Operation HUSKY (1943)

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (August 6, 1943)

Allies advance through bitter Sicily fighting

Americans, Canadians battling to sever enemy route of retreat from Catania sector
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied armies smashed through stiffened Axis resistance to within five miles of the key communications town of Adrano on the Mt. Etna Line today while aerial squadrons battered rear-line roads in northeastern Sicily and fired massed enemy evacuation ships in day-and-night raids on Messina.

U.S. forces of the 7th Army, under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr., were meeting strong opposition around the mountain town of Troina, but Canadians were reported threatening Adrano after pushing five or six miles eastward as the Allies advanced steadily from the Centuripe-Regalbuto sector.

The Germans still held Troina (which had previously been reported captured) and were fighting furiously to block the Americans at that point, some 50 miles from Messina.

Try to break road

The Americans near Troina and Canadians approaching Adrano were striving to break the road west of Mt. Etna by which the enemy might escape from the Catania front. The only other road, running up the coast east of the peak, had been shelled and bombed at points where it is only a narrow ledge in the mountains and was reported impassable for retreating enemy vehicles.

The Americans occupied the town of Gagliano, six miles southwest of Troina and behind the forward lines, and also advanced two or three miles on the north coast where naval and air bombardment of the enemy again aided their progress, today’s communiqué from headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said.

Axis position hopeless

The closely-coordinated and intensifying air, land and sea attacks on the northeastern Sicily “coffin corner” was said to make the position of the Axis forces hopeless and it was doubtful whether an evacuation would be possible except for a few specialists and key personnel.

The capture of Misterbianco which was doomed by the fall of Catania, and of the 13 Gerbini airfields (west of Catania), gave the Allies additional bases from which to press their all-out aerial assault as land forces fought to close the Mt. Etna trap on the enemy.

The Italian 434th Battalion, which was left behind as a rearguard outfit when the Germans moved northward from Catania, surrendered unconditionally to the British 8th Army because the capture of Centuripe by a famous Irish brigade which fought well in Tunisia had made the position of Catania untenable. But there was bloody fighting ahead on the roads to Adrano and Randazzo, which lie north of Mt. Etna.

The Germans were fighting desperately, especially against the Americans near Troina, in an effort to hold back the northern claw of the Allied pincers and prevent closing of the trap.

Resistance was described as the fiercest of the Sicilian campaign, with units of the Hermann Göring and the 15th Panzer Division outing up “suicidal opposition.”

Attack day and night

The enemy appeared to be attempting to prepare a new and much shorter line behind Mt. Etna, probably stretching from the Taormina area to somewhere around Naso on the south coast.

The Allied aerial onslaught against Messina and the Strait of Messina area was the greatest of the Sicilian campaign, with Flying Fortresses, Wellingtons and other types of craft participating in day-and-night raids.

The British 8th Army, pushing up the east coast through captured Catania, was believed already threatening Acireale, eight miles to the north and only a little more than 50 miles short of Messina. Front dispatches indicated that the British were probably within artillery range of Acireale.

40,000 still fighting

Other British and Canadian forces, along with the U.S. 7th Army, were hammering the Italo-German armies back toward Messina around an arc reaching the north coast near San Fratello, about 53 miles west of Messina.

Authoritative sources here estimated that only 5,000 Italians and 35,000 Germans were still fighting in Sicily, and a front correspondent for the service newspaper Stars and Stripes said the two forces could no longer be considered allies.

Armed conflicts have been reported between the Italians and the Germans, the correspondent said. The Germans were reported to be hoarding food and keeping it from the hungry Italians.

Attack railroads

Flying Fortresses opened the latest series of raids on Messina with a daylight attack on highway and railway communications in the port yesterday.

British Wellingtons took over the assault in darkness, blasting evacuation ships and other craft drawn up in the harbor and on the shore ready for a dash across the two-mile-wide Strait of Messina to the Italian mainland. Troop concentrations were also hit.

Evacuation of key German service personnel was believed already underway, mostly by small boats at night. Any large-scale evacuation was believed impossible, however, because of Allied air and naval supremacy. Allied torpedo boats have already operated in the Strait of Messina.

Medium bombers attacked road communications at Francavilla northeast of Mt. Etna, while light bombers struck at Adrano, a key point on the road looping around the western slope of Mt. Etna.

Other light bombers and fighter bombers in relays hit troop concentrations and road junctions in the shrinking Axis bridgehead.

Daylight raiders also attacked electrical installations on Sardinia, while night intruder aircraft carried out offensive sweeps over southern Italy.

Eight Allied planes were lost in all operations.

[NormanStewart]

Völkischer Beobachter (August 7, 1943)

Feindschiffe vor Sizilien beschädigt –
U-Boote versenkten 6 Schiffe mit 43.500 BRT.

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 6. August –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Am Mius setzte der Feind den Versuch fort, das ihm in den Vortagen entrissene Gelände unter Einsatz von Panzern und zahlreichen Schlachtfliegern wiederzugewinnen. Er wurde wieder unter hohen Verlusten abgewiesen.

Am Donez scheiterten örtliche Angriffe unter hohen Verlusten der Sowjets an Menschen und Panzern.

Im Raum von Bjelgorod dauern die Kämpfe mit steigernder Heftigkeit an.

Auch südwestlich Orel setzte der Gegner die Versuche erfolglos fort, unsere Front zu durchbrechen. Bis auf einen örtlichen, ebenfalls abgeriegelten Einbruch wurden alle Angriffe in erbitterten Kämpfen abgeschlagen. Eine durchgestoßene feindliche Kampfgruppe wurde unter Abschuß zahlreicher Panzer vernichtet, die Reste zurückgeworfen.

Südlich des Ladogasees wiesen unsere Truppen ebenfalls starke Angriffe der Sowjets ab.

Die Luftwaffe griff mit starken Kampf- und Nahkampfgeschwadern in die Erdkämpfe ein und fügte dem Feind schwere Verluste an Menschen, Panzern, Geschützen und Fahrzeugen zu.

Am gestrigen Tage wurden an der Ostfront 209 Panzer und 84 Flugzeuge abgeschossen.

Seit Beginn der Großkämpfe im Osten wurden im Verlaufe eines Monats von Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS 69.164 Gefangene eingebracht, 7.847 Panzer, 3.083 Geschütze und 1.620 Granatwerfer vernichtet oder erbeutet, von der Luftwaffe 3.731 Flugzeuge abgeschossen. Die blutigen Verluste der Bolschewisten sind außerordentlich hoch.

In den Abwehrkämpfen bei Orel in der Zeit vom 5. bis 27. Juli schoß allein das schwere Panzerjägerregiment 656 502 sowjetische Panzer ab und vernichtete mehr als 200 Pak und 100 Geschütze.

Auf Sizilien setzte der Feind im mittleren Abschnitt seine Durchbruchsversuche mit unverminderter Heftigkeit fort. In schweren, für den Feind besonders verlustreichen Kämpfen wurden alle Angriffe abgewiesen. Die Stadt Catania, schon seit Tagen nur mehr durch schwache deutsche Gefechtsvorposten gesichert, wurde, ohne daß der Feind nachdrängte, geräumt. Deutsche und italienische Kampfflugzeuge griffen von neuem die Häfen von Palermo und Augusta an und beschädigten dort vor Anker liegende Schiffe, darunter ein großes Handelsschiff.

Eine geringe Zahl feindlicher Flugzeuge warf in der vergangenen Nacht über Westdeutschland planlos einige Sprengbomben. An der holländischen Küste wurde ein Flugzeug zum Absturz gebracht.

