Operation HUSKY (1943)

The Pittsburgh Press (July 18, 1943)

Americans take key Sicilian city; air and sea attacks fire Catania

Agrigento falls to Patton as 8th Army gains in fierce battle
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

Screenshot 2022-07-18 181601
Capture of Catania near was the report today from Allied North African headquarters as the British drove to within six miles of the key Sicilian port. The Allied forces (British, Americans and Canadians) smashed inland and along the coasts of the Italian island. The Americans captured Agrigento on the southwestern coast.

Shaded portion of the map shows the approximate area occupied in the Allied advance. Broken arrows point to possible directions of the Allied drives, the British along the east coast toward Messina, the Canadians and Americans headed in the direction of Stefano, another column toward Palermo, and one up the coast toward Marsala. Completion of the drives would cut the Axis forces off from the toe of Italy, and would divide the enemy into three pockets.

In support of the invasion of Sicily, Allied bombers based in Africa and in Britain pounded the island and points on the Italian mainland. Places bombed are shown in the lower-left map.

Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 17)
U.S. forces pushing westward along Sicily’s southern coast have captured the transport and communications center of Agrigento, it was announced officially tonight as British troops reportedly smashed within six miles of the east coast base of Catania whose fall appeared imminent.

Catania was ablaze from five days of air and sea bombardment. While the British 8th Army battled for the vital key to eastern Sicily against the most violent Axis resistance of the Sicilian campaign, other Allied forces drove 10 miles deeper into the island’s interior, capturing four more important communications centers.

Agrigento, southwestern anchor of the Axis line whose defenses had been pounded by the Americans for 48 hours, was taken in a 12-mile push by the U.S. 7th Army under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton. The doughboys drove on at the northern end of the American line after taking the Italian base.

The fall of Agrigento was announced in a dispatch by United Press correspondent Richard D. McMillan, who obtained the official report at an Allied force command post.

The capture marked a notable American gain from Palma, on Sicily’s south coast, and the conquest of another important road and rail junction and vital center of communication. The city is the terminus of important roads leading from Palermo on the north and Trapani on the west to join highways to southern and eastern Sicily.

The British forces fanning out across the flat plain of Catania were also battling for the airport facilities at Gerbini, 15 miles west of the coast, and the twin drive along the Allied fright flank threatened to deprive the Axis of its last good sea and air bases in eastern Sicily.

The whole southern end of Catania was ablaze, Allied fliers reported, and cruisers and other naval units sailed up and down the coast at will, pouring shells into the port and points farther north.

NBC correspondent Alfred Wagg reported that the Germans were “attempting to rally their forces at the foot of Mt. Etna after combined warship and artillery bombardments had blasted a path for British armored units into the suburbs of Catania.” Mt. Etna is 28 miles north of Catania, indicating that the main Axis defense forces had probably withdrawn from the port.

In anticipation of occupation of all Sicily in the wake of the fast-moving Allied advances, an Allied military government known as AMGOT was established in occupied Sicilian territory and immediately proclaimed the annulment of the authority of the Italian Crown, the Fascist Party and all discriminatory and racial laws.

One-fifth of Sicily’s 10,000 square miles were now in the hands of hard-fighting Allied forces that had raced 20-40 miles inland since they fought their way onto the beaches a week ago.

London military observers said the situation was “more satisfactory than ever would have been dreamed a week ago” when the problem was whether the Allies could establish beachheads and hold them against Axis counterattacks.

A British military expert said:

Now there is no question of our being driven out. The only question is if the Axis will be able to make any kind of a stand or will himself be swept into the sea.

While the British spearhead on the Allied right flank drove steadily up the coastal road toward the toe of Benito Mussolini’s boot, Americans and Canadians in the center were moving toward the inland supply centers of Enna, 34 miles north of Gela. A third spearhead, led by U.S. forces, took Agrigento on the left flank.

A front dispatch from United Press correspondent C. R. Cunningham said a trail of death and ruin lay behind the advancing U.S. Army. The blackened hulks of Germany’s prize Mark VI Tiger tanks littered the roadsides in testimony to the deadly accuracy of American anti-tank guns and 105mm howitzers.

Italians, surrendering by thousands, complained that the Axis command had placed them in front of minefields that protected the Germans. More than 20,000 had been taken – of these about 16,000 by the Americans.

The U.S. 7th Army, with which French Goums from North Africa were officially reported to be fighting, straightened its lines in the rugged terrain on the Allied left flank where they had penetrated 20 miles in a week and then smashed into Agrigento.

Canadian units, driving inland on the central sector for a gain of 10 miles, captured the communications center of Caltagirone, 18 miles northeast pf Gela, and pushed on another five or six miles to the east, taking the town of Grammichele. Their gains for the week was more than 30 miles.

Capture Lentini

The British, whose 40-mile gain for the week was the greatest, opened the way through the narrow bottleneck into the Catania plain by taking Lentini, 14 miles southwest of the port, and Scordia, seven miles west of Lentini, in a hard-fought action supported by naval bombardments.

As the troops swirled through the Lentini bottleneck onto the Catania plain, Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s battle-wise veterans faced the problem of crossing the Gornalunga, Dittaino and Simeto Rivers which cut across the flatland. On the banks of these streams and along irrigation ditches south of Catania, the Axis forces stiffened in a desperate effort to stave off the capture of the port.

Strengthens position

The capture of Lentini, where British armored units had been engaged in hard fighting for two days strengthened the Allied position in the race up the east coast to the chief Sicilian port of Messina, already blasted into almost complete uselessness by repeated raids by the Northwest African Air Forces and U.S. Liberators from the Middle East.

The Allied advances cut deeply into the network of railroad and highway communications feeding the Axis frontline troops in eastern Sicily, protecting the route to the toe of Italy.

An Exchange Telegraph report said the Allies were threatening the Axis airfield network around Gerbini, 15 miles west of Catania, indicating that the 8th Army and Canadians in the Militello sector, midway between Catania and Gela, were pressing across the flat plain as well as up the coastal road.

