I tried that the last time you mentioned it and it does seem to provide very good quality translation … certainly more useful for longer passages than the Goolag translate tool.
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President Roosevelt’s message to Pope Pius XII
July 10, 1943
By the time this message reaches Your Holiness a landing in force by American and British troops will have taken place on Italian soil. Our soldiers have come to rid Italy of Fascism and all its unhappy symbols, and to drive out the Nazi oppressors who are infesting her soil.
There is no need for me to reaffirm that respect for religious beliefs and for the free exercise of religious worship is fundamental to our ideas. Churches and religious institutions will, to the extent that it is within our power, be spared the devastations of war during the struggle ahead. Throughout the period of operations, the neutral status of Vatican City as well as of the Papal domains throughout Italy will be respected.
I look forward, as does Your Holiness, to that bright day when the peace of God returns to the world. We are convinced that this will occur only when the forces of evil which now hold vast areas of Europe and Asia enslaved have been utterly destroyed. On that day we will joyfully turn our energies from the grim duties of war to the fruitful tasks of reconstruction. In common with all other nations and forces imbued with the spirit of good will toward men, and with the help of Almighty God, we will turn our hearts and our minds to the exacting task of building a just and enduring peace on earth.
Allied HQ, North Africa (July 10, 1943)
Communiqués
The Northwest African Air Force continued their heavy attacks on Sicilian airfields and vital points in the enemy’s defense system yesterday and the previous night. Despite indifferent visibility, good results are reported.
The enemy resistance was on a slightly increased scale, and during air battles, we shot down 15 Axis aircraft. 10 of our aircraft failed to return.
Despite unfavorable weather conditions and swells in the Sicilian Channel, the initial Allied landings in Sicily, which started before dawn, proceeded according to plan.
The many beaches and landing places used for these first assaults extended over a distance of 100 miles. By 6 a.m., under heavy fire from the covering forces of cruisers, monitors, destroyers, gunboats and other naval units, enemy opposition had been countered and the success of all landings was already assured. By 0730 hours [7:30 a.m.], our troops were advancing and artillery was being put ashore.
Fighting continues as more and more troops with their guns, vehicles, stores and equipment are landed by the Royal and U.S. Navies. Units of the Royal Indian and of the Dutch, Polish and Greek Navies are participating in the widespread operations.
In addition to attacks on the few airdromes still being used by the enemy, our heavy, medium and fighter bombers attacked roads and communications throughout Sicily. Air operations are proceeding according to plan.
While there was definitely some behind the scenes arm twisting it was almost a given the Canadians would be involved. Next to the British and Americans the Canadians had the third largest military in Britain and were well trained and equipped.
As per usual there were American commanders who questioned the Canadian involvement due to biases prevalent of the time. While the Canadian contribution has been highly understated in not only operation Husky but the invasion of Italy due to politics and the two idiots Montgomery and Patton trying to one up each other throughout both campaigns it needs to be said the Canadians not only carried more than their share of the battles they liberated more of Italy than the US and British troops combined did. Unfortunately you will rarely find this mentioned outside of Canada.
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Völkischer Beobachter (July 11, 1943)
Großkampf im Osten und im Süden –
Weitere Angriffserfolge im Raum Bjelgorod
Entschlossener Widerstand gegen anglo-amerikanische Landungsstreitkräfte auf Sizilien
vb. Wien, 10. Juli –
Der Fortgang der Kämpfe in dem großen Frontbogen zwischen Bjelgorod und Orel zeigt von Tag zu Tag deutlicher, welche weittragenden Absichten die Sowjetmacht mit ihren Truppenmassierungen in diesem Raume verfolgte: Der Anstoß unserer gewaltsamen Erkundung vom 4. Juli hat genügt, um den Feind zur vollen vorzeitigen Entfaltung seiner bereitgestellten Menschen- und Materialmassen zu zwingen. Seit diesem Tage versucht er durch rücksichtslosen Einsatz das Gesetz des Handelns in die eigene Hand zu bekommen, um seinen ursprünglichen Plan doch noch durchführen zu können. Die deutsche Führung aber nutzt ihren Anfangserfolg – eben den Stoß in die feindliche Bereitstellung hinein – mit Energie und Erfolg aus: Auch am Freitag wurde, wie der heutige OKW.-Bericht meldet, neuer erheblicher Geländegewinn erzielt und die Vernichtung der bolschewistischen. Massen fortgesetzt. Die Einbußen des Feindes insbesondere an Panzern und Flugzeugen haben bereits ein Ausmaß wie bei den großen Ostschlachten des Jahres 1941 angenommen.
Daß der riesige Einsatz von beiden Seiten – die Schlacht vor Kursk wurde gestern als Materialschlacht größten Ausmaßes bezeichnet – außerordentliche Anforderungen an den deutschen Soldaten stellt, bedarf keines Beweises. Die Verbände des Heeres, der Waffen-SS und der Luftwaffe stehen hier nicht nur einem zahlenmäßig außerordentlich starken Feind gegenüber, sondern auch einem Gegner, der hier sein bestes und neuestes Kriegsmaterial bereitgestellt hat, um gleichzeitig mit seinen plutokratischen Verbündeten den Großangriff auf Europa beginnen zu können, der seit Wochen von der Feindseite mit ununterbrochenen Trompetenstößen angekündigt worden ist.
Es besteht gar kein Zweifel daran, daß die beabsichtigte Sowjetoffensive im Abschnitt Mitte und der anglo-amerikanische Angriff auf Sizilien gleichzeitig erfolgen sollten, um eine Zersplitterung der Verteidigungskräfte Europas herbeizuführen und – worauf die jüdische Agitation des Feindbundes immer besonderen Wert legt – einen größtmöglichen „Stimmungseffekt“ zu erzielen. Dieses Programm ist durch die deutsche Initiative bei Kursk etwas in Unordnung geraten:
Aus der großen bolschewistischen Sommeroffensive ist eine äußerst verlustreiche Abwehrschlacht geworden, die wenig dazu beitragen dürfte, den Angriffsschwung der Briten, Kanadier und Nordamerikaner an der äußersten Südspitze des Königreiches Italien zu beflügeln.
Italien war jederzeit bereit
Daß unsere italienischen Verbündeten diesen Angriff erwartet und daß sie ihn jetzt erwartet haben, zeigt ein Blick in die heutige römische Morgenpresse, die noch vor Kenntnis der Ereignisse in der letzten Nacht gedruckt worden ist. So schreibt zum Beispiel Popolo di Roma:
Wo immer der Feind auch seine Landungen unternehmen mag in Sizilien, Sardinien, Kalabrien – überall stehen wir bereit. Dieser Stunde, die die Engländer mit größter Spannung und die Amerikaner mit stärkster Unruhe erwarten, blicken die Italiener mit ruhiger Entschlossenheit entgegen. Seit Tagen ist für uns jede Stunde eine „Stunde,“ das heißt, wir sind an jedem Küstenabschnitt, wo ein feindlicher Angriff erfolgen könnte, zu jeder Stunde bereit, den Feind gebührend zu empfangen. Der Kampf auf unserem Boden, dessen ist sich auch der Feind bewußt, kann nur ein Kampf bis aufs Äußerste sein.