Deutsche U-Boote versenkten in zähen Kämpfen gegen den feindlichen Nachschub aus stark gesicherten Geleitzügen und an Einzelfahrern sechs Schiffe mit 43.500 BRT. und beschädigten zwei weitere durch Torpedotreffer.

[NormanStewart]

25.000 BRT. im Hafen von Gibraltar versenkt –
Schneidige Tat italienischer Sturmboote

dnb. Rom, 6. August –
Der italienische Wehrmachtbericht vom Freitag lautet:

Am Mittelabschnitt der sizilianischen Front liefern die italienischen und deutschen Truppenverbände hartnäckige Verteidigungskämpfe. Die Stadt Catania, die seit drei Wochen von weit überlegenen Kräften angegriffen wird und täglich den heftigsten Luftbombardierungen und Beschießungen der Marineeinheiten ausgesetzt war, wurde evakuiert. Die Bevölkerung hat in beispielhafter Weise die Angriffe des Feindes und die harten Entbehrungen auf sich genommen, die durch die Umstände bedingt waren, und dabei eine stolze Haltung an den Tag gelegt.

Italienische und deutsche Kampfflugzeuge griffen von neuem die Häfen von Palermo und Augusta an. In den Hafen liegende Schiffe wurden getroffen und beschädigt. Fünf feindliche Flugzeuge wurden von Achsenjägern vernichtet.

In der Nacht zum 5. August sind Sturmboote der königlichen Marine, die auf einem unserer U-Boote befördert wurden, in den Hafen von Gibraltar eingedrungen und haben zwei „Liberty“-Schiffe mit je 7500 BRT. und einen 10.000-BRT.-Tanker versenkt. In der Nacht zum 8. Mai hatte das gleiche U-Boot eine ähnliche Aufgabe durchzuführen, bei der im Hafen von Gibraltar ebenfalls durch Sturmboote zwei britische Dampfer mit insgesamt 17.500 BRT. und ein nordamerikanischer Dampfer von 7500 BRT. versenkt wurden.

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Die italienischen Sturmboote haben in diesem Krieg eine lange Reihe glänzender Waffentaten vollbracht, die dem Feind schwere Verluste zugefügt haben. Die hohe Schlagkraft dieser bewährten Angriffswaffe hat sich jetzt bei zweimaligem Eindringen in den stark gesicherten Hafen von Gibraltar besonders ruhmvoll bekundet. 50.000 BRT. wertvollen Schiffsraums sind dabei vernichtet worden. Italien und seine Verbündeten können stolz sein auf den ungebrochenen Kampfgeist und die heldenmütige Einsatzbereitschaft, die sich in diesen kühnen Handstreichen auf eines der stärksten Bollwerke Englands im Mittelmeer offenbaren. In London aber mag man darin eine Antwort auf die zynischen Worte Churchills finden, man müsse Italien „im eigenen Saft schmoren lassen.“ Die italienische Flotte hat durch den Angriff auf Gibraltar gezeigt, daß sie im Kampf um die Selbstbehauptung Italiens gegen den feindlichen Vernichtungswillen hinter den Kameraden des Heeres, die in schwerer Abwehr auf Sizilien stehen, und der Luftwaffe nicht zurücksteht.

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U.S. War Department (August 7, 1943)

Communiqué

Sicily East Coast.
The coast road near Taormina has again been successfully bombarded by British naval forces. In the same region the waters close inshore have been patrolled at night by the Navy. No enemy traffic has been encountered. Minesweepers are actively sat work clearing a channel into Catania.

Sicily North Coast.
It is learnt that on the night of August 3-4, U.S. destroyers on patrol south of the Lipari Islands sank one heavily-armed enemy lighter escorted by two E-boats. One of the E-boats exploded, the other escaped in the early hours of August 6. Five E-boats were driven off by U.S. destroyers on patrol off Palermo. Other destroyers and PT boat patrols which by night have been pushed as far east as the Gulf of Gioia, on the west coast of the toe of Italy, have met no enemy traffic.

Ustica, the island some 40 miles to the northward of Palermo, was occupied by a combined U.S. naval and military force on August 5. The garrison of about 100 Italian soldiers and sailors were made prisoners. There were found 216 Italian civil prisoners and a guard. All Germans left the island on July 1. The civil population of about 1,100 were destitute and without water while many were ill with malaria.

Air Communiqué

Heavy attacks on the enemy in northeastern Sicily were maintained throughout yesterday by the North African Air Forces. Heavy bombers attacked road communications at Messina and road junctions at Badjazzo and Gesso were attacked by medium bombers.

Fighter-bombers carried out numerous attacks on enemy shipping off the Sicilian coast and scored a number of hits.

It is now known that on August 5-5, 21 barges and four other small vessels were sunk as a result of attack by our fighter-bombers.

Roads and enemy transport in Sicily and southern Italy were attacked and a large number of vehicles destroyed.

Last night, our bombers attacked the docks and railway communications at Naples and continued their attacks on enemy troops and shipping in the Messina area.

During these operations, one enemy aircraft was destroyed.

One enemy aircraft was destroyed on the night of August 5-6.

Eight of our aircraft are missing.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (August 7, 1943)

SICILY STRONGHOLD FALLS
Yanks in Troina after fiercest battle of drive

Smashing blows drive Nazis back near Mt. Etna; 125,000 prisoners captured on island
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Another stronghold falls to the U.S. 7th Army in Sicily with the capture of Troina, dominating the last Axis escape corridor around Mt. Etna. Farther south, the British reached Belpasso, a seven-mile drive from Catania. Allied forces also threatened Adrano. Messina, enemy evacuation port, was pounded by Allied fliers.

Allied HQ, North Africa –
U.S. troops have captured the mountain-top stronghold of Troina in the fiercest battle of the Sicilian campaign and the main Axis defense line, shattered at key points, was believed falling back today under heavy bombing to the hills north of Mt. Etna.

A total of 125,000 prisoners have been taken by the Allies and Italian troops seemed to have been withdrawn completely from the frontlines. Germans defending Troina lost heavily when the U.S. 7th Army’s crack units – supported by a great artillery and dive-bomber attack – seized the city.

It was also announced that the Allies have occupied the tiny volcanic island of Ustica, 40 miles north of Palermo.

Battle to the end

The capture of Troina by the famous 1st Division was of tremendous importance in blasting the southern and western lines around Mt. Etna and the Germans fought to the last to hold this junction between the Hermann Göring Division and the 15th Panzer Division, which is defending threatened Adrano to the south.

The Germans were fighting to hold the road and railroad that runs along the western side of the volcanic peak while their defeated forces on the south or Catania front withdrew. Canadian and British forces are hammering forces way close to Adrano, which is astride the escape road. At last reports, they were five miles away.

But the capture of Troina permitted the Americans farther north to push on toward Bronte, which is on the same road, thus threatening to cut off the Germans at Adrano, which now appeared to be untenable for the enemy.

Front narrowed

The new gains narrow the battlefront from 170 miles on July 20 to approximately 45 miles in length and it was believed the enemy was falling back for a new stand at Randazzo Pass, north of Mt. Etna.

Randazzo Pass is a strong position between Etna and the Nebrodi Mountain range, but Allied air fleets have been hammering this road and many other targets as far as Messina with relentless fury. Every type of plane was hurled into the assault on the cracking and retreating Axis forces.

Some 350 tons of bombs were dropped on Messina alone during round-the-clock attacks, while other planes raked the roads and junctions throughout the enemy sector with bombs and machine-gun bullets. Scores of flaming vehicles were left on the highways, while RAF Wellingtons ranged northward and attacked the harbor of Naples. They also hit 30 landing craft on the beaches near Messina, from which the Allies have been attempting to prevent evacuation of enemy personnel.

