CANADIAN ADVANCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 July 1943, Page 3

CANADIAN ADVANCE

FEW OBSTACLES FOUND ON ROADS increasing haul of prisoners AND BOOTY. ITALIANS IN PLACES “JUST SURRENDERING.” (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.17 a.m.) RUGBY, July 19. A correspondent with the Fifteenth Army Group Command post has for the first time encountered blown-up roads. Cabling today he says: “All the way from the beaches there have been no obstacles, apart' from an occasional poor road, to block the path of the Canadians. Near Grammichele attempts had been made to crater the roads with demolitions, but the Royal Canadian Engineers filled the holes up in a short time. Burnt-out Italian ■trucks were lying like skeletons every mile or so. There was plenty of evidence of the Grammichele fight as I rode along the road. On a hill west of the town was the charred hulk of a German tank, and two half-trucks blown to pieces by Canadian tank gunners. I drove through Grammichele, which is a small town, battered by fighting, and went on to the Canadian Headquarters, where I learned that the total number of prisoners taken by the Canadians had now probably reached the 7000 mark. There was a definite figure of 5000 and hundreds of others were being rounded up and taken back. Captured enemy booty is mounting up too. I saw plenty of Breda machineguns, rifles, ammunition and shells lying about. “I met a British officer who fought in the desert and he said: ‘Never anything quite like this was seen in the Western Desert. The Italians used to put up some kind of fight, but in most cases here they are just surrendering.’ ”

BUSY & HAPPY MALTA PLANES OVER SICILY. ALMOST UNCHALLENGED ROAMING. ..(British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.17 a.m.) RUGBY. July 19. Malta-based Spitfires roamed over the Plain of Catania yesterday, as well as maintaining unchallenged air supremacy, states a message from the island. Of the few enemy aircraft sighted, . one was shot down, while others were damaged. During one sortie an enemy gunpost was strafed and its crew of four killed. Mosquitoes and Beaufighters were out on Saturday night and an enemy aircraft was shot down in this raid. An intruder flying over Italian aerodromes found a series of excellent targets. First he .attacked aircraft in pens and saw one burst into flames Then, on another aerodrome, he saw a line of half a dozen aircraft parked in the open, all of which he raked by cannon fire. Going to a third airfield he repeated the process.