Some 60,000 Germans, chiefly the Hermann Göring Division that appeared to have been spread throughout Sicily to stiffen the Italians, were fighting on the island. Italian forces, under Gen. Alfredo Guzzoni, were estimated at 264,000.

The capture of Caltagirone was especially significant in that it left the Axis with only three roads over which reinforcements can be sent to the north and west.

Actually, almost half the network of roads in central and southeastern Sicily have been unavailable to the enemy by the captured of all important communications centers.

Radio Algiers reported that the railways connecting Messina with Palermo and Catania had been cut.

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Italian mainland blasted, 33 Axis planes shot down

By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 17)
Allied warplanes, strangling Sicily’s supply lines and spearheading their way to ultimate invasion of the mainland, pounded five ports and airdromes in southern Italy nine times Thursday night and Friday and shot 33 planes from the ranks of stiffened Axis air resistance.

The latest blows gave the people of southern Italy new evidence of the Allies’ determination to bomb their way to victory if, as President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill suggested Friday, they do not overthrow the Fascist regime and accept “honorable capitulation.”

Allied losses for all Africa-based operations were seven planes – three Liberators of the U.S. Middle Eastern 9th Air Force and four of the Northwest African Command.

The Italian communiqué said Allied planes flew over Rome Friday night dropping leaflets, presumably the Churchill-Roosevelt message to Italy.

Targets bombed in southern Italy were the airfield at Bari, at the top of the boot on the Adriatic, which was hit Friday by the Liberators; Crotone Airfield, struck Thursday night by Royal Air Force Liberators and Halifaxes of the Middle East and again by RAF Wellingtons of North Africa; Vibo Valentia, on the western side of the “boot,” twice Friday by U.S. medium bombers of North African and Thursday night by Wellingtons; Reggio di Calabria, ferry terminus for lines over to Sicily, Thursday night by Wellingtons, and San Giovanni, another ferry port, Friday by Flying Fortresses and Thursday night by Wellingtons.

Simultaneous with the increase in enemy fighter strength over Italy came the revelation here that Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, one of the Luftwaffe’s top commanders, was in charge of Italian and German fighter planes in the southern Italian front.

The British radio reported the Axis had withdrawn all its bombers from southern Italian airfields and only maintained some fighters in Sicily. It said the Axis was prepared to write off Sicily as far as air protected was concerned. The Algiers radio said the devastating Allied air attacks had knocked out the Sicilian railway running between Messina, Palermo and Catania.

While the bombers worked on southern Italy, fighter-bombers, fighters and attack bombers kept their daily hammering of troops, trucks, supply depots, railroads and other facilities behind the lines in Sicily. They operated almost unmolested. Two of their biggest attacks were on the railyards of the central Sicilian town of Valguarnera and the important communication center of Randazzo, just north of Mt. Etna.

U.S. Mitchell medium bombers struck Valguarnera, hitting buildings near the railyards, one of which went up with a terrific roar.

The Fortresses gave San Giovanni one of its heaviest bombings of the war Friday, scoring at least 50 direct hits on a rail spur near the ferry terminus and laying waste eight acres of the city, including a barracks area. The Fortresses flew unescorted and went through accurate anti-aircraft fire to plant their bombs.

Paid back with interest

Lt. Gordon B. Olson, of Los Angeles, said:

They gave us hell with flak but we paid them back with interest.

Vibo Valentia was hit twice by daylight by Marauder and Mitchell medium bombers escorted by lightning fighters. They spread a destructive pattern of bombs through the center of the city and the airport from which Axis planes have been taking off in attempts to intercept Allied shipping to Sicily.

At Crotone, hangars were set afire and the whole airdrome became a mass of flames.

A dispatch from Malta said that the RAF had announced that in seven days since the Sicilian invasion started. Malta-based Spitfire fighters, Beaufighters and Mosquitoes had destroyed 15 enemy planes for a loss of 35.

The Italian communiqué said German pursuit planes shot down 17 Allied planes on Sicily while Italian fighters bagged 18 for a total of 35. Rome said the enemy raided Naples, Bari, Reggio di Calabria, La Spezia in the north and points in Lombardy and Emilia.

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Italians wait 2 weeks to become prisoners

An Allied Force Command post (UP) – (July 16, delayed)
The quartermaster captain at a prison camp told this one:

A trainload of Italian prisoners arrived and it was noticed that each had a good share of personal belongings.

An English-language Italian explained. He said:

What was holding you up? We have been packed up for almost two weeks.

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Allied regime issues initial laws in Sicily

Power of King, Fascists annulled by Anglo-U.S. military government
By Robert Vermillion, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 17)
The AMGOT, first military regime of its kind in history, has inaugurated its rule of Allied-occupied territory in Sicily with a proclamation annulling the Italian Crown’s authority, the Fascist Party, and all discriminatory and racial laws, it was announced today.

“AMGOT” stands for the Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories and is made up of hundreds of American and British officers and men trained for months for the administration of occupied Axis areas.

The Sicilian organization is headed by British Maj. Gen. Lord Rennell of Rodd, as chief Civil Affairs officer, with Brig. Gen. Frank J. McSherry, of the U.S. Army, a native of Eldorado Springs, Missouri, as deputy. Both are responsible to Gen. Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, who was named Military Governor of Sicily by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Commander-in-Chief.

Signed by Alexander

The first Allied proclamation signed by Gen. MacArthur, reassured the Sicilian they would not be harmed and said that so long as they complied with military regulations they would be permitted to go about their business. It added that personal and property rights would be respected by the Allies and said the Allies sought only to eliminate the Axis military forces and their tyrannical rulers.

In addition, it proclaimed that the Fascist Party and Fascist Youth organizations are to be abolished; that Fascist ringleaders will be removed from office, and that those accused of crimes against the Allies are to be tried by a tribunal of AMGOT officers.