Lay heavy minefields

The retreating Germans have laid heavy minefields and again resorted to all types of boobytraps. Nine bridges were blown up in the path of Americans advancing against stubborn opposition on the north coast near Caronia, east of San Stefano.

Troina, atop a 3,600-foot peak, fell after a week-long siege marked by the fiercest fighting since Tunisia.

The peak was held by a German suicide force of 1,500 who held out against terrific artillery barrages and air raids by as many as 70 dive bombers at a time. Key positions on its approaches changed hands several times in a single day in the see-saw battle that preceded its fall.

Reach Belpasso

The main British column driving northwestward from Catania reached Belpasso on the southern slopes of Mt. Etna, an advance of nearly seven miles.

Ustica, a tiny island which Premier Mussolini used as a place of banishment for political opponents, was occupied by combined U.S. naval and military forces Thursday and the garrison of 100 Italian soldiers and sailors made prisoner. All Germans left the island July 11.

Two hundred and sixteen Italian civil prisoners and a guard were found on the island, in addition to 1,100 civilians, who were destitute and without water. Many were ill with malaria.

Meanwhile, U.S. destroyers were credited with sinking one heavily-laden enemy lighter and one of two escorting torpedo boats south of Lipari Island off the Sicilian north coast Tuesday night.

Sink 21 barges

Allied fighter-bombers, joining in the offensive against Axis shipping in Sicilian waters, sank 21 barges and four other small vessels Thursday night, a communiqué said.

The communiqué reported that U.S. destroyers and motor torpedo boats have in the past few nights driven as far east as the Gulf of Gioia on the west coast of the Italian toe without meeting enemy traffic.

British naval forces concentrated their bombardments on the Sicilian east coast road near Taormina, 28 miles south of Messina, where previous shellings loosed landslides that completely blocked that vital highway.

Clear Catania channel

All enemy sea traffic has ceased in this area too, the communiqué said, and minesweepers have begun clearing a channel into Catania, the big east coast port which fell to the British Thursday.

Enemy transport was also attacked in southern Italy, while the Naples raiders last night concentrated on the docks and railway communications.

Two enemy planes were shot down during the 24-hours ended last night and eight Allied planes were lost.

British four-engined Liberator and Halifax heavy bombers from the Middle East Command bombed San Giovanni, Italian mainland ferry terminus across a narrow strait from Messina, last night.

[NormanStewart]

Bombers, guns shatter town

Yanks soften up Troina for ground attack
By C. R. Cunningham, United Press staff writer

Outside Troina, Sicily, Italy – (Aug. 4, 9 p.m., delayed)
Fifteen hundred death-bound Germans who have held off Yankee assaults on the mountain fortress of Troina for five days learned about hell today from waves of dive bombers and the greatest American artillery bombardment since El Guettar.

Prisoners told us the German officers in Troina threatened to shoot any man who retreated. The Yankee job today probably saved them some cartridges.

Close to 200 guns and 106 dive bombers were turned loose on Troina. Through tremendous clouds of smoke over the town aerial observers saw piles of masonry and huge chunks of earth tumbling.

Softened for attack

Not since Jebel Berda at El Guettar in Tunisia had the Americans had just a fight and not since then had such an artillery job been necessary. Col. Robert B. Cobb, of Ulm, Washington, a 28-year-old hero of Tunisia, testified to that.

But the planes and guns have set up the town for the final assault.

As I write this at the frontline, the Yanks are 2,500 yards from the northwest approaches to Troina. They were ready to move up after the bombing.

Guns follow planes

The artillery barrage was at its height at 5:20 p.m., five minutes after the last wave of 36 dive bombers hit the city and the supply roads over which the Germans could be seen rolling up ammunition trucks.

The guns boomed for a half-hour. One three salvoes of 155 howitzers set up an explosion in what must have been an ammunition or gasoline dump. At another point, the church steeple was toppled. The Germans had been using it for an artillery observation post.

Before the sun went down, U.S. soldiers were scrambling out of their foxholes on three sides of the city. Once a German mortar tormented them, hit two men and their broken bodies were flung into the air.

Regiment pinned down

Directly ahead of me, a regiment was pinned down by machine-gun fire a foot over the heads of the men concealed in shallow holes. On my right was a regiment that had already gone through 18 hours of constant bombardment.

They had been shoved off a hill directly south of the town last night but counterattacked and regained it at 11:30 a.m. today. Again, the Germans threw in a heavy assault which pushed it back down into a gully where they had to stay until the dive bombers went to work.

[NormanStewart]

Soles of 6 pairs of shoes emphasize cost of victory

They’re visible in rear of truck, showing that those Americans gave their all in Sicily
By Hugh Baillie, United Press staff writer

Hugh Baillie, president of the United Press, wrote the following dispatch after a tour of the entire front in Sicily.

With the Allied armies in Sicily, Italy – (Aug. 4, delayed)
The town of Agira has fallen and Canadian troops, many of them stripped to the waist, are going through the streets collecting weapons.

Their lank brown torsos are gleaming with sweat and many of them are carrying Tommy guns ready for immediate use. They all looked well pleased. I saw one swinging along wearing an ordinary felt hat at a jaunty angle. He had on shorts and wore a bandana handkerchief on his neck. His Tommy gun seemed the outstanding portion of his costume.

The Fascist Party secretary sat glumly, refusing to answer questions. There were other officials wearing Fascist regalia, some cooperative, some not.

Shops reopen

However, most folks in Agira were rapidly returning to their peaceful pursuits, reopening shops, chattering excitedly while troops, guns and supplies poured through the narrow, tortuous streets of the medieval city. The town’s chief magistrate went about his duties wearing the word “mayor” in crudely-lettered English on an arm brassard.

The Germans were then shelling a road beyond the town, causing an eight-mile traffic jam before their batteries were silenced. The grunt of their gun could be heard, then it seemed like a long wait before the missile arrived, whereupon a plume of coal-black smoke would shoot up.

Gives orders under tree

The commander of the Canadians, youngish and brisk, was seated under a tree receiving one officer after another who snappily saluted and reported, getting orders in rapid fire fashion from the general while studying maps and sipping tea.

Entering the American zone, I encountered “the Yanks,” as they are universally termed here. At a road intersection a tall, lean young American, iron-hatted, uniformed against the cold Sicilian nights, gives directions in a familiar Midwestern accent. The fact that every man must wear an iron hat as part of his fighting uniform gives the Americans a grim, tough, purposeful aspect. And they have had some of the toughest, grimmest fighting of this campaign.

Prisoners in trucks

Near the American front, I met streams of prisoners riding trucks to the rear. The Germans outnumbered the Italians in this particular batch. They did not seem downcast. In fact, the prisoners seemed to be enjoying the ride, reveling in the refreshing breeze caused by the trucks moving rapidly over the bumpy road. They stared around curiously and interestedly. They seemed either youngish or oldish, not in the prime 20s like most of the U.S. troops.

All of them were plenty grimy, covered with the gray Sicilian dust. However, that is not confined to prisoners. Everybody gets a coating of Sicilian chalk. You eat it, breath it, also carry it in your eyebrows and ears. It is inescapable, even for generals.

Shells whoosh

Another town, almost abandoned, seemed a sinister place. About a half-dozen residents remained, one aged woman munching her gums in a doorway apparently oblivious of the shells whooshing and exploding in the next block after which debris pattered, glass tinkled and the noise of the explosion reverberated and echoed in the deserted alley-like streets.