Die grimmige Tapferkeit, mit der das italienische Volk seit Wochen und Monaten die Terrorangriffe der britischen und nordamerikanischen Luftgangster ertragen hat, kennzeichnet ebenso wie die wachsenden Abschußerfolge der italienischen Luftwaffe, mit welchem Geist das faschistische Italien der Bedrohung seines Heimatbodens entgegentritt. Seite an Seite mit den an der Mittelmeerfront eingesetzten deutschen Verbänden wird es dafür sorgen, daß die Hoffnungen der demokratischen Länderräuber, in Italien den Punkt des geringsten Widerstandes zu finden, zuschanden werden.
Juden fordern sofortige Invasion
Die englischen und amerikanischen Mütter, die nun zum erstenmal in diesem Kriege Blutopfer größten Ausmaßes zu bringen haben, können sich dafür nicht nur bei ihren verbrecherischen Regierungshäuptern Churchill und Roosevelt, sondern auch bei dem internationalen Judentum bedanken, das das Hauptbindeglied zwischen Bolschewismus und Plutokratie darstellt. Es ist bezeichnend, daß gerade gestern in Neuyork auf einer Versammlung von 42.000 Menschen, die zu Ehren einer „Sowjetischen Kulturmission“ stattfand, von jüdischen Rednern die sofortige Invasion in Europa gefordert wurde. Außer Stephen Wise, dem berüchtigten jüdischen Hetzer, sprachen als Sowjetdelegierte der Direktor des Moskauer jüdischen Theaters Salomon Michaels und der Oberst Itzig Pfeffer, die erklärten, daß die alljüdische Einigkeit eine wesentliche Vorbedingung des Sieges sei. Wir haben eine dunkle Ahnung, daß diese jüdischen Offenherzigkeiten am Vorabend des Kampfes um Italien dem nordamerikanischen Judentum dereinst teuer zu stehen kommen werden…
Im Osten wieder 119 Sowjetflugzeuge abgeschossen –
Deutsche U-Boote versenkten 51.000 BRT.
dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 10. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
In der großen Schlacht von Bjelgorod und Orel erzwangen Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS gegen verbissenen Widerstand neu herangeführter feindlicher Kräfte weitere Angriffserfolge. Während nördlich Bjelgorod erheblicher Geländegewinn erzielt wurde, entwickelten sich südlich Orel schwere Artilleriekämpfe. Die Gesamtzahl der seit dem 5. Juli auf dem Schlachtfeld liegenden abgeschossenen oder erbeuteten Panzer hat sich auf 1227 erhöht.
Die Luftwaffe griff mit starken Verbänden in die Kämpfe des Heeres ein. Jagdfliegerkräfte und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe schossen gestern 119 Sowjetflugzeuge ab.
In der Nacht zum 10. Juli hat der Feind mit Unterstützung starker See- und Luftstreitkräfte den Angriff auf Sizilien begonnen. Er traf sofort auf heftige Abwehr auf der Erde und in der Luft. Die Kämpfe sind im Gange.
Britische Bomber griffen in der vergangenen Nacht westdeutsches Gebiet an. In Wohnvierteln, besonders der Stadt Bochum, entstanden Gebäudeschäden und Brände. Bisher wurde der Abschuß von elf feindlichen Bombern festgestellt. Zwei weitere feindliche Flugzeuge wurden über den besetzten Westgebieten und dem Atlantik vernichtet.
Von Seestreitkräften, der Bordflak von Handelsschiffen und der Marineflak wurden in der Zeit vom 1. bis 10. Juli 21 feindliche Flugzeuge abgeschossen.
Deutsche Unterseeboote griffen erneut stark gesicherte Geleitzüge an. Sie versenkten in hartnäckigen Kämpfen unter der brasilianischen Küste und im Mittelatlantik insgesamt acht Schiffe mit 51.000 BRT.
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The New York Times (July 11, 1943)
ALLIES ADVANCE ON 100-MILE FRONT IN SICILY; WIN BATTLES FOR BEACHES, THEN PUSH INLAND, BACKED BY SAVAGE AIR AND NAVAL OFFENSIVE
First round is won; enemy’s coast defense shattered – men and guns pour ashore
Weakest spot is hit; new invasions hinted in Washington, London and North Africa
By Drew Middleton
Allies fight way inland from Sicilian beachheads
Landing along 100 miles of Sicily’s southeastern coast, U.S., British and Canadian forces battered forward against determined opposition as Allied ships continued to pour men ashore. Axis reports said the invaders had driven to the inland edge of the plain between Catania and Syracuse (1), had taken Noto (2) and battling for nearby Pachino. These reports also told of landings at Gela (3), at Capo Boeo (4) and in the Trapani region (5). In aerial assaults immediately preceding the invasion, U.S. bombers demolished Axis general headquarters at Taormina and smashed the Comiso Airdrome. Porto Empedocle was also a target.
Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 10)
U.S., Canadian and British troops smashed forward on a 100-mile front in southeastern Sicily today, heralded by a tremendous aerial offensive against enemy communications and airfields.
The first stage of the invasion of Sicily ended successfully at 6 a.m. today, when, after three hours of savage fighting on the beaches and intensive shelling by cruisers, destroyers and gunboats, the Axis coastal defense batteries were shattered and the success of all the landings was assured.
Men and arms pour ashore
By 7:30 a.m., Allied infantrymen, their bayonets bright in the morning sun, were hacking their way inland through the enemy defenses and artillery was rumbling up the beaches to answer the Axis guns barking from the hills. Fierce fighting continued throughout the day. Fresh troops, guns and equipment poured ashore from landing craft and transport of the British and U.S. Navies.
The Allies landed between Syracuse and Catania, according to a Vichy broadcast recorded by Reuters in London. Other Axis reports, relayed from Berne, told of landings at Capo Boeo and in the Trapani area, in the western part of Sicily, and at Gela, in the southeast.
Later enemy reports located the main battle area somewhere between Syracuse and Capo Passero, to the south. They said that heavy fighting was going on at Pachino, while the town of Noto had been captured. Reports from France, quoted by the United Press, said that the Allies were in close contact with Axis troops on the inland edge of the plain between Catania and Syracuse.
In Washington, there were hints of an imminent attack on the Italian mainland itself, while London sources, according to the United Press, said that the attack on Sicily was not to be regarded as “the only landing.” An Associated Press dispatch from Allied headquarters in North Africa said that “other offensives may be in the offing.
It was apparent tonight that, although Sicily was far from conquered, the Allies had scored a signal success in the first day’s operation and that only a very strong and determined counterattack could halt their steady progress north from the southeastern corner, where they had landed on beaches and landing points extending over 100 miles.
Weather unfavorable
A heavy swell in the Sicilian Channel, where the landing craft rolled drunkenly, and unfavorable weather conditions in general did not halt the Allied attack. Almost two months after the eviction of the enemy from Africa, Old Glory and the Union Jack were planted on metropolitan Italian soil.