Fascists out

Furthermore, the proclamation promises that the Allies will not negotiate with Italian exiles or refugees, that no local politicos will be given preferential treatment, although local officials will be kept in office on the basis of cooperation, performance and good behavior. AMGOT, however, will deal only with those Italian officials in Sicily who have not been active members of the Fascist Party.

The Allied military government also assured the people that freedom of religious worship will be upheld, that all religious institutions will be respected, and that laws discriminating against persons because of race, creed, or color are to be voided.

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Völkischer Beobachter (July 19, 1943)

Auch auf den Südabschnitt ausgedehnt –
Die Schlacht im Osten nimmt an Heftigkeit zu

Am Samstag 415 Sowjetpanzer und 127 Flugzeuge abgeschossen

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 18. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Die Schlacht an der Ostfront hat sich gestern auch auf die Südfront ausgedehnt und insgesamt an Heftigkeit zugenommen. Am Kubanbrückenkopf setzte der Feind seine Angriffe gegen einen Höhenblock westlich Krymskaja vergeblich fort.

Nach heftigem Artilleriefeuer traten die Sowjets an der Mius- und Donezfront zum Angriff an. Ihre Versuche, mit starken Infanterie- und Panzerkräften die Front zu durchbrechen, scheiterten an dem hartnäckigen Widerstand unserer Truppen. Gegenangriffe zur Bereinigung kleiner örtlicher Einbruchsstellen sind im Gange.

Im Raum von Orel halten die schweren Abwehrkämpfe in unverminderter Stärke an.

Am gestrigen Tage wurden insgesamt 415 Sowjetpanzer abgeschossen.

Die Luftwaffe griff mit Kampf- und Nahkampffliegerverbänden in die schweren Abwehrkämpfe des Heeres ein und fügte der Sowjetluftwaffe durch den Abschuß von 127 Flugzeugen hohe Verluste zu. In der Nacht wurde der feindliche Eisenbahnnachschub bekämpft.

Auch im sizilianischen Raum haben die Kämpfe an Härte zugenommen. Unter dem Druck starker Panzerkräfte wurde die Stadt Agrigent geräumt. Wirksame Angriffe der Luftwaffe richteten sich gegen feindliche Truppen und Schiffsziele an der Ostküste Siziliens.

Nach einem von deutschen Jagdgeschwadern vereitelten Versuch nordamerikanischer Bombenverbände, in die Deutsche Bucht einzufliegen, griff der Feind holländisches Gebiet an. Durch Bombenwürfe auf Wohnviertel der Stadt Amsterdam hatte die Bevölkerung erhebliche Verluste. Zehn viermotorige Bomber wurden abgeschossen. Fünf eigene Jagdflugzeuge werden vermißt.

Leichte deutsche Seestreitkräfte wurden in den Morgenstunden des 18. Juli vor der holländischen Küste durch englische Schnellboote mehrmals angegriffen. Hiebei gelang es dem deutschen Verband, ein feindliches Schnellboot in Brand zu schießen. Auf deutscher Seite traten keine Ausfälle ein.

Einzelne feindliche Flugzeuge flogen am gestrigen Tage und in der Nacht in das Reichsgebiet ein. Zwei dieser Flugzeuge wurden vernichtet.

Plutokratische Betrugsmanöver nach Wilson-Manier –
Eine ‚Botschaft‘ und ihre Abfuhr

dnb. Rom, 18. Juli –
Churchill und Roosevelt haben gegenüber dem italienischen Volke ein ähnliches Betrugsmanöver versucht, wie Wilson in Form seiner bekannten vierzehn Punkte im Februar 1918 das deutsche Volk betrog. Sie haben mit großem Aufwand eine sogenannte „Botschaft an das italienische Volk“ gerichtet, die vom italienischen Volke eine verdiente Abfuhr erfahren hat.

Agenzia Stefani erklärt hierzu:

Churchill und Roosevelt haben an das italienische Volk eine ‚Botschaft‘ gerichtet, in welcher es aufgefordert wird, sich gegen seine legale Regierung zu erheben und sich in die Anarchie zu stürzen.

So schreibt Agenzia Stefani weiter:

Das italienische Volk lauscht in diesem Augenblick nicht auf die Botschaften des Feindes. Das italienische Volk weiß nur, daß der Feind sein Heimatgebiet besetzen will. Die tiefe Bewegung, die das Land angesichts des feindlichen Einfalls in Sizilien ergriffen hat, einigt alle Italiener in dem brüderlichen Willen, sich der Invasion um jeden Preis entgegenzustellen. Das italienische Volk weiß, daß Ehre, Nationalgefühl und nationales Interesse ihm nur einen einzigen Weg weisen: Widerstand bis auf den letzten Blutstropfen! Auf diesem Weg konzentriert die Nation würdig und leidenschaftlich ihre Kräfte. Es ist unnötig, auf die moralische Schwäche des italienischen Volkes zu spekulieren, denn diese moralische Schwäche gibt es nicht.

Die gesamte italienische Presse ist sich einig in der Ablehnung der neuen anglo-amerikanischen Betrugsmanöver, der sogenannten „Botschaft“ Churchills und Roosevelts an das italienische Volk. Giornale d’Italia betont unter der Überschrift: „Roosevelt und Churchill fordern die Italiener zur Feigheit und Ehrlosigkeit auf,“ dieses neue Manifest gehöre zu den gewohnten Manövern des Feindes, den inneren Zusammenbruch Italiens auf diese Weise hervorzurufen. Wie sehr sich die beiden Unterzeichner des Manifestes in den Italienern getäuscht hätten, sage selbst ein englisches Blatt, der Evening Standard, der die Botschaft einen „politischen Irrtum der beiden demokratischen Führer“ nenne. Es lohne sich nicht, sich mit dem Inhalt der Botschaft zu befassen, es genüge festzustellen, daß der Feind das italienische Volk nur zum Niederlegen der Waffe auffordere, um Italien in ein neues Schlachtfeld zu verwandeln.