However, the church was still alive. The bells rang at noontime, sounding sweetly amidst the various ugly noises. I entered and found the church unattended, also undamaged except for a few broken windows from which glass littered the marble floor.

The cost of war

Outside through the city square passed jeeps carrying lightly-wounded young Americans, some with arms, legs or heads neatly bandaged in the field, now en route back to dressing stations.

They had crimson-stained, grim, preoccupied expressions. Our casualties are described as light, but nevertheless it gives you a strange feeling to see the soles of six pairs of army shores visible in the rear of a truck and comprehend that there are six more Americans who have given their lives to halt German aggression.

It somehow carries more wallop about what should be done to prevent Germany from repeating the crime after another few years than many speeches that will probably be made at the peace conference. The poignant shoe soles were scratched from scrambling over rocky hillsides. Well, they have made their war contribution, giving everything, including life itself.

[NormanStewart]

Nazis loot Catania homes; mayor complains to Allies

Sicilian official describes how Germans blew up hotel, power plant before retreat
By Ned Russell, United Press staff writer

Catania, Sicily, Italy – (Aug. 5, delayed)
The Mayor of Catania, Marquis di San Giuliano, officially welcomed British military authorities to deprived the 50,000 inhabitants remaining in the city of food for 24 hours before the British troops arrived.

Sitting in a spacious office in the Carabinieri headquarters, beneath a huge photograph of King Victor Emmanuel, the dapper little mayor turned over his battle-scarred city to a brigadier, who commanded the first troops to sweep through Catania in pursuit of the fleeing Germans.

The mayor spoke bitterly of the departed Germans and vowed enthusiastically that “Fascism and the Germans are enemies of Sicily.”

Blow up hotel

His bitterness was accentuated when he told the British commander how the Nazi troops, on their last night in the city, blew up the Hotel Moderna, which had been the German headquarters, the city’s electricity works and the post office.

The Marquis said:

They used to be wonderfully smart and cheerful soldiers, but since Tunis fell, they bullied us constantly and stole food, clothing and household belongings and sold them in other cities and villages.

Only about 50,000 of Catania’s 244,000 inhabitants remained in the city before the Allied advance, the mayor said, and most of them had not eaten in the past 24 hours.

Permission granted

He appealed to the brigadier for permission to repair the electricity works in order to operate the flour mills and use big supplies of wheat stored near the city.

The Allied commander immediately complied and at the same time informed San Giuliano that the local authorities and police were given responsibility for halting looting and restoring order.

The mayor disclosed that nearly 2,000 civilians had been killed in Allied air raids since June 15, and that more than half of the 50,000 who remained in the city were forced to live constantly in basement air-raid shelters.

Loot mayor’s car

The Germans started to leave the Catania sector three days ago, San Giuliano said, after attempting by various means to block the Allied advance.

He explained:

They looted my car once and stole it from me at the point of a machine-gin this morning to carry ammunition to a machine-gun post at a road junction north of the city. I told the first British officer I met about that machine-gun post and he fixed it.

The Germans tried to tell us they were fighting for Italy, and they couldn’t understand why we didn’t fight. But we know they are only fighting to keep you out of the European mainland as long as possible.

[NormanStewart]

Patton tells people of Sicily to behave

U.S. 7th Army HQ, Sicily, Italy (UP) – (Aug. 4, delayed)
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. told the people of Sicily today, through the Palermo newspaper Sicilian Libraria, that the American aim is not to enslave but to liberate.

Gen. Patton promised that Allied arms would ruthlessly destroy military opposition and warned that any “misguided” Sicilians who interfere with telephone communications, with supply lines or with any other American military activity would be dealt with summarily.

He expressed regret that it had been necessary to fight the Italian armies in Sicily. He told any Sicilians who feared the advent of the Americans to look at Africa:

…where we not only have demonstrated no territorial aims, but have done everything to restore normal conditions.

[nicholasrusson_58993]

@NormanStewart

The commander of the Canadians, youngish and brisk, was seated under a tree receiving one officer after another who snappily saluted and reported, getting orders in rapid fire fashion from the general while studying maps and sipping tea.

If that wasn’t M/Gen Guy Simonds, it was a younger Canadian officer aping his style.

[NormanStewart]

Völkischer Beobachter (August 8, 1943)

Bolschewisten verloren am Freitag 117 Panzer –
Die Sowjets in harten Kämpfen abgewiesen

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 7. August –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Am Mius und mittleren Donez scheiterten örtliche Angriffe der Sowjets. Am oberen Donez und südwestlich Bjelgorod wurden mit starken Infanterie- und Panzerverbänden geführte. Angriffe des Feindes in harten, wechselvollen Kämpfen abgeschlagen.

Schlachtfliegerverbände der Luftwaffe griffen im Tiefflug motorisierte feindliche Truppen an, Kampf- und Sturzkampfgeschwader vernichteten über 100 mit Mannschaften beladene Fahrzeuge.

Im Abschnitt von Orel vereitelten unsere Truppen in harten Kämpfen, wirkungsvoll durch die Luftwaffe unterstützt, weitere Durchbruchsversuche der Sowjets.

Auch südwestlich Wjasma und südlich des Ladogasees zerbrachen alle Angriffe des Feindes an der Abwehrkraft der deutschen Truppen.

Die Sowjets verloren gestern an der Ostfront 117 Panzer.

Auf Sizilien griff der Gegner an zwei Stellen der Front erfolglos an. Er erlitt wiederum empfindliche Verluste. Kampfverbände der Luftwaffe griffen mit guter Wirkung Schiffsziele im Seegebiet von Sizilien an. Ein schwerer Kreuzer und zwei größere Handelsschiffe wurden schwer getroffen.

Britische Flugzeuge warfen in der vergangenen Nacht über Westdeutschland Bomben ohne Schaden.

[NormanStewart]

Bittere Erkenntnis eines USA.-Frontberichters –
‚Sizilien – keine leichte Beute‘

dnb. Genf, 7. August –
Der hartnäckige und verbissene Widerstand der deutschen Truppen auf Sizilien wird von dem Mitarbeiter der New York Times, Herbert L. Matthews, hervorgehoben. Er schreibt: Ein kurzer Besuch an der Front genügt, um die Illusion zu zerstören, daß Sizilien „eine leichte Beute“ für die Amerikaner sei. Es ist ein schwerer Kampf und jetzt vielleicht der schwerste Teil von allem. Die Deutschen kämpfen so hartnäckig, wie sie nur können, und die in Tunesien erprobten Kämpfer wünschen, sie wären wieder dort.

Stärkster Widerstand

dnb. Stockholm, 7. August –
Nach einer amerikanischen Agenturmeldung aus dem anglo-amerikanischen Hauptquartier in Nordafrika in Ny Tid haben die Deutschen in den letzten 24 Stunden ihren Widerstand auf Sizilien noch verstärkt und verteidigen sich jetzt mit einer Erbitterung, die ohnegleichen ist. Gleichzeitig habe die deutsche Luftabwehr den britisch-amerikanischen Fliegerangriffen den bisher stärksten Widerstand entgegengesetzt.

Neue Feindangriffe aufgehalten

dnb. Rom, 7. August –
Der italienische Wehrmachtbericht vom Samstag lautet:

In Sizilien geht der Kampf im Mittelabschnitt der Front heftig weiter. Neue starke Angriffe des Feindes, bei denen bedeutende Artillerie- und Panzerstreitkräfte zum Einsatz kamen, wurden von den Truppen der Achse aufgehalten.

