Operation HUSKY (1943)

Völkischer Beobachter (July 14, 1943)

Auseinandersetzungen wegen Siziliens –
Zweite Front ja – zweite Front nein

Von unserer Stockholmer Schriftleitung

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(Aufn.: Weltbild-Gliese)

dr. th. b. Stockholm, 13. Juli –
In Londoner militärischen Kreisen wird, schwedischen Meldungen zufolge, die Auffassung vertreten, daß sich die Operationen auf Sizilien jetzt ihrer „kritischen Phase“ näherten. Bei Beginn des Angriffs, so erklärte man, sei man sich nicht klar darüber gewesen, wo sich die strategischen Reserven des Gegners befänden. Nun aber müsse man damit rechnen, daß es bald zu schweren Zusammenstößen mit der Hauptmasse der deutschen und italienischen Truppen kommen werde.

Es liegt eine bisher nicht bestätigte englische Reuter-Meldung vor, wonach der General Eisenhower in Sizilien eingetroffen sei. Dies könnte darauf deuten, daß man auf englischer und amerikanischer Seite mit dem Ausbruch härtester Kämpfe rechnet. Unter Eisenhower ist die Leitung der Operationen folgenden britischen und amerikanischen Generalen und Admiralen anvertraut: den englischen Generalen Montgomery und Alexander, dem amerikanischen General Patton, den englischen Luftmarschallen Tedder, Cunningham und Lloyd, den amerikanischen Fliegergeneralen Spaatz und Doolittle, den englischen Admiralen Sir Andrew Cunningham und Ramsay und dem amerikanischen Vizeadmiral Hewitt. Der englische Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay ist insofern ein Spezialist für „amphibische“ Operationen, als er den Rücktransport der britischen Truppen von Dünkirchen zu leiten hatte.

Keine Einigkeit besteht zwischen den Briten und Amerikanern darüber, ob die Landung auf Sizilien als die Errichtung der „zweiten Front“ anzusehen sei oder nicht. Während die amerikanische Presse erklärt, daß „die Schlacht um Europa begonnen hat und die zweite Front nicht mehr ein Traum, sondern eine Realität ist,“ schreibt der diplomatische Mitarbeiter Reuters:

Die Invasion auf Sizilien wird in London als ein Zeichen der Befreiung des Kontinents angesehen und nicht als eine zweite Front… Der Feldzug auf Sizilien, der länger und schwer sein kann, als man auf den ersten Anschein hin vermutete, bedeute keine direkte Erleichterung für die Sowjets in der Bedeutung und in dem Umfang, die die Sowjets meinten, als sie die zweite Front forderten.

Aus dieser Feststellung kann man wohl schließen, daß die Sowjets ihren britischen Bundesgenossen höchst energisch darauf aufmerksam gemacht haben, daß sie sich mit dem Sizilienunternehmen, das sie wahrscheinlich recht zweifelhaft beurteilen, nicht abspeisen lassen. Auf jeden Fall müssen zur Zeit recht lebhafte Auseinandersetzungen und Verhandlungen zwischen England, Amerika und den Sowjets im Gange sein.

Zwei feindliche Schiffe mit 30.000 BRT. im Atlantik vernichtet –
Weiterer Raumgewinn nördlich Bjelgorod

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 13. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Nördlich Bjelgorod gewann der deutsche Angriff, von der Luftwaffe unterstützt, nach Zerschlagen von zwei feindlichen Panzergruppen weiter Raum. Gegenangriffe starker Infanterie- und Panzerverbände, die die Sowjets von anderen Frontabschnitten und aus der Tiefe herangeführt hatten, gegen die Spitzen und Flanken der deutschen Angriffskeile und heftige Entlastungsangriffe im Raum östlich und nördlich Orel brachen unter schwersten feindlichen Verlusten zusammen.

Am gestrigen Tage vernichteten Verbände des Heeres, der Waffen-SS und der Luftwaffe erneut über 400 Panzer. 103 feindliche Flugzeuge wurden in Luftkämpfen und durch Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe abgeschossen.

Auf Sizilien gehen die harten Kämpfe gegen den gelandeten Feind in erbitterten Gefechten weiter.

Deutsche und italienische Fliegerverbände griffen laufend in die Erdkämpfe ein und bombardierten unaufhörlich die Landungsflotte vor der Küste der Insel und fügten dieser sehr schwere Verluste zu. 25 feindliche Flugzeuge wurden über Sizilien und Sardinien abgeschossen.

Im Westen bekämpfte ein Verband schwerer deutscher Kampfflugzeuge in der vergangenen Nacht mit gutem Erfolg Hafen- und Dockanlagen der Stadt Grimsby. Weitere Luftangriffe richteten sich gegen Einzelziele im Raum von London und an der Südostküste Englands. Ein deutsches Flugzeug kehrte von diesen Einsätzen nicht zurück.

Fernkampfflugzeuge wurden erneut gegen die am 11. Juli im Atlantik in Brand geworfenen großen feindlichen Schiffe zum Angriff angesetzt. Einer der beiden Transporter war bereits gesunken, der zweite wurde durch Bombenwurf versenkt. Damit verlor der Feind wiederum zwei Schiffe mit zusammen 30.000 BRT.

La Stampa (July 14, 1943)

Nella regione meridionale della Sicilia la battaglia prosegue con immutata violenza

Il nemico tenta di ampliare le teste di sbarco – Aerosiluranti e bombardieri attaccano ripetutamente unità da guerra e mercantili nemici – Un piroscafo affondato, due incrociatori e numerosi trasporti danneggiati – 25 aerei avversari abbattuti

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Il Quartier Generale delle Forze Armate communico:

La battaglia prosegue con immutata violenza nella regione meridionale della Sicilia, dove il nemico cerca di ampliare le teste di sbarco che ha potuto costituire a Licata, Gela, Pachino, Siracusa e Augusta.

Nelle acque dell’isola, aerosiluranti italiani e bombardieri dell’Asse attaccavano ripetutamente unità mercantili e da guerra, affondando un piroscafo di medio tonnellaggio e incendiarono o danneggiando due incrociatori, numerosi trasporti e parecchi mezzi navali minori.

Nel cielo della Sicilia, 14 apparecchi sono stati abbattuti dalla caccia italo-germanica, nove dalle artiglierie contraeree; nostri cacciatori distruggevano sulla Sardegna due altri velivoli.

Formazioni nemiche hanno bombardato centri della Sicilia e della Calabria, tra cui Catania, Messina e Reggio.

Questa notte una incursione è state compiuta su Torino dove la popolazione ha subito perdite e il centro urbano danni considerevoli.

Non hanno fatto ritorno alle basi sei nostri aerei.

Le incursioni citate dal bollettino odierno hanno causato le seguenti vittime finora accertare: a Catania 25 morti e 63 feriti; a Leon Forte 8 morti e 2 feriti; a Reggio Calabria 3 morti e 2 feriti; in provincia di Catanzaro, 30 morti e 43 feriti; a Torino 101 morti e 203 feriti.

Allied HQ, North Africa (July 14, 1943)

Communiqué:

The Navy’s main task of supporting the Army as commanding the sea and disembarking troops and their supplies continues.

Throughout the operations, U.S. warships have rendered valuable support to the troops on shore by engaging surrounding formations of tank columns behind Gela and, among other targets, the airfield at Ponte Olivo and enemy divisions at Porto Empedocle.

A British and a Greek destroyer entered the port of Augusta at 1600 (4 p.m.) July 12. These ships, with the cruisers and monitors outside, assisted materially in the capture. The naval bombardment was described by the Army as both accurate and timely.

Catania Airfield was bombarded from the sea in the early hours of July 13.