Lavoro Fascista meint, die Anglo-Amerikaner hätten zu nächtlicher Akrobatik über den italienischen Städten Zuflucht genommen, um sich an das italienische Volk zu wenden. Der Sprecher des italienischen Rundfunks erklärt zu dem anglo-amerikanischen Betrugsmanöver:

Der Feind riskiert unnötig seine Flugzeuge und verschwendet seinen Brennstoff. Die Italiener aller sozialen Schichten und aus allen Provinzen Italiens haben sich an das Oberkommando der Miliz gewandt, um in die Armee eingereiht und an die Kampffront entsandt zu werden.

Zahlreiche Transporter und Kriegsschiffeinheiten vernichtet –
Bombenhagel auf Feindtruppen in Sizilien

dnb. Berlin, 18. Juli –
Seit Beginn der britisch-amerikanischen Landungsoperationen an der sizilianischen Küste greift gemeinsam mit italienischen Fliegern die deutsche Luftwaffe mit starken Verbänden von Kampf-, Zerstörer- und Jagdflugzeugen die feindliche Kriegs- und Transportflotte sowie die gelandeten Truppenkontingente an.

Der Schwerpunkt ihrer Angriffe lag in den ersten Tagen der Landungen auf den vor der Ost- und Südküste Siziliens versammelten Schiffseinheiten, wobei zahlreiche Transporter, Versorgungsschiffe, Landungsboote für Panzer und Truppen sowie mehrere Kriegsschiffe in Sturz- und Tiefflügen bombardiert wurden. Allein in den ersten fünf Tagen wurden nach bisher vorliegenden Meldungen mindestens 38 feindliche Schiffe, vier Zerstörer und eine große Anzahl von Landungsbooten versenkt oder so schwer getroffen, daß mit ihrem Totalverlust zu rechnen ist. Eine große Zahl weiterer Kriegsschiffseinheiten, Transporter und Landungsboote erlitt durch die ununterbrochen durchgeführten Angriffe unserer Kampfverbände starke Beschädigungen. Der feindliche Schiffsraum hat dadurch über die bereits gemeldeten Versenkungen hinaus weitere schwere Einbußen erlitten.

Gleichzeitig bekämpften deutsche Jagd- und Zerstörerverbände in Tages- und Nachtangriffen die gelandeten feindlichen Truppen, ihre Nachschub- und Versorgungswege sowie die Munitions- und Materiallager in den verschiedenen Häfen. Besonders in Syrakus zerschlugen die Bomben unserer Kampfverbände wichtiges Kriegsmaterial, das an den Kais ausgeladen worden war.

Nach den bisher vorliegenden Meldungen wurden schon bei den ersten Angriffen am 10. Juli sechs Handelsschiffe mit 30.000 BRT. vernichtet, ein Schlachtschiff und zwei Zerstörer schwer getroffen. Ein mit Panzern beladenes Landungsboot von etwa 3500 BRT. wurde nach mehreren Bombentreffern sinkend beobachtet. Später angreifende Flugzeuge stellten eine große Explosion auf dem Panzerlandungsboot fest, das daraufhin schnell versank. Am 11. Juli wurde ein Flakkreuzer außer Gefecht gesetzt und 14 weitere Truppen- und Materialtransporter versenkt. Am 13. Juli trafen schwere Bomben drei Zerstörer und vier große Handelsschiffe. Zwei Tanker von je 6000 BRT. gerieten in Brand. Deutsche Jagdfliegerverbände erfochten in den seit Beginn der feindlichen Landungen über Sizilien, Sardinien und Italien täglich stattfindenden schweren Luftkämpfen mit starken feindlichen Fliegerkräften zahlreiche Luftsiege.

Besondere Erfolge erzielten unsere Jäger im Laufe des 16. Juli im Raum von Catania, wo sie größere motorisierte Verbände mit stärkster Wirkung angriffen.

La Stampa (July 19, 1943)

Battaglia sempre più dura in Sicilia

Navi da guerra e mercantili attaccate con successo da reparti aerei dell’Asse – Un sommergibile e un grosso piroscafo affondati da una nostra torpediniera e da aerosiluranti – 18 bombardieri nemici abbattuti durante un’incursione su Napoli

Screenshot 2022-07-18 225909

Il Quartier Generale delle Forze Armate ha diramato nel pomeriggio di ieri il seguente Bollettino N. 1149:

La violenza della lotta è ancora aumentata intorno ad Agrigento sotto l’urto di preponderanti forze blindate. Le truppe, che in questi giorni avevano valorosamente difeso la città, sono state costrette a ripiegare su posizioni più arretrate.

Ad oriente della Sicilia, reparti aerei dell’Asse hanno agito anche ieri con successo, colpendo con siluri e con bombe navi mercantili e da guerra di vario tonnellaggio. Sei velivoli sono stati distrutti da cacciatori tedeschi.

Unità navali avversarie bombardavano a più riprese la città di Catania: il fuoco delle batterie terrestri colpiva un incrociatore e incendiava un cacciatorpediniere.

Napoli è stata nuovamente e ripetutamente attaccata da grosse formazioni di quadrimotori: sono segnalati ingenti danni nei quartieri centrali e periferici; in corso di accertamento le vittime. La difesa contraerea della città, con interventi pronti a precisi, abbatteva dieci bombardieri; altri otto precipitavano a seguito di combattimenti con la nostra caccia. Minori azioni di spezzonamento e di mitragliamento sono state effettuate, questa notte sui dintorni di Napoli, su Littoria e su Ciampino.

Durante le incursioni di cui hanno dato notizia i bollettini n. 1147 e 1148, risultano distrutti, oltre a quelli già indicati, quattro velivoli, di cui uno caduto a sudovest di Ivrea, e tre nel territorio di Genova, sotto il tiro delle artiglierie locali.

Negli ultimi due giorni non sono rientrati alle basi cinque nostri aerei.

Motosiluranti italiane in ricognizione offensiva nelle acque della Sicilia orientale, colavano a picco un piroscafo da 9 mila tonnellate.

