Operation HUSKY (1943)

‚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

Screenshot 2022-07-12 020542

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:

  1. Consegna della flotta e dell’aviazione.

  2. Soppressione delle industrie siderurgica, metallurgica e meccanica.

  3. Riduzione dell’esercito a modesti effettive di polizia per il mantenimento dell’ordine interno con esclusione di armi collettive, cioè mitragliatrici, cannoni, carri armati.

  4. Cessione all’Inghilterra di Pantelleria, di Tobruk, La Maddalena e altre basi strategiche.

  5. Cessione alle Jugoslavia dell’Istria, compressa la base navale di Pola e Trieste con delimitazione dei confini all’Isonzo.

  6. Cessione alla Grecia di varie isole dello Jonio e dell’Egeo.

  7. Rinuncia dell’Italia al suo impero coloniale compresa la Libia.

  8. Radiazione dell’Italia dal novero delle grandi potenze.

  9. Occupazione militare del territorio italiano per un tempo indeterminato.

  10. Soppressione della cerealicoltura e limitazione dell’agricoltura alle sole culture erbacce.

  11. Soppressione di molte università.

  12. 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.

Allied HQ, North Africa (July 12, 1943)

Few details are available of the work of the Navy during the past 24 hours. The task of disembarking troops and their supplies on all beaches continued according to plan. On the whole, weather conditions have improved, though the enemy’s interference from the air has been on a slightly increased scale.

Defended areas near the coast town of Pozzallo, 12 miles westward of Capo delle Correnti, and the railway line between Syracuse and Ragusa, were bombarded last night by our destroyers.

The surrender of Pozzallo was accepted by the commanding officer of a destroyer during early afternoon Sunday.

Our ground forces have continued to make good progress. During the course of the day, seven enemy counterattacks, which were being made with tanks, have been repulsed, and at least 2,000 prisoners have been taken.

It can now be stated the following major ports and towns have been captured by our forces: Syracuse, Avola, Pachino, Pozzallo, Scoglitti, Gela, Licata, Ispica, Rosolini and Noto.

The advance continues.

Allied Force Command Post Communiqué:

Enemy troop columns were heavily attacked yesterday in a day of intense fighter-bomber activity. Many vehicles were destroyed.

Heavy bombers attacked focal points of communications at Catania and medium bombers carried out raids on airfields being used by the enemy. Fighters maintained patrols over our land forces in the invasion area.

45 Axis aircraft were destroyed. From all these operations, nine of our aircraft are missing.


Communiqué from Valletta, Malta:

Malta’s night and day fighters destroyed 27 aircraft over Sicily and southern Italy Saturday night and Sunday when they again gave air cover to Allied invasion shipping at the Sicilian beaches. The enemy made more frequent attempts to attack our shipping yesterday. They used small formations of various types, including Ju 88s and Do 217s, but Spitfires maintained a ceaseless watch during the day.

Negligible shipping losses were undoubtedly due to the Spitfires’ interception of the enemy before they could aim their bombs.

Malta’s Beaufighters and Mosquitoes during nighttime destroyed three enemy aircraft, with two more probables. The Mosquitoes stood guard over enemy airfields in Sicily and southern Italy. A Ju 88 in the Naples area was attacked and was last seen with one wing afire. A piece fell off and the Ju 88 was probably destroyed.

Beaufighters at nighttime destroyed three enemy aircraft and probably destroyed a fourth. One wing of a Ju 88 caught fire after an attack and there was a huge explosion. A CANT Z.1007 Italian heavy bomber burst into flames and hit the sea, burning fiercely. The last victims were two Ju 88s. one was left falling into the sea with its engine afire. The other probably destroyed was hit by a Beaufighter along the fuselage and one wing was seen going down to starboard.

At dawn, Spitfires took over from Malta and resumed the supremacy over the Sicilian coast. Other Spitfires escorted U.S. bombers on missions over Sicily.


U.S. 9th Air Force HQ, Cairo (July 12, 1943)

Airdromes at Reggio Calabria and Vibo Valentia on the Italian mainland were attacked during daylight Sunday by Liberator heavy bombers of the U.S. 9th Air Force.

At Reggio Calabria Airdrome on the Strait of Messina, a base for aerial defense of the important Sicilian ferry terminal, great damage was done by high explosive demolition bombs. Hangars on the south and east side of the field received many hits and were left burning. Other hits were scored on barracks and among motor transport. Dispersal areas were well covered with bursts and a large number of planes were seen burning.

At Vibo Valentia, the middle and west hangars were set afire and smoke arose from the entire hangar area. A large three-engined aircraft was seen burning in front of the middle hangar. Serious damage was done to the administration buildings.

Strong formations of enemy fighters attempted to intercept our bombers. Of these, two were destroyed and two others damaged. All our aircraft returned safely.

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Brooklyn Eagle (July 12, 1943)

10 Sicily ports fall; Allies gain 15 miles

4,000 seized as Axis fails in 7 attacks

Allies make headway

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After a series of fierce engagements with Axis troops in Sicily, Allied headquarters today announced the capture of ten strategic towns, including Syracuse, Noto and Gela along the southeast and southern coasts.

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
Allied invaders captured 10 major towns in southeastern Sicily, repulsed seven armored counterattacks, took 4,000 prisoners and rolled at least 15 miles inland today in a smashing offensive for conquest of the Italian island bastion.

Led by tanks and paratroopers and strongly supported by naval and air bombardment, the Americans under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. seized the big air base at Licata on the south coast and the British under Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery took the vital port of Syracuse, to consolidate a 100-mile coastal invasion strip.

Patton’s tough U.S. units broke up a heavy Italian counterattack headed by 45 Fascist tanks just north of Gela and then repulsed the heaviest of seven enemy counterattacks by turning back the Italian 4th Livorno Division in hard fighting.

The advance continues,” today’s communiqué from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower stated and dispatches from forward areas described the offensive as moving into high gear against stiff Axis opposition.