As the landing craft grated on the beaches, men of the U.S., British, Indian, Dutch, Polish and Greek Navies sent hundreds of shells over the beaches onto the batteries, pillboxes and rifle-pits on which the enemy defense or the bridgeheads depended. But the naval operations did not halt with the thunderous support of the landing forces. “Widespread naval operations” are continuing in the Central Mediterranean area.
The Rome radio, heard by the United Press in London, said that Italian naval forces had gone into action off Sicily and that Italian torpedo-bombers had damaged three invasion transports totaling 29,000 tons.
All the resources of the Allied navies in these waters were thrown into the support of the landing operations. As important, but less glamorous, was the work of the thousands of seamen aboard the transports and landing-craft who brought their ships through a hail of bombs to the appointed places and guided the landing-craft toward the gunfire from the coast.
Most vulnerable area
The Allies landed in what is probably the most strongly defended and certainly the most vulnerable corner of Sicily. For not only are the forces landing on the southeastern corner within striking distance of airdromes like Comiso, which is about 10 miles from the sea, but they are about 60 miles from Catania, the main port on the eastern coast; roughly 55 miles from the mammoth air base at Gerbini – one of the few still in operation – and 30 miles from Syracuse, one of the best ports on the east coast.
The resistance offered to the Allied troops today was stiff. There are a large number of Italian troops, including field and semi-static coastal divisions, and a large number of corps troops, such as coastal defense and anti-aircraft artillery, on the island. These have been stiffened by crack regiments originally intended for Tunisia, but switched to Sicily when the Germans were defeated in Africa.
Despite the fluidity of the tactical situation, it was clear that Anglo-American cooperation in the most difficult of all military operations – a landing on a hostile coast – had denied the enemy the use of Sicily as a submarine and air base and that the Allied troops were driving forward toward the airfields.
The first line of the Sicilian defenses has been pierced. The Germans must now launch counterattacks strong enough to halt the Allies before they can secure any of the large ports through which the remainder of the huge and varied Allied force can pour.
There is every prospect of harder fighting ahead, especially if the Allies push toward the northeastern corner of the island, which, since its main port, Messina, is closest to Italy, is the most important enemy supply area. Messina is guarded by a mountain chain running from east to west across the northern half of the island, a chain that appears to offer the same difficulties as the Tunisian hills.
At 3 a.m. today, U.S., Canadian and British troops, escorted and supported by a strong British naval force and a “token” American squadron and preceded by an armada of Allied planes, began what is believed to be the most important, hazardous and delicate operation yet attempted by the Allies in this war.
Vital to next moves
Not only is the invasion of Sicily the first step in the storming of Europe; its possession will give the Allies military advantages, without which further operations in the Central Mediterranean area would be almost impossible. The fighting in North Africa, for three years, was a struggle for air bases. This is again true in Sicily. Once Allied bombers are taking off from such fields as Gerbini and Comiso, the air battlefront will extend into northeastern Italy and the Adriatic.
The capture of these airfields would remove any remaining threat from the air to Allied convoys passing through the Sicilian Channel.
Hazards explained
The Allied offensive that opened this morning is hazardous and delicate for three reasons. First, the enemy has prepared the defenses of Sicily for just such an attack. Second, strategical surprise – that is, surprising the enemy by the invasion of Sicily – was almost impossible after weeks of very heavy aerial bombardment. Third, tactical surprise – that is, fooling the enemy as to the bridgeheads selected – became impossible at dawn.
There are no reports of any incident like the encounter with a German convoy off Dieppe that ended any chance of tactical surprise there. But it is unlikely that the enemy’s aerial patrols did not sight the vast armada moving toward Sicily during the night.
First reports encouraging
Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) – (July 10)
Surging ashore from wave on wave of landing craft, U.S., British and Canadian assault troops opened the invasion of Sicily at 3 a.m. today. In the first critical hours of the operation, there were no official details of its progress or even a designation of the landing points and immediate objectives. But, as the hours passed, the feeling of quiet confidence around Allied headquarters indicated that all was going according to plan and the first eyewitness reports of the attack were optimistic.
Reconnaissance photographs of the first stages of the battle, developed at an advanced airdrome, showed a spectacle hardly paralleled in this war as Allied warships laid down vast smokescreens and pummeled shore batteries while the troops scrambled onto Sicily’s rocky headlands. Barge-load after barge-load of troops drove onto the shore under a withering barrage from the coastal guns, which were also turned against Allied destroyers as they ran close inshore to cover the debarkation from transports to landing craft.
Violent aerial bombardment of Sicilian installations continued today. Allied fliers concentrated on the few airdromes still in use by the enemy, and on roads and other communications. They met little opposition.
The Allied fleet bearing the invasion army was made up of hundreds of ships spearheaded by fast destroyers and heavily-armed cruisers, and included a great many of the latest-type landing barges. Many of these latter were understood to be huge tank-landing craft that came over the high seas from Britain or the United States under their own power.
The Allies completed their initial landings without the loss of any ships, the Associated Press reported. The vessels encountered neither submarine nor air attacks.
Under the invasion plan, the first troops ashore would be engineers and sappers carrying automatic arms and Bangalore torpedoes, small pipe-like grenades for blasting breaches in the barbed-wire that the Italians were reported to have planted thickly on the Sicilian shores. The proportion of U.S., British and Canadian troops was not disclosed. Hardened for this battle in prolonged maneuvers in England, the Canadians were believed to include veterans of the bloody clash at Dieppe.
The invasion was a landing operation of a scope unsurpassed in this war or in military history. The Axis invasion of Crete was a thumbnail venture by comparison, while the overrunning of the Pacific Islands by Japan was far simpler because of the weakness of the Allied defenses.
There were no illusions here that the Sicilian campaign would end in a few hours or without a heavy cost. Some 300,000 of Italy’s toughest fighters man the island’s defenses, bolstered by a German shock force of uncertain size, but possibly as many as 100,000 men.
Preceded by day of bombing
An Allied Force Command post, North Africa (AP) – (July 10)
The Northwest African Air Forces paved the way for Allied landings in Sicily by heavy bombing of the island’s airfields, communications, radio installations and defense emplacements yesterday.
Increased enemy fighter opposition was encountered. Fifteen enemy planes were shot down and others were destroyed on the ground. The Allies lost 10 planes.
Island headquarters razed
Cairo, Egypt – (July 10)
Only a few hours before dusk yesterday, before the Allied invasion force had set sail for Sicily, a flight of U.S. Liberators made a sudden slashing attack on the Axis headquarters on the island, completely demolishing both the general headquarters and the communications buildings at Taormina.
It is probable that the Sicilian defensive nerve center was paralyzed, at least for some valuable hours.
This became known here this morning almost simultaneously with the first details of the invasion.
The bombers unloaded heavy explosives and incendiaries on the San Domenico Hotel, which is believed to house the Axis headquarters, and on the post office building, in which all telephone, telegraph and the communications facilities are established, and completely demolished both by a concentrated series of direct hits, a communiqué said. Huge fires were left burning and a mass of rubble was all that was left, according to returning pilots. The bombers also battered railway tracks at Taormina and the Comiso Airdrome.