Un sommergibile è stato affondato in Mediterraneo dalla torpediniera comandata dal capitano di corvetta Silvio Cava, da Boissano (Savona).

Le perdite finora accertate tra le popolazioni civili a seguito delle incursioni citate dai bollettini nr. 1148 e 1149 sono le seguenti: a Reggio Emilia, 6 morti e 20 feriti; a Napoli, 12 morti e 83 feriti; a Nola, 9 morti e 12 feriti; ad Afragola, 4 morti e 10 feriti; a Roccarainola, 10 morti e 10 feriti.

The Pittsburgh Press (July 19, 1943)

YANKS SEIZE SICILIAN JUNCTION
Duce’s troops begin to quit under attack

Great battle rages near Catania; Canadians also seize town
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied armies swept forward behind shattering air and naval bombardments in Sicily today and Army reports indicated that Italian forces were beginning to crack up all over the island except outside the east coast city of Catania where a big battle was raging.

On the main military fronts:

  1. The Americans captured Caltanissetta, junction town in central Sicily while Canadians took Piazza Armerina. This American-Canadian pincer drive carried to within 10 miles of Enna, main Axis base in mid-Sicily.

  2. The British and Canadians were hammering at the enemy within about three miles of Catania.

  3. The Americans shoved forward in the west in a flanking operation intended to split and turn the enemy line.

Axis forces squeezed

The swift Allied advances were squeezing the Axis forces back into northeastern Sicily. At some points, the Americans were less than 50 miles from the north coast of Sicily, where they could cut the main communications lines from Messina to Palermo. The capture of Enna, in the middle of the island, would virtually cut the Axis defenses in half.

So rapid was the Allied advance in some sectors that the Canadians gained 20 miles in a day and Italian units were reported surrendering en masse. At least one German officer was shot when he attempted to prevent surrender to the Americans.

With more than one-third of Sicily in Allied hands and the vital Gerbini Air Base threatened, the Axis military situation appeared to be deteriorating rapidly except on the east coast road leading to Messina.

Italians pull punches

The Italians were showing their sympathy with the Allies by destroying Fascist symbols and pictures of Mussolini and pulling their punches on the military front despite Germans units scattered among them. The lineup of Axis forces in battle was based on having Italians troops in the center of each battle sector, with Germans on both flanks. Nevertheless, there have been many cases where the Italians surrendered and left the Germans on the flanks in a hopeless situation.

The British 8th Army under Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery battered its way through the strongest opposition, including Hermann Göring tank units, in the Catania plain.

The 8th Army, aided by paratroops which landed behind the enemy lines to seize key bridges, crossed the Gornalunga River and strengthened its bridgehead on the Dittaino River. Then the British seized the estuary formed by these two rivers and the Simeto River on the east coast, just south of Catania. One river had to be crossed twice because of its curving course.

City of Catania burning

Many German and Italian dead were left on the battlefields en route to Catania, which was burning after repeated air and naval bombardment. Allied planes and warships also ranged northward toward Messina smashing hard at enemy communications.

On the central front, Americans stormed into Caltanissetta, seizing the main axis communications to the west.

The American operations, thrusting northward at a point about 55 miles west of Catania, appeared to be threatening the enemy’s entire right flank in a splitting and turning movement.

Battle near Catania

Although there were reports that the Allied forces were actually in the outskirts of Catania, exact positions were unavailable in official sources and it were merely indicated that the battle was raging around and close to the city.

The number of prisoners was mounting rapidly and estimated at 35,000, including about 23,000 taken by Americans.

The London Daily Mail reported from Allied headquarters in North Africa that British tanks had entered the outskirts of Catania and were engaging Germans still fighting stubbornly to suburban streets and houses.

A London Daily Express dispatch, also datelined Allied headquarters, said that one British column had bypassed Catania and sped northwestward toward Paternò.

Front reports yesterday said that Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s veteran British 8th Army had seized the important Primosole Bridge only seven miles south of Catania and today’s operational communiqué reported that “progress has continued in the fact of strong resistance.”

Paratroops make stand

The Primosole Bridge, which spans three rivers near the point where they empty into the Ionian Sea, first was taken by British paratroops who held it until their ammunition gave out, two hours later, the main body of the 8th Army arrived to take up the fight.

Catania, Sicily’s second largest city, was in flames from repeated air raids, the latest by U.S. medium bombers Saturday night, and naval bombardments. It lies in the shadow of Mt. Etna and only 58 miles to the north is the important port of Messina, two miles across Messina Strait from the Italian mainland.

Threaten to split island

The U.S. 7th Army, to the west, was fanning out rapidly from newly-captured Agrigento and the nearby south coast port of Porto Empedocle. One column struck westward along the coast and another headed northward.

One report placed the Americans eight miles north of Agrigento. Thirty-five miles to east, another American column beat off an Axis counterattack south of the Barrafranca area.

Allied air fleets continued to pound enemy concentrations and communications in Sicily and other aircraft swept across to the Italian mainland to bomb the Monte Corvino and Pomigliano Airfields near Naples.

Axis troop planes downed

Eighteen enemy planes were shot down in the 24-hour period ended last night, including an entire formation of 15 Junkers troop transports, which were also favorite targets for Allied fighters during the Tunisian campaign, over the Tyrrhenian Sea between Sicily and the Italian mainland. Only four Allied planes were lost.

Monte Corvino, eight miles east of Salerno, and Pomigliano, eight miles northeast of Naples, were bombed Saturday night and bursts were observed across the runways and on airdrome buildings. Intruder aircraft from the Northwest African Air forces also attacked other airfields in Italy, but these were not identified.

Planes attack Greece

Medium bombers yesterday delivered a heavy raid on the focal communications point of Randazzo, near the foot of the north slope of Mt. Etna.

The North African Air Forces scored another impressive victory by shooting down 15 German Ju 52 transport planes between Sardinia and Ustica, a small island above Sicily.