The population of Sicily was described as “showing great friendliness” toward the invasion forces and as being willing to cooperate, indicating that the conquest might be facilitated by the Sicilians.

The Allies are now astride the vital road running from Pozzallo, which surrendered to an Allied destroyer, to Syracuse, which British and Canadian troops stormed and took Saturday. They were opposed by the Italian 54th (Napoli) Division, based near Syracuse.

Allied casualties were still described as comparatively light.

Axis broadcasts and communiqués continue vague except to claim that there was bitter fighting on Sicily and that counterattacks had defeated the Allies at several points. The enemy claims hits on three cruisers and said that eight ships had been sunk.

Strong winds on the first night of the invasion caused difficulty for Allied paratroops, who were scattered more widely than intended. They got together, however, in sufficient force to reach the first planned objective. They were later driven off by the enemy but succeeded in making contact with invading ground troops and made a new stand.

The point of greatest penetration by the Allies appeared to be Rosolini, about 15 miles inland on the southeast coast, but dispatches reported a “deep penetration” at several points.

Air fleets of the United Nations, meeting slightly increased Axis air opposition, destroyed about 50 enemy aircraft to maintain aerial superiority above the invasion forces and strike with heavy bombloads at Axis front and rear bases in Sicily and lower Italy.

Allied naval forces continued to disembark reinforcements and supplies and destroyers bombarded the Sicilian coastal town of Pozzallo and the railroad line between Syracuse and Ragusa, on the east coast.

Vital towns seized

The towns captured included important ports and air bases in a 100-mile strip along the southeastern coast of Sicily from Syracuse around the corner of the island to Licata in the west.

The towns captured were:

  • Syracuse, one of the important ports and communications centers south of Catania;
  • Avola;
  • Noto, which is on the railroad a few miles inland and south of Syracuse;
  • Pachino, an air base on the southeastern tip;
  • Scoglitti;
  • Gela, an air base on the south coast;
  • Licata, an air base and coastal city;
  • Ispica;
  • Rosolini, 15 miles inland;
  • Pozzallo.

Yanks took Licata

U.S. forces captured Licata, one of the main enemy air bases on the central sector of the south coast, and ran up the Stars and Stripes over the harbor. The Navy immediately began pouring reinforcements and supplies into the port.

The surrender of Pozzallo was accepted by the commander of an Allied destroyer early Sunday afternoon.

The Allied advance generally continued, it was announced.

The communiqué from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said:

Few details are available on the work of the Navy during the past 24 hours. The task of disembarking troops and their supplies on all beaches continues according to plan.

Weather improved

On the whole, weather conditions have improved, though the enemy’s interference from the air has been on a slightly increased scale. Defended areas near the coast town of Pozzallo, 12 miles westward of Capo delle Correnti, and the railway line between Syracuse and Ragusa, were bombarded last night by our destroyers.

The communique, giving the most complete picture so far of the invasion, made it clear that the main communications lines in southeast Sicily were largely in Allied hands, opening the way for a pincer drive from the Licata-Gela sector and the Syracuse region, which would be preliminary to moving northward toward Messina.

Shore bases in ruins

U.S. pilots returning from machine-gunning and wrecking hundreds of troop-filled trucks on the island said that large sections of the Island coast were “crumbling, smoking ruins” as a result of steady aerial bombardment.

Damage to Messina is “terrific,” one pilot said, and the port can probably be used only by small boats at night.

The Allied air attack had chased the enemy from his advanced airdromes and it was believed that from now on, the main Axis aerial operations would be from southern Italy, where Allied bombers heavily attacked the main Fascist air bases.

There was still no word of the Italian fleet going into action.

The BBC broadcast unconfirmed reports that part of the Italian fleet had put out from the Spezia Naval Base.

The Stockholm Social-Demokraten quoted a “German radio station in Sicily” as saying that the east coast port of Syracuse, only 33 miles below Catania, was threatened seriously by Allied troops who occupied several points to the south. Heavy fighting raged throughout the day near the south coast port of Licata with Allied efforts to penetrate to the interior being frustrated, it was said. An Allied landing attempt near Marsala in western Sicily was repulsed, the dispatch added. Several morning newspapers in Stockholm quoted Radio Bern as saying that an Italian naval force had left Spezia.

Field reports indicated that U.S., British and Canadian troops were gradually meeting increased resistance, but nowhere heavy enough to stem their advance. The bulk of the estimated 400,000 Italo-German defending troops were believed still concentrated in the center of the island.

Allied reinforcements, both of men and armor, poured onto beaches along a 100-mile strip of the southern and eastern shores of Sicily in a constant stream from landing barges comprising part of the giant armada of over 2,000 vessels, more than twice the 850-ship fleet that landed Anglo-American troops in Algeria and Morocco last November.

Beachhead widened

The London Daily Mail said that the Allied front in Sicily had been widened to 150 miles by the establishment of an important bridgehead by Canadians near Porto Empedocle, 27 miles northwest of Licata.

The Daily Telegraph reported from Zürich that Carlo Scorza, General Secretary of the Fascist Party, called an urgent meeting of the party directorate Sunday night while Premier Mussolini called on King Victor Emmanuel to address the nation, presumably in an effort to rally the Italian people behind the defense of their homeland. The dispatch also said that a great number of persons had been arrested in a drive to stamp out gossip in Naples.

A Stockholm dispatch to the Daily Telegraph quoted a traveler just arrived from Berlin as saying that German troop trains were streaming southward through the Brenner Pass. The remnants of “a Hermann Göring division,” he said, were flown to Sicily from Reggio Calabria.

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WAR BULLETINS

Jap cargo ship sunk; 3 blasted off Attu

Washington (UP) –
U.S. bombers have attacked four Japanese cargo ships 280 miles southwest of Attu and have sunk one of them, left a second in sinking condition and damaged the remaining two, the Navy announced today.

400 wounded saved as Axis sinks hospital ship

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
Axis forces sank a fully loaded Allied hospital ship Saturday night during the Sicilian operations, it was disclosed today. Four hundred wounded troops were transferred from the ship without loss of life.

