NAZI REINFORCEMENTS
LANDED AS STIFFENING FOR ITALIANS BRITISH BATTLE FLEET IN ACTION. AN AWE-INSPIRING SIGHT. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, July 11. A correspondent says it is announced officially that the German troops in Sicily have been reinforced. Numerically they are only a fraction of the total forces, but they form a valuable stiffening for the Italians. The invasion of Sicily started at about 3 a.m., The landings were made in good weather. The Italian and German air forces put up fierce resistance,, and the defenders blew up harbour installations. A message from Algiers says that from dawn onward the landing of troops took place on the south-east coast of the island. The forces landed •with plenty of equipment and supplies. A correspondent at the British advanced headquarters reports that British and American glider-borne troops are taking part in the invasion. It is their first operational mission. The awe-inspiring sight of the battle fleet in action was described by a bomber pilot who returned from plastering aerodromes in Sicily. “The whole of the battle fleet was lined up in battle order in the Mediterranean, and the ships stood out like a big group of islands,” he said. “The battleships all opened fire just after we had passed them, and it sounded like a volcanic eruption. There must have been 40 miles- of boats of all sizes along Sicily’s coast, and the sea was black with them. It looked like a million flies as our boys poured ashore.” The news of the landing is being received with enthusiasm in all parts of the United Nations. “The stab in the back of 1940 is now being avenged,” said Algiers radio in a broadcast to Italy. An air of caution prevails in Washington till the fighting develops further, because 300,000 Axis troops are massed in Sicily. However, military experts stated that these forces will be heavily outnumbered when all the Allied forces are ferried across the Mediterranean. ITALIAN FLEET THE LATEST ESTIMATES. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, July 10.
The latest estimates of the Italian Fleet show that there are three new Littorio-class battleships, reported to be off north-western Italy, and also four refitted Cavour-class battleships, east of the Straits of Messina. One of these was severely damaged at Taranto, and probably put out of action. There are also two 8 inch gun cruisers which are damaged and probably out of action, about six. light cruisers, fewer than 50 destroyers, 40 or 50 submarines, and a large number of E-boats.
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 July 1943, Page 3
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415NAZI REINFORCEMENTS Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 July 1943, Page 3
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