Lockheed P-38 Lightnings spotted the transports Sunday and the ensuing fight gave the Allies their biggest bag of Axis transports since Easter Sunday when 50 were destroyed off the Cap Bon Peninsula.

Short on transportation

The use of aerial transports was taken as a tipoff that the Axis is short on transportation and trying urgently to rush vital supplies to Sicily.

RAF Halifax and Liberator bombers from the Middle East Command joined in the Saturday night offensive with an attack on railroad and port facilities at Reggio Calabria, across Messina Strait from Sicily. Bomb bursts were seen on railway sidings and munitions sheds and several small fires were left burning.

Beaufighters, also from the Middle East Command, carried out an offensive sweep against shipping in the Ionian Sea and scored hits on a two-masted schooner off the west coast of Greece. A train in western Greece was also attacked. All planes returned safely.

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Völkischer Beobachter (July 20, 1943)

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)

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.

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Nazi fliers in Russia transferred to Sicily

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
The Allies announced today that German airmen from the Russian front have entered the Battle of Sicily, some of them evidently shifted while the summer campaigning there was getting underway.

A joint statement of the U.S. Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force disclosed the presence in Sicily of Nazi airmen whose transfer must have weakened Germany. The statement recalled repeated statements by Allied leaders of intentions to ease the German pressure on Russia.

Notebooks and dictionaries brought from Russia were found in a German Air Force officers’ mess at the Comiso Airfield, Sicily, the announcement said.

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Völkischer Beobachter (July 21, 1943)

Erneut 562 Feindpanzer im Osten abgeschossen –
Sowjetangriffe brachen blutig zusammen

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 20. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Der Ansturm der Sowjets gegen die Ostfront scheiterte auch gestern an der erfolgreichen Abwehr unserer von der Luftwaffe hervorragend unterstützten Truppen, die dabei erneut 562 Panzer abschossen.

Am Kubanbrückenkopf scheiterten mehrere feindliche Angriffe gegen die Höhenstellung westlich Krymskaja, zum Teil wurden sie schon in der Bereitstellung zerschlagen.

Unter Einsatz weiterer Verstärkungen wiederholte der Feind seine heftigen Durchbruchsangriffe am Mius und am mittleren Donez, sie wurden in harten und wechselvollen Kämpfen abgewiesen.

Während im Raum nördlich Bjelgorod nur örtlich begrenzte Teilangriffe des Gegners gemeldet werden, halten die schweren Abwehrkämpfe im Kampfraum von Orel weiter an. Durch wuchtige Gegenangriffe wurden die Sowjets an einigen Stellen zurückgeworfen. An anderen Stellen brachten unsere Truppen in erbitterten Kämpfen den Angriff starker feindlicher Infanterie- und Panzerkräfte zum Stehen.

Auf Sizilien wurden zahlreiche Angriffe starker feindlicher Infanterie- und Panzerkräfte in harten Kämpfen und im Zusammenwirken mit deutschen Nahkampffliegerkräften abgeschlagen. Die deutsche und italienische Luftwaffe setzte ihre Angriffe gegen die Transportflotte des Feindes auch gestern mit gutem Erfolg fort. Bei diesen Angriffen wurde unter anderem ein feindlicher Frachter von über 10.000 BRT. durch Bombenwurf versenkt. In der vergangenen Nacht griffen deutsche Kampfflugzeuge Malta an.

166 Tote und 1659 Verletzte in Rom –
Feinddruck in Sizilien hartnäckig aufgehalten

dnb. Rom, 20. Juli –
Das Hauptquartier der italienischen Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Der verstärkte feindliche Druck auf die Stellung der Achsentruppen in Sizilien wird weiterhin hartnäckig aufgehalten.

Östlich von Sizilien versenkten italienische U-Boote einen Dampfer von 8000 BRT. und torpedierten einen weiteren Dampfer großer Tonnage. Ein Handelsschiff mittlerer Größe und ein Kriegsschiff von nicht näher bezeichnetem Typ wurden von unseren Torpedoflugzeugen getroffen.

Auf der Reede von Augusta und im Hafen von La Valetta beschädigten italienische und deutsche Bomber vor Anker liegende feindliche Schiffe.

Die Schäden, die von amerikanischen Verbänden, welche mit mehreren hundert viermotorigen Bombern gestern drei Stunden lang Rom angriffen, verursacht wurden, sind sehr groß. Unter anderem wurden Gebäude, die der Religionsausübung und der Wissenschaft geheiligt sind, sowie Arbeiterwohnviertel schwer getroffen und zum Teil zerstört, vor allem die Basilika San Lorenzo, der Friedhof Verano, die Universitätsstadt, der Gebäudekomplex der Poliklinik, die Wohnhäuser der Stadtteile Prenestina und Latina.

Die bisher festgestellte Zahl der Opfer unter der Zivilbevölkerung beträgt 166 Tote und 1659 Verletzte. Während und nach dem Angriff bewahrte die Bevölkerung Disziplin und Ruhe.

Sieben Flugzeuge wurden von der Flak und eines von Jägern abgeschossen.

In der vergangenen Nacht waren Neapel und kleinere Orte in Campania und Latium das Ziel feindlicher Luftangriffe. Es werden leichte Schäden und beschränkte Verluste unter der Bevölkerung gemeldet.

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The Pittsburgh Press (July 21, 1943)

CENTRAL SICILY BASE CAPTURED
Yanks occupy Enna in drive toward coast

Canadians aid; half of island now held by Allied forces
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
U.S. and Canadian forces driving to within 28 miles of the North African coast today captured Enna, the main Axis communications center and base in central Sicily, while the British 8th Army pressed a hammer and tongs battle for the east coast port of Catania.

The fall of Enna, a town of 27,000 on a high horseshoe-shaped hill in mid-Sicily, cut off German and Italian rearguard troops and gave the Allies control of a network of roads leading to all corners of the island. French Goumiers, native Moroccan troops, participated in the Allied advance.