It was reported that the swell on some of the beaches has subsided. There were some bombing attacks on certain of the beaches and the vessels lying offshore, which did not interrupt the work in progress. Disembarkations proceeded smoothly.

There were signs of increased U-boat activity throughout the area, but countermeasures have been highly successful and disheartening to the enemy. Activity on the part of minesweepers and light coastal forces continues and efforts of all have been crowned with success.

On the night of July 12-13, one of our flotillas of motor torpedo boats operating is the Strait of Messina engaged two E-boats, which were set ablaze and driven ashore. A third E-boat was damaged during a later engagement, but managed to escape.

During the operations yesterday, contact was made between U.S. and Canadian forces.

A further general advance was made in all sectors, including the capture of Augusta early this morning with its port facilities undamaged, and the capture of important towns, including Ragusa and Naro. Some thousands of prisoners have now been taken.

Gen. D’Havet, commanding the 206th Division, has been captured with his entire headquarters, and this division has now been almost entirely eliminated.

The work of administrative units is of particular importance in operations of this nature, as a ceaseless flow of vehicles, ammunition and stores is being maintained through the ports and over beaches.

Air Communiqué:

From dawn to dusk, our fighters carried out sweeps and patrols over the invasion area, the beaches and the shipping, successfully intercepting enemy aircraft attempting to interfere with our operations.

Fighter-bombers, in another day of intensive activity, carried out many attacks on enemy communications and troop columns throughout Sicily, destroying many enemy vehicles.

The airfield at Milo and Catania were attacked by heavy bombers, while medium bombers attacked Enna, a communication center. Night bombers attacked enemy airfields and communications.

During the night of July 12-13, our Intruders operated against enemy communications in Sicily and southern Italy. Two enemy merchant vessels were sunk and two destroyers were damaged in attacks by our torpedo aircraft north of Sicily.

During the course of those operations, 42 aircraft were destroyed, 11 of which were shot down by our night bombers. Seven of our aircraft are missing.

The Pittsburgh Press (July 14, 1943)

YANKS CAPTURE AXIS BASE
British drive nearer to Catania; warships aid Americans in South Sicily; fliers pound enemy

Yanks smash 10 Nazi tanks

By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

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Yanks advance of 6-10 miles in South Sicily was announced today as British forces pushed up the east coast toward Catania. Catania was shelled and successful landings, presumably near Catania, were reported. U.S. forces are striking up to the east and west from the Licata-Gela area. They captured the important Axis base at Comiso.

Allied HQ, North Africa –
U.S. forces, supported by U.S. warship bombardments, smashed forward 6-10 miles in South Sicily and captured the important Axis base at Comiso today while British assault troops pressed up the eastern coast toward shell-pitted Catania.

Axis resistance appeared to be stiffening but the Americans under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. hammered their way into Naro, Palma and Ponte Olivo following a junction with the Canadians at captured Ragusa, and were reported about 30 miles inland at some points.

12 miles from Agrigento

The U.S. advance from Licata through Palma and to Naro put the Allies within 10 or 12 miles of the important Axis base at Agrigento. This gain, which was at the western end of the Allied front, have the Americans command of roads running northward to Canicattì.

The Americans knocked out 10 Nazi tanks in repulsing counterattacks by Italians and by the Hermann Göring Division northwest and northeast of Gela.

The capture of Naro and Comiso was believed to have greatly improved the American position in the south, where the hardest fighting so far had centered around Gela. The Americans were thrown back there, but rallied to advance against Italian and German counterattacks.

Hold mountain roads

Their latest gains consolidated their grip on the mountain toads and provided bases for thrusts northward from the Comiso-Ragusa area.

The Americans who took Ponte Olivo pushed some six miles inland from Gela, while other units drove 10 miles inland to a point two miles south of Buscemi, on the road to Caltagirone, an important inland road junction. The situation around Vittoria, which is just west of Comiso, was obscure but Allied units had reached the outskirts.

On the east coast, where Allied warships and air squadrons battered Catania Airport, the British had not yet reported big-scale enemy counterattacks. It was said there was no fighting as yet in or immediately around Catania, which has not been captured by the Allies. The town of Melilli was also reported still in Axis hands, although it was bypassed by the British coastal forces that captured the big naval base at Augusta today.

Catania Airport shelled

Catania Airport was shelled from the sea and smothered by many tons of aerial bombs, according to today’s communiqué, which said that disembarkation operations – which had previously been unofficially reported near Catania – “proceeded smoothly.” The points of disembarkation were not given in the communiqué.

While U.S. warships smashed Axis tank columns and airfields on the south coast of Sicily, the British and Canadian drive toward Catania smashed an entire Italian division and boosted the estimated number of prisoners to around 8,000, mostly Italians.

Axis broadcasts reported that big battles were developing in the mountains south of Catania, indicating that the Germans and Italians were making their most important stand so far.

Augusta shelled, taken

The communiqué said that Greek and British destroyers shelled the port of Augusta, main Italian naval base on the east coast, at 4 p.m. Monday and that Allied forces occupied that port early this morning.

The Augusta harbor facilities were almost intact and the Italian 206th Coastal Division was virtually destroyed in the operations on the east coast.

The Allies seized at least 2,000 more prisoners, mostly Italians, while a flotilla of MTBs (motor torpedo boats) operating in the Strait of Messina, engaged two Axis torpedo boats which were set ablaze and driven ashore. A third enemy boat was damaged but escaped.

U.S. warships supported U.S. troops under Gen. Patton, who were engaging enemy tank formations behind Gela and also bombarded the airfield at Ponte Olivo. U.S. warships then shelled enemy positions at Porto Empedocle, on the south coast of Sicily west of Agrigento.

Further general advances

The communiqué said there were further general advances in all sectors, following capture of Augusta, Ragusa and Naro, in southeast Sicily. U.S. and Canadian forces had made a junction yesterday at Ragusa, cutting off the whole southwestern tip of the island and seizing important communications centers.

U.S. forces in the Gela-Licata sector appeared to be encountering the strongest opposition and it appeared that the U.S. warship bombardments in the sector were an effort to aid in securing and extending the bridgehead as swiftly as possible.

On the east coast, the British 8th Army and Canadian units appeared to be making the greatest progress in their northward drive to the Catania plains.

Allied air fleets, including Flying Fortresses, provided a strong cover for the British advance up the east coast.

Curtain of firepower

“A swiftly moving curtain of firepower and bombs” hit the enemy in Sicily all day as the round-the-clock aerial attack was pressed, it was stated at headquarters.

The communiqué from headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said:

The Navy’s main task of supporting the Army as commanding the sea and disembarking troops and their supplies continues.

Throughout the operations, U.S. warships have rendered valuable support to the troops on shore by engaging surrounding formations of tank columns behind Gela and, among other targets, the airfield at Ponte Olivo and enemy divisions at Porto Empedocle.

A British and a Greek destroyer entered the port of Augusta at 4 p.m. July 12. These ships, with the cruisers and monitors outside, assisted materially in the capture. The naval bombardment was described by the Army as both accurate and timely.

Disembarking smoothly

Catania Airfield was bombarded from the sea in the early hours of July 13. It was reported that the swell on some of the beaches has subsided. There were some bombing attacks on certain of the beaches and the vessels lying offshore, which did not interrupt the work in progress. Disembarkations proceeded smoothly.

There were signs of increased U-boat activity throughout the area, but countermeasures have been highly successful and disheartening to the enemy. Activity on the part of minesweepers and light coastal forces continues and efforts of all have been crowned with success.

The work of administrative units is of particular importance in operations of this nature, as a ceaseless flow of vehicles, ammunition and stores is being maintained through the ports and over beaches.