Other big bombers attacked the Maleme Airfield, the largest in Crete, where the Germans first established their foothold during that island’s invasion. The attack came only a few days after the British raiders’ landings on Crete. Almost 100 U.S. bombers took part in these sallies and one was lost.
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Eisenhower rubs his seven luck-pieces as Allied invasion fleet approaches Sicily
By Edward Gilling
Allied HQ, North Africa – (July 10)
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower always carries in his pocket seven old coins, including a gold five-guinea piece.
As the Allied invasion fleet approached Sicily last night to begin the great assault on Europe, the general gave them one good rub for luck. In fact, as one of his aides said, he gave them several good rubs.
In the early hours of the morning, the general heard that the landing had been made and that everything was going according to plan. Gen. Eisenhower spent all night at headquarters, except for one brief period when he drove out to the coast with a small party of his staff to watch an Allied air fleet leaving.
Climbing out of his car, he stood in moonlight with his hand raised to salute the air armada. The period of waiting between the planning of the assault and its realization was over.
Returning to headquarters, Gen. Eisenhower went at once to the naval section, where he joined his staff in following closely the movement of the operations on charts. He spent some time in the Fighter Command room, from which the air umbrella covering the operations was controlled.
At 1:30 a.m., Gen. Eisenhower, apparently satisfied with the progress of operations, went to bed on a cot in a room next to the war room. He slept soundly for three hours until awakened at 4:30 a.m. by an aide who informed him that assault troops had landed and that everything was going according to plan.
The Royal Navy served the general with a cup of hot tea and he then returned to the war room, where reports were now coming in regularly. He remained there until he heard the BBC broadcast his message telling the people of France that this was the first stage of the invasion of the continent, which would be followed by others.
Gen. Eisenhower then left the war room, but only for a change of clothes. He soon returned to follow with his commanders the progress of operations.
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This taken out of context sounds very very wrong. XD
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Roosevelt sees ‘beginning of end’
President reassures Pope on sparing of churches and on respect for the Vatican
By Bertram D. Hulen
Washington – (July 10)
The Allied invasion of Sicily looks to President Roosevelt like “the beginning of the end” for Adolf Hitler and Premier Mussolini.
This was revealed by the White House today as an intimation was given that success in Sicily would be followed by the invasion of southern Italy.
President Roosevelt stated his views in a dramatic announcement when he received word of the invasion during a dinner at the White House last night in honor of Gen. Henri-Honoré Giraud, the French Command-in-Chief.
The intimation that southern Italy might be the next objective was contained in a communication given out by the White House today from President Roosevelt to Pope Pius XII.
In it, the President promised that during the invasion of Italian soil, churches and religious institutions would “be spared the devastations of war” and the neutral status of Vatican City, as well as of Papal domains “throughout Italy,” would be respected. Mr. Roosevelt assured the Pontiff that the United States was seeking “a just and enduring peace on earth.”
Mr. Roosevelt’s views concerning the campaign in Sicily were echoed at noon by Senator Tom Connally (D-TX), chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who discussed it with the President when he called to say goodbye before leaving for Texas.
The Senator declared as he was leaving the White House:
Our forces will sweep through Sicily. Already on the land, I don’t believe they can be stopped. The curfew has rung for Italy.
Nevertheless, there was an air of caution here today until the fighting had developed further, because of reports that the Axis has concentrated in Sicily 300,000 troops, including at least two German divisions. The rest are Italians.
The Allied forces consist of British, Canadian and U.S. units. The Americans, from indications given by military experts, are grouped in the 5th Army under the immediate command of Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in overall command from North African headquarters. The British and Canadians are reported probably to outnumber the Americans.
It is considered probable that some days may elapse before definite conclusions can be reached concerning the progress of the campaign, but it is clear that Allied success would mean air and sea control of the Mediterranean and open the way for the conquest of southern Italy, Sardinia and other Mediterranean points.
Although the operation is not a second front in Europe, it could open a way for such an undertaking.
These considerations were apparently in the mind of President Roosevelt when he made his dramatic announcement at the dinner last night. The details were revealed by Press Secretary Stephen F. Early today.
The guests included Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Gen. George C. Marshall (Army Chief of Staff), Adm. William D. Leahy (the President’s Chief of Staff), Adm. Ernest J. King (Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Fleet), and other military and naval officers.
Announces news of attack
President Roosevelt began receiving reports of the invasion of Sicily at about 9 o’clock. Just before 10 o’clock, as the dinner was nearing its close, he made the dramatic announcement:
I have just had word of the first attack against the soft underbelly of Europe.
He then asked the guests to say nothing about it until midnight, when simultaneous announcements would be made in North Africa, London and Washington.
He stressed that the major objective was the elimination of Germany, for once ashore our forces could go in different directions, that it certainly was to be hoped that the operation was the beginning of the end, and it could almost be said that it was.
In a toast to unified France, he promised that while this invasion was not directed at the shores of France, eventually all of France would be liberated.
After telling of the attack and landing, the President said:
This is a good illustration of the fact of planning, not the desire for planning but the fact of planning. With the commencing of the expedition in North Africa with complete cooperation between the British and ourselves, that was followed by complete cooperation with the French in North Africa. The result, after landing, was the Battle of Tunis. That was not all planning, that was cooperation. From that time on we have been working in complete harmony.
There are a great many objectives, and of course the major objective is the elimination of Germany – that goes without saying – the elimination of Germany out of the war. And as a result of this step which is in progress at this moment, we hope it is the beginning of the end. Last autumn, the Prime Minister of England called it “the end of the beginning.” I think you can almost say that this action tonight is the beginning of the end.
We are going to be ashore in a naval sense – air sense – military. Once there, we have the opportunity of going in different directions, and I want to tell Gen. Giraud that we haven’t forgotten France as one of the directions.
Pledges liberation of Paris
Even if a move is not directed at this moment to France itself, Gen. Giraud can rest assured that the ultimate objective – we will do it, and in the best way – is to liberate the people of France, not merely the southern part of France, just for a while, but the people of northern France – Paris. And in this whole operation, I should say rightly that in the enormous planning we have had the complete cooperation of the French military and naval forces in North Africa.
Gradually the opposition cooled, and the older regime is breaking down. We have seen what has happened, or is happening at the present moment in Martinique and Guadeloupe, and becoming worse. Well, that is a very major part toward the big objective.
We want to help rearm those French forces [the President referred to the French forces in North Africa], and to build up the French strength so that when the time comes, from a military point of view, when we get into France itself and throw the Germans out, there will be a French Army and French ships working with the British and ourselves.
That is why it is a very great symbol that Gen. Giraud is here tonight – to come over here to talk to us about his military problems, toward the same objective that all the United Nations have gone – the freedom of France, and with it the unity of France.
Giraud thanks Roosevelt
Gen. Giraud, in responding, thanked the President for the support being given France and expressed gratification for American assistance in rearming the soldiers of France.
He then raised his glass in a toast to the President and “the glory of the United States,” referring to this country as:
…that great nation through which peace and freedom will be restored to the world.
