U.S. Sicily toll is 501 dead, 2,370 missing up to July 22
About 100,000 Axis troops captured, Stimson says
Washington –
U.S. casualties in Sicily, up to July 22, numbered 501 killed, 3,870 wounded and 2,370 missing, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson announced today.
He said Italian and German prisoners taken by the Allies now number about 100,000. The number of enemy killed and wounded is also believed to be substantial.
Secretary Stimson said U.S. losses were moderate considering nature of the fighting and the terrain. British casualties were not a great deal higher than the American, he added.
While details of casualties since July 22 are not available, they are believed to be light.
Secretary Stimson said losses of U.S. B-24 Liberator bombers in the raid on the Ploești oil fields in Romania amounted to 20%, but a devastating blow was struck at vital oil resources, representing about one-third of the Axis oil production. A total of 177 Liberators participated in the raid. Eight were forced to land in Turkey.
More than 50 enemy fighters were destroyed in the raid, on which the Liberators flew 2,400 miles from the Middle East.
Secretary Stimson hailed Russian capture of Orel as a major victory. Likewise, he said, the capture of Catania by the British in Sicily will oblige the enemy to withdraw into northern Sicily to a narrow corridor highly vulnerable to attack by air and sea.
The Secretary, who returned only last Saturday from an inspection of U.S. troops in North Africa, England and Iceland, said he had seen evidence everywhere of America’s present military might. Not so long ago, he said, America’s military strength was merely a boast.