Axis broadcasts acknowledged the fall of Augusta and told of raids on Allied shipping in Augusta Harbor. From Stockholm came a report attributed to Axis sources that Gen. Montgomery’s main forces were within seven miles of Catania with advance guards even nearer.

A German broadcast quoted a Spanish dispatch as saying that 60 landing barges with an escort of destroyers steamed into the Mediterranean from Gibraltar yesterday and a convoy of nine vessels entered Gibraltar Harbor shortly afterward.

The message of Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, commander of the British 8th Army, to his troops on the eve of the invasion was revealed belatedly to have proclaimed that the time had now come to “carry the war into Italy and into the continent of Europe.”

Gen. Montgomery said:

The Italian overseas empire has been exterminated. We will now deal with the home country… We will set about the Italians in their own country in no uncertain way. They came into this war to suit themselves and they must take the consequences. They asked for it and now they’ll get it.

I have complete confidence in the successful outcome of this operation. Therefore, with faith in God and enthusiasm for our cause and for the day of battle, let us enter into this contest with stout hearts and a determination to conquer.


Planes blast 4 enemy ships

By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied planes, supporting invasion armies with the greatest non-stop air offensive of the war, wrecked and damaged two supply ships, two destroyers, 320 trucks, six locomotives and 45 freight cars in 24 hours of attacks designed to paralyze the Axis defense of Sicily, it was announced today.

Supplementing new naval bombardments of Augusta and Catania, Sicilian east coast ports, Flying Fortresses from the Northwest African Air Forces literally rained bombs on the Catania Air Base, which an RAF statement described as “the most important Axis coastal air base.”

The Fortresses struck “directly ahead” of Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s northward-driving 8th Army, the RAF said, and direct hits were scored on at least two large hangars. Dispersed aircraft were also wrecked.

Hit southern Italy

While the Northwest African Air Forces concentrated on Sicily, U.S. Liberators from the Middle East swept across the Mediterranean and dropped nearly 425,000 pounds of bombs on the Crotone and Vibo Valentia Airdromes in southern Italy. Three hangars were wrecked at Vibo Valentia.

Significantly, the Liberators met no fighter opposition over Crotone, supposedly a fighter base.

Utilizing virtually every unit in their command, the Northwest African Air Forces sank two more enemy merchant ships, heavily damaged two destroyers, wrecked 160 trucks, damaged an equal number and “reduced to scrap” six locomotives and 45 freight cars.

Forty-two Axis aircraft were shot of the skies, while Allied losses totaled only seven, a ratio of 6–1. Uncounted other enemy planes were wrecked on their airdromes.

Hit by torpedoes

The two heavily-laden merchant ships were sunk north of Sicily by torpedo-carrying Beaufighters.

U.S. A-36 Mustangs damaged two destroyers, also near Sicily.

Mitchells and Martin Marauders joined Fortresses in attacks on airfields, where hangars and administration buildings were set afire, and night intruder planes hammered Messina and Palermo and other communications centers throughout Sicily.

Twin-tailed Lightnings ranged the Sicilian skies at will, concentrating their firepower and the bombs tucked underneath their wings on trains, road transport and troops.

Even light and medium bombers joined in the many missions which wrought havoc among Axis concentrations, making it hard for the Germans and Italians to get set or start throwing punches.

Destroy 20 cars

One pack of Lightnings spotted 20 railroad cars, many believed to contain fuel, which were destroyed with bombs. Twenty more cars on a siding were reduced to rubble. At another point, three railroad cars and a warehouse were left aflame.

Diving out of the sun, one formation of Lightnings raked a barracks and left it burning. Two staff cars and four trucks parked in front of the barracks were set on fire. The formations gunned eight men in black uniform, probably Fascist officials or militiamen.

The attacks on shipping boosted the number of merchantmen sunk or damaged in 48 hours to seven and the number of Italian destroyers hit to four. A Royal Air Force statement asserted that the concentrated attacks on enemy shipping were frustrating desperate Axis attempts to reinforce its Sicilian garrisons.

Repel Axis planes

Fighters carried out dawn-to-dusk sweeps over the invasion area beaches and shipping and drove off enemy aircraft attempting to interfere with the steady progress of ground forces.

Fighter-bombers swept low over the enemy rear, shelling and machine-gunning troop columns, transport and communications, wrecks of tanks and armored vehicles littered the winding Sicilian roads.

Hit enemy fields

Heavy bombers smashed at the Milo and Catania Airdromes and medium bombers dropped their cargoes of explosives on Enna, a communications center.

Torpedo planes caught the two merchant vessels and two destroyers off the north coast of Sicily in the same area where seven enemy vessels were sunk or damaged only 24 hours earlier.

Axis airfields and communications were also attacked by bombers Monday night and intruder planes struck at targets in both Sicily and southern Italy.

Night fighters accounted for 11 of the 42 enemy planes shot down during the 24-hour period.

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Gen. Alexander visits Allied force in Sicily

By Edward Gilling, representing combined British press

Allied Field Command post, North Africa (UP) –
Gen. Harold R. L. G. Alexander, Allied Deputy Commander-in-Chief, went ashore from a cruiser in Sicily Tuesday and spent several hours visiting the troops.

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Nazi officials preparing for loss of Italy

Leaflets printed telling people how to resist occupying army
By J. Edward Murray, United Press staff writer

London, England –
German authorities are already preparing for Allied invasion and occupation of Italy, The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic expert said today.

The Daily Telegraph dispatch said news had reached London that pamphlets were being printed at The Hague, Holland, to be scattered over Italy to instruct civilians in resisting an army of occupation.

Madrid dispatches said German units sent into the Sicilian frontlines fought only a delaying action, falling back whenever pressed.

Quoting reports from Italy, Madrid said the Fascists had complained the Nazi Luftwaffe was not fighting and that German tanks had been held out.

Appeals for planes

Madrid said Gen. Alfredo Guzzoni, commanding Italian forces, had appealed urgently to Benito Mussolini for more planes.

A Stockholm dispatch said Axis reports of the Sicilian fighting were “surprising favorable” for the Allies. Besides trying to temper the Nazi people for receiving news of Sicily’s fall, the propaganda may represent groundwork for an all-out counteroffensive which could be hailed as a major victory even if only partly successful, Stockholm said.

A Berlin dispatch to the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter said the Nazi press used an increasingly serious tone in discussing Sicily and that one expert, Heinz Bongartz, acknowledged the outcome of the struggle for the island would be “an important advance toward final victory.”

Orders scorched earth

Madrid said it was understood the Italian General Staff ordered Sicilian garrison commanders to destroy all facilities as they retired or face court-martial. The threat, it was said, was made because the British 8th Army captured Syracuse practically intact.

Mussolini reportedly ordered three new Blackshirt divisions dispatched from Rome and Perugia for Sicily if they can cross the narrow straits. They would replace three divisions badly battered by the Allies, Madrid said.

Demonstrations in several Italian cities reported yesterday were said by Madrid to have been outbreaks by workers demanding peace. They were stopped only by police threats to shoot into crowds.

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Stampa Sera (July 14, 1943)

La battaglia nella Sicilia meridionale –
Il nemico impegnato su tutto il fronte in duri combattimenti

Aerei e sommergibili infliggono gravi perdite all’avversario – 5 cacciatorpediniere e 3 grossi piroscafi colati a picco – 6 incrociatori, dei quali 1 pesante, 2 caccia e un trasporto danneggiati

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34 aerei anglo-americani abbattuti

Il Quartiere Generale delle Forze Armate comunica:

Il nemico, che alimenta continuamente la sua offensiva con nuovi contingenti, è riuscito a superare la fascia litoranea da Licata ad Augusta, spingendosi verso la zona montana sud-orientale della Sicilia e affacciandosi alla piana di Catania. Su tutto il fronte le truppe italiane e germaniche sono impegnate in duri combattimenti.