Italian horse cavalry charges Allies

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
Old-fashioned Italian horse cavalry was reported to have charged Allied troops invading Sicily. Dispatches from the island said that at one point the horsemen charged the heavily-armored Allied troops, “but were quickly repulsed.”

Boro flier sees battle line move inland

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
Spotter Sanford Arkin of Brooklyn, New York, of the Air Force, reported that the line of fires burning along the battlefront was moving inland steadily. On his flight over Sicily, he saw fresh Allied convoys pouring in masses of men and guns while the Air Forces were lashing the enemy in increased tempo.

Canadian House hears of Allied gains

Ottawa, Canada (UP) –
Prime Minister King told the House of Commons today that:

The first phase of the operations in Sicily has proceeded according to plan and the Allies are now striking into the interior of the island.

He said:

Sicily is only a small bridgehead. There must be many other bridgeheads established before the final struggle even begins.

Rommel gives alert order in South France

Madrid, Spain (UP) –
German Marshal Erwin Rommel, commanding anti-invasion defenses in southern France, has ordered his forces to “stand to” on the alert against Allied landings, reports reaching here from Vichy said today.

Rommel was also said to have informed the Italian High Command that he has sufficient troops to take over the protection of the Italian zone of the French Riviera and Corsica, but Rome failed to accept the offer.

Bulgaria rushes reserve troops to Aegean Sea

Ankara, Turkey (UP) – (July 11, delayed)
Bulgaria rushed all reserve officers and men from Sofia to the fortified line along the Aegean Sea today as reports of Allied successes in Sicily reached the Bulgarian capital, according to advices received today from Istanbul.

The military activity plus false reports of Allied landings at Salonika, Greece, caused a panic in Sofia. Word received here indicated the Axis might have had advance knowledge of the Allied Invasion because Bulgarian-Turkish telephone communications were cut off in Bulgaria on July 8.

Nazis claim they hurl Yanks into sea

London, England (UP) –
The official German DNB Agency, in a dispatch broadcast by the Berlin radio, said today that German troops in southern Sicily had thrown a U.S. “formation” back into the sea.

To the west of the German operation, the dispatch said, Italian troops engaged U.S. formations pushing into the interior of the island and threw them back to the coast.

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Paratroops pour out of sky before Axis can fire guns

Cast dismay into foes as fight opens

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
U.S. and British glider and parachute troops armed with long knives and Tommy guns poured out of a black sky upon surprised Axis defenders of Sicily to open the battle of Europe, it was revealed today.

So quickly did the tough troopers descend that the Italians and Germans didn’t raise their anti-aircraft guns before the first units were on the ground destroying defense installations.

It was a turn of justice for the Allies – throwing back at the Axis a weapon of its own choosing. These boys writing the epochal story of airborne action knew where they were going and liked it. They cheered when they were told their destination.

Soldier ‘rarin’ to go’

As he climbed into a lead plane, Pvt. David McKeown of Philadelphia, grinned and wisecracked:

I’m rarin’ to go – I’m all on edge and my nickname is Dandy Dan.

At 10:10 Friday night, the first glider troops came down on the island. An hour and ten minutes later, the parachutists followed, cropping down as clouds and haze obscured a half-moon.

Searchlights stabbed the air picking out planes. But the first units were down before the ack-ack fire began on the planes that were dumping their loads of black-faced troopers.

Lt. Col. John Cerny of Harrison, Idaho, a soldier who came up through the ranks to lead the American side of the show, said an entire battalion was set down in one area alone.

“The air discipline displayed by the combat teams was beyond my expectations,” was the way he described the successful action by the advance cloud of invaders who began fighting three to four hours before their buddies landed from surface craft.

Yanks on west side

The target area for the airborne troops was the southeastern tip of Sicily. The Americans took the western side; the British the eastern end. They were veterans of the North African landing, hardened by long training and looking like young halfbacks or running guards on an American football team.

Ivan H. Peterman, correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer who rode with the American crew of a plane towing a British glider, described how the searchlights suddenly darkened and the ack-ack positions quit firing as more and more troops went down for their work. He said the Italians fired furiously, with little aim, after they once got going.

Medical men and dentists, equipped with explosives to blast out underground operating rooms, went down with the paratroops, John Thompson of the Chicago Tribune, who accompanied one flight, said.

Flags sewn to sleeves

The Americans had their last meal at 3:30 in the afternoon before going in. American flags to identify them were sewn to their sleeves.

Cpl. Nikolaus Kastrantas of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said:

I feel better than I have for a long time because my folks aren’t far away and this is taking me closer to home.

Pvt. Robert Lowry of Indianapolis said:

I feel damned good but I’ve felt better.

After words like those, they crammed shoulder to shoulder in the big transports. Sitting there waiting to go into action, one group was told by its commanding officers it would be among the first to land. Those boys are probably still fighting. They are Pvts. Patrick H. Dohm of Brooklyn, New York; Ed Walsh of Logansport, Indiana; Tony Ferrari of Somerville, Massachusetts; Walter P. Leginski of Chicago and Cpl. Bernard Driscoll of Gary, Indiana.

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Syracuse, ancient war prize, falls to Allied arms

Allied HQ, North Africa (UP) –
Ancient Syracuse, a rich prize of wars dating back through 25 centuries, has fallen again, this time to Allied forces challenging the Axis domination of Europe.

Syracuse proper is an island one mile long and half as wide, connected with the east coast of Sicily by a mole. The island is but a fragment of the site of ancient Syracuse, proud metropolis of the western Hellenic world, which at the height of its prosperity before the birth of Christ had a population of hundreds of thousands.

Founded by the Corinthians in the latter part of the 8th century BC, Syracuse reached the zenith of its greatness at the beginning of the 4th century under Dionysius the Elder. The Athenians undertook a disastrous expedition against it in 415-413 BC.

