ATTACK ON NAPLES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 July 1943, Page 4

ATTACK ON NAPLES

ONE OF THE MOST PUNISHING EVER MADE • RAILWAY YARDS PULVERISED. TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION AT ARSENAL. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.40 a.m.) RUGBY, July 18. When the air attack on Naples was over, the railway yards had been pulverised. It was said by the crews to be one of the most punishing attacks ever launched. Fierce anti-aircraft fire met the first wave of attacking aircraft, but no fighters went up until several minutes after the first attack had begun. Several enemy aircraft were shot down by the Lightning escort. A terrific explosion from the arsenal was observed during the Fortress raid. It sent a sheet of flame several hundred feet into the air, and a tall column of smoke which almost obscured the entire city. One gunner reported that he was attacked by seven fighters. He got one and returned unharmed. Another important attack was made by Mitchells on the Sicilian town of Paterno (on the railway inland from Catania), in the front of advancing ground forces.

BATTLE FOR BRIDGE GALLANT EFFORT BY BRITISH PARACHUTISTS. DESTRUCTION OF STRUCTURE PREVENTED. x (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.40 a.m.) RUGBY, July 18. A correspondent reporting from Lentini on Friday said that the keypoint during the last 48 hours’ fighting had been the sole bridge 1 over the Primo River, half-way between Lentini and Catania. It is more than 400 feet long and spans one of the few Sicilian rivers which do not dry up in summer. To prevent the German destroying the bridge we dropped parachutists on the night before last, with orders to capture and hold it. While some of the parachutists dropped behind the enemy lines and rounded up a large number of Italian prisoners, whom they kept under cover all yesterday and finally brought across the river to our lines after dark, the main body captured the bridge and held it all yesterday against tremendous odds.' For nearly 24 hours they were shelled, mortared and strafed from the air and attacked on the ground by seven Italian battalions. There were less than 200 men to resist this continuous onslaught, but they held out stubbornly. However our relieving troops were held up by the Germans at Lentini, and when at last they managed to rush up, to relieve the parachutists at the bridge, they were three hours too late, for the parachutists, with only four rounds of ammunition left among them, had been forced to withdraw and the bridge was in German hands again. Another attempt was made to recapture the bridge and we managed to get two companies across it, but they were heavily counter-attacked and driven into the river. However, a German attempt to blow up the bridge was unsuccessful, for the parachutists had removed the charges and the Germans only managed to blow a hole in it with an aerial bomb. The enemy made good use of the respite. Hundreds of his transport vehicles were moved into Catania and it is known that he has numerous tanks there. The bridge is under fire from both sides and neither is able to do anything with it. The Germans are desperately trying to bring up all reinforcements possible and our own strength is constantly increasing. The correspondent reported tonight that the bridge is now in our hands.