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Invasion a blob of warships and flaming shores to flier
A U.S. airdrome, somewhere in Tunisia – (July 10)
A young American reconnaissance pilot came back with the first eyewitness account of the Allied invasion of Sicily today, describing in awed detail a sea black with ships of all sizes and a thunderous bombardment that set leaping flames far inland to protect the landing forces.
2nd Lt. Robert S. Bleile of Seaford, Delaware, said:
Someone was definitely catching hell down there – and I can give you one guess who it was.
Allied warships – battleships, cruisers and destroyers – steamed close to shore, let loose with thundering salvos and then darted back out of range of enemy shore batteries, Lt. Bleile reported. By the time he went over – about 6:20 a.m.-- Lt. Bleile said he could see a chain of smoke and flames extending 10 miles inland.
When he climbed down in fur coat and goggles from his twin-motored Lightning pursuit plane, he had completed only his second operation over enemy territory and was almost breathless from excitement as he told the story of what he had seen.
Around him in the “briefing room” were gathered other pilots waiting to go out on similar missions.
As he removed the cameras with which he took the first invasion pictures – and also one for his personal album – Lt. Bleile said:
I could see a chain of smoke and flame ten miles inland. At sea, I could see Allied warships shelling without interruption. Some warships dashed in close to shore, fired their salvos and then swooped out again. Boy, what a battle picture! I never expect to see anything like it again.
I never saw so many ships in my life. I could distinguish destroyers, like cigars weaving in the cobalt water. I saw bigger ships that looked like battlewagons with wreaths of smoke rising from their turrets. They looked as if they were letting loose with everything they had.
The landing barges looked squirming blackfish. They made a big wake and they seemed to be everywhere – waves of them dashing toward Sicily in relays and others piling in upon the beaches. The barges seemed to be everywhere. As I scanned the sea, over the horizon there seemed to be a never-ending stream of them coming over to help the first waves.
Smoke billows from inland
He was quite a few miles Sicily when he spied the first signs of a great battle – puffs of greyish-white smoke billowing up from the island.
He continued:
It was 6:30 a.m. The sun still was at the far end the island, casting shadows on the beaches. But I soon began to appreciate the tremendous battle waging below as I flew over for 30 minutes. I watched a curtain of our fire searing the coast and inland.
Roaring over the coastline I found no enemy air opposition whatever. I saw what looked like two planes far below, but their attention was being given to the invading forces.
What fascinated me as I coasted along were the antics of the attacking warships. They ran toward shore, pumped shells into the land defenses and then swung away. It was a damned good show.
A picture for the album
He said the smoke which he first saw some miles off shore looked as if it might have come from oil dumps but when he got close to the area, he saw white columns and said he then realized that “everything that could burn was alight.”
At one time he saw a “big blob of warships.”
He said:
That’s when I took one for myself – a picture for my own album. I guess that’s something that will interest the folks back home.
Both Lt. Bleile and Lt. David Fletcher, another American pilot, from Muskegon, Michigan, who came back a short time later, saw Mt. Etna, between Messina and Catania on the east coast, belching smoke but, said Lt. Fletcher:
The real blast furnace was around the landing beaches.
The pictures which both men took were developed and shortly afterward the correspondent had an opportunity to study them. They showed smoke encircling bombarded Sicily with fire spreading as flames licked the parched countryside adjoining the beaches. You could see Allied ships putting down smokescreens and firing their big guns against shore batteries and defense works.
The dramatic pictures showed the struggle raging on the sandy beaches under Sicily’s rocky headlands.
Mt. Etna adds to show
Landing barges were scattered along the shores while others, having stormed through a red curtain of fire from costal batteries, could be seen turning back to sea. Groups of destroyers were shown escorting troop transports.
Masses of barges were visible pounding through the sea toward the beaches, surrounded by puffs of shell bursts. The sea was churned up like a millrace. One picture showed a pall of smoke from Mt. Etna visible over the battlefield – but nature’s cauldron paled to a faint glow alongside the furnace stoked by the Allied assault weapons.
Pilots see ‘40 miles of boats’
Allied HQ, North Africa –
The invasion of Sicily began with the Allied forces dominating the air. That is clear from tonight’s laconic Communiqué and reports of returning fliers. Heavy and medium bombers and fighters went over by the hundreds and the opposition was negligible.
Returning fliers who had seen the landings came back lyrically enthusiastic. It clearly gave them all the thrill of their lives. It was a mission of B-26 Marauder pilots who went over just before dawn that got one of the best bird’s-eye views.
2nd Lt. N. B. Robbins of Wappinger Falls, New York, said:
It was the biggest thing I ever have seen. I think there were 40 miles of boats of all seizes. On the edges were zig-zagging destroyers and in the middle invasion barges followed by merchant ships.
1st Lt. G. F. Dore of Monson, Maine, saw:
…the whole naval force lined up in battle order over the Mediterranean.
We were just coming home from a raid and they stood out like islands in the sea. Just after we passed they all opened fire and it seemed like a volcanic eruption.
Later this morning, Flying Fortresses struck again and most heavily at the much-bombed Gerbini Airfield near Catania, and on their way back they had a wonderful view of the operations.
Col. Samuel J. Gormly of Alhambra, California, said:
The coastal waters of Sicily were black with invasion barges and supporting naval craft, and all the water between Sicily and Tunisia was full of craft shuttling back and forth as in San Francisco Harbor in the good old days of ferries.
On the way to a strafing mission Lt. Col. Robert C. Paul, of Lake City, Florida, group commander of an A-36 outfit, arrived above the coast just as a number of barges were landing. He saw troops land on the beach and deploy, but while he watched, they met no opposition. He saw no signs of firing but after advancing, “our troops seemed to pause.” At that point, he passed out of their sight.
To a pilot, Capt. Roscoe H. Johnson of Chicago, the invading ground troops looked like “a million fliers going in on the beaches.”
He added:
It was a beautiful sight.
2nd Lt. Donald S. Justier of St. Albans, New York, a bombardier, saw “ships coming in waves and out boys simply pouring on the beaches.”
He said:
It is hard to see how the Italians could do much fighting with so many aircraft in the air.
Our photographic reconnaissance brought back both reports and pictures of Northwest African Air Force fighters literally swarming over southeastern coastal regions of Sicily.
Lt. James J. Armstrong of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was incidentally one of the first to return and he brought back a remarkable series of photographs. The minute he landed, the negatives were rushed to a developing room and in less than an hour, A-36 fighter-bombers had taken off to bomb targets that his photos had revealed. Among other things, there was a 40-car freight train, which got a number of direct hits.
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Germans foresee all isles’ loss; say they ‘forced’ Allies to attack
London, England (AP) – (July 10)
Fierce fighting in Sicily was reported tonight by Axis broadcasts, while the German press prepared the people for the loss of all Italy’s Mediterranean islands before the summer’s end.
German propagandists made a complete turnabout on their recent declarations on the German offensive in Russia in an attempt to show that the Allies had been “forced” to invade Sicily to create a diversion on behalf of the Russians, the Office of War Information reported.
As expected, the long-awaited blow sent the Axis propaganda machine into frenzied action. German propagandists belittled the importance of the invasion and insisted that it came as no surprise. At the same time, however, the Berlin radio told of elaborate preparations for Sicily’s defense and declared that Germany and Italy were confident that the Allies would not realize their aims.
