railroad cars from the East Coast port, where they were met by high officials of both the United States and Canada. Mr. Mackenzie King boarded the train some distance from Québec City.
Later, Mr. Mackenzie King escorted the party to the famous Citadel, the summer home of the Canadian Governor General Lord Athlone, where the Churchills will stay.
Dines with Churchills
Mr. and Mrs. Churchill and Mr. Mackenzie King dined privately and during the evening, Messrs. Churchill and Mackenzie King discussed the international situation and plans for the conference.
A week ago, guests of the Chateau Frontenac were told their rooms would have to be vacated by Sunday night. Then large contingents of U.S. Signal Corps personnel, clerical staffs and WACs and WAVES began arriving. Them it became known that Mr. Roosevelt and his close advisers had been fishing in Canadian waters and shortly there were guarded references to “Mr. Bull Finch.”
As the preparations proceeded, rumors ran the gamut from an Anglo-American-Soviet meeting to the arrival of the Pope and even to an arraignment of Mussolini for his war crimes in the Château Frontenac.
Physicians, hospitals join plea –
Servicemen and wives beg state to act on baby case
Flood of mail to U.S. Children’s Bureau asks why hasn’t something been done
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent
…
Toughening of draft setup will hit U.S. family men
Pressure expected to be put on those not holding war jobs ‘to get one or be drafted’
By Blair Moody, North American Newspaper Alliance
…
Enemy loses 1,421 aircraft
999 captured on Sicilian fields by Allies
By Robert Vermillion, United Press staff writer
…
Racial equality demands blamed in Detroit riots
Investigating group’s report, released by Governor Kelly, rules out any subversive activity
…
Churchill visit called help to Mackenzie King
Canadian Premier suffer second reverse on political front
By John A. Reichmann, United Press staff writer
Québec, Canada –
Canadian political observers today appraised the arrival of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as of timely political assistance to his host, Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King.
Mr. Churchill’s arrival by coincidence came just after Mr. Mackenzie King’s second recent political reverse. On Monday, his Liberal Party lost three by-elections to groups to the left and one to the right. A fortnight ago, he lost over 60–90 seats in the Ontario Legislature.
Has supported war
Mr. Mackenzie King, as head of the Liberal Party, has steadfastly supported the war policies of Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill. He has collaborated closely with Mr. Roosevelt and many observers believe Mr. Churchill strongly supports his policies from a sentimental standpoint despite certain prohibitions which would preclude his taking part in Canadian politics.
There are many currents in Canadian policies which serve as explanations for Mr. Mackenzie King’s reversals, but the fact most emphasized here is that he has suffered them and faces even more serious ones.
In the case of Ontario, his Liberal Party had held more than 60 out of 90 seats in the provincial Legislature. The elections reduced this strength to 14 while the Conservatives and Socialists almost evenly divided the remaining seats with an apparent balance of power in the hands of Mitchell Hepburn, his prime opponent.
Communists gain
On Monday, in the federal by-elections, the Communists for the first time in Canadian history apparently gained one seat. The winner was Fred Rose, only recently released from a concentration camp, and running on a Labor ticket in the Cartier division of Montréal. The Communist Party is outlawed in Canada.
On this picture, Mr. Churchill’s presence can only have a beneficial effect as far as Mr. Mackenzie King’s political future is concerned. The visit of the two leaders and Mr. Churchill’s praise of the Canadian Army’s exploits in Sicily can readily give the impression that Mr. Churchill endorses Mr. Mackenzie King’s conduct of the war.
Only future developments can determine whether this will be sufficient to maintain Mr. Mackenzie King in authority.
Salisbury: Allied ultimatum to Italy may result from parley
Roosevelt and Churchill are also expected to fix timetable for invasions of Europe
By Harrison Salisbury, United Press staff writer
London, England –
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill will probably fix a timetable for Allied invasions of Europe and frame a surrender ultimatum to Italian Premier Marshal Pietro Badoglio, London observers speculated today.
The quickest possible method of defeating Germany will keynote the conference, these quarters said, and it is possible that a supreme commander will be named for the final offensive. Gen. George C. Marshall, U.S. Chief of Staff, and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander in the Mediterranean, have been mentioned most frequently for such a post.
Previous indications have been that the main Allied invasion of Europe would be launched after heavy bombing of German industry, but Germany’s jittery reaction to the present Allied air offensive pointed to a possible revision in the timetable and plans as a whole.
Allied strategy, militarily and politically, in the event of Adolf Hitler’s sudden deposal may also be decided, though it was certain that the Allied terms to Germany – as to Italy – would remain “unconditional surrender.”
Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill are expected to advise Badoglio that unless he capitulates at once, the Allies will invade the Italian mainland as quickly as possible.
This ultimatum, it was believed, will emphasize that failure of Italy to surrender will mean an Allied refusal to deal with any government under Badoglio in the future.
Though it has never been officially confirmed, best evidence indicated that Italy has forwarded at least two peace proposals to the Allies.
The initial one was understood to have reached Gen. Eisenhower through a neutral source a few days after Badoglio succeeded Benito Mussolini as Premier. It asked that Italy be permitted to revert to neutral status, thus denying the Allies the use of the Italian mainland for an assault on Germany. It was rejected or merely ignored.
A second proposal was reported to have been sent several days ago, also through neutrals. No details of its provisions were known. Lack of response indicated it was equally unacceptable.
Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill will probably make known their attitude to Italy through a joint statement or through a third party.
Russia to be discussed
The two chiefs of state are also expected to assess the situation on the Russian front, particularly as to whether the German retreat was due solely to Russian pressure or a desire to shorten the defensive front to permit large-scale transfers of troops to Western Europe.
There is a general impression in London that they will take special measure to increase Anglo-American collaboration with Russia, especially in view of the fact that the Soviets have no top diplomatic representatives in either London or Washington at the moment.
Maxim Litvinov, Ambassador to Washington, is still in Moscow, and Ivan Maisky, Ambassador to London, has been made an assistant foreign commissar in Moscow.
Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill must also carefully assess the temperature of the German satellites, particularly Finland, which is believed ready to jump out of the war at the first moment.
Strategy likewise must be devised to cope with the likelihood that the forthcoming months will see the overturn of pro-Axis governments in the Balkans.