Nostri reparti aerosiluranti in azioni notturne lungo le coste della Sicilia orientale hanno affondato due piroscafi di grosso tonnellaggio e un cacciatorpediniere e danneggiato 6 incrociatori, di cui uno pesante, due cacciatorpediniere, un grande mercantile e altro naviglio minore.

In duelli aerei nel cielo dell’isola i cacciatori dell’Asse abbattevano undici apparecchi; dodici altri velivoli erano distrutti dalle artiglierie della Sicilia, 4 da quelle della Sardegna, 7 aerosiluranti da nostre unità in navigazione.

14 nostri aerei non hanno fatto ritorno dalle operazioni della giornata.

Nel Mediterraneo centrale un sommergibile, al commando del tenente di vascello Alberto Donato da La Spezia, colava a picco un piroscafo da 15 mila tonnellate. Un’altra unità subacquea, comandata dal tenente di vascello Pasquale Beltrame da Savona, lanciava una salva di siluri contro una formazione di cacciatorpediniere, dei quali due venivano colpiti. Un terzo sommergibile, al comando del tenente di vascello Renato Scandale da Castelfranco Emilia, silurava un cacciatorpediniere della classe JERVIS ed uno della classes FEARLESS. I quattro caccia predetti sono da ritenersi affondati.

Völkischer Beobachter (July 15, 1943)

Landungstruppen im Bombenhagel der Achsenluftwaffe –
Unvermindert heftige Kämpfe in Südsizilien

dnb. Berlin, 14. Juli –
In Südsizilien nimmt der Kampf gegen die gelandeten Briten und Nordamerikaner mit unverminderter Heftigkeit seinen Fortgang. Der Gegner versucht seine Brückenköpfe mit allen ihm zu Gebote stehenden Mitteln zu erweitern. Nordamerikanische Kräfte, die an der Südküste Fuß gefaßt und sichernde Vorhuten nach Norden ins Gebirge vorgetrieben hatten, griffen am Montag die deutsch-italienischen Sperrstellungen fortgesetzt mit Infanterie und Panzern an. Nach vergeblichen Vorstößen am Vormittag verstärkte der Feind in den Nachmittagsstunden seinen Druck durch frische Kräfte. Die Angriffe wurden aber unter hohen Verlusten für die Nordamerikaner abgewiesen.

Luftwaffenverbände der Achse griffen wirkungsvoll in den Erdkampf ein. Durch Bombentreffer hatten die feindlichen Panzer erhebliche Ausfälle.

Weitere harte Kämpfe entwickelten sich im Gebirge gegen die einige Stunden vor der Landung abgesetzten Fallschirmabspringer und Luftlandetruppen. Von der Küste her versuchte der Feind, mit diesen vorgeschobenen Kräften Fühlung aufzunehmen. Einige der Stoßabteilungen kamen ins Gefecht mit unseren Sicherungsverbänden. Während des Kampfes steckten die angegriffenen Briten einen Olivenhain in Brand, in der Hoffnung, hinter den deckenden Rauchschwaden gegen die deutsch-italienischen Linien Vorgehen und günstige Stellungen für die weitere Verteidigung finden zu können. Italienische Pioniere drangen jedoch in den brennenden Hain ein, rissen die ausgetrockneten, gerade von den Flammen erfaßten Bäume aus, zogen Schutzgräben und dämmten so den Brand ein. Dadurch machten sie den Weg für die Abwehr frei. Die Achsentruppen rieben einige der britischen Stoßtrupps auf und drängten die übrigen zurück.

Im Laufe des Montags verstärkte sich der Feind weiter und brachte neue Truppen an Land. Er versuchte erneut, an solchen Stellen festen Fuß zu fassen, an denen die ersten Ausbootungen am 10. Juli mißlangen. Teile der Landungstruppen waren zum Beispiel an einer der Buchten an der Südostküste abgewiesen worden, obwohl schweres Artilleriefeuer aus Schiffsgeschützen und fortgesetzte Bombenangriffe das Unternehmen unterstützten. Der Platz war dem Feind günstig erschienen, da die Küstenabwehr das Feuer nicht erwiderte. Die Küstenverteidigung hatte jedoch wohlbedacht den deckungslosen Küstenstreifen freigemacht, um bei dem zu erwartenden schweren Bombardement unnötige Verluste zu vermeiden. Aus etwas landeinwärts liegenden Stellungen beobachtete sie die Maßnahmen des Gegners. Als der Feind dicht an Land gekommen war, schlugen alle Waffen zu. Rasendes Feuer zerschmetterte die Landungsboote.

Nachdem der Gegner die Stärke der Küstenverteidigung zu spüren bekommen hatte, nahm er die Stellungen nochmals unter schweres Feuer seiner Schiffsgeschütze. Gleichzeitig griffen starke Bomberverbände den Küstenstreifen an und sicherten damit die Landung. An anderer Stelle hatte der Gegner Panzer gelandet. Durch den geringen Widerstand an der Küste ermutigt, versuchten diese, eine Straße nahe am Meer zu erreichen. Durch die unerwartete Ruhe unsicher geworden, tasteten sich die Panzer vorsichtig vorwärts. Plötzlich traf sie jedoch aus unmittelbarer Nähe ein Feuerschlag aus gutgetarnten Stellungen. Zwei der Panzer blieben nach Treffern unbeweglich liegen. Ihre Besatzungen flüchteten an den Strand zurück. Die übrigen Panzer nahmen den Kampf auf. Ihr heftiges Feuer blieb wirkungslos, da die Panzerkanoniere die Stellungen der Achsentruppen nicht erkannten. Als dann noch eine 8,8-cm-Flak von der Flanke her in das Gefecht eingriff, war auch das Schicksal der restlichen Panzer an dieser Stelle besiegelt. Zerschossen oder brennend blieben sie vor der Straße liegen.

Den ganzen Tag über griffen schnelle deutsche Kampfflugzeuge, Jäger und Schlachtflieger die an Land gegangenen Truppenverbände des Feindes, die sich in den von steilen Böschungen eingefaßten Straßenschluchten zum weiteren Vorstoß formierten, mit Bomben und Bordwaffen an. Durch Bombentreffer setzten sie Kraftfahrzeugkolonnen in Brand und vernichteten zahlreiche Panzer.

Härteste Kämpfe stehen auf Sizilien bevor –
Italiener fürchten die Feuerprobe nicht

Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachters“

al. Rom, 14. Juli –
Gefangene, die in Sizilien von den deutsch-italienischen Truppen gemacht wurden, haben ihr Erstaunen darüber zum Ausdruck gebracht, daß sie von der Bevölkerung nicht mit ebenso offenen Armen empfangen wurden, wie sie es in gewissen, vorwiegend von Juden bewohnten Gebieten Französisch-Nordafrikas gewohnt waren.

Noch am Samstagvormittag hatte der amerikanische Rundfunk die Stirn, Aufrufe in italienischer Sprache an die Sizilianer zu richten, in denen diese aufgefordert wurden, einem Vormarsch der feindlichen Streitkräfte keinen Widerstand in den Weg zu legen, sondern vielmehr die italienischen Behörden in ihren Abwehrbemühungen durch aktiven Widerstand zu behindern. Die Gefangenenaussagen beweisen, daß es in England und Amerika Leute gibt, die tatsächlich glauben, was ihre Agitatoren in Rundfunk und Presse ihnen vorlügen. Das ist das Interessanteste an ihnen.