Berlin said:
The invasion forces were immediately engaged in heavy fighting that proved extraordinarily costly for them. Coastal batteries and Axis bombers sank a number of landing transports manned with troops and laden with material 33 enemy aircraft so far have been brought down in aerial combats. Enemy parachutists who bailed out during the dawn were wiped out.
Capt. Ludwig Sertorius, the Transocean News Agency’s military correspondent, said in a dispatch broadcast by Berlin 12 hours after the invasion that:
In all probability, the Allied command will launch one or several diverting actions against the southern continent of Europe in order to worry the Axis powers and force them to split up their forces.
For the time being, the broadcast continued, most of the fighting seems to be going on in the southeastern coastal stretch. It was said:
This, however, does not mean that the enemy is actually concentrating his attacks against this sector of Sicily. In fact, it is quote possible that further and stronger landing attempts will be made presently against other parts of the island.
Capt. Sertorius, differing somewhat from other Berlin commentators, said that there was no else to underestimate the importance of the Allied thrust.
He said:
The enemy has many useful bases at his disposal in North Africa while the enemy navy is holding supremacy in the Mediterranean. Allied air force formations, although having suffered heavy losses lately, are probably still numerically superior to the Aix air force in the Mediterranean.
Furthermore, it seems that Anglo-Saxon troops concentrated in North Africa and the Near East are strong enough to permit simultaneous offensive operations against other points of the European southern front.
Not until 1 p.m. (Rome Time) were the Italian people told that the island had been invaded. Then the Rome radio broadcast a brief communiqué saying only that “violent fighting” was in progress in southeast Sicily after an Allied attack by air forces and parachute troops supported by naval units.
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‘Zero hour has struck’
Berne, Switzerland – (July 10)
The zero hour for Italy has struck and the country’s destiny is in our hands. For better or for worse we are engaged to the last drop of our blood, but we are ready on all fronts! Let the guns do the talking.
These words by an official spokesman on the Rome radio late tonight best sum up by the tenor of official declarations to the Italian people throughout the day on the subject of the Allied invasion of Sicily. The declarations were numerous – but they contained not one word as to the progress of fighting beyond the bare announcement in this morning’s communiqué that the invasion had begun.
Press comment available here tonight – telephone communications with the peninsula were cut for a short time this morning but resumed early this afternoon – ranges from the nervously querulous “What next?” attitude adopted by the Popolo di Roma, which asked editorially whether the “enemy might not extend his operations not only against Sicily but against Sardinia, Calabria and even Puglia” to the “reassured” attitude of the Messaggero’s military collaborator, who found hope in the “increasing successes of our torpedo planes, which have nor intensifies their attacks against the enemy supply lines.” He contended that, now that these “vulnerable” lines had been extended toward the peninsula, the Italian Air Force blows could begin to be heavier.
Reports from neutral sources in Rome late this evening intimated that the atmosphere prevailing in the capital, “though heavy, was confident.” Some speculation was also noted as to the whereabouts of the Italian Navy, which was reported early this morning to have put to sea from a southern port to engage the enemy forces.
King Victor Emmanuel and Premier Mussolini were both in evidence in the capital on several occasions throughout the day. A report to the Swiss press late tonight stated that, shortly before 6 p.m., “most of the Ministers” of the Cabinet were seen to enter the Palazzo Venezia.
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‘Balbo’ radio hails news
Secret station urges Italians to abandon Mussolini
Algiers, Algeria (AP) – (July 10)
In a broadcast coinciding with the Allied invasion of Sicily, a clandestine Italian station, Radio Italo Balbo, called on Italians today to abandon Premier Mussolini. The statement, heard in North Africa, declared:
Action has begun. Viva Italo Balbo! The hour is serious, more serious than we thought yesterday and more serious than we can imagine.
This is a moment for plain speaking. We cannot hesitate in the face of peril when decisions are in the hands of a few people. The greatness of the ideals and purity of action of our chief, [the late] Italo Balbo, should serve as our example.
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THE NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Zero hour
‘The Battle of Europe has begun’
The invasion begins
At 3 o’clock yesterday morning the Battle of Europe began. The second front was opened. The moment which the Allied world had long awaited came with dramatic suddenness in the dead hours of a moonlit Mediterranean night. From North Africa to Sicily moved thousands of Allied troops that have for months been in training for the initial assault on the fortress Hitler has made of a continent.
The invasion forces came by sea and air. Over the quiet waters steamed big transports, snub-nosed, shallow-draft invasion barges, powerful warships of all kinds. Above them were big troop-carrying planes guarded by fighters. In minutely timed coordination the Allied forces swept ashore or dropped from the skies to assault the tightly drawn defenses of the Italian island. A naval barrage and days of aerial attack had helped to clear the way. But the ultimate task was one for fighters on foot – man-to-man combat of the toughest kind.
Allies in action
It was truly an Allied attack. The bulk of the assault forces that had been gathered in North Africa were made up of British, Canadian and U.S. troops. But there were also Polish, Czech, Yugoslav and Greek units and large French contingents. In all – the Axis reported – there were more than a million United Nations fighters assembled. The Allies made no statement, but Berlin dispatches said there were 44 infantry divisions, 15-20 armored divisions, at least 4,000 airplanes of all kinds, “a considerably strengthened” naval force and two full divisions of parachute troops.
Their objective was one of Hitler’s most important bastions. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean. It is Italy’s second largest “compartimento” – department – in terms of area, third largest in population. Until recently more than 4,000,000 people lived in its 9,926 square miles. Many thousands are reported to have been evacuated in the face of the Allied invasion wheatfields, hillside vineyard, citrus and olive groves.
Militarily, Sicily is an island of strong natural defenses. Its mountains and seaside cliffs in the north command the sea approaches. The southern coast is shelving, but the terrain that lies between it and the strategic centers northward and eastward is cut by many valleys, which afford the principal lines of communication. These present a tough footing for an invader. All these natural defenses have been capitalized by the Axis. Large coastal guns and airfields have been installed in profusion. Mines have been strewn thickly in the coastal waters and planted in belts all along the beaches. Barbed wire and machine-gun nests bristle everywhere facing the sea. Naval installations, including submarine facilities, ring the island. The volcanic rock has been funneled for underground hangars and garrisons. Troops estimated at 300,000-400,000 are believed to be stationed there, and yesterday reinforcements were being rushed from the mainland across the two-mile-wide Strait of Messina.
The enemy’s power
Thus, the Allies faced formidable resistance. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Commander-in-Chief, told correspondents that “we may be riding for a bloody nose,” but he thought the job could be done. Early reports from Berlin and Rome said the fighting was proving “extraordinarily costly for the invaders.” But it was obvious the Allies had not moved without vast preparation – the assembling of great strength and the most intensive training possible. The presence of the Canadians was apparently a complete surprise to the enemy. They had been in England for more than two years and in all that time they had been rehearsing landings on the beaches of the south and the rocky coasts of the north.
