BLITZ OF ITALY

Grey River Argus, 2 June 1943, Page 5

BLITZ OF ITALY

NAPLES AND FOGGIA CASUALTY ROLL GROWS 293 Killed at Rome’s Port LEGHORN IN RUINS LONDON, May 31. The Allied air forces which have been smashing targets m Italy ana on her islands for nearly three weeks returned in force to Naples and Foggia yesterday and also hammered objectives on Sardinia and Pantellaria. Foggia is 78 miles to the north each of Naples on the opposite coast? that of the Adriatic sea. One hundred Flying Fortresses .attacked Naples. Among their largest taigets were an aircraft factory and an airfield in the suburb of Pomigiliano and an aerodrome at Capo-di-Chino, which is eight miles north-east oi Naples. At the latter a large number of planes are being destroyed. At least 80 fires were started. Large explosions were caused. Oil storage dumps were hit. A Fortress bomber pilot referring to the Pomigiliano attack said: That factory is going to be out of business for a long time. We started fires in the assembly plant, the engine machines shop, the general machine shop, the hangars and the plane assembly shop. Besides hitting the factory we knocked out dispersed planes on the airfield. The raid on Foggia was simultaneously made by fifty heavy . U.S.A. Liberator bombers, which hit aircraft on the around, set fire to fuel dumps and smashed hangars and administrative buildings. All the American aircraft returned. Enemv fighters over both targets tried to* bomb the Fortresses in the air but this proved a failure. An Italian communique states that enemy -planes yes,te4day dropped many bombs on Naples which was raided for the 70th time. Public and private buildings suffered considerably. Thirty-eight were killed and 351 injured. Bombs dropped on Sardinia killed three and injured ten. Attacks were also made on the provinces of Foggia, Bari and Potenza. The civilian death roll at the port of Rome, Civita Vecchia, has now risen to 293. Targets in northern Sardinia included the Rai Eton Chilivani factory, the Alghero port and railway yards, and Aranci, where six shops were damaged. Wellington bombers from the North African Air Force on Saturday night attacked Pantellaria. Medium bombers on Sunday night attacked Sardinia and Pantellaria. The latter was well covered with bombs. Fires were started. Bomb-carrying Lightnings attacked ports, railways, and communications in Sardinia. Bombs burst on marshalling yards, a transformer station, railway stations, and dock installations. Fourteen enemy planes were shot down. One of ours is missing, but the pilot is safe. The “Evening Standard’s” Berne correspondent says: A report from Rome describes Leghorn .as a smoking heap of ruins, following the American air attack on Friday. Telegraph, telephone and rail connections with the town are still cut. Engineers had to concentrate on repairing at least part of the water distribution system, which was severely damaged. Independent witnesses say the fires are still fiercely burning in many parts of the town, which has been evacuated by the defence services. T'he port district which is tile concentration point for the supply service to Sardinia and Corsica, has been razed. Many ships in the harbour .were either sunk or damaged seriously. An unconfirmed report states that an ammunition ship blew up, adding greatly to the destruction of the town which has a normal population of 130,000. The. town is being evacuated since the food and water supply is insufficient for more than a few .days, Reuter’s Algiers correspondent says that the Axis Air Chief, Kesselring, is now able to inflict such small losses

on the big Allied raiding forces that some observers believe Germany and Italy have no longer the air strength with which to cope with the AngloAmerican offensive. More cautious quarters suggest that he is conserving his strength in event of an emergency of the first magnitude.