Über die Härte der in Sizilien zu erwartenden Kämpfe gibt sich hier übrigens niemand einer Täuschung hin. Gayda im Journale d’Italia schreibt:

Härteste Kämpfe und wechselndes Kriegsglück erwartet die Italiener, die Achsenstreitkräfte und mit ihnen auch den Feind in dieser Schlacht um Sizilien, die das imperialistische Machtstreben Englands im Mittelmeer deutlicher beweist, als sie einen wirklichen Dienst zur Entlastung der Ostfront darstellt. Die Sizilianer und mit ihnen alle Italiener fürchten die Feuerprobe nicht. Sie sind zum entscheidenden Widerstand entschlossen und werden ihr Gebiet Zoll für Zoll verteidigen in der Gewißheit, durch ihr Opfer einen Beitrag zur Erhebung ihres Volkes zu leisten und von ihren Verbündeten verstanden und unterstützt zu werden.

Die Enna-Stellung

Popolo di Roma enthält folgende Angaben über den Verlauf des feindlichen Unternehmens:

Die Landung ist in zwei Abschnitten erfolgt: im Süden zwischen Licata und Gela, wo die amerikanischen Kräfte zu stehen scheinen, im Südosten zwischen Pachino, Syrakus und Augusta, wo englisch-kanadische Streitkräfte gelandet zu sein scheinen. Es ist unwahrscheinlich, daß, falls es den gelandeten Truppen gelingen sollte, sich auf dem Küstenstreifen zu behaupten, noch eine andere Landung im westlichen Teil Siziliens erfolgen würde, die von Tunis oder von Pantelleria zu starten wäre.

Über die Verteidigungsmöglichkeit Siziliens äußert sich das römische Blatt folgendermaßen:

Der strategische Mittelpunkt Siziliens ist seit den Kämpfen der Araber immer Enna gewesen, da man von dieser zentral gelegenen starken Stellung aus leicht sowohl nach Osten in Richtung auf Catania als auch nach Süden Licata und Agrigent sowie gegen Norden auf Termini operieren kann. Als man in den ersten Jahrzehnten der Bildung des Königreiches Italien einen Krieg mit Frankreich und eine französische Invasion befürchtete, war in der Tat die Enna-Stellung sorgfältig studiert worden, um aus ihr den Mittelpunkt der Verteidigung zu machen. Statt der französischen Invasion ist heute die englisch-amerikanische gekommen. Aber das Gelände der Insel ist immer das gleiche geblieben.

Allied HQ, North Africa (July 15, 1943)

Communiqué:

During the last 24 hours, our ground forces have made considerable gains under the command of the 15th Army Group.

In the eastern sector, the newly-constituted British 8th Army has advanced some miles beyond Augusta, which has been firmly secured.

In the western sector, the U.S. 7th Army has captured another important airdrome and several dominating hill features.

Both British and U.S. airborne and parachute troops have carried out successful operations.

Since this campaign started, a total of at least 12,000 prisoners have been taken during the past five days.

Air Communiqué:

Port and railway communications at Messina were attacked yesterday by a strong force of heavy and medium bombers.

On the previous night, the bombers had attacked the same target. Very get damage was caused and fires were started.

Yesterday and during the previous night, medium and light bombers attacked the communications center of Enna. Road and railway communications throughout Sicily were also attacked.

Fighter-bombers again carried out many attacks on enemy communications and motor transport, destroying a large number of vehicles.

Our fighters operating from North Africa, Pantelleria, Malta and from Sicily maintained their patrols over Allied shipping, beaches and the battle areas, and shot down three of the small number of enemy aircraft encountered.

Intruder aircraft operated over southern Italy during the night. Night fighters destroyed five enemy aircraft.

Following attacks by our torpedo aircraft in the Tyrrhenian Sea, an enemy tanker was blown up, a merchant vessel as left in a sinking condition and a small tanker left in flames. One Ju 52 was destroyed in the course of the action.

From all these operations, three of our aircraft are missing.

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The Pittsburgh Press (July 15, 1943)

AXIS DRIVE IN SICILY REPULSED
Messina almost destroyed by bombs; Americans take 6th airfield

Screenshot 2022-07-15 105755
Allied forces advance steadily in Sicily after repulsing a strong Axis counterattack on Augusta. About one-eighth of the island, shown by the shaded section of the map, is already occupied. The planes show location of five of the six airdromes captured by U.S. forces. Messina was almost completely wrecked by Allied bombers.

Yanks drive on Agrigento

By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied forces fought off a powerful Axis counterattack led by crack German units in the Augusta sector of Sicily and struck back today in increasingly heavy battles toward Catania on the east coast and Agrigento on the south coast.

U.S. forces on the south coast captured another Axis airdrome, the sixth seized by the Yanks since the start of the invasion five days ago. They also took several important hills, a communiqué announced.

U.S. troops in Sicily have pushed 10 miles north of Ragusa in heavy fighting and captured “the seventh airfield” to fall into Allied hands, the CBS reported today from Allied headquarters in North Africa.

What appeared to be the first major enemy counterblow was struck by strong forces in a drive that penetrated British lines to the Augusta Harbor before being repelled.

For several hours after dawn yesterday, while heavy fighting raged on the Augusta sector, the British were cut off, but they rallied and restored the situation and hammered their way back beyond the town of Brucello, about four miles north of Augusta on the road to Catania, where Allied warships and airplanes continued to pound the enemy rear.

The Axis used heavy tanks in their counterattack and a number were destroyed. Canadian tanks participated in the battle.

U.S. and British parachute and airborne troops carried out successful operations, but Axis resistance was stiffening on most sectors and was especially strong on the edge of the Catania Plain north of Augusta. A major battle for Catania was expected.

The NBC correspondent on a British cruiser off Sicily said that the British had captured Lentini and Carlentini, which close together about 10 miles west of Augusta, and had isolated an Axis division there. The capture was made by paratroopers and Commandos who landed in the enemy rear.

The Axis said that two Allied paratroop operations had been launched in this sector.

Axis artillery was in action against the British north of Augusta, but Italian prisoners said that the enemy was suffering heavy casualties, including many due to moving back through their own minefields.

NBC reported that a British cruiser squadron heavily shelled Catania late yesterday for 35 minutes and broke up enemy efforts to move a big gun train south of Catania.

The British occupied Melilli, which had been bypassed near Augusta.

Observers in London placed the British 8th Army only about 15 miles south of Catania.

The commanding general of the famed Italian Napoli 54th Division and his entire staff were captured by the British.

Yanks advance four miles

U.S. forces on the south coast extended the western flank of the Allied invasion front about four miles in hard fighting. The Americans were now near Agrigento and menaced the main Axis communication lines to the western

The western advance appeared to be a within few miles of Agrigento.

Agrigento is a communications center of 26,000, founded before Christ. Port Empedocle, which is nearby, had been shelled by U.S. warships. The Americans captured several dominating hills on the approaches to Agrigento.

The Sicilian population was reported friendly in most occupied areas, often waving, cheering and giving the V-for-Victory sign to the Allied troops.

In many instances, the Italians surrendered without a serious fight, but German troops fought hard and were disconsolate when captured. Many prisoners were being moved quickly to North Africa because of the food shortage in Sicily, where the Allies have been feeding the population as rapidly as possible.

12,000 prisoners captured

At least 12,000 prisoners have been captured, 8,000 of them by the Americans, the communiqué said, and Allied control of the Mediterranean is so secure that 8,000 of them have already been transferred to Africa.

The airdromes captured by the Americans were those at Comiso, Pachino, Biscari, Licata and two in the Gela area. In addition, the British captured the seaplane base at Syracuse.

Field dispatches indicated that the Allied forces were advancing toward the great central plains of Sicily on a 75-mile point.