By these signs the importance the Allies attached to the Sicilian assault could be gauged. It was a big stake for both sides. Sicily is the doorstep of Southern Europe. It leads directly to the mainland of Italy, and the Italian peninsula leads toward the German heartland. The Alps are a barrier, but the need not be traversed. The conquest of Italy would give the Allies an all-important foothold on the continent, a powerful base for sea and air operations. Moreover, Italy flanks the Balkans, where most observers expect an Allied move at any moment and sections of which Germany has put under a state of siege.
The effects in Russia
A further significance of highest importance, lies in the effect of the Sicilian move on the Russian Front last week’s blow, like the Allied invasion of North Africa, came at a time of heavy fighting between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht. This time the Germans had just launched their long-expected 1943 offensive. They had thrown great weight into the drive but were being vigorously resisted. The sudden attack in the South came at a time when Hitler’s forces – Luftwaffe, infantry and armored divisions – were heavily committed in the East. What the result will be only the coming days will tell but it was certain that Hitler was at last faced with a second front. Before and in the early days of the war he had talked so much about the dangers of fighting on two fronts at once that it seemed an obsession. If so, Nemesis had not caught up with him. He has millions of troops, including a recent new mobilization, but there seemed to be no way in which he could possibly stretch his most needed resource – airpower – to meet the enormous demands being placed upon it. Much of it was anchored in Russia. There is believed to be a large concentration – larger than recent Axis activity would indicate – in the Mediterranean theater. And yet there was the crucial need of ever-greater air defenses against the bombing from the west.
All in all, July of 1943 had brought to the test the Hitlerian plan of world domination. No one in Allied circled expected an easy and early decision. The move against Sicily simply inaugurated the whole gigantic task of the reconquest of Europe. It seemed clear that other moves, in other sectors, were in prospect. But the attack demonstrated, in the words of a London newspaper yesterday:
Our invasion brings the war of coalition to a new point… a point at which all the United Nations are engaging every enemy and all Allied resources are converging ion Hitler’s fortress,
In Britain and the United States, military leaders were grimly cautionary, warning that heavy losses must be counted on. In the White House, President Roosevelt, confiding the dramatic news to a distinguished gathering at a dinner part for Gen. Henri-Honoré Giraud, said:
Last autumn, the Prime Minister called it “the end of the beginning.” I think you can almost say that this action tonight is the beginning of the end.
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Völkischer Beobachter (July 12, 1943)
In schweren Kämpfen weiteres Gelände gewonnen –
Die große Panzerschlacht im Osten tobt weiter
85 Feindflugzeuge im Raum von Kursk und 64 über Sizilien abgeschossen
dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 11. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
Die große Schlacht im Osten tobt weiter. Unsere Truppen konnten in schweren Kämpfen weiteres Gelände gewinnen und 193 feindliche Panzer vernichten.
Die Luftwaffe unterstützte trotz schlechter Wetterbedingungen mit starken Kräften die Angriffe des Heeres. Panzer- und Truppenbereitstellungen des Feindes wurden zersprengt und 85 Sowjetflugzeuge abgeschossen.
Leichte deutsche Seestreitkräfte griffen überraschend den Hafen Atschujew am Asowschen Meer an, versenkten drei Küstenfahrzeuge und beschädigten drei weitere schwer.
An der Südostküste Siziliens sind heftige Kämpfe deutscher und italienischer Truppen mit gelandeten feindlichen Kräftegruppen im Gange. Über Sizilien und im Seegebiet um die Insel wurden bisher 64 feindliche Flugzeuge abgeschossen. Italienische Torpedoflugzeuge versenkten drei Schiffe, darunter zwei Transporter von 13.000 BRT., und beschädigten im gemeinsamen Angriff mit starken deutschen Fliegerkräften drei Kreuzer und zahlreiche große und mittlere Transporter sowie viele Landungsboote so schwer, daß mehrere dieser Schiffe als vernichtet angesehen werden können.
Im Kanal kam es am 10. Juli zu einem Gefecht zwischen einem Verband englischer Zerstörer und Schnellbooten mit leichten deutschen Seestreitkräften. Ein britischer Zerstörer und zwei Kanonenboote wurden durch Artilleriefeuer versenkt, ändere schwer beschädigt. Auf deutscher Seite ging eine Einheit verloren, deren Besatzung zum größten Teil gerettet wurde.
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‚In Sizilien wird für die Größe Italiens gekämpft‘ –
Die Parole bleibt: Sieg oder Tod!
dnb. Rom, 11. Juli –
Die römische Morgenpresse steht im Zeichen der Ereignisse an der sizilischen Küste. Sie legt den Hauptnachdruck auf die stolze Ruhe und Entschlossenheit, mit der das italienische Volk in dieser Stunde höchster Bereitschaft den Tatsachen ins Auge blicke.
Der Angriff auf Sizilien kam nicht überraschend, wie Gayda im Voce d’Italia ausführt. Die Geschichte wird über den Ausgang entscheiden. Man kann aber heute schon sagen, daß das feindliche Unternehmen in ganz Italien auf Festigkeit, Kaltblütigkeit, unbeugsamen Kampfeswillen und Vertrauen stoße. Jeder stehe fest und einsatzbereit an seinem Platz, jeder sei ein Kämpfer. Der Feind werde von allen Italienern die Antwort darauf erhalten, daß er gewagt hat, dem italienischen Volk moralische und kämpferische Attribute abzusprechen und gegen Frauen und Kinder, gegen Kirchen und Schulen mit Terrorangriffen vorzugehen.
Der frühere Volksbildungsminister und jetzige Direktor des Messaggero, Pavollini, erklärt, daß die Augen aller Italiener seit gestern auf Sizilien gerichtet seien. Die Abwicklung aller Geschäfte erfolge in ganz Italien mit völliger Ruhe und in einem einstimmigen, nüchternen und brüderlichen Vertrauen. Die Gedanken aller gingen zu den tapferen Kämpfern in Sizilien und zu ihren tapferen Verbündeten, deren Kameradschaft in dieser unvergeßlichen Stunde fester denn je geschmiedet werde.
Der Direktor des Popolo di Roma, Baroni, stellt fest, das Unternehmen stoße gegen den Abwehrwall, der von Männern verteidigt werde, die bereit seien, für die Kultur und die Freiheit Europas und der Welt ihr Leben zu lassen. In Sizilien werde seit gestern für die Rettung aller Völker, aber vor allem für die Größe Italiens gekämpft. Alle, Wehrmachtangehörige oder Zivilpersonen, stehen im Kampf. Sie wissen, daß dieser Kampf der entscheidende ist. Die Parole lautet heute in ganz Italien:
Sieg oder Tod.
