RAPID PROGRESS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 July 1943, Page 3

RAPID PROGRESS

IN THE WEST AND NORTH BUT ENEMY FIGHTING HARD IN EAST REINFORCEMENTS CONVEYED BY AIR. (Bv Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, July 23. As the American Seventh Army and the Canadians sweep through western and rfiorthern Sicily with little or no opposition, reinforcements of German troops are being flown to the island to man the defence line, which is being hastily improvised across the north-eastern tip, says the “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent at Allied headquarters. The Axis has evidently decided to abandon all airfields, ports and naval bases elsewhere than at Messina. The Germans are flinging in fresh reserves in an attempt to stem the tide of the Eighth Army's advance on Catania, but are suffering an ever-mounting toll of casualties without doing more than slow down General Montgomery s drive. The retreating Axis troops are blowing up bridges in an attempt to prevent a break-through in force. The ferocious Axis opposition outside Catania and also the stiff resistance which the Canadians are meeting north of Rabacca, at the western end of this sector, make it increasingly apparent that the enemy is using the narrowing northern belt as a corridor of escape to the mountainous territory round i Mt. Etna.

ITALIAN COLLAPSE. “There has been nothing in this war quite comparable with the utter collapse of Italian fighting spirit in Sicily,” says the ‘New York Times" correspondent in Algiers. "The Italians previously surrendered in large numbers, and they usually fought badly, but always some units were willing to fight for a certain length of time. The Italians must be realising that they are fighting only rearguard actions for the Germans, and. at the best, for the Fascist regime, which they no longer [want. : “The Axis allies always turn against ,each other in defeat, and there is positive evidence that something of the sort is happening in Sicily. There have been occasions where German officers have been shot by their Italian troops, and othei- instances where Germans shot Italians who were advancing under a white flag. The hatred between the Axis partners is now beginning to come out into the open. “The Germans at Catania are contesting every inch of ground, which is something everybody who thinks we will win quickly in Europe should keep in mind. The Nazis are as formidable as ever.”

STRIKES IN ITALY AND DEMANDS FOR PEACE. LONDON, July 22. The Madrid correspondent of the British United Press says that according to reports from Italy, shouts of “Peace!” and also “Make Rome an open city!" were heard at huge demonstrations in one of the central squares of Rome. Many peace meetings were held in Venice, Milan, Turin, Florence, Bologna and Trieste on Tuesday. It is also reported that strikes are spreading in factories in northern Italy.