Evening star., 1943-06-15
Air-Borne Troops
May Be Used in Sicily
Major Eliot Sees Island
As Objective Of Attack
From Moitu and PonteIIeriu
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.

UJOU1 NtUItO UUO IOutSlISIlO
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.
The island of Sicily. possibly the next
objective Of the Allied offensive In the
Mediterranean, is no mere dot on the
map like Pantelleria. It's area Is just
under 10000 square miles. 1t is roughly
triangular in shape. At its northeastern
apex, 1t approaches the mainland OF
Italy-the toe, so to speak, of the Italian
boot-from which 1t is separated by the
Strait of Messina, only two miles wide
at its narrowest point.
A car ferry connects the Sicilian rail-
ways with the railways of the Italian
mainland, and this ferry service, oper-
ated between Messina and Reggie di
line Of communication.
The north face of the island Of Sicily
Is about ITS miles long, its eastern face
about 100 miles long, and its southwest
ern face about 160 miles long. Parallel
with the northern face of the triangle
runs an almost continuous range of
mountains. South of this range most Of
which, on the south and east, slopes
more gently te the sea than in the north.
There are two loW-lying areas of plain
adjacent to the sea, one at the extreme
western tip Of the island while the other,
the Piano di Catania, occupies the center
of the eastern coast. Between the north
ern edge of this plain and the Strait of
vie La n,,1tr 80
the volcano Etna, soaring almost to
II 900 feet. This is the highest point on
the island, though heights of from 1000
to 5000 feet are normal in the northern
mountains.
Besides Messina, the principal seaports
are Palermo the capital, on the north
coast; Catania on the east coast, and
Agrigenti on the southwest coast.
Considering an attack on Sicily from
African bases with Malta and Pantel-
leria as outpost positions, the first fact
to be noted is that the whole Of the south
coast, and the east coast as far as
Catania, lies within 100 miles radius
mentioned. That is just another way
of saying that anywhere in this area we
could give good continuous fighter cover
to landing force.
The points thus suggested for land
ing would be the coastal plain at the
extreme west, from which an advance
directly on Palermo could be made;
Agrigenti on the south, principally as
diversion, and Catania on the east,
where there is plenty of room for air.
fields which could cut the Messina ferry
route and thus make impossible the
sending of reinforcements and supplies
from the mainland except by ship.
Another point to be noted is the island
group Isole Egadi - directly of the
western coast and we'll within the 100
mile radius from Pantelleria. The seizure
OF these islands as advance air bases
would not only enable us to give very
close support to landing in Western
Sicily but would bring the capital city
OF Palermo within easy fighter range.
1t would seem likely that the enemy's
defense Of Sicily would be based on
maintaining control of the railway across
the middle of the island from Palermo to
Catania. AS long as he holds this line,
ne can concentrate his forces rapidly
east or west to meet any attack along
the south coast or at either end of the
line in question. Meanwhile, both ends
OF the line are connected by coastal rail-
ways with Messina, so that it Is diflcult
to interrupt the enemy's communica-
tions.
main attack in the west would tend
to draw the bulk of the enemy troops in
that direction for the defense of Pa.
lermo, and would thus bring consider
able enemy forces within reach of con-
centrated air attacks based on Pantel-
leria and the Isole Egadi. A landing at
Asrigenti would threaten the center of
the line, and If not countered would
eventually threaten Palermo with attack
from the southeast. A landing at Catania
would threaten Messina itself.
There would be no dangerous disper-
sion OF forces, because each of these
three operations would directly support
the others and the whole would be
operating under the umbrella Of an
overwhelming air power.
These are some Of the military ideas
which study Of the map Of Sicily sue-
gests. Whether any of them will be
translated into fact must be left for the
present. in the realm Of conjecture.
There is, however, this to add-that it
seems likely that considerable use will be
made of air-borne troops If Sicily is
actually invaded, and the two regions of
coastal plain above mentioned suggest
themselves as excellent experimental
grounds for such purposes.
Copyright, 1e43, New York Tribune, Incl
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