Die angelsächsisch-sowjetische Feindkoalition, so führt Appelius im Popolo d‘Italia aus, kann nicht zuwarten. Sie ist zum Handeln gezwungen. Im Gesamtplan des Konfliktes beweisen die Kämpfe im Osten und an der Küste Siziliens sowie die jüngsten schweren feindlichen Verluste an Schiffen und Flugzeugen im Mittelmeer, daß Europa über eine gewaltige militärische Macht verfügt. Von Syrakus bis Bjelgorod steht Europa in voller Defensiv- und Offensivkraft da. In dem Augenblick, da bei Bjelgorod, auf Sizilien und auf den Salomonen drei Schlachten von großer Bedeutung für das Schicksal des Konfliktes toben, bekräftigen wir unser Vertrauen in die militärische Stärke der Dreierpaktmächte, in die höchste Gerechtigkeit unserer Sache sowie in die eiserne Solidarität unserer Völker. Ganz Italien steht ideell an der sizilianischen Küste unseres Meeres. ¾12 Uhr ist vorbei und die Italiener haben nicht nachgegeben, jetzt ist es 12 Uhr und sie werden nicht nachgeben.
Londons Klage über Sizilien:
‚Schwieriger Nachschub‘
tc. Tanger, 11. Juli –
Die Landungsoperationen auf Sizilien seien nach den nächtlichen einleitenden Aktionen in ein weit gefährlicheres Stadium getreten, heißt es in einem Bericht des Reuter-Sonderkorrespondenten Davis Brown. Die Landungsflottille habe sich nach Tagesanbruch immer noch auf die Küste zu bewegt und sei dabei dem Feuer der Küstenbatterien und der auf den Felsen angelegten Maschinengewehrnester ausgesetzt. Jedenfalls sei das Heranbringen von Verstärkungen die gefährlichste Phase der Operationen, da sie jetzt bei Tageslicht durchgeführt werden müsse und man auch mit der Möglichkeit von U-Boot-Angriffen zu rechnen habe.
La Stampa (July 12, 1943)
Accanita battaglia in Sicilia –
Il nemico impegnato e contenuto lungo la fascia costiera sud-orientale
31 velivoli avversari abbattuti – L’aviazione dell’Asse in energica azione contro i convogli anglosassoni; dieci piroscafi, un incrociatore leggero e numerosi mezzi da sbarco affondati; due incrociatori e numerosi altri mercantili gravemente colpiti
Il Quartier Generale delle Forze Armate ha ieri diramato il seguente Bollettino N. 1142:
Un’accanita battaglia è in atto lungo la fascia costiera della Sicilia sud-orientale, dove truppe italiane e germaniche impegnano energicamente le forze avversarie sbarcate e ne contengono validamente la pressione.
Intensa l’attività delle opposte aviazioni: I cacciatori dell’Asse hanno abbattuto 22 velivoli, le batterie controaeree 9.
Nostre formazioni aerosiluranti portatesi ripetutamente all’attacco di convogli nemici, colavano a picco due piroscafi per 13 mila tonnellate complessive ed una nave di tipo imprecisato; danneggiavano inoltre gravemente due incrociatori e numerosi altri mercantili, parecchi del quali s’incendiavano. Un incrociatore leggero, sette navi da trasporto di grosso e medio tonnellaggio e molti mezzi da sbarco venivano ripetutamente colpiti dall’aviazione germanica cosi da farne ritenere sicuro il successivo affondamento.
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Ardenti manifestazioni per la vittoria delle nostre armi
Napoli, 12 luglio –
Presso i Gruppi rionali, fascisti e popolo si sono adunati per riaffermare la loro ferrea volontà di resistenza e la incrollabile fede nella Vittoria.
Dovunque si sono verificate imponenti manifestazioni di italianità, di fede fascista e di devozione e gratitudine per il Duce. Dopo le adunate, cortei di popolo hanno allato per le vie inneggiando al re Imperatore, al Duce, alle gloriose Forze Armate dell’Asse.
Milano, 12 luglio –
Che la rispondenza del popolo agli attuali storici eventi non sia una affermazione retorica, ma una palpitante realtà di fede è stato dimostrato ieri dalle adunate he, improvvisamente, senza preparazione di chiamata, hanno avuto luogo in tutti i 28 Gruppi rionali fascisti della città.
Il Federale è intervenuto ad una delle riunioni, a quella del Gruppo «D’Annunzio», dove la sua parola incitatrice, espressiva del sentimento del fascisti e di tutto il popolo milanese, ha trovato piena rispondenza nella folla, che ovunque ha riaffermato con il suo grido le fede nelle Forze Armate della Patria e la certezza della vittoria.
Firenze, 12 luglio –
Ieri sera nelle sedi di tutti i Gruppi rionali fascisti della citta, si sono svolte imponenti adunate alle quali ha partecipato compatta la massa delle Camicie Nere e del popolo fiorentino.
Durante le riunioni hanno parlato vari camerati che hanno suscitato vibranti manifestazioni di fervida fede fascista e di certezza nella vittoria. Al termine delle adunate, gli intervenuti hanno calorosamente inneggiato alle valorose Forze Armate, al Re Imperatore e al Duce.
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«Soltanto gli occhi per piangere» –
La pace che gli anglo-americani imporrebbero all’Italia se vincessero
I dodici punti fissati dalla propaganda nemica
Roma, 12 luglio –
Ogni giorno che passa, si aggiungono nuovi documenti, che svelano quali sarebbero le reali intenzioni degli anglo-nordamericani se riuscissero a vincere questa guerra, e ad eliminare l’Italia dal conflitto.
Le ammonitrici parole del Duce che, se l’Italia dovesse capitolare, i nemici ci lascherebbero soltanto gli occhi per piangere, trovano quotidianamente dimostrazione nelle enunciazioni più o meno autorizzate dei giornali e dei periodici anglo-statunitensi, i quali, particolarmente nelle attuali contingenze di euforiche illusioni, svelano senza più alcun ritegno le loro intime e vere intenzioni, i loro più segreti e reconditi sentimenti.
Vale la pena di mettere sotto gli occhi degli italiani un documento da tenere sempre presente, elencando i 12 punti delle condizioni, che l’imperialismo anglo-nordamericano pretenderebbe di imporre a un’Italia vinta.
Sono dodici punti già accennati saltuariamente da questo o quel portavoce ufficioso, ma che oggi la propaganda nemica crede di potere ormai raccogliere e presentare al popolo italiano, come un conto che deve essere saldato al più presto.
Le condizioni sarebbero:
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Consegna della flotta e dell’aviazione.
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Soppressione delle industrie siderurgica, metallurgica e meccanica.
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Riduzione dell’esercito a modesti effettive di polizia per il mantenimento dell’ordine interno con esclusione di armi collettive, cioè mitragliatrici, cannoni, carri armati.
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Cessione all’Inghilterra di Pantelleria, di Tobruk, La Maddalena e altre basi strategiche.
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Cessione alle Jugoslavia dell’Istria, compressa la base navale di Pola e Trieste con delimitazione dei confini all’Isonzo.
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Cessione alla Grecia di varie isole dello Jonio e dell’Egeo.
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Rinuncia dell’Italia al suo impero coloniale compresa la Libia.
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Radiazione dell’Italia dal novero delle grandi potenze.
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Occupazione militare del territorio italiano per un tempo indeterminato.
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Soppressione della cerealicoltura e limitazione dell’agricoltura alle sole culture erbacce.
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Soppressione di molte università.
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Abolizione dell’insegnamento classico per impedire che la gioventù possa ispirarsi alla grandezza storica di Roma e limitazione dell’insegnamento a scuole di tipo professionale.