ALLIES IN SICILY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 August 1943, Page 3

ALLIES IN SICILY

PREPARING TO ATTACK VITAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE

American and British Patrols in Contact Near Randazzo

EIGHTH ARMY PROGRESS IN COASTAL ZONE

r DAY AND NIGHT AIR ATTACKS ON ENEMY

LONDON, August 10. In Sicily, patrols of the American Seventh Army and the British Eighth Army have made contact in the centre of the Axis bridgehead, where the Allies are threatening the vital communication centre of Randazzo. The two armies are now in a position to make a concerted drive on this Axis position. Randazzo is being shelled by Allied artillery and bombed continuously by aircraft. Allied troops are moving slowly towards the town, but very heavy German resistance is to be expected before they reach their goal. The Eighth Army has come up against stiffer German opposition in the coastal area, but is making steady progress and is being supported by naval bombardments. The most substantial Allied progress in the past 24 hours has been made by the American Seventh Army, which has advanced a further six miles and is pressing ahead in the face of determined German I*GSISt2LIIC6 Aircraft have been persistently attacking enemy troops, transport and communications. The main attack was by Flying Fortresses, on road junctions round Messina. Traffic jams were reported on roads leading to this main supply centre and Axis port. Light bombers and fighter-bombers took full advantage of their opportunities and destroyed or damaged scores of enemy trucks and broke up enemy convoys. For the fifth successive night, bombers attacked ships and troop concentrations in the Straits of Messina. A number of ships were sunk.