Some forces may have already entered the flatlands, especially below the big east coast port of Catania, which was under relentless sea and air bombardment.

Eighth of Sicily seized

More than one-eighth of Sicily was now in Allied hands.

The Germans and Italians were still pushing reinforcements by sea despite heavy raids by Allied bombers and torpedo planes, dispatches said.

Allied planes, along with a British “mosquito fleet” of motor torpedo boats, were peppering the Strait of Messina, shortest route of reinforcement, without respite. Some torpedo boats have penetrated the straits to a point where it is only three miles to hunt out enemy torpedo boats that might harass Allied landings farther south.

An Algiers broadcast recorded by the Exchange Telegraph Agency in London said that Anglo-American-Canadian troops had breached Catania’s defenses and a Madrid report asserted that Allied spearheads had reached the outskirts of the city.

Another Algiers broadcast reported that U.S. troops had advanced nearly 19 miles north from Comiso, airport town seven miles west of Ragusa.

Catania

The approach of the 8th Army under Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery to Catania was indicated by an RAF announcement that the city, second largest in Sicily, was under aerial and naval bombardment “immediately ahead” of British ground forces.

U.S. troops under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. were pushing a four-pronged advance into the interior and westward along the south coast, the coastal force was believed 13 miles beyond Licata and only 12 miles from Agrigento and Porto Empedocle, where large enemy concentrations have been reported.

North of Licata, another U.S. force was only 15 miles from Caltanissetta, a large enemy base in the central plains.

2 columns drive north

Two other columns were driving north from Gela, some 20 miles east of Licata. One was only 10 miles from Caltagirone, a gateway town to the central plains.

Gen. Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, commander of Allied ground forces, in an interview with Mr. Gunther on his return from a visit to Sicily indicated that the invasion was going to schedule and up to program.

Gen. Alexander seemed particularly delighted at the way U.S. and Canadian forces conducted themselves, Mr. Gunther said.

Big air fleet blasts harbor

By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied air fleets, including 270 bombers from the Northwest African and Middle East Commands, struck pulverizing blows at Messina yesterday, all but completing the destruction of the key Sicilian port, communiqués revealed today.

Two hundred bombers of Lt. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz’s force were joined in the assault on Messina by 70 Liberators from the Middle East. The Liberators dropped more than 400,000 pounds of explosives on the gateway to and from Italy.

The massive raids on Messina, across a two-mile strait from the Italian mainland, topped another 24 hours of non-stop attacks by Allied bombers and fighters blasting out a path of destruction across Sicily in advance of Allied troops smashing northward and westward.

An Italian communiqué reported that Allied planes raided Naples, one of the main reinforcement ports for Sicily, and the Sicilian northwest coast port of Palermo in addition to Messina last night.

Sever route

The around-the-clock attacks on Messina, plus other raids on the mainland ferry terminals of San Giovanni and Reggio Calabria, opposite Messina, and British torpedo boat attacks on channel shipping, were believed virtually to have severed that route of reinforcement and supply for Sicily.

The Allied air forces were also ranging over waters north of Sicily to stem reinforcement from that source. British Beaufighters yesterday torpedoed and blew up a tanker, set fire to a small tanker and probably sank a freighter, bosting the number of enemy vessels sunk in that area in the past three days to 14.

The Allied control of the air is so complete that U.S. and British fighters are operating from newly-captured airdromes in Sicily. Only a few enemy fighters were encountered yesterday, and of these, three were shot down. Three Allied planes were lost.

Set large fires

The 200-plane Northwest African Air Force that hit Messina in relays was spearheaded by Flying Fortresses and also included Mitchells, Marauders and Canadian Wellingtons and P-38 Lightnings running interference.

Large fires sprang up in the wake of the raiders and heavy damage was inflicted on railway yards, ferry ships and oil storage areas, where two heavy explosions occurred. A smoke pall covered the city as the last of the raiders left for the base.

Sandwiched between the Northwest African Command raids was the one by the Liberators of the U.S. 9th Air Force in the Middle East on railway yards. Many direct hits and explosions were observed.

Raid San Giovanni

Another formation of Liberators bombed San Giovanni, on the toe if the Italian boot opposite Messina, scoring hits on oil tanks, customs warehouses, the ferry terminals, a fire station, railway tracks and engine sheds. Two explosions were also observed among harbor installations.

Still another attack on Messina was made Tuesday night by Northwest African night bombers.

Day-and-night raids were made on Enna in central Sicily, where enemy troops have been reported massing for major counterattacks.

South African Baltimores and Bostons teamed with U.S. medium and light bombers in attacking road and military targets. troop concentrations and transport columns in the enemy rear Tuesday night. Some Baltimores attacked Axis positions as the U.S. 7th Army illuminated the entire countryside with flares and incendiaries.

Attack merchant ship

A communiqué said:

Our fighters, operating from North Africa, Pantelleria, Malta and Sicily, maintained their patrols over Allied shipping, the beaches and the battle area and show down three of the small number of enemy aircraft encountered.

A Ju 52 was shot down during attacks on shipping north of Sicily.

British Wellingtons from the Middle East Command attacked a merchant vessel in the Lefkas Channel off the west coast of Greece, but results were not observed.

One plane was lost from all Middle East Command operations.

Escort bombers

Lightning fighters escorting the bombers on the Messina raids encountered only a few Axis fighters, indicating that the pounding of airdromes in Sicily and southern Italy was bearing fruit.

Mitchell medium bombers escorted by Lightnings scored direct bomb hits on both ends of a railway tunnel in the region of Enna, and were believed to have sealed it against use for some time.

Patrols ranged Sicily all day, shooting up trains and trucks. Three locomotives were destroyed, along with 30 railroad cars and dozens of trucks.

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Patterson: Conquest of Sicily sure

Washington (UP) –
Acting Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson said today that successful conquest of Sicily is assured beyond a doubt.

He said at a press conference:

There is no doubt about the outcome of the Sicilian operation.

Mr. Patterson revealed that the invasion has proceeded far more rapidly than Allied leaders expected and that casualties are far fewer than anticipated. However, he warned that hard fighting is expected.

The decision to undertake the offensive was reached at the Casablanca Conference between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in January. The exact date was decided by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower before the end of the Tunisian operations, Mr. Patterson said.

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La Stampa (July 16, 1943)

La battaglia nella Sicilia Meridionale –
Le nostre truppe respingono ostinati attacchi sferrati dal nemico con largo appoggio di mezzi corazzati

Reparti paracadutisti prontamente annientati nella piana di Catania – Altri quattro piroscafi per 27 mila tonnellate affondati da nostri aerosiluranti, un incrociatore e due mercantili danneggiati – 14 aerei abbattuti

Screenshot 2022-07-16 074305

Il Quartier Generale delle Forze Armate ha ieri diramato il seguente Bollettino N. 1146:
In Sicilia, la pressione avversaria viene contenuta dalle truppe dell’Asse, che hanno respinto ostinati attacchi sferrati con largo appoggio di mezzi corazzati.

Nella plana di Catania nuclei di paracadutisti sono strati prontamente annientati.

Nei combattimenti di questi giorni ai sono distinti il 10.o Reggimento Bersaglieri, la 207.a Divisione costiera e la Divisione germanica «Hermann Göring».

Alla battaglia, che continua aspra e serrata, portano il loro concorso valido ed ininterrotto gli aviatori dell’Asse ed in particolare gli arditi nostri aerosiluratori che hanno ieri affondato quattro altri piroscafi per 27.000 tonnellate e danneggiato un incrociatore pesante e due mercantili di medio tonnellaggio.

Obiettivi navali e terrestri sono stati pure battuti, con efficaci risultati, da bombardieri nostri e tedeschi.

