Evening star., 1943-08-18
Allied Casualties Total
$4,000 in Sicily, With
$4,000 for Axis
Continued From First Page )

to go any minute. We can count
on them with complete confidence. ,
Gen. Eisenhower said he was per-
sonally disappointed that a single
German had gotten away. but tnat
it was impossible to prevent the
crossing of the strait.
German losses in heavy eauipmen.
were considerable, he added.
Troina Battle Hardest.
Asked to name the decisive point
In the Sicilian campaign, Gen. Els
enhower said the battle for Troina
in the central area was the hardest
and when that key town was taken
the Germans hopes of holding the
Mount Etna line were finished.
However, he said, once the Amer
lean apd British assault divisions
landed on the beaches in their orig
inal disembarkations and began
driving toward their first objec-
tives with their forces substantially
intact. the battle had been won.
The crucial point, he continued,
came during the first 48 hours when
the German Hermann Goering Di-
vision and 18th Armored Division
launched tank-supported attacks
against the Americans around Gela
When the Yanks broke through
those assaults, Italian resistance
Immediately began to collapse, al
though there were several sharp
engagements before the general
Axis withdrawal began.
The general disclosed that the
Italians did their best fighting in
covering the Germans final evacua-
ton from Messina.
He stressed the value Of co-ordi-
nation of all striking arms of land
sea and air and said he was graft
fed beyond measure by the way that
various Allied units supported each
other.
Gen. Eisenhower especially men,
toned the American lend runs" of
amphlbious operations along the
north coast as examples of this CO.
ordination, and disclosed that
third seaborne assault actually had
been assembled but had been can
celed because when the time came
to break around the enemy's flank
again, there no longer was any
flank to encircle.
He singled out the engineers for
the highest praise in clearing roads
as both the American and British
armies advanced through systematic
enemy demolitions.
He said Gen. George G. Marshall,
United States army chief of staff,
was sending congratulations to 1t.
Gen. George S. Patton. jr.. Lit. Gen.
Carl A. Spaatz, Gen. Alexander,
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery,
Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cum
bingham and Air Chief Marshal Sir
Arthur Tedder for carrying the
operation through to a triumphant
conclusion"
Gen. Eisenhower said the cam
paign fell roughly into two different
characters:
The British, after their original
sweep up the east coast, ran into
the toughest kind of fighting when
the Germans fell back behind pre-
pared and heavily fortified positions
at Catania.
The American 7th Army's job was
to make long sweep northwestward
to Palermo, and then eastward.
That entailed spectacular march
ing and some sharp engagements en-
route. But mainly It,. was accom-
plished by infantrymen who could
cover ground rapidly.
Despite motorization, they didn't
do much riding.
Gen. Eisenhower said one of the
American commanders visited a
hospital and found men there with
no skin left on the soles OF their
feet. He said he was speaking
literally.
Others were so completely ex-
hausted that they needed hospitali-
zation. But they all got back into
the lines before the campaign
ended.
The Allied commander praised
the fighting qualities of the Gou-
miers. native Moroccan troops who
are especially at home in mountain
fighting
The French Army now assembling
and arming in North Africa is going
to make "a fine contribution" to
final victory, Gen. Eisenhower said,
pointing out there was large
,,,,,,,bar ~ I,;rt, ly 70 Il, ad of6cor~ a.
we'll as soldiers familiar with fight
ing in every type of terrain.
Mentioning the recent visit OF the
Senatorial Committee to Allied
headquarters, the general said he
welcomed such delegations as
means of keeping official quarters
in both the United States and
Britain informed of what is hap
pening In war zones.
Text of Statement.
Gen. Eisenhower said In a pre-
pared statement:
The enemy's proud boast he
would drive the Allied forces into
the sea wherever he met them in
Europe seems to be as empty as the
promise to the German people that
not one bomb would fall on their
cities.
The Allied armies have twice
within the last few months inflicted
severe defeats on the so-called in
vincible' German Army, in each case
at very small cost to themselves"
The Sicilian campaign is stand
ing testimony to the supremacy OF
the Allied navies in this area Of the
Mediterranean, TO Allied air SUI
premacy and to the determination
of Allied land forces to engage and
defeat the enemy wherever they may
encounter him"
Our troops have done everything
the best troops in the world could
have done" he said.
"As an American I take Just as
much pride in the British 9Th Army
as any Briton.
Now we've brought up an Ameri-
can Army that is worthy partner
of the 9Th Army"