Deutsche Flugzeuge gingen gegen die feindliche Schiffahrt in den Gewässern nördlich und östlich der Insel vor, wobei sie ein Schiff mittlerer Größe in Brand warfen und einen schweren Kreuzer sowie ein Handelsschiff von 10.000 BRT. schwer beschädigten.

Feindliche Einflüge auf Neapel, Messina und auf Orte in den Provinzen Salerno und Cosenza verursachten keine schweren Schäden. Ein feindlicher Bomber wurde über Neapel von der Flak und ein anderer über Bagnara (Reggio Calabria) abgeschossen.

Erfolge deutscher Kampfflugzeuge

dnb. Berlin, 7. August –
Wie im Wehrmachtbericht vom Samstag gemeldet, griffen Kampfverbände der Luftwaffe am 6. August Schiffsziele im Seegebiet von Sizilien mit guter Wirkung an. Im Seegebiet von Catania trafen sie trotz starker Jagd- und Flakabwehr einen Transporter von etwa 8.000 bis 10.000 BRT., dessen Bug durch Bombenvolltreffer völlig abgerissen wurde. Seine Versenkung ist wahrscheinlich. Gleichzeitig erzielten unsere Flugzeuge im Seegebiet nordwestlich San Fratello vor der sizilianischen Nordküste mehrere Bombentreffer auf einen schweren Kreuzer. Weitere Bomben schlugen dicht neben der Bordwand des Kriegsschiffes ein. Bei San Agata trafen die Bomben eines unserer Kampfflugzeuge einen Handelsdampfer von etwa 8.000 BRT.

[NormanStewart]

Die Prawda wird ungeduldig:
Sizilien ist keine zweite Front

Von unserer Stockholmer Schriftleitung

Stockholm, 7. August –
Als kürzlich der Generalsekretär des englischen Gewerkschaftsverbandes, Sir Walter Citrine, nach einem längeren Besuch in der Sowjetunion nach London zurückkehrte, verstimmte er die englische Öffentlichkeit mit der Feststellung, daß man in Moskau keineswegs zufrieden mit der englisch-amerikanischen Hilfe sei und daß die Operationen auf Sizilien von den Sowjets nicht als die ersehnte zweite Front angesehen würden.

Zur gleichen Zeit, da die englische Öffentlichkeit immer mehr den Blick für die tatsächlichen Gegebenheiten des Krieges zu verlieren beginnt, kommt Moskau erneut auf die Schaffung einer zweiten Front zu sprechen. Die Prawda hat mit einem Artikel, dessen amtlicher Charakter nicht bezweifelt werden kann, den Anfang gemacht. Dieser großaufgemachte Aufsatz kritisiert den „ausgebliebenen Angriff gegen Deutschland“ in der schärfsten Tonart und verbirgt, wie Dagens Nyheter aus Moskau berichtet, keineswegs „Unzufriedenheit und Gereiztheit über die Trägheit der Westmächte.“ Noch immer hätten die Engländer und die Amerikaner ihr Versprechen, eine neue Front zu schaffen und damit den schweren deutschen Druck von den Bolschewisten zu nehmen, nicht eingelöst. Die Prawda meint, dafür seien keine militärischen Bedenken maßgebend, sondern es kämen politische Gründe in Betracht.

Nur ein Auftakt

Es ist anzunehmen, daß diese Sowjetrussische Stellungnahme einigermaßen ernüchternd in London und Washington wirken wird, zumal es ganz den Anschein hat, als ob die Prawda den Chor der unzufriedenen und mahnenden Moskauer Stimmen nur eröffnet habe und als ob weitere Sowjetproteste zu erwarten seien.

Als erste Reaktion auf diese sowjetrussische Kritik kann, wie Aftontidningen aus Neuyork berichtet, „eine gewisse Unruhe unter den Achsengegnern“ festgestellt werden.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (August 8, 1943)

AXIS RETREATING TOWARD MESSINA
Troina falls to Americans in 7-day fight

U.S. forces also seize Ustica Island north of Palermo
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

March to victory in Sicily

The pattern of attack that gave the Allies almost complete victory in Sicily in slightly over four weeks is shown in the maps above. The top maps show the progress of the Allied occupation after two days of fighting and at intervals thereafter. The attack arrows on the bottom map show the march of the Allied armies from their original beachheads on the southeast coast to the final battles in the northwest corner.

Allied HQ, North Africa – (Aug. 7)
Weary doughboys of the crack U.S. 1st Division have captured the Sicilian mountain stronghold of Troina after the bitterest fighting of the entire campaign and tonight Axis armies were reported falling back from their crumbling Mt. Etna Line toward new positions only 40 miles below Messina.

Troina, important road junction atop a 3,600-foot peak on the central sector, fell Friday morning after a bloody, seven-day battle which, according to United Press correspondent C. R. Cunningham at the front, made the fight for Hill 609 in Tunisia seem like “mere child’s play.”

The Yanks time and again neared the final objective only to be hurled back by fierce counterattacks from a German “suicide force” dug into rugged mountain positions.

Commands roads

Despite the fact many had been fighting steadily for 28 days, the Americans of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen’s famed division kept blasting away and finally took the town which commands roads leading 20 miles northeast to Randazzo, anchor of the new Axis line, and 16 miles southeast of Adrano, on which Canadian and British troops are closing.

The British radio reported that Italian troops at Biancavilla, three miles southeast of Adrano, surrendered to the British 8th Army after heavy air attacks.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters announced that the Italian forces appeared to have withdrawn completely from the Sicilian fighting and that a total of 125,000 prisoners have now been taken in the campaign which entered its fifth week today.

Axis line reduced

The announcement said the enemy line strung across northeastern Sicily was now reduced to a mere 45 miles compared to the 170-mile line on July 20. That now cramps the Axis into an area of roughly 1,200 square miles which is being kept under ceaseless bombardment from the air and sea.

Far to the west of the fighting lines, U.S. naval and military forces were revealed in a naval communiqué to have occupied the tiny island of Ustica about 40 miles north of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea on Thursday. The garrison of about 100 Italian soldiers and sailors was made prisoner and the Americans found 216 Italian civil prisoners and a guard on the island. All Germans evacuated it on July 11. The civilian population of about 1,100 was destitute and without water and many had malaria.

Volcanic island

Ustica is a volcanic island several miles square which Benito Mussolini had used as a place of banishment for political opponents.

As the Allied armies pressed forward toward a final victory in Sicily, warplanes hammered again and again at the enemy’s rear areas, delivering 350 tons of bombs Friday on Messina and battering Naples Thursday night for the fifth time in six days. Warships joined the long-range assault, bombarding the east coast road near Taormina, 34 miles below Messina, to prevent the Axis from escaping along it.

The daily ground communiqué, issued late in the day, reported the 8th Army was continuing to advance on all sections of its front and that the U.S. 7th Army was meeting stiffening resistance in the northern coastal sectors.

Withdraw Italians

The announcement of the Italian withdrawal said that not a single Italian unit was observed anywhere on the Sicilian front Friday.

There were some indications, however, that the Germans were depending on their own troops for rearguard actions, fearful that the Italians, if left to themselves on the front, would go over to the Allied side. The Germans were reported to have three and a half divisions left for the final defense of Messina – the remains of the Hermann Göring, 15th Panzer and 29th Motorized Divisions and about half a division of parachute troops.

The Germans have lost virtually all roadways which once linked their three sectors and are now unable to shift forces as needed to meet increased Allied pressure at any given point.