Hold half of Sicily

The Allied forces now occupy one-half of the 10,000-square-mile island of Sicily and a considerable number of Axis troops, including Germans, were believed cut off in the western part of the island.

The Canadians closed in on Enna from the southeast, breaking through stubborn enemy resistance, while the U.S. 7th Army reached the road junction from the southwest, after flanking operations that carried some units farther northward toward the coast.

The effect of the capture of Enna was to split Sicily in half, with the allies controlling all territory south of a line running from Catania on the east coast to Enna and thence southwestward to a point beyond Agrigento, where the Americans were still advancing. Enna represented an advance of about 35 airline miles from the nearest south coast port at Gela, but the troops covered many more miles in their offensive over mountain roads.

Vital road network

Of greatest importance, however, was the seizure of the road network centering at Enna. The Axis, with mid-island defenses crumbling, was being driven steadily back toward northeast Sicily and its main communication lines are vanishing except on the north coast.

The rearguard action fought by the enemy in the Enna sector as well as the fierce battle at Catania were regarded as designed to gain time while the main Axis forces fall back toward Messina, only a few miles from the toe of the Italian boot.

Two Axis armored divisions were among the enemy forces falling back from the Enna area.

At Catania, however, enemy resistance continued strong against the 8th Army of gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. Field dispatches said that the battlefields south of Catania were strewn with German dead and wrecked tanks of the Hermann Göring Division, while Allied warships and airplanes hammered the coastal road leading northward to Messina.

The Algiers radio said today that Catania is now being attacked from all sides and is expected to fall “at any moment.”

Prisoners taken in Sicily were estimated to total around 40,000, more than half of them taken by the Americans. As usual, Italian prisoners complained that the Germans took their transport and fled, leaving the Italians to walk. They also complained that the Italian government had given them little equipment with which to fight.

Plane score even

During the last 24 hours, six enemy and six Allied planes were destroyed.

Marauder medium bombers attacked the Vibo Valentia Airfield in southern Italy. The field was covered the bombs among dispersed planes and hangars. The second wave found the hangars already burning fiercely.

Hangars were also set afire at the Monte Corvino Airdrome in southern Italy by Mitchell medium bombers. They bombed between 20 and 40 parked aircraft, setting fire to many.

Warhawks that gave Sardinia its first attack in several days aimed at airfields, factories, a reservoir dam and ammunition dump. They were credited with all Axis planes shot down during the day.

On another mission, Warhawks attacked railroad marshalling yards at Partinico and Alcamo in northwest Sicily.

Strike north of Naples

A large force of British and Canadian Wellingtons bombed an airfield at Aquino, north of Naples, Monday night, leaving eight large and 22 small fires burning.

Raddusa, midway between Enna and Catania, was hard hit by Mitchell bombers, which started big fires and caused explosions. The Allied planes encountered no Axis fighter opposition.

Medium bombers also attacked the focal enemy communications point of Randazzo north of Mt. Etna Monday night.

Intruder planes attacked railroad and highway communications in Italy Monday night.

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Völkischer Beobachter (July 22, 1943)

Kühner deutscher Schnellbootangriff auf Syrakus

Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 21. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Am Mius und am mittleren Don versuchte der Feind auch gestern, mit starken Infanterie- und Panzerkräften unsere Abwehrfront vergeblich zu durchbrechen. Heftige feindliche Angriffe und Vorstöße wechselten mit eigenen Gegenangriffen. Die Kämpfe dauern an.

Auch im Raum von Orel nahm vor allem östlich und nördlich der Stadt die schwere Abwehrschlacht ihren Fortgang. Im südlichen Teil dieses Frontabschnittes wurden auf breiter Front vorgetragene Angriffe der Sowjets blutig abgeschlagen, örtliche Einbrüche abgeriegelt.

Am gestrigen Tage vernichteten unsere Truppen 133 Sowjetpanzer.

In der Zeit vom 5. bis 19. Juli wurden in den harten Angriffs- und Abwehrkämpfen an der Ostfront 45.172 Gefangene eingebracht, 4.827 Panzer durch Verbände des Heeres, der Waffen-SS und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe abgeschossen und mehrere hundert weitere Sowjetpanzer durch fliegender Verbände der Luftwaffe vernichtet, Außerdem wurden 2.201 Geschütze sowie 1.080 Granatwerfer erbeutet oder vernichtet. In der gleichen Zeit wurden 2.344 Sowjetflugzeuge abgeschossen.

Im Schwarzen Meer versenkte ein deutsches Unterseeboot einen Frachter von 2.000 BRT. und in der Kronstadtbucht wurde durch Küstenbatterien der Kriegsmarine ein Schleppzug in Brand geschossen. Mit seiner Vernichtung kann gerechnet werden.

Unter dem Schutze dichten Nebels unternahm der Feind in der Nacht zum 20. Juli mit stärkeren Kräften einen Landungsversuch an der nordnorwegischen Küste bei Vardö. Im sofort einsetzenden zusammengefaßten Feuer aller zur Verteidigung der Küste eingesetzten Einheiten des Heeres, der Kriegsmarine und der Luftwaffe brach das Landungsunternehmen des Feindes völlig zusammen. Der Gegner mußte sich unter Verlusten in dichtem Nebel zurückziehen.

Im Westabschnitt der sizilianischen Front führten deutsch-italienische Kampfgruppen vom Feind unbehindert die befohlenen Bewegungen planmäßig durch. Im Ostabschnitt wurden zahlreiche Angriffe britischer Truppen abgewiesen und örtliche Einbrüche im sofortigen Gegenstoß bereinigt.

Im Kampf gegen die feindliche Transportflotte wurden auch gestern wieder gute Erfolge erzielt. Bei dem schon gemeldeten Angriff eines Verbandes schwerer deutscher Kampfflugzeuge auf Malta in der Nacht zum 20. Juli wurden Anlagen des Hafens La Valetta in Brand geworfen und Bombentreffer auf sieben großen feindlichen Transportschiffen, von denen. mindestens zwei als vernichtet anzusehen sind, erzielt.