The Romans made themselves master of the city in 212 BC. Archimedes, the soldier philosopher, was killed by the Romans during a long siege. Thereafter, it began to decline. The modern city had a pre-war population of about 25,000.

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‘Old Blood and Guts’ leads invading Yanks

Patton at the front – Montgomery heads British into Syracuse
By the United Press

A brief dispatch from Allied headquarters in North Africa solved the mystery today of what happened to “Old Blood and Guts” – Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. He is in command of U.S. forces invading Sicily.

The rip-roaring general, who often goes into battle with a pair of pearl-handled six-shooters swinging from his hips, disappeared from the fighting in Tunisia on April 16 when Maj. Gen. Omar Bradley took command of U.S. forces. It is clear now that Patton was withdrawn to start training troops for the assault on Sicily.

At the same time, it was disclosed that British Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery led his forces in the capture of Syracuse.

Military men regard Patton as among the most aggressive of Allied commanders. He is an expert in armored warfare and his general instructions to subordinates are:

Go forward! Always go forward. Go forward until the last shot is fired and the last drop of gasoline is gone and then go forward on foot.

His customary battle costume is a steel helmet bearing on the front the three stars of a lieutenant general, a brown leather jacket, a pair of ordinary General Issue pants and tank boots. The buck private is his favorite soldier.

He says:

The private out there getting shot at does the most work in this war and gets damned little credit for it. A man can be ferocious as hell back home on three hot meals a day, but it takes guts to live in a foxhole in the rain eating cold canned rations.

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Shoe pinches on other foot, Italians learn

Washington (UP) –
The Italians today are calling the Allied bombing of Italy “barbaric and inhuman,” but a couple of years ago, when the Germans were doing the bombing, they were writing in their papers:

Hurrah for brutality; England must be destroyed.

The Office of War Information cited one statement in particular, uttered by Mussolini’s son, Vittorio, describing a bombardment of Ethiopia:

One group of horsemen gave me the impression of a budding rose unfolding as the bomb fell in their midst and blew them up. It was exceptionally good fun.

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I am pretty sure this is propaganda. But… since Italy’s most competent General surrendered to the Allies, well… this may be true.

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Editorial: Invasion of Sicily launches critical campaigns of war

The biggest thrill that Americans have had since we entered the war is the news of the invasion of Sicily and especially the fact that the landings were carried out successfully, that airfields have been captured and the Allied troops continue to press forward to all their immediate objectives.

Although Sicily is an island, it is an important part of metropolitan Italy so the attack upon it is really the beginning of the long-discussed invasion of Hitler’s so-called fortress of Europe.

It is being described as the greatest seaborne maneuver of all time. Over 2,000 ships of all sorts are said to have participated – everything from tiny landing barges to huge battleships. Only a few vessels are said to have been lost and none of these was large or important.

Too much, however, should not be taken for granted. The difficulties in the path of our men and their Allies are tremendous. An army of over 300,000 men is said to be battling to check our progress. Some estimates say a half-million Allied troops are involved. The part played by paratroops was spectacularly successful. The way in which Axis shore positions were pulverized by the combination of airplane bombing and shelling by warships is most heartening and tends to indicate that there has been considerable exaggeration about the in vulnerability of Axis defenses along the shores of Europe. The northern coast of the continent, however, is said to be more heavily guarded.

Incidentally, it is interesting to note that the move on Sicily began on the 581st day of American participation in the war. The armistice was signed in the last war on the 584th day of our participation in that struggle. This is obviously going to be a far longer and harder war than that of a quarter of a century ago.

For Sicily is just the beginning of the series of great campaigns which must be pressed through to victory before our armies can march into Berlin. The period we are now entering will be that of the greatest losses, the period when the largest supplies of gasoline and food and munitions will be required to keep our soldiers going.

We suspect that the critics of the planning of our military leaders will not be satisfied with this move and will deny that it is a real second front. But it should be clear that this was the necessary next step and we have no doubt it will be followed up in due course by invasion on other vital sectors.

Meanwhile, those who planned the expedition and those who carried out the plans – from Gen. Eisenhower down to the lowliest private – deserve the warmest praise. For the operations have been marked by efficiency, speed and courage.

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Stampa Sera (July 12, 1943)

Lotta aspra e senza posa in Sicilia –
LE NOSTRE TRUPPE AL CONTRATTACCO
Unita avversarie battute in più punti e costrette in un settore a ripiegare – Decine di navi colpite o incendiate Sette piroscafi affondati – Tre altri incrociatori silurati

Un incrociatore nemico da 10 mila tonnellate esplode per il siluro di un nostro sommergibile

Il Quartiere Generale delle Forze Armate comunica:

In Sicilia la lotta è continuata aspra e senza posa nella giornata di ieri, durante la quale il nemico ha tentato invano di aumentare la modesta profondità delle zone litoranee occupate.

Le truppe italiane e germaniche, passate decisamente al contrattacco, hanno battuto in più punti le unita avversarie, obbligandole in un settore a ripiegare.

Lo spirito combattivo dei reparti italiani e tedeschi e elevatissimo: il contegno della popolazione dell’isola e quello dei fieri soldati siciliani che appartengono in gran numero alle nostre unità, superiore a ogni elogio. Per la magnifica difesa delle posizioni ad essa affidate, merita l’onore di speciale citazione la 206ª Divisione Costiera, comandata dal generale Achille D’Havet.

Aerei italiani siluravano tre incrociatori, un’unità minore e tre piroscafi, dei quali due da ottomila tonnellate colavano a picco.

Concentramenti di naviglio nemico venivano attaccati da formazioni da combattimento nostre e tedesche: risultano affondati 5 piroscafi e alcuni mezzi da sbarco, colpiti o incendiati oltre 40 tra mercantili e trasporti di vario tonnellaggio.

Cacciatori dell’Asse abbattevano 30 apparecchi, 8 altri precipitavano sotto il tiro delle artiglierie.

Dalle operazioni degli ultimi due giorni 13 nostri velivoli e 10 tedeschi non sono ritornati alle basi.