Thrusts described

All three Allied thrusts were within 60 miles of Messina following the fall of Troina as follows:

1. The Americans smashing along the northern coast west of Sant’Agata di Militello on the Corniche Road to Messina.

2. British 8th Army units moving up the east coast along the Catania-Messina coastal road.

3. The center thrust toward Randazzo Pass toward which the bulk of the enemy is retreating. This thrust is being made by a cosmopolitan army – Americans, French Moroccan Goumiers, Canadians and British.

Thrown back to pass

The capture of Troina, it was said, throws the enemy back to Randazzo Pass between Mt. Etna and the Nebrodi Mountain range just to the north and northwest of Mt. Etna. It also meant the Americans were threatening the juncture point of the Hermann Göring Division and the 15th Panzer Division where they come together west of Mt. Etna.

Headquarters said the German line appeared disjointed at a number of places as the result of Allied air and artillery bombardment. Indications that the Germans were beginning to withdraw was seen in their use, as in the latter stages of the Tunisian campaign, of boobytraps, landmines and timebombs. They have also begun dynamiting bridges to slow the Allied advance, destroying nine if them along the north coast road, where Americans are driving ahead from Caronia.

The British 8th Army was reported approaching Adrano, seven miles northwest of Paternò on the road running along the western slopes of Mt. Etna. With the Americans driving eastward from the Troina sector toward Bronte, 12 miles away on the same road, it appeared a big race was on to see whether the Germans could get up the road to Randazzo or would be cut off at Bronte.

A dispatch from United Press correspondent Ned Russell with the 8th Army said the trap might catch the Germans between the Americans and British, as:

…the Germans appear determined to hold Adrano and Biancavilla, two main points on the road, despite the fact both are commanded by the heights of Centuripe.

Pushes on Acireale

On the east coast, another British column was reported in the vicinity of Acireale, only 50 miles south of Messina.

In the air, all types of planes from Flying Fortresses to Warhawk fighters were hurled into all-out bombing and strafing attacks on crowded highways. Eight Allied planes were lost.

Messina, main escape port for Sicily, was kept under almost constant assault by both U.S. and British planes. The road junctions of Badjazzo and Gesso in the northeast were battered by medium bombers and 38 motortrucks were left wrecked in those areas. Adrano was also bombed.

Warhawks and Kittyhawk fighters on Friday hit seven barges and a merchant ship in the Messina area while an air communiqué revealed that in attacks by daylight Thursday 21 barges and four other small Axis vessels were sunk by fighter-bombers.

[NormanStewart]

Völkischer Beobachter (August 9, 1943)

Harte Abwehrkämpfe im Raum von Bjelgorod –
Durchbruchsversuche der Sowjets abgeschlagen

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 8. August –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Am Kubanbrückenkopf erneuerten die Sowjets unter Einsatz von zahlreichen Schlachtfliegern ihre Angriffe. Sie wurden in harten Kämpfen abgeschlagen. Im Raum von Bjelgorod dauert der harte Abwehrkampf gegen die mit starken Kräften angreifenden Sowjets weiter an.

Auch im Frontabschnitt von Orel griff der Feind mit neu herangeführten Truppen an. Seine Versuche, unsere Abwehrfront zu durchbrechen, scheiterten.

Südlich des Ladogasees und an der Murmanfront blieben örtliche feindliche Vorstöße erfolglos.

Die Luftwaffe griff mit starken Sturzkampf-, Kampf- und Nahkampfgeschwadern wirksam in die Erdkämpfe ein, vernichtete zahlreiche Panzer und Fahrzeuge und zersprengte Truppenansammlungen des Feindes.

In Luftkämpfen wurden 91 Sowjetflugzeuge abgeschossen.

An der Front auf Sizilien kam es zu keinen größeren Kampfhandlungen. Unsere Truppen haben sich, vom Feinde ungehindert, in einigen Abschnitten auf neue, vorbereitete Stellungen abgesetzt.

Ein starker Verband schwerer deutscher Kampfflugzeuge griff in der Nacht den Hafen von Biserta an. Ein Kreuzer sowie ein weiteres Kriegsfahrzeug und 15 Transporter wurden zum Teil erheblich beschädigt. Über der Messinastraße und im Küstengebiet Sardiniens schossen deutsche Jagdflugzeuge vier feindliche Flugzeuge ab.

In der vergangenen Nacht warfen einige feindliche Störflugzeuge eine geringe Zahl von Sprengbomben im Rheinland. Die Schäden sind unerheblich.

[NormanStewart]

Neue Stellungen auf Sizilien –
Ein Zerstörer und zwei Dampfer versenkt

dnb. Rom, 8. August –
Der italienische Wehrmachtbericht vom Sonntag lautet:

Die italienischen und deutschen Streitkräfte, die unter dem Druck des Feindes gezwungen waren, Gelände aufzugeben, leisten auf den neuen Stellungen im Gebiet von Caronia und des Ätna erbitterten Widerstand.

Im Laufe des Tages Schossen deutsche Jäger vier Flugzeuge ab.

Verbände der deutschen Luftwaffe griffen feindliche Schiffe längs der Küste Siziliens und in den Gewässern von Biserta an, wobei sie einen Zerstörer und zwei Dampfer mittlerer Tonnage versenkten und weitere Kriegs- und Handelsschiffe mit insgesamt über 50.000 BRT. beschädigten.

In der vergangenen Nacht fanden Luftangriffe von bedeutendem Ausmaß auf Turin, Mailand und Genua statt. Die Schäden sind beträchtlich, besonders in den Innenbezirken der beiden erstgenannten Städte. Die Verluste sind noch nicht festgestellt. In Mailand schoß die Bodenabwehr zwei Flugzeuge ab.

---

‚Eine wahre Heldentruppe‘

dnb. Stockholm, 8. August –
Auch ein amerikanischer Journalist bestätigt die Härte des deutschen Widerstandes auf Sizilien. Nach einer aus Algier datierten Meldung in Göteborgs Handels­ und Schiffahrtszeitung berichtet der amerikanische Korrespondent Willard, daß die Kämpfe auf Sizilien im Abschnitt der Amerikaner am heftigsten gewesen seien. Dort habe Infanterie, unterstützt von der Luftwaffe, versucht, die Straße nach der Stadt Troina zu erreichen, was aber sehr schwierig gewesen sei, da sie auf einem hohen Bergkamm liege. Es sei gelungen, an einigen Stellen an die Stadt heranzukommen, aber die deutschen Verteidiger der Stadt seien eine wahre Heldentruppe, die hartnäckige Gegenangriffe unternommen hätte.

[NormanStewart]

Die drei Stufen des Widerstandes –
Sizilien – die Schlacht ohne Infanterie

pk. Sizilien, 8. August –
Es ist den amerikanisch-britischen Landungstruppen gelungen, in Sizilien Fuß zu fassen und, wenn auch unter schweren Verlusten, einen erheblichen Teil der Insel zu besetzen. Der Widerstand unserer Truppen vollzog sich in drei Stufen: Im Raum von Catania hat der britische Gegner kaum nennenswerten Geländegewinn zu verzeichnen, obwohl er dort außer seinen Land- und Luftstreitkräften auch seine Schiffsartillerie einsetzen konnte. Besonders kampferprobte Soldaten versperren hier nach wie vor dem Gegner den Vormarsch auf der Küstenstraße nach Messina.

