Evening star., 1943-08-24
Allied Bombers Raid
Points Near Naples
Without a Fight
Two More Key RoiIwoy
Cities Are Attacked;
Bari Also Is Hit
b. the Associated Press.

NORTH AFRICA, Aug. 24.-Alliet
bomber fleets have hammered
two more key railway points nea
Naples without meeting singl,
Axis defender, while American
Liberators sweeping in from ths
Middle East struck Bari on tn,
southeastern Italian coast, down.
ing IA enemy planes in a blazing
air battle, 1t was announced to.
day.
None of the Liberators was lost.
No enemy fighters rose to chal
lenge American medium Mitchell
dropping load of bombs by day.
light into Battipaglia, south Of
Naples, nor British Wellington.
which pounded Bagnoli in Naples
environs before dawn today.
Sardinia Raided.
American Warhaws had a similar
experience of no opposition in 9
sweep over Sardinia and SHARP
raid on enemy barracks and factory
buildings at Cagliari.
Strings of bombs ripped up the
tracks at Battipaglia and some large
explosions were seen on the east side
of the main yards. Warehouses
were hit and fires started. Ground
forces threw up a heavy curtain OF
antiaircraft fire.
Raj and RCAF Wellingtons con-
centrated the attack on Bagnoli into
few minutes. The predawn half
light combined with bright moon
light and flares gave perfect illumi-
nation of the targets, and crews re-
ported many direct hits.
Ground Defenses Inactive.
Ground defenses there were mac
tive, and the raid appeared to have
taken the Italians by surprise, One
crew saw a blockbuster bomb ex-
plode in the middle of the railroad
yards, with another following close
to it.
The P-40 Warhawks struck their
targets in Sardinia with bombs and
cannonfire, and "as far as I could
see, not single bomb was wasted
said Second 1t. Ernest N. Mcconnell
of Spring Hill, Ala.
One Allied plane was lost in all
these operations.
The Liberators hitting at Bari
yesterday above the heel of the
Italian boot met a heavy force of
fighter planes, with their gunners
claiming IA of them. This raid was
directed against the airdrome and
freight yards, and hits were seen
among hangers and rail yards
despite obscuring clouds.
Barracks on Rhodes Raided.
Raj Wellingtons from the Middle
East attacked barracks at Lin6os on
the island of Rhodes.
Bari was rocked by nearly lbs, 900
pounds of bombs from the Liber-
ators, dispatch from Cairo said.
While the air war thus continued
In full swing an Allied naval COM
munique disclosed that two French
light cruisers, La Fantasque and lie
Terrible, are operating in close CO.
operation with other Allied forces
In. the Mediterranean.
The two French vessels, which
were in North African ports when
the Allies landed last November,
were completed about 1884. Origi-
nally listed as destroyers, they are
of 1859 tons, carry five 55-inch
guns in addition to other armament,
and have a normal complement of
about 220 men. On trial runs LIE
Terrible attained record speed of
Is knots.
A sistership, La Triumphant, was
last reported operating with Fight
ing French naval forces. The class
of which these vessels are a part
originally consisted of six ships, one
OF which-L'Audacieux-was sunk
in action with British forces at
Dakar on September %, 1910.
fToday's Italian communique
broadcast by Rome and recorded
by the Associated Press asserted
that German planes raiding Pa
lermo in Sicily hit IL merchant
ships and warships and 2 mer-
chantmen totaling 5000 tons and
2 destroyers may be considered
sunk"
Allied planes raided Carbonia,
Bari, and localities on Naples
outskirts, the communioue added,
asserting that five we're shot
DOWN.
The Allied communique said the
Palermo area was raided Sunday
night, with four enemy bombers de-
stroyed.
Cunningham Praises Fleet.
The naval communique said Ad-
miral of the Fleet Sir Andrew
Browne Cunningham had congrat-
ulated the United States 7th Army
and supporting American naval
forces on he splendid and rapid
advance on the north coast to Mes
sina during the Sicilian campaign,
praising the effective application
of sea power in support of land op-
erations."
In five days since last Thrsday
Allied flyers have sent down at least
149 Axis planes in air fights.
The Allies ruled the skies, at least
temporarily, over Southern Italy.
Official records at headquarters
here show that Axis air losses in
nine months since the Allied land
ings in North Africa have passed
the 4,500 mark. This includes 1888
destroyed IN aerial combat and about
1,700 captured on airfields in Tu-
nisia, Pantelleria and Sicily but
does not take in the enemy machines
blown to pieces on the ground.
Meanwhile Photographic recon-
naissance showed even more extern
sive damage to the italian mainland
railroad system than cleaned from
previous questioning of crewmen
The raid last week on Foggia, near
the eastern coast across from Naples
severed the through lines to Naples
Bari and Manfredonia. Locomotive
and repair sheds were damaged Sc
verely, and the electric power sta
ton perhaps put out of service en-
tirely.
Naples communications with Rome
also were cut by bomb craters ir
the main rail lines and towering