Lungo le coste orientali della Sicilia un nostro sommergibile silurava un incrociatore da 10 mila tonnellate che, colpito, esplodeva.

Völkischer Beobachter (July 13, 1943)

Hohe Beutezahlen aus der Schlacht im Osten –
Bisher 28.000 Gefangene, 1640 Panzer, 1400 Geschütze

Deutsch-italienische Gegenangriffe auf Sizilien im Gange

vb. Wien, 12. Juli –
Die erste Woche der Schlacht im Raume von Kursk ist vollständig zugunsten der deutschen Wehrmacht verlaufen. Obwohl der Feind in ununterbrochenem Masseneinsatz alles in die Schlacht geworfen hat, was er für seine eigene Offensive versammelt hatte, behielt die Führung das Gesetz des Handelns eisern in der Hand. 1640 Panzer, 1400 Geschütze und über 1200 Flugzeuge vernichtet oder erbeutet – diese Zahlen zeigen deutlicher als Worte es vermöchten, in welch weitem Ausmaße schon jetzt der Zweck der deutschen Initiative, die Zerschlagung der bolschewistischen Angriffsarmeen, erreicht worden ist.

Der Erfolg wurde errungen in einem Gelände, das schon von Natur aus große Schwierigkeiten bietet, vor allem für den Panzereinsatz. Der Gegner, der den Raum um Kursk als Sprungbrett für seine Sommeroffensive gegen die Mitte der europäischen Ostfront auf das stärkste ausgebaut hatte, konnte sich dabei an die vielen starken Geländewellen anlehnen, die besonders für die Gegend von Orel charakteristisch sind, und fand in den tief eingeschnittenen, durch das Schmelzwasser ausgefressenen Schluchten natürliche Panzergräben in großer Zahl vor. Er hatte hier, wie früher schon berichtet, auch seine neuesten und schwersten Waffen massiert und sie seinen sogenannten Gardedivisionen, das heißt den besten ihm zur Verfügung stehenden Truppenverbänden anvertraut. Diese Umstände illustrieren das Maß des Erfolges in der ersten Woche der deutschen „offensiven Defensive.“

Der Fuchs und die Trauben

Es ist bemerkenswert, daß die feindliche Berichterstattung emsig bemüht ist, die beiden Schlachten im Osten und im Süden als zwei Ereignisse hinzustellen, die nichts miteinander zu tun hätten. Dabei besteht nicht der geringste Zweifel daran, daß die Landung in Sizilien und der Angriff der sowjetischen Stoßarmeen gleichzeitig erfolgen und sich gegenseitig durch Bindung der europäischen Streitkräfte unterstützen sollten. Wenn die englische Nachrichtenpolitik nun heute deutlich zu verstehen gibt, daß „die Sizilieninvasion kaum Rückwirkungen auf die Lage an der Ostfront haben werde und zu diesem Zeitpunkt auch keine Entlastung für die Sowjets bringen könne,“ so haben wir hier nichts anderes vor uns als die alte Geschichte vom Fuchs und den sauren Trauben!

Wie peinlich dem Feind der unerwartete Gang der Dinge in der Ostschlacht ist, verrät er selbst durch Betrachtungen, die mit der obigen Londoner Lesart in schärfstem, Gegensatz stehen. So erklärt zum Beispiel der Moskauer Reuter-Korrespondent, in Moskau stelle jedermann die Frage, ob die anglo-amerikanische Landung im Süden wirklich zu einer alliierten Intervention großen Stiles auf dem europäischen Kontinent führen und Deutschland zwingen werde, starke Kräfte von der Ostfront abzuziehen. Schwedische Berichterstatter melden aus London, daß man dort „nicht mit einem Blitzsieg rechne und daß die Nachrichten von der Ostfront vom Standpunkt Englands und Amerikas aus durchaus nicht günstig“ lauteten. Beachtenswert ist in diesem Zusammenhang auch eine noch vor Beginn der Schlacht von Kursk erschienene Betrachtung des Economist, die sich auf Grund des bisherigen deutschen Stillhaltens noch der Illusion hingab, daß:

…das deutsche Oberkommando davon abgeschreckt worden ist, größere Operationen zu beginnen.

Das sei für die Sowjetunion sehr günstig, da der Zermürbungs- und Abnutzungskrieg ernste Folgen für deren Wirtschaftsleben gehabt habe.

Die bisherigen Sowjetverluste

Die bisherigen materiellen Verluste der Sowjets wurden von offizieller Seite auf 35.000 Geschütze, 30.000 Panzer und 23.000 Flugzeuge angegeben, und obwohl diese Lücken teilweise durch Pacht- und Leihlieferungen ausgefüllt werden könnten, sei die sowjetische Produktion durch Mangel an Arbeitern, Rohstoffen und Fabrikanlagen doch behindert – Angesichts solcher englischen Betrachtungen, die wir einem Bericht unseres Stockholmer Vertreters entnahmen, kann man sich ungefähr ausmalen, wie der neue blutige Aderlaß für die Sowjets im Lager ihrer plutokratischen Bundesgenossen beurteilt wird!

Feind verlor 10.000-t-Kreuzer –
Neuerlich 42.000 BRT. durch U-Boote versenkt

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 12. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

In der Schlacht zwischen Bjelgorod und Orel gelang es unseren Truppen, eine größere feindliche Kräftegruppe einzuschließen und zu vernichten. Dabei wurden mehrere tausend Gefangene eingebracht, 129 Panzer abgeschossen, zahlreiche Geschütze und sonstige Waffen erbeutet.

Insgesamt wurden gestern 220 Panzer und 70 Flugzeuge vernichtet. Entlastungsangriffe, die die Sowjets östlich und nördlich Orel unternahmen, wurden abgewiesen.

Seit dem 5. Juli verlor der Feind 28.000 Gefangene, 1640 Panzer und 1400 Geschütze.