Ein deutscher Schnellbootverband führte eine nächtliche Unternehmung gegen den vom Feinde besetzten Hafen von Syrakus durch und versenkte in überraschendem Angriff zwei Zerstörer und einen Dampfer von 3.000 BRT. Ein weiteres großes Schiff wurde durch Torpedotreffer schwer beschädigt.

Die Kämpfe auf Südsizilien –
Wachsende schwere Verluste der Landungstruppen

dnb. Berlin, 21. Juli –
In Südsizilien traten auch am 19. Juli deutsche und italienische Truppen dem mit starken Infanterie- und Panzerkräften vorstoßenden Feind wirksam entgegen. Bereits am Vortag hatte der Gegner in die Verteidigungslinien einzubrechen

Zur Fortführung seiner Vorstöße zog er weitere Kräfte heran und trat nach heftiger Artillerievorbereitung im Raum südlich und westlich Catania erneut zum Angriff an. Als der Ansturm am Westflügel im Abwehrfeuer unter schweren Verlusten zum Erliegen kam, verlegte der Gegner den Schwerpunkt weiter nach Osten, um südwestlich von Catania an drei verschiedenen Stellen unter Einsatz erheblicher, von Panzern unterstützter Kräfte unsere Linien zu durchstoßen. Nur an einer Stelle gelang dem Feind ein örtlicher Einbruch, der aber im sofortigen Gegenstoß bereinigt wurde. Die übrigen Angriffe scheiterten bereits im Abwehrfeuer unter Abschuß von 19 schweren Panzerkampfwagen des Feindes.

Bei Nacht griffen deutsche Kampfflugzeuge feindliche Schiffe im Seegebiet von Augusta mit guter Wirkung an. Sie versenkten durch Bombentreffer einen Frachter von über 10.000 BRT. und beschädigten sechs Einheiten mit zusammen 25.000 BRT. schwer. Weitere Treffer lagen zwischen stilliegenden Transportern und Landungsbooten. Italienische Flieger waren ebenfalls erfolgreich. Sie versenkten durch Bombentreffer einen feindlichen Munitionsfrachter von 12.000 BRT. und beschädigten einen schweren Kreuzer sowie ein großes Transportschiff.

Schwere Panzerverluste des Feindes

dnb. Rom, 21. Juli –
Das Hauptquartier der italienischen Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Im Mittelabschnitt der sizilianischen Front räumten die Achsentruppen nach schweren Kämpfen Caltanisetta und Enna und besetzten neue Stellungen.

Vom 10. bis 20. Juli wurden 228 feindliche Panzer zerstört und etwa hundert beschädigt, außer den vielen Panzern, die der Feind während der Landeoperation verlor.

Flugzeuge unseres fünften Kampfsturmes führten einen kühnen Angriff auf den Hafen von Augusta durch, wo ein Handelsschiff großer Tonnage und ein Transporter schwer getroffen wurden. Zwei feindliche Flugzeuge wurden im Luftkampf abgeschossen. Drei unserer Flugzeuge kehrten nicht zurück. Schwere deutsche Bomber griffen in der Nacht zum 20. Juli den Hafen von Malta an. Die Hafenanlagen und sieben Handelsschiffe wurden getroffen. Zwei der Handelsschiffe sind als versenkt anzusehen.

Deutsche Schnellboote versenkten in den Gewässern von Sizilien zwei Zerstörer und einen Dampfer von 3000 BRT. Außerdem torpedierten sie ein Handelsschiff mittlerer Größe. Alle Einheiten kehrten zu ihrem Stützpunkt zurück.

Feindliche Angriffe auf Neapel und Orte in Campanien, Calabrien und Sardinien verursachten geringe Schäden und wenig Opfer. Die Flak schoß zwei Flugzeuge bei Neapel ab, eines in der Nähe von Salerno und eines in der Umgebung von Decimo (Provinz Cagliari).

The Pittsburgh Press (July 22, 1943)

AXIS DEFENSES IN SICILY COLLAPSE
Fleet shells Crotone port in South Italy

Planes also raid harbor; Naples rail facilities blanketed by bombs

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
A strong force of surface ships shelled the port of Crotone in southern Italy in the early hours of Wednesday, it was announced today.

The London radio said British warships carried out the naval attack on Crotone, setting numerous fires and withdrawing without damage or casualties.

Crotone is an Ionian Sea port near the southwesterly edge of the Gulf of Taranto, which lies in front of the heel of the Italian boot.

Announcement of the naval bombardment of Crotone followed an Allied communiqué revealing that targets there had been “well covered” with bombs in an air raid.

In Springfield, Illinois, Senator Scott W. Lucas (D-IL), a member of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, said that he expected an Allied army to be fighting “in Italy within 10 days’ time.”

Ranging far up to Grosseto, 90 miles north of Rome, U.S. Flying Fortresses scored on runways and among airdrome buildings in an attack yesterday and intruder planes kept up the continual battering of internal Italian communications last night.

Meet little opposition

The big U.S. bombers met only one enemy fighter and little anti-aircraft fire, raining their explosives at will on the Grosseto Airdrome.

2nd Lt. Reynolds Baggio of Los Angeles described the raid as “monotonous” because of the spiritless opposition over Grosseto.

British Wellington bombers laid carpets of bombs on Naples rail and dock facilities, cutting deeply into vital Axis supply routes, and on the Crotone Airfield, where seven grounded aircraft were left burning.

Five Axis planes downed

The airdrome raids were designed to destroy as many enemy planes as possible at the least cost to the Allies. The day’s toll in air combat was five enemy planes destroyed against loss of two Allied aircraft.

Allied planes continued their assaults against Sicily in front of advancing land forces on a day-and-night basis.

An Italian communiqué broadcast by Rome radio said an airdrome at Rome was raided this morning and that Salerno on the mainland and Cagliari on Sardinia had been attacked during the past 24 hours in addition to Naples.

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