Cacciatori germanici abbattevano nel cielo dell’isola cinque «Spitfire»; due altri velivoli precipitavano in mare colpiti dal tiro di dragamine tedeschi.

Formazioni aeree hanno effettuato incursioni su Palermo, Messina e su Napoli e dintorni, causando danni sensibili ad edifici civili e facendo vittime fra le popolazioni.

Risultano distrutti dalle batterie della difesa sei quadrimotori a Messina e uno a Napoli.

In Mediterraneo un cacciatorpediniere è stato colato a picco da una nostra motosilurante.

Le vittime causate dalla incursione su Torino, citata dal Bollettino n. 1144, sono salite a 402 morti e 601 feriti.

La motosilurante che ha affondato un cacciatorpediniere nemico nell’azione segnalata dal Bollettino odierno, è al comando del sottotenente di vascello Antonio Tedeschi, da Bologna.

Völkischer Beobachter (July 16, 1943)

Wieder 336 Sowjetpanzer und 70 Flugzeuge im Osten abgeschossen –
Trotz Schlechtwetters weiter schwere Kämpfe

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 15. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Trotz Verschlechterung der Wetterlage halten die schweren Kämpfe an der Ostfront an. Im Raum von Bjelgorod wurde eine weitere feindliche Kräftegruppe im konzentrischen Angriff zerschlagen und erneute, jedoch mit schwächeren Kräften als an den Vortagen geführte Gegenangriffe unter hohen Verlusten abgewiesen.

Östlich und nördlich Orel setzte der Feind seine von Panzern und Schlachtfliegern unterstützten Angriffe auch gestern fort. Die Versuche der Sowjets, die deutschen Stellungen zu durchstoßen, scheiterten blutig. Sofort eingeleitete Gegenangriffe sind im erfolgreichen Fortschreiten.

Im Gesamtabschnitt der großen Schlacht wurden gestern erneut 336 Sowjetpanzer vernichtet und von der Luftwaffe 70 feindliche Flugzeuge abgeschossen.

Die Kämpfe in Südsizilien halten mit unverminderter Heftigkeit an. An mehreren Stellen wurden feindliche, von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe zurückgeschlagen und hinter der deutsch-italienischen Front gelandete feindliche Fallschirmjägereinheiten vernichtet.

Deutsch-italienische Luftstreitkräfte fügten dem Feinde weiter empfindliche Verluste an Schiffsraum zu. Eine größere Anzahl Kriegs- und Transportschiffe wurde versenkt oder beschädigt.

Starke feindliche Bomberverbände griffen gestern vormittag das Gebiet um Paris und einige Orte in Nordwestfrankreich an. Die Bevölkerung hatte Verluste. Im Verlaufe heftiger Luftkämpfe und durch Flakabwehr wurden 22 Feindflugzeuge, darunter 14 schwere nordamerikanische Bomber, abgeschossen. Fünf deutsche Jagdflugzeuge gingen verloren.

In der vergangenen Nacht flogen einzelne feindliche Störflugzeuge ins nördliche Reichsgebiet ein und warfen wahllos einige Bomben.

Die militärische Lage auf Sizilien –
Ruhige und sachliche Beurteilung in Italien

Eigener Bericht des „Völkischen Beobachters“

al. Rom, 15. Juli –
Die politischen und militärischen Beobachter Italiens fahren fort, die militärische Lage in Sizilien mit kaltblütigem Realismus der Öffentlichkeit darzustellen, ohne dabei naturgemäß auf Einzelheiten einzugehen, deren Kenntnis dem Feind nützlich sein könnte. Sie stimmen darin überein, daß die vom Gegner aufgebotenen Mittel alle Erwartungen bei weitem übertroffen haben und auch zu dem unmittelbar militärischen Objekt Sizilien nicht im Verhältnis stehen.

Pavolini stellt im Messaggero fest, daß es sich hier offenbar um die totalen Invasionsversuche handelt. Alle bekanntgewordenen Zahlen deuteten darauf hin, daß England und Amerika sich auf eines der größten Landungsunternehmen eingelassen hätten, das die Geschichte kennt. Seine Feststellungen bedeuten natürlich nicht, daß man sich in Italien durch das gegnerische Aufgebot aus der Ruhe bringen läßt. Sie dienen in erster Linie dazu, dem Lande den bisherigen Verlauf der Kämpfe klarzumachen, die nach einem Kommentar des Popolo d’Italia in die zweite Phase eingetreten sind, nachdem der Gegner die erste Phase, die Landung, verhältnismäßig rasch hat überwinden können. Um sie zu verhindern, wäre es erforderlich gewesen, die verteidigenden Verbände entlang der gesamten Küste einzusetzen. Gerade das aber hätte bedeutet, das Spiel des Gegners zu spielen, der nach der Vernichtung der Küstenverteidigung den Weg ins Innere frei gefunden hätte.

Im Regime Fascista kennzeichnet Farinacci die Lage mit folgenden Sätzen:

Es ist logisch, daß eine Landung, die unter Einsatz starker Luft- und Seestreitkräfte durchgeführt wird, zu einem augenblicklichen Erfolg bestimmt ist. Es ist auch möglich, daß, von der schweren Schiffsartillerie und ihren Bombern unterstützt, die Angreifer zweier Erdteile um einige Kilometer ins Innere der Insel eindringen. Aber dann wird die Lage für sie erheblich schwieriger, sobald die Streitkräfte der Achse sich an den strategischen Punkten konzentrieren und die feindlichen Truppen mit allen zur Verfügung stehenden Kräften angreifen. Das Problem des Nachschubs wird dann immer schwieriger werden und die Verluste, die den gegnerischen Transportschiffen zugefügt werden, immer erheblicher werden.

Auf der anderen Seite dient die realistische Sprache der faschistischen Presse dem Zweck, die europäische Öffentlichkeit auf die über den Rahmen Italiens hinausgehende Bedeutung des Sizilien-Unternehmens hinzuweisen. In diesem Zusammenhang findet der Einsatz der deutschen Truppen auf Sizilien besonders nachdrückliche und dankbare Unterstreichung. General Bolati schreibt im Giornale d’Italia, der Kampf in Sizilien, der sich weit entfernt von der deutschen Südgrenze abspiele, lege den deutschen Soldaten Blutopfer auf, die ihnen unter Umständen erspart geblieben wären.

Die Formeln „Zwei Völker im Kampf“ und „Mit dem Freund bis ins Ende marschieren“ finden heute an den Küsten und auf den Bergen Siziliens ihre höchste Verwirklichung. Das bereits gemeinsam vergossene Blut und das Blut, das in Zukunft gemeinsam vergossen werden wird, bringt die beiden größten europäischen Völker einander noch näher und läßt sie in einem einzigen großen Ideal miteinander verschmelzen, für das jedes von beiden sich im Interesse der gemeinsamen Ziele opfert.

Einen Tag nach der englisch-amerikanischen Landung fand in Rom eine Kundgebung statt, die zwar in keinem unmittelbaren Zusammenhang mit diesem Ereignis steht, aber dennoch einen wesentlichen Bestandteil der totalen Mobilmachung bildet, mit der Italien auf die Bedrohung des heimatlichen Bodens antwortet.

Einer Gruppe von jungen Studenten, die sich freiwillig zur Leistung des Arbeitsdienstes in Fabriken gemeldet hatten, wurden feierlich die Ausweise des Industriearbeiterverbandes überreicht. Die studierende Jugend ist in Italien immer der Träger revolutionärer Gedankengänge gewesen. Die Verbundenheit zwischen Studentenschaft und Arbeiterschaft ist deshalb im gegenwärtigen Augenblick eine Tatsache von besonderer Bedeutung. Darauf wies auch der neue Staatssekretär im Korporationsministerium, Contu, hin, der auf dieser Veranstaltung eine kurze Ansprache hielt.