Auf Sizilien versuchten die britisch­-nordamerikanischen Landungstruppen vergeblich, den besetzten Küstenstreifen zu verbreitern. Deutsche und italienische Truppen traten gestern an bestimmten Stellen planmäßig zum Gegenangriff an und warfen den Feind in der ersten Gefechtsberührung zurück. Deutsche und Italienische Luftstreitkräfte griffen die feindlichen Schiffsansammlungen an, versenkten mehrere größere Transporter und Landungsboote. Außerdem wurden drei Kreuzer und 42 Transportschiffe beschädigt und von einem italienischen Unterseeboot ein Kreuzer von 10.000 Tonnen versenkt. Der Feind verlor gestern über Sizilien und im Seegebiet über der Insel 38 Flugzeuge. Zehn deutsche Flugzeuge werden vermißt.

Bei bewaffneter Aufklärung über dem Atlantik warfen deutsche Flugzeuge zwei feindliche Schiffe, darunter ein Fahrgastschiff von über 20.000 BRT. Größe, in Brand.

Deutsche Unterseeboote versenkten in zähem Kampf aus stark gesicherten feindlichen Geleitzügen sechs Schiffe mit 42.000 BRT.

Erfolge der italienischen Luftwaffe –
Torpedoflugzeuge immer wieder am Feind

Screenshot 2022-07-13 063059
(Aufn.: Weltbild-Gliese)

tc. Rom, 12. Juli –
Der erste Einsatz der italienischen Luftwaffe bei den Kämpfen um Sizilien erfolgte in der Nacht zum 10. Juli, wie von zuständiger italienischer Seite mitgeteilt wird.

In aufeinanderfolgenden Wellen griffen schwere Kampfflugzeuge zwischen Malta und der Küste Siziliens befindliche feindliche Schiffe an. Zahlreiche Schiffe erhielten dabei Treffer und wurden schwer beschädigt. Weitere italienische Kampfflugzeuge griffen den Hafen von La Valetta auf Malta an, wo Explosionen an Bord von Frachtdampfern und Landungsfahrzeugen hervorgerufen wurden, die im Begriff standen, aus dem Hafen auszulaufen. Trotz sehr starken Abwehrfeuers griffen italienische Luftwaffenverbände im Laufe des 10. Juli im Tiefflug Schiffe, Angriffsfahrzeuge und zahlreiche Boote vor der Küste Siziliens mit Bomben und Bordwaffen an, wobei den feindlichen Streitkräften empfindliche Verluste beigebracht wurden.

Die Landungsflottillen, die sich auf die Küste zu bewegten, wurden außerdem immer von neuem von italienischen Jagdflugzeugverbänden erfolgreich angegriffen. Auf einem großen Dampfer wurden durch zwei Bomben Volltreffer erzielt und auch zwei kleinere Dampfer wurden getroffen. Im Verlauf von Luftkämpfen zwischen italienischen und britisch-nordamerikanischen Jägern wurden zwei Mitchell-Flugzeuge und mehrere „Spitfires“ abgeschossen und zehn weitere Flugzeuge schwer beschädigt.

Die Angriffe der italienischen Luftwaffe in den Gewässern Siziliens wurden auch in der Nacht zum 11. Juli mit guter Wirkung fortgesetzt. Vor allem konnten zu verschiedenen Malen auf den feindlichen Kriegsschiffen, Frachtdampfern und Landungsfahrzeugen Treffer erzielt werden. Besonders erfolgreich waren die auch im deutschen und italienischen Wehrmachtbericht erwähnten Einsätze italienischer Torpedoflugzeuge, die trotz schwerer Kämpfe mit den britisch-nordamerikanischen Nachtjägern zwei Kreuzer und einige große Dampfer schwer beschädigen konnten. Weiterhin richteten sich die Angriffe der italienischen Luftwaffe gegen die feindliche Schiffahrt in den Küstengewässern von Französisch-Nordafrika, um den Nachschub der Achsengegner zu stören. Am Sonntagabend gelang es einem italienischen Torpedoflugzeug fünf Seemeilen östlich von Kap Blanco, einen 8000-BRT.-Dampfer, der im Geleit von zehn Schiffen fuhr, durch Torpedotreffer zum Sinken zu bringen. Ein weiterer von zwei Zerstörern geleiteter 5000-BRT.-Dampfer wurde von einem zweiten Torpedoflugzeug östlich von Kap Rose versenkt.

Die Gegenangriffe im Süden

dnb. Berlin, 12. Juli –
Inzwischen sind nun, wie der heutige OKW.-Bericht meldet, die britisch-nordamerikanischen Landungstruppen in erste Gefechtsberührung mit den italienisch-deutschen Verbündeten gekommen, die am Sonntag an bestimmten Stellen planmäßig zum Gegenangriff angesetzt worden sind. Bisher hatten die Eindringlinge lediglich örtliche Küstenwachen gegenüber. Die Engländer, Nordamerikaner und Kanadier sehen sich nun vor der Aufgabe, aus der Küstenebene herauf gegen das Bergland anzutreten – eine erheblich schwerere Aufgabe als die Landung selbst, die niemand an einer so riesig langen Küste wie der Italiens und seiner Inseln genau voraussehen und sofort abwehren könnte. Die Angriffe der deutschen und italienischen Luftstreitkräfte und der Unterseeboote haben bereits schweren Zoll von der feindlichen Transportflotte und deren Kriegsschiffsschutz gefordert, wie überhaupt der Feind nun zum erstenmal mit dem Rücken gegen das Meer kämpfen muß, eine Erfahrung, die bisher im Mittelmeerraum nur den deutschen und italienischen Streitkräften Vorbehalten geblieben ist.

London und Sizilien –
Zweckoptimismus in sanftem Ton

Von unserer Stockholmer Schriftleitung

dr. th. b. Stockholm, 12. Juli –

Die Operationen auf Sizilien verlaufen nach den sparsamen offiziellen Mitteilungen zufriedenstellend. London weist jedoch jeden vorzeitigen Optimismus hinsichtlich ihres Ausganges zurück. Unterrichtete Kreise betonen, daß das Ergebnis der entschlossenen Gegenangriffe, die der Verteidiger mit Sicherheit durchführen wird, sobald er seine beweglichen Reserven gesammelt hat, jetzt das gefährlichste Fragezeichen des Invasionsversuches ist.

