INVASION OF ITALY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 September 1943, Page 4

INVASION OF ITALY

EIGHTH ARMY EXTENDING ITS FOOTHOLD AND PENETRATING INLAND. ENEMY FLEET ABANDONS TARANTO. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.50 a.m.) LONDON, September 5. The Eighth Army now controls the whole north-west coiner of the Italian toe and is extending its Sains north and east along the coast. Reinforcements are constantly arriving. British and Canadian troops are flooding into the interior of the Aspromonte region from the bridgehead stretching from Bagnara to Melito, According to the Paris radio, the British have driven inland 25 miles at some points. The Allied troops are meeting little opposition and more than 2,000 prisoners, mostly Italians, have been captured.. The Algiers radio says Allied troops are on the outskirts of Polmi. The Eighth Army is organising road and rail communications between Bagnara and Melito. Extensive demolitions have slowed up the . advance but the transport problem has been eased by the capture of over 300 locomotives and other rolling stock. The Eighth Army holds 30 miles of road and railway skirting the coast .from Bagnara to Melito. The Allies now hold the coastal strip from which the Italians and Germans, during the Sicilian evacuation, put up one of the world’s fiercest anti-aircraft barrages. The enemy has moved hundreds of anti-aircraft artillery units out of the area. The Cairo radio says the Allies fired about 150,000 shells across the Straits of Messina in the 60 minutes preceding the initial landings in the Reggio area. This tremendous barrage blew enemy gun emplacements to bits. The radio added that battleships and many other warships are ceaselessly shelling rhe Italians and Germans in South Italy. Today’s Italian communique states: “The enemy, supported by large, air formations, has intensified the flew of troops and armoured units and has penetrated inland and occupied a few Calabrian localities. The defenders between Palmi and Bagnara, after throwing the first British landing force into the sea, have been forced to withdraw from Bagnara. Violent fighting is in progress east of Bagnara and on the slopes of the Aspromonte mountains.” The Aspromonte mountains run for about 15 miles from east to west near the south coast of the Italian toe. The Columbia Broadcasting system’s Algiers correspondent says the Italian fleet has abandoned the Taranto naval base, in the heel of Italy. The only British casualties on Friday were accident cases, or normal cases of suddenly-developed sickness. The only bad casualty in one whole battalion was a private whose companion accidentally shot him through the foot. I >

WEAK RESISTANCE GREAT OPPORTUNITY LOST BY ENEMY. JN VIEW OF CORRESPONDENTS. •n- —"— (British Official Wireless.) » (Received This Day, 10.52 a.m.) RUGBY, September 5. A war correspondent in Italy states that five days before the landing, several small groups of British commandos secretly landed on the extreme south-west tip of the peninsula for reconnaissance. “Their observations had given grounds for a belief that resistance was likely to be feeble,” the correspondent adds. “This indeed wa's the case. Three-quarters of an* hour after the first troops had touched mainland ground, flares announced that the bea--ches had been cleared and afterwards everything went as by clockwork. V/hat is transparently established is that the methods employed by Generals Alexander and Montgomery for forcing an entry into the European fortress have been abundantly justified. The enemy must have known the general direction of the attack, though not its precise point at which we should land. He was well aware of the importance of preventing us obtaining a bridgehead on the mainland of the continent. , Yet he failed to offer any in that failure may be measured the extent to which the preliminary softening-up process had achieved its objective. The Army indeed was well justified in the quiet confidence it showed immediately before the attack.” Another correspondent draws attention to the total failure of the Luftwaffe to take the initiative at any recent period in the Mediterranean-war. “Never was ' an opportunity greater than on Friday morning,” he says, “if the German Air Force had had any remnant of its 1940 vigour. During the hour and a half spent in crossing the straits and the hour when I returned, I did not see a single German plane. Will Germany ever have such a chance again in 'this theatre of war as that offered to her this morning? When I landed in Sicily, eight weeks ago, I had to wade ashore. Today my amphibious jeep swept majestically on to a narrow sandy beach and drove straight on, through a plantation, by the main road beyond. When we landed on the Sicily beaches, any beach at least had been protected with barbed wire against impending attack, and frequently mined. Here there was no attempt at wiring and up' to now no mines have been located in the neighbourhood.”

CIVILIANS FRIENDLY WHITE SHEETS SIGHTED BY AIRMEN. LAID OUT IN FIELDS & GARDENS. (Received This Day, 12.5 p.m.) LONDON, September 5. The. Paris radio states that the Italians and Germans evacuated Cape Spartivento, 18 miles east of Melito. Allied pilots flying deep into the toe of Italy saw white sheets laid out in fields and gardens indicating the people’s desire for peace. The townspeople of Reggio greeted the Eighth Army ' men waving white flags and cheering. Civilians everywhere were most friendly. ' The Germans are believed to be keeping whatever strong forces they

have north of the Catanzaro Isthmus. Axis troops in the point of the toe, could be cut off by a flanking movement. Axis troops in the interior have still one escape road —the eastern end of a transverse road, the western end of which is held by the Allies at Bagnara. Forty miles beyond the Eighth Army spearhead at' Bagnara, the Italians have bottleneck positions across ihe arch of the Italian foot. This is the first of a series of such natural positions which are.characteristic of the peninsula. Road demolitions in the beach areas have been largely ineffective. There is a surprising absence of mines. Demolitions in the interior, however, are on a fairly large scale. The advance inland therefore is more cautious and slower than the sweep around the coasts. There has been a slight increase of enemy fighter-bomb-er activity as supplies and reinforcements pour in from the beaches, but Italian airmen over the Straits of Messina were roughly handled by Spitfires.

NOT ARRESTED GRAZIANI'S LETTER OF DENIAL. (Received This Day, 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, September 5. The Rome radio stated that Marshal Graziani, former Italian commander in Libya, has sent a letter to the newspapers denying reports that he had been arrested. ITALIAN POLICEMEN WOUNDED IN STREET FIGHTS WITH GERMANS. ATTEMPTS TO PREVENT SEIZURE OF VEHICLES. (Received This Day, 1.20 p.m.) LONDON, September 5. Several Italian policemen among the prisoners captured at Reggio wore dirty bandages,, covering wounds received in street fights against Germans last Wednesday, says the “Daily Express” correspondent. The Germans looted the city and then, fearing invasion, began to take all motor vehicles, making the evacuation of women and children impossible. The Italian police opposed the Germans, three of whom were killed and six wounded in a running street fight. The only civilian vehicle on the road after the capture of the city was a hearse, which was packed with refugees.

LANDING AT PALMI REPORTED BY BERLIN RADIO. VICHY ESTIMATE OF ALLIED STRENGTH. (Received This Day, 1.10 p.m.) LONDON, September 5. The Berlin radio announced that British troops have landed at Palmi, under cover of a heavy naval bombardment. The Vichy radio says the Allies hav<£i landed ten armoured and two infantry divisions in Italy.