Evening star., 1943-08-16
Americans Push
To "A Miles
|0f Messiina .

End Of Campaign
Officially Declared
To Be at Hand
BULLETIN.
LONDON R.-The Algiers, !.
radio said tonight in q broad
cast recorded by Reuters that !.
the Allies had occupied the
Sicilian port of Milazzo.
BY the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, Aug. 16.-Al-
lied vanguards closed to within,
artillery range of Messina today
and, although German shore
batteries opened up against the
British 9Th Army from the Ital-
ian mainland, 1t was ofiicially
stated that the end of the CAM
paign 'is at hand"
The United States 7th Army swift
ly oyerran Axis rear guards in the
vicinity Of Milazzo, IA miles west Of
Messina.
The British struck northwsrd
through Taormina to point 10
miles south Of Messina. There, &
field dispatch said, the forward ele.
ments were shelled by the long,
range rifles emplaced along the too
Of Italy to guard Messina Strait.
Range Of 20 Miles.
The 15-inch batteries have .
range Of 20 miles.
The Americans, pushing up be.
tween IL and Is miles, advanced well
beyond Barcelona to within heavy
artillery range of Messina and 1t was
assumed that this main escape hatch
already was under ground fire q
well as aerial bombardment.
Barcelona lies 8 miles south,
southwest OF Milazzo and Is miles
west OF Messina.
The Germans were in flight. q
AL indications are that the Nazis
have pulled out even their delaying
parties and left Italian units to face
the climactic British and American
push.
The United States 7th Army and
the British Sth Army raced forward
as rapidly as blownup roads and
diminishing resistance permitted.
The campaign still was less than
six weeks old. ~
Taormina Captured.
The British captured Taormina,
strategic harbor and road junction
on the east coast 20 miles by road
from Messina; Castiglione, 8 miles
inland, and the town Of Kaggi.
(Admitting that Axis forces are
quitting Sicily. the Berlin radio ss
declared, nevertheless, in broad
cast recorded by NBC. that
the Messina Strait was heavily q
guarded and firmly in German
hands. "Anglo-American at
tempts to stop the ferrying serv- &
ice to the italian mainland win
be futile" it said.)
The arrival Of detachments Of
1t. Gen. George S. Patton, jr, In
the vicinity Of Milazzo denied the
Axis the use of its valuable evacua.
ton area, including not only the port
facilities but beaches suitable for
loading small craft.
The thrust through Barcellona es-
sentially isolated both Milazzo and
the sandy cape bearing its name.
British rs Miles Away.
Forward elements Of Gen. Sir Bers
nard L. Montgomery's 9th Army
were less than Is miles from Mes
sina. =
The joint British and American
line running through Central Sicily
was slightly farther away, but was
advancing at about the same rate rs
the Allied forces on the flanks.
Captured documents showed that
the Germans. as usual, left Italians
to cover their retreat. 1t was in
dicated that only some units of an
Italian coastal division confronted
the 9th Army north Of Taormina.
The Italians had been ordered
to hold a five-mile line running
inland from Roccalumera, 18 miles
south Of Messina, the documents
disclosed. The British are expected
to penetrate the positions easily.
In the usual sense, the Sicilian
front" no longer exists. However,
a ring of strongpoints has been
formed about the outskirts of Mes
sina, aerial reconnaissance showed.
Oficial dispatches said numbers
of Germans donned civilian cloth
ing and attempted to infltrate
American lines to reach the rear
area. Many were captured. !
Prisoner List Increases.
Military booty now in American
hands includes 293 75-mm. guns as
we'll as some larger artillery pieces
and 1873 tanks. The number Of
prisoners was not announced.
mainly because they are being
rounded up too fast for counting.
More than 10000 were held last
week.
Hour by hour. the German
chances of removing what is left
of the Hermann Goering division
and the 18th armored and the 3oth
motorized divisions, are diminishing.
Italian opposition Is not expected
to be serious, but there remains the
problem of moving the Allied armies
along the narrow roads, which have
been cut in many places by Axis
demolition parties.
Allied engineers are working
furiously to put roads and bridges
back in shape, clearing mines and
road blocks and constructing by.a
passes around the worst spots.
In addition to the ring Of strong
points about Messtna, Allied units
are coming within range of 15-inch
batteries on the italian shore which
can throw shells weighing more
than a ton about 20 miles.
German troops are expected to
man the miniature hedgehog forti.
/0n. CYrSYY u R.~- a 9V--