Allied HQ, North Africa (July 16, 1943)

Communiqué:

Navy.
Catania Airfield has again been heavily bombarded from the sea.

Strong naval forces continued to give support on the right flank of the Army.

One of our destroyers operating north of Augusta has sunk one E-boat and probably damaged or sunk a second.

The work of disembarking troops and their supplies is proceeding smoothly.

Ground forces.
Bitter fighting took place, especially in the eastern sector, where the 8th Army made further progress against German troops, who desperately contested every inch of the ground.

Severe losses were inflicted on the enemy in the western sector. The 7th Army advanced several miles across the difficult hill country and captured further important positions.

The following towns can now be added to the list of towns captured by the Allied forces: Bagni, Vizzini, Vittoria, Niscemi, Campobello, Palma di Montechiaro, Sortino, Modica, Comiso, Biscari, Riesi and Canicattì.

The speed of the advance is very satisfactory, but transport and supporting weapons are of necessity limited during the present stages. Little damage has been done by the enemy to communications.

Air Communiqué:

On the night of July 14-15, our bombers attacked the docks and railway communications at Naples and airdromes in the vicinity of the city. The attacks were continued yesterday on communication points and industrial targets at Naples by forces of heavy bombers. Many bombs burst in the target area and numerous fires were started.

The docks at Palermo were bombed during the night by medium bombers, and fighter-bombers by day and light bombers by night continued the attack on road and rail communications throughout Sicily. Paternò, a point of focal communications, was attacked during the day by medium bombers.

Sweeps and patrols by our fighter aircraft were maintained throughout the day over Allied ships and our land forces. During the night, our intruder aircraft carried out operations over southern Italy and Sicily.

Twelve enemy aircraft were destroyed by our night fighters, one enemy merchant vessel was sunk by our torpedo aircraft, four enemy aircraft were destroyed during the day’s operations.

Seven of our aircraft are missing.

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Message of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill to the people of Italy
July 16, 1943, 7:00 a.m. EWT

At this moment the combined armed forces of the United States and Great Britain under the command of Gen. Eisenhower and his Deputy Gen. Alexander are carrying the war deep into the territory of your country. This is the direct consequence of the shameful leadership to which you have been subjected by Mussolini and his Fascist regime.

Mussolini carried you into this war as the satellite of a brutal destroyer of peoples and liberties. Mussolini plunged you into a war which he thought Hitler had already won. In spite of Italy’s great vulnerability to attack by air and sea, your Fascist leaders sent your sons, your ships, your air forces, to distant battlefields to aid Germany in her attempt to conquer England, Russia, and the world. This association with the designs of Nazi-controlled Germany was unworthy of Italy’s ancient traditions of freedom and culture – traditions to which the peoples of America and Great Britain owe so much.

Your soldiers have fought not in the interests of Italy but for Nazi Germany. They have fought courageously, but they have been betrayed and abandoned by the Germans on the Russian front and on every battlefield in Africa from El Alamein to Cape Bon. Today Germany’s hopes for world conquest have been blasted on all fronts. The skies over Italy are dominated by the vast air armadas of the United States and Great Britain. Italy’s seacoasts are threatened by the greatest accumulation of British and Allied sea power ever concentrated in the Mediterranean.

The forces now opposed to you are pledged to destroy the power of Nazi Germany – power which has ruthlessly been used to inflict slavery, destruction, and death on all those who refuse to recognize the Germans as the master race. The sole hope for Italy’s survival lies in honorable capitulation to the overwhelming power of the military forces of the United Nations. If you continue to tolerate the Fascist regime which serves the evil power of the Nazis, you must suffer the consequences of your own choice. We take no satisfaction in invading Italian soil and bringing the tragic devastation of war home to the Italian people. But we are determined to destroy the false leaders and their doctrines which have brought Italy to her present position.

Every moment that you resist the combined forces of the United Nations – every drop of blood that you sacrifice – can serve only one purpose: to give the Fascist and Nazi leaders a little more time to escape from the inevitable consequences of their own crimes. All your interests and all your traditions have been betrayed by Nazi Germany and your own false and corrupt leaders; it is only by disavowing both that a reconstituted Italy can hope to occupy a respected place in the family of European Nations.

The time has now come for you, the Italian people, to consult your own self-respect and your own interests and your own desire for a restoration of national dignity, security, and peace. The time has come for you to decide whether Italians shall die for Mussolini and Hitler – or live for Italy, and for civilization.

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The Pittsburgh Press (July 16, 1943)

Surrender of Italy demanded by Allies

Die for Il Duce or live for homeland, people told in message
By Merriman Smith, United Press staff writer

Washington –
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill today served on the Italian people a life-or-death demand that they overthrow their leaders and made peace or suffer the consequences of invasion and total war at home.

Die for Mussolini and Hitler – or live for Italy, and for civilization.

That was the keynote of the message that was drummed into Italian ears by all available United Nations radio stations and put before Italian eyes on millions of pamphlets dropped by Allied air forces over the length and breadth of the Italian peninsula.

The message clearly threatened invasion of the mainland – presumably as soon as Sicily is in hand – unless Italy surrenders.

Although no time limit was set, Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill offered the Italian people but one alternative to capitulation – to suffer “the tragic devastation of war.”

The message emphasized that the air over Italy is dominated by vast numbers of Allied planes. They were dropping pamphlets today, but it could be blockbusters tomorrow.

And the Italian seacoasts are threatened by “the greatest accumulation of British and Allied sea power ever concentrated in the Mediterranean,” the message said.

Again and again, the message emphasized that it was the Fascist leaders of Italy who had “betrayed” the Italian people. Italy’s present plight is:

…the direct consequence of the shameful leadership to which you have been subjected by Mussolini and his Fascist regime.

As a prelude to the “last chance” appeal, swarms of Allied planes last night attacked Naples and northern Italy for the second time in three nights. And, of course, for days, the Axis propagandists have been preparing the Italian people for the loss of Sicily, where Allied armies are striking into that island’s vitals ahead of schedule.

The Roosevelt-Churchill message was made public simultaneously here and in London and Algiers at 7 a.m. EWT. At that moment, the pamphlets were being dropped on Italy and radios were beginning to beam the message to Italy.

Despite the lack of a time limit on the demand for capitulation, the message – with its description of the Allied might poised at Sicily implied that the United Nations would not wait long.

Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill have repeatedly hammered at the theme that they believe the Italian people to be the victims of that “jackal,” that “black-hearted Italian,” as Mr. Churchill has called Mussolini.

During Mr. Churchill’s last visit to Washington in May, he appealed to the Italians to revolt against their leaders. Early in June, on the morning of the fall of the Italian island of Pantelleria, Mr. Roosevelt again urged the Italians to revolt.

The joint message to the Italians today warned that they must disavow both the German Nazi leaders and their own “false and corrupt leaders” as the only way for “a reconstituted Italy can hope to occupy a respected place in the family of European nations.”

No promises were held out for the Italians – such as food. The message was devoid of any commitments concerning the future of Italy – such as the type of leaders and government to follow Mussolini.

Likewise, it avoided any statement that would preclude the use of Italian bases to carry the war to the German homeland.

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John Roosevelt sees action near Sicily

Algiers, Algeria –
Lt. John Roosevelt, son of the President, participated in the Sicilian operations, the U.S. Army field newspaper Stars and Stripes disclosed today.

He was one of the officers aboard a U.S. destroyer protecting the Gela landing, the paper said.

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