In der Mitte des Kampfraumes, vor allem gegen die aus dem Raum um Cela vordringenden Gegner, in der ersten Zeit Amerikaner, neuerdings aber auch Briten, haben sich die deutschen Truppen mehrfach unter hinhaltendem Widerstand planmäßig abgesetzt, bis sie jetzt eine Linie erreicht haben, die nunmehr eine Woche hindurch gehalten wurde. Die Nordwestecke der Insel, der Raum von Trapani-Palermo, wurde fast ohne Kampfhandlung geräumt. Hier wie anderswo gelang es vor allem den Bodeneinheiten der Luftwaffe, Menschen und Material restlos, rechtzeitig und ungefährdet auf das Festland zu schaffen. Der Nordostraum und der Mittelraum bilden nunmehr eine geschlossene Einheit in der Verteidigung. Es ist auf diese Weise eine für die Verteidigung der Insel günstige Verkürzung der Front erreicht worden.

Von den Panzern getrennt

Im Nordostraum macht sich die Übermacht des ja an keiner anderen Front gebundenen Gegners besonders stark bemerkbar. Trotz aller Schwierigkeiten sind ihr aber die Deutschen gewachsen. Besonders hoch sind die Leistungen einer in diesem Abschnitt eingesetzten deutschen Division zu werten, um so mehr, als diese erst vor kurzem hierhin verlegt wurde und aus allen möglichen Truppenteilen zusammengestellt war. Sie hat sich sofort auf die neue Lage umgestellt und dem Gegner das Nachrücken mit allen Mitteln erschwert und ihn einstweilen zum Stehen gebracht. Dieser tastet sich nur ganz vorsichtig vor und geht keinerlei Wagnis ein. Er hämmert mit seiner Artillerie los, worauf die deutschen Truppen zurückgehen und die gegnerische Infanterie nachrückt. Kommt diese in den Bereich der deutschen Artillerie, so geht sie ihrerseits wieder zurück. „Sie schaffen es einfach nicht,“ drückte sich ein Regimentskommandeur aus. Besonders die deutschen Werferbatterien haben, wie immer wieder aus Gefangenenaussagen hervorgeht, eine große moralische Wirkung auf den Gegner. Jedenfalls erreicht die deutsche Artillerie regelmäßig, daß die gegnerische Infanterie von den Panzern, mit denen sie vorgeht, getrennt wird. Auf diese Weise ist es bisher so gut wie noch nie zu der eigentlich entscheidenden Auseinandersetzung einer jeden Schlacht, dem Kampf von Infanterie gegen Infanterie, gekommen. So ergibt sich die einzige Kampfberührung von Mann zu Mann fast nur bei den zahlreichen Spähtruppunternehmen beider Seiten. Bei solchen Gelegenheiten beweist der deutsche Soldat seine größere Erfahrung und seinen stärkeren Kampfgeist.

Olympiasieger als Panzerbrecher

So hat sich ein Bataillonsstab, dessen eigentliche Aufgabe wirklich nicht der Nahkampf ist, einem überlegenen britischen Spähtrupp zum Kampf gestellt und diesen völlig vernichtet. In einem anderen Fall hatte sich eine gleichfalls nur vorübergehend zu eigentlichen Kampfhandlungen eingesetzte, Gruppe einer deutschen Stabskompanie, von den vorangegangenen Anstrengungen übermüdet, zu einem kurzen Schlaf hingelegt, als plötzlich der Feind mitten unter ihnen war und sie aufforderte, sich zu ergeben. Der Führer der deutschen Gruppe, ein Unteroffizier, rief seinen Männern zu: „Stiften!“ und wurde durch einen Schuß hingestreckt. Die Männer selbst aber waren sofort auf den Beinen, sprangen über einen Zaun, ein paar von ihnen sogar ohne Schuhe, und bald waren sie vor den wild hinter ihnen herfeuernden Gegnern in Sicherheit. 90 von 100 Amerikanern hätten in der gleichen Lage keinen anderen Ausweg gewußt, als sich willenlos gefangennehmen zu lassen.

Überall begegnet man bei den deutschen Soldaten der gleichen steten Bereitschaft und Handlungsfreudigkeit. Man denke an den Fall des Feldwebels Hornfischer, der zwei feindlichen Panzern mit einer Pak gegenüberstand, die Ladehemmung hatte. Er bewies die ganze Kaltblütigkeit, die ihm als mehrfachen deutschen und Europameister und Olympiasieger im Ringen eigen ist: Er wechselte den abgebrochenen Schlagbolzen des Geschützes aus, während der erste Panzer an ihm in kürzester Entfernung vorbeifuhr, nahm den zweiten Panzer aufs Korn und schoß ihn in Brand, beseitigte eine neue Ladehemmung, richtete die Pak auf den inzwischen zurückfahrenden Panzer, der aus allen Rohren feuerte, ließ seinen Geschützführer den zweiten vernichtenden Schuß auslösen und sorgte schließlich mit der Maschinenpistole dafür, daß kein Mann der Panzerbesatzung in die eigenen Linien zurückkehren und die Geschützstellung verraten konnte.

Die Unterschätzung der Deutschen

Dies sind nur einige willkürlich herausgegriffene Einzelfälle. Nicht weniger hoch zu veranschlagen sind aber die Leistungen der vielen tausend Soldaten, die täglich ihre schwere Pflicht erfüllen. Den ganzen Tag über liegen sie auf kahlen Berghängen im Artilleriefeuer. Nur mühselig können sie sich in dem steinigen Boden Deckungslöcher schaffen. Uber ihnen brennt eine sengende Sonne. Mehrmals müssen sie, meist nachts, mit Waffen und Gerät über steile Berghänge hinweg in ihre Stellungen klettern, und wenn sie todmüde zu ihren Einheiten zurückkommen, erwartet sie möglicherweise der Befehl zum Stellungswechsel über viele Kilometer hinweg. Vielfach sind die Märsche mit Tragtieren zurückzulegen. Dann haben die deutschen Soldaten sich noch um die Pflege ihrer Tiere zu bekümmern und tun dies mit einer geradezu rührenden Sorgfalt. Sie denken, und wenn sie noch so müde sind, stets erst an die Tränkung und Fütterung der Maultiere und dann erst an das eigene leibliche Wohl.

Überall, wo der deutsche Soldat steht, harrt er auf seinem Posten aus. Seit Tagen leistet eine deutsche Kompanie einem ganzen feindlichen Regiment erfolgreichen Widerstand, obwohl sie auf zwei Seiten von Panzern umfaßt wird. Die Gegner haben doch den deutschen Soldaten und seine Führung stark unterschätzt, wenn sie mit einer Besetzung der ganzen Insel innerhalb von acht Tagen rechneten. Vier Wochen sind inzwischen vergangen und die Achsengegner sind immer noch weit von ihrem Ziele entfernt.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (August 9, 1943)

Patton lands troops behind German lines

Nazi defenses unhinged by spectacular feat of Americans
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Surprise maneuver by U.S. forces pushed the fighting front nearer Messina as U.S. troops landed behind the Axis lines on the north coast of Sicily (arrow). Other Allied gains included capture of Sant’Agata on the north coast, San Fratello, Cesarò and Acireale. The Germans were expected to shorten their defenses to a line running from Capo d’Orlando to Taormina. The lower map shows the tiny portion of Sicily left in Axis hands.

Allied HQ, North Africa –
A spectacular American landing behind the German line on the north coast of Sicily unhinged the Axis defenses and sent them rocking back today toward positions roughly 30 miles from road’s end at Messina.

Allied armies in general advanced all around the tottering defense arc across northeastern Sicily, seized the towns of Sant’Agata, San Fratello, Cesarò and Acireale, consolidated their hold on one-half of the base at Mt. Etna, and pursued German troops in headlong flight from the closing jaws of a pincer aimed at Randazzo Pass.

Battered German forces were reported struggling to form a new defense line angling from the Capo d’Orlando area on the north coast to Taormina on the southeast.