Mit diesen Worten glaubt der Londoner Berichterstatter von Dagens Nyheter die Auffassung maßgebender britischer Kreise zu der Landung auf Sizilien wiedergeben zu können. Es kann natürlich sein, daß man in London Zweckpessimismus betreibt, da sich der Ausgang der Kämpfe hoch gar nicht übersehen läßt und man keine übertriebenen Hoffnungen erwecken möchte. Denn im Gegensatz zu den Verteidigern, so heißt es in den Londoner Berichten weiter, verfügten die britischen, amerikanischen und kanadischen Truppen über keine gesicherten Verbindungen. Geglückt sei bisher nur die erste Stufe des Unternehmens. Die zweite Stufe, das Halten der Brückenköpfe, und die dritte Stufe, die Eroberung der gesamten Insel, ständen noch bevor und enthielten viele Gefahren.

Die Londoner Sonntagszeitungen sind deshalb bemüht, einen verhältnismäßig sachlichen Ton anzuschlagen. Sie stellen fest, daß ein neuer Kriegsabschnitt eingeleitet sei, betonen aber auch:

…daß der jetzt eingeleitete Versuch unabhängig von dem Ergebnis der ersten Runde alle Aussichten hat, der blutigste zu werden, den England in diesem Krieg unternommen hat.

La Stampa (July 13, 1943)

L’imponente sforzo anglo-americano e l’inizio della nostra decisa reazione

La preparazione dell’impresa a Gibilterra in Tunisia a Malta non era sfuggita alla nostra osservazione – La vastità dei mezzi impiegati – Le condizioni tattiche per la controffensiva

Nel nostro articolo del 27 giugno avevamo prospettato come l’attacco nemico – che per tanti segni si palesava ormai imminente – sarebbe stato sferrato contro la Sicilia. Facile profezia perché le nostre argomentazioni, pur svolte allora solo in base ad clementi logici e strategici, erano in realtà suffragate da validi dati di fatto.

L’attuale ciclo operativo ha origini assai lontane. Come concezione e impostazione di piani di guerra, si deve risalire almeno all’estate 1942 quando il nemico – sotto l’imperativo di continui rovesci militari e ben conscio che in Mediterraneo era e sarà sempre la chiave del conflitto – decise di puntare tutto il peso delle sue possibilità belliche sulla carta mediterranea, pur con l’inevitabile conseguenza di dover battere il passo e di sacrificare ogni apprezzabile iniziativa su tutti gli altri scacchieri di guerra.

La posta in giuoco

Concentrando in Mediterraneo non soltanto la massima parte, ma anche il fior fiore delle sue forze aeree, navali e terrestri, il nemico è riuscito, in tempi successivi, a realizzare quella prevalenza potenziale nei vari settori, necessaria per la graduale conquista del Mediterraneo, premessa indispensabile affinché le sorti della guerra potessero prendere una piega a lui favorevole. Ma come già accennammo in altra occasione, chiave di volta al dominio del Mediterraneo è il canale di Sicilia, per cui gli anglo-americani dovevano inevitabilmente affrontare, per realizzare i loro piani, il problema della conquista integrale di questo passaggio tentando la occupazione della Sicilia.

I preparativi nemici per tali operazioni sono pure stati di lunga durata, vista la complessità dell’operazione, la imponenza dei mezzi da impegnare e la quasi cronometrica successione e compenetrazione con cui in simili azioni devono agire i singoli elementi delle tre forze armate, pena le più gravi conseguenze in campo tattico; senza contare che il tentativo doveva rappresentare, nelle intenzioni avversarie, la prima stabile presa di terra nel continente europeo dopo il disastro di Dunkerque e il principio dell’apertura di quel «secondo fronte» sul quale sono corsi fiumi di inchiostro e di speranze.

Ma la mole stessa dei mezzi e delle forze da impegnare non poteva passare inosservata e infatti, prima ancora che finisse la campagna tunisina, la ricognizione aerea forni elementi sufficienti a dare la certezza che il nemico si stava preparando ad una futura grande operazione anfibia.

Successivamente si ebbero ripetute conferme della preparazione nemica che, sfruttando la favorevole situazione strategica, poteva essere agevolmente completata e disposta fuori del limite pratico delle nostre possibilità offensive nei lontani settori e porti dell’Algeria occidentale e del Marocco.

Il concentramento di forze

Negli ultimi mesi lo schieramento nemico si fece sempre più consistente finché nello scorso giugno raggiunse un livello tale de dare già da solo la certezza che l’operazione fosse ormai imminente. Non è ancora il caso né il momento di fare una valutazione delle forze che il nemico ha destinato all’azione, ma si può averne un’idea complessiva considerando che soltanto in fatto di forze navali sono concentrate in Mediterraneo e impiegate contro la Sicilia, sei corazzate (quattro delle quali da 35 mila tonnellate), quattro portaerei di squadra di recente costruzione, una trentina di incrociatori, qualche centinato di unità minori dei vari tipi e un imponente numero di mezzi da sbarco di ogni categoria; il tutto appoggiato da alcune migliaia di aerei.

Naturalmente quasi tutte le forze nemiche sono rimaste dislocate fino agli ultimi giorni nei settori più lontani della zona di impiego, principalmente all’estremo occidentale del Mediterraneo, anche per lasciarci, fin quando possibile, in dubbio se l’attacco sarebbe stato sferrato contro la Sardegna o contro la Sicilia. Ma i movimenti preliminari di una massa di mezzi tanto cospicua, non si possono compiere in ventiquattro ore, cosicché già a meta giugno, con lo spostamento delle forze nelle sedi operative, il nemico fu costretto a svelare – attraverso le nostre ricognizioni aeree – quale fosse il suo reale obbiettivo.

