The Pittsburgh Press (August 16, 1943)
FINAL SICILY VICTORY NEAR
Allied guns shell Axis at Messina
Americans, British speed along coasts toward tip of island
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer
Within shelling range of Messina, U.S. and British troops drove against the Axis bridgehead in Sicily. Many Germans were trapped inland when U.S. soldiers cut off Milazzo as an enemy escape port. The British 8th Army drove beyond Taormina and captured Castiglione on the north slope of Mt. Etna.
Allied HQ, North Africa –
The U.S. 7th and British 8th Armies drove forward along the north and east coasts of Sicily to within artillery range of Messina today, and the triumphant end of the campaign was officially reported to be at hand.
A U.S. artillery expert said the 7th Army was probably using 155mm guns with a range of 20,000 yards, which on the basis of the headquarters report, would put U.S. troops within a little more than 10 miles of Messina.
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s flying column had struck 14 miles eastward to the Milazzo area, isolating that Axis evacuation port 16 miles from Messina and plunging on toward the last Sicilian stronghold in Axis hands.
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s Imperials seized Taormina, 25 miles below Messina, and joined in the swift pincer movement against the last tottering Axis toehold on the island.
The battle of Sicily was finished except for the mop-up of the ragtag Axis elements covering the panicky evacuation of the island, and Allied big guns were now in positions to shell the mainland of Italy.
Captured documents indicated that in the Taormina sector, the Germans left two Italian coastal regiments behind for a delaying action while they scurried up the coast and across the narrow Strait of Messina.
The Axis evacuation, a pale shadow of a “Dunkirk,” continued under the day-and-night assault of Allied land, sea and air guns and bombs.
Seventh Army reports revealed that a large number of Germans were trying to infiltrate into the American lines, disguised as civilians and their hair and skin darkened with nut juices and olive oil to simulate the appearance of Sicilian peasants.
The reported infiltration might indicate that the Germans were trying to escape through the American positions or sneaking in on sabotage missions as part of the rearguard action.
As the cattle went into its final phase, it was announced that Gen. Patton’s army had captured or destroyed 188 Axis tanks of all sizes and 293 guns of 75mm or larger during the campaign.
Only skimpy details were available on the American push along the north coast. An official announcement said they had reached the Milazzo area, representing an advance of 14 miles in a single day from Oliveri.
The port, the last one of value in Axis hands except Messina, lies on a tongue of land thrusting a few miles north from the coastal road, and it appeared that the Americans had sliced across the base of the miniature peninsula.
On the other wing of Allied advance, the British troops pushed on five miles to seize Taormina. Inland they took nearby Gaggi and Castiglione, on the north slope of Mt. Etna.
The advances made yesterday were describe at headquarters as the most spectacular made in the Sicilian campaign for weeks. They made it clear that the Axis had written off the Messina bridgehead.
Allied quarters, easing the tight reserve which they had imposed on the accounts of the Sicilian campaign, made it evident that the rearguard action was expected to last no more than a few days, perhaps even a matter of hours.
Yesterday’s gains deprived the Germans of virtually all roads except the two coastal ways directly in front of the 7th and 8th Armies. Fleeing Nazis from the central sector were confronted by the appalling handicap of hiking across the rugged tip of Sicily, probably to find themselves trapped if and when they reach a highway.
A new danger arose to the advancing Allied armies. Their gains had carried them near the range of Italian coastal batteries on the mainland. There was no indication so far that the big guns across the Strait of Messina had taken any part in the campaign, possibly because of Allied air operations.
Where the German evacuees were escaping the Sicilian beaches and the hazards of the crossing, Allied planes were pursuing them right on the mainland and bombing all railroad lines leading northward from the tip of Italy.
All the air attacks on the Italian mainland were directed against key communication points and rail lines which the Germans would use to regroup disorganized forces.
The Desert Air Forces, assisted by Bostons, Baltimores, Mitchells and Warhawk and Kittyhawk fighter-bombers, maintained continuous attacks along both sides of the Strait of Messina where the enemy was shuttling back and forth in small speedboats and Siebel ferries imported from Germany. these ferries can carry more than 100 men.