Behind Nazi lines

Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. added a dash of the sensational to the methodical crushing of the last Axis resistance in Sicily by sending one of his 7th Army units wheeling around the north end of the German line for a dawn landing.

Small barges and other landing craft stole through the coastal waters under cover of darkness, swarmed ashore on a split-second schedule, rounded up 300 prisoners, and joined their comrades driving eastward along the coastal road through Sant’Agata.

The Sunday morning landing threw the whole German setup behind the coastal flank into a state of confusion bordering on panic. Enemy reinforcements which were pushing cautiously down the highway were routed. As the motorized transports turned tail, confused knots of traffic made easy pickings for the Americans gathering up prisoners.

Amphibious landings

United Press correspondent C. R. Cunningham in a dispatch from Sant’Agata today said that landing craft carrying men and tanks and other smaller Allied vessels kept a rendezvous with cruisers and destroyers before striking for a beach miles behind the enemy frontline.

The landing craft dumped U.S. soldiers on the beach marked by exploding artillery shells and then put to sea again quickly.

The amphibious landings were executed by veterans who had crashed onto the beaches at Fedala on the Moroccan coast last Nov. 8.

It had been planned originally to make the landing behind the Germans at San Stefano, 16 miles west of Sant’Agata, but this raid was called off by Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley as untimely. Then it was reset for Friday night to squeeze out the Sant’Agata-San Fratello anchor, but again Gen. Bradley called it off because a German reconnaissance plane had spotted the landing craft getting ready and had bombed a tank-landing craft.

Landing is perfect

The early morning landing on Sunday was perfect in every detail.

The landing vessels hit the beaches on the dot and the doughboys swarmed ashore, meeting no resistance. They caught some 200 Germans sleeping.

The Americans cut the road and chopped up a motor convoy heading westward to aid in the defense of San Fratello. Three Axis tanks eluded the invading force and headed into a trap to the west where they were knocked out later. Two of the tanks were German Mark IVs and the other was an Italian M35.

Other enemy tanks fled eastward in confusion, only to be chased along the road and fired upon by Allied destroyers. The toll of tanks was not determined at once.

Yanks push ahead

Other 7th Army units advanced seven miles as the crow flies but actually 14 as the serpentine roadway winds up from captured Troina to take the strategic town Cesarò, midway between Troina and Randazzo.

At Cesarò, the Americans were only 12 miles from Randazzo – site of a narrow defile toward which the retreating Germans were scrambling – and the British at Bronte were about eight miles distant.

The British 8th Army, in one of its best days of the entire Sicilian campaign, pushed ahead to take the port of Acireale, town of 29,000 which is the most important highway center between Catania and Taormina.

Nazis pulling out

The British line curving around northwestward now embraced more than one-half of the base of Mt. Etna, the towering volcano which has a base of 90 miles in circumference.

The German effort to form the new defense line between Capo d’Orlando and Taormina meant that, under cover of fierce rearguard action in some sectors, the Nazis were pulling out altogether from the Caronian Mountains and even from the strategic slopes of Mt. Etna.

The new line was being drawn up with a long-shot hope of holding the highway just behind it, the last north-south road of any consequence still in Axis hands.

Strong units of the Hermann Göring Division had shifted up to the northern sector to strengthen the German 29th Motorized Division which opposed the U.S. 7th Army.

The Northwest African Air Force kept a protective umbrella over northeastern Sicily and southern Italy, bombing highways, bridges, railroads and shipping while fighters poured cannon and machine-gun fire into every kind of targets.

An Italian communiqué broadcast by the Rome radio said bitter fighting continued in the northern sector of the Sicilian front. Off the island, the communiqué said, German planes scored bomb hits on two destroyers. Allied naval bombardments and air raids on coastal cities in Sicily and southern Italy were reported, but the communiqué said they had no “great consequences.”

With the capture of Cesarò, the Allies squeezed the Axis escape corridor below Randazzo Pass to eight miles and brought the fleeing German columns under savage cross-artillery fire.

Italians face trap

Military observers in London said the 7th and 8th Armies were closing in rapidly on Randazzo and threatening to trap substantial forces, but warned that a hard fight could be expected before it can be captured.

Roads from Randazzo to the north coast were reported yesterday by Allied airmen to be completely blocked with jammed traffic. The fliers added to the havoc with bombing and strafing attacks.

[1nt17cs152.ritvik]

@NormanStewart

Patton lands troops behind German lines

This enraged Hitler’s father who punished him severely.

[NormanStewart]

Germans ready to take over all of Italy

Nazis stir up discontent in Allied country to prolong stand
By Helen Kirkpatrick

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Germans are not only content with the present unrest and disorder in Italy, but are actually stirring them up to their own advantage, according to several reports here.

If the Badoglio government cannot exert control soon, it would not be surprising to see the Germans take over Italy completely, occupying it as they have other European countries. While such a move would put an acute strain on overstretched German manpower, it would also prolong the war by months to Nazi advantage.

Unrest continues

Italian unrest continues as the Sicilian campaign nears its end and the Allies approach the tip of that island, just two miles from the Italian mainland. United Nations air units have already bombed Naples and other nearby mainland points and our bombers will soon be within easy striking distance of all Italy.

Reports of what is going on in Italy are difficult to confirm here, but it is certain that the weeks immediately following Sicily’s fall will see many changes.

The length of time it will take to wrest Italy from the war will depend upon the nature of these changes.

Nazis move south

A determined peace action on the part of the Badoglio government would put an end, at least temporarily, to disorders in Italy. But an orderly population, backing up any government which would make acceptable peace overtures to the Allies, would demand German withdrawal from the bulk of the Italian mainland.

That might mean a fight between Germans and Italians, as well as the Allies.

Meanwhile, reports continue that German troops are not stopping at the Po Line, but that reinforcements – several armored divisions, some unconfirmed advices state – are being sent from Verona to the south.

[NormanStewart]

Allies attain mastery over Sicilian sky

Seven enemy planes down in latest action; two of ours lost
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied mastery of the skies over Sicily and southern Italy was almost complete today as the Northwest African Air Force attacked practically every phase of Axis operations, including troops, trains, roads, bridges and escape shipping across the Strait of Messina.

Seven enemy planes were shot down in combat and they were almost the only Axis aircraft encountered in either Sicily or Italy. Two Allied planes were lost.

Planes comb beaches

British and Canadian Wellington bombers hovered over the beaches and Strait of Messina for eight hours last night, extending their heavy assaults to Cape Pellaro, 10 miles south of Reggio Calabria, and to Palmi and San Giovanni – all on the Italian “toe,” opposite Sicily.

U.S. Lightnings gave southern Italy a thorough going-over, shooting up a troop train and attacking a supply train, the locomotive of which exploded. Both trains were attacked near the Gulf of Saint Eufemia, and six other trains were shot up in the Gioia area on the west coast 25 miles north of Reggio.

Lightning pilots reported hits on a small barge off Capo Vaticano, 25 miles north of Messina; guns and powerlines at Gioia and an enemy halftrack vehicle at Capinga. They met no Axis planes.

Randazzo is hit

U.S. and British fighter-bombers attacked the communications center of Randazzo on the northern slope of Mt. Etna all day yesterday. Many cars of two troop trains were destroyed or damaged. Twenty trucks of a road convoy were wrecked and 70 damaged.

Spitfires flown by Americans raided shipping between Milazzo, on the north coast of Sicily, and Messina.

Marauder medium bombers attacked highway and railway bridges in the Angitola River region of Italy. Mitchell mediums bombed a bridge at Marina Porto di Catanzaro in southern Italy.