La gran massa delle forze infatti si trovava ormai dislocate nel settore tunisino orientale e a Malta, cioè in funzione di minaccia esclusiva contro la Sicilia. Negli ultimi giorni di giugno lo schieramento e i preparativi del nemico furono compiuti nei finali dettagli, per cui l’attacco si annuncio imminente. E’ nostra personale sensazione anzi, che l’attacco dovesse essere sferrato proprio a fine giugno, ma che qualcosa di imprecisabile non abbia funzionato bene negli ingranaggi anglo-americani cosi da costringere il nemico a ritardare l’azione di alcuni giorni.

Circostanze inevitabili

Poteva lo sbarco essere impedito? Solo circostanze particolarmente fortunate – che non si sono verificate – avrebbero forze potuto consentirlo. Occorre richiamarsi alla precisa definizione data dal Duce di «sbarco-penetrazione-invasione». Lo sbarco rappresenta sempre un’iniziativa del nemico, per cui pur atteso, pur essendo consentito prevedere in quali «zone» sarebbe probabilmente stato tentato, non era possibile, almeno nel caso della Sicilia, prevedere in quale «punto» il nemico avrebbe attaccato. Ne consegue che su un territorio cosi vasto come la Sicilia, con tante ampie zone costiere in cui lo sbarco avrebbe potuto verificarsi, con cosi particolare configurazione del terreno, in funzione della manovrabilità di masse di armati, era materialmente impossibile né rispondente ai canoni dell’arte militare concentrare in ogni «punto» tante forze da stroncare qualsiasi tentativo nemico. Il grosso delle forze difensive doveva necessariamente tenera in posizione più arretrate, pronto ad accorrere dopo che la manovra nemica si fosse delineata, per impegnarsi a fondo solo quando il piani nemico rivelatosi in pieno, desse un sufficiente margine di sicurezza di non aver più sorprese in altri settori. E’ ben compressibile dunque che il nemico sbarcando invece all’improvviso in qualche «punto» non precisabile, fino al momento stesso dell’azione in quel «punti» dovesse avere una tale prevalenza di forze rispetto al cordone di protezione costiera da rendere to sbarco inevitabile anche se strenuamente contrastato.

La seconda fase

Nemmeno sarebbe stato possibile intercettare i convogli nemici sui mare prima che giungessero alla metà, perché – come pure già accennammo – la situazione strategica navale era (ed è ancora) decisamente a favore del nemico: i convogli di sbarco infatti, come era prevedibile hanno attaccato la Sicilia partendo praticamente da Malta, perciò compiendo solo poche ore di navigazione notturna per traversare il breve tratto di mare fino alla costa siciliana, tempo assolutamente insufficiente a consentire l’intervento di nostre forze navali dalle basi in cui esse si trovano necessariamente dislocate. Era inevitabile quindi dover attendere il nemico a piè fermo sul nostro stesso suolo.

Tutto ciò è quanto in sostanza è accaduto nella giornata del 10 in cui il nemico, partito da Malta nella notte, all’alba è riuscito a prendere terra, sia pure a fronte di una violenta reazione (sono parole del bollettino anglosassone) in vari punti della fascia costiera. Ma già poche ore dopo il suo disegno era chiaramente individuato nel tentativo di «penetrare» (eccoci nella seconda fase) nelle zone racchiudenti i porti della costa orientale. Cosi già nel pomeriggio del 10 tutta la massa delle nostre forze difensive era in moto per arrestare il tentativo e già nella notte sull’11 pienamente impegnata.

Gli aventi debbono dunque essere guardati con serena fermezza e fiduciosa aspettazione perché se il nemico – come era stato previsto – ha potuto sbarcare, caso è già stato arrestato all’inizia stesso del tentativo di penetrazione. La lotta è certamente aspra, data l’imponenza delle forze impiegate dal nemico e l’importanza della posta in giuoco. Ma oggi si difende il suolo stesso della Patria e il nemico farà la dura esperienza di ciò che questo significhi per tutti gli italiani.

Marc’ Antonio Bragadin

Allied HQ, North Africa (July 13, 1943)

Communiqué

During the past 24 hours, great activity has continued odd and on all the beaches as reinforcements, vehicles and supplies were being landed by the Navy and sent forward. The surf has made this work difficult in some of the more exposed positions.

The port of Syracuse is now in our hands, with its port and harbor facilities apparently undamaged. There has been some bombing of shipping by aircraft.

Augusta was bombarded early in the afternoon of July 12 by a strong force of cruisers and a monitor. Minesweepers have swept the bridgehead to this port.

The naval operations, in which more than 3,000 shipping vessels and crafts of all types., warships and merchantmen, are taking part are proceeding satisfactorily.

Good progress has again been made today, and the bridgehead has now been increased in some places to 20 miles. In the eastern sector pour troops encountered some resistance in their advance along the coast. Inland, very good progress has been made.

Palazzolo has been occupied and our patrols have reached the outskirts of Ragusa.

In the western sector, the advance continues and an early counterattack has been successfully beaten off and a large number of prisoners were taken and some tanks destroyed.

Air Communiqué

Fighter-bombers throughout yesterday continued their heavy attacks on enemy troop columns and lines of communications and destroyed or damaged large numbers of enemy motor transports.

During the night of July 11-12, our bombers attacked Sicilian ports and the Montecorvino airfields in Italy. Heavy and concentrated attacks were made by heavy bombers against focal points at Messina, Reggio Calabria and San Giovanni. Medium, light and fighter-bombers attacked airfields and focal points of communications in Sicily.

Throughout the day, our fighters carried out sweeps over our shipping, the beaches and our advancing troops. Intermittent enemy attempts to interfere with our landings and shipping were intercepted and enemy aircraft of various types were destroyed or damaged.

During the course of attacks on enemy shipping in the Tyrrhenian Sea, two merchant vessels were sunk and two destroyers were left blazing.

22 enemy aircraft were destroyed during these operations and 11 of ours are missing.

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