The Wilmington morning star., 1943-07-22
interpreting
The War
By KIRKE L. SIMPSON

tempt to flee from Sicily appe..,
brewing with Anglo-Aaer.can ,-
ture of the Enna commun;cs.,.
key in the Catania plain
Surrender of that central ;.
to the invaders, announce ." 70"
Rome before it was An:eS,o,-'.'a ,.'a
ed, can have no other roo.,. -
Il places American and Carss.'' ',,;,'''
troops astride four main ros5 5'-1l
rail approaches to tn ca,,. ~ s"l
north coast Of the island. onI,. ,.' d, a
odd miles from Enna as the cro, .r
flies. '''R
/ Ahead lie the Pelorits1 ,,,..
tains fringing the Sic.ia, ',,.,.' n..
coast. They are steep risi.a ,,9' a
4,O0o-foot peaks in spots. bn. .
impossible, with half a dozen H. ~
portant, haro-surfaced nortSs.-,. -','
highways passing through tber, ~'s.' u.
tween Palermo on the wes, ,g, W.
the base of the Messina perio,'lo a-a
or the east. '''''S
Axis rear-guard action in ..
passes may delay Allied deborog
ment to the north coast to crt t.', t
single enemy-held east.west r,1 rs
way connecting the nortaeas,o.,
and western sections of the jsrsr.
The whole western section aIrs,%
virtually is cut off.
Italian or German forces !, e
west face the alternative Of bo;ss
trapped by an Allied break.tbror-,
to the coast, or escape by c.
Their refuge could be Sard;1a vs..
certainly doomed as Sicily. o~ ,ss
Italian mainland. In either csso
they would nave 200 miles IA a.
by sea under blasting Allied ar
stack
There is every evidence th,.
western Sicily is garriso1e5 ~,
most exclusively by italian tr0ors
German forces are massed ogs,
ward, desperately trying TO 5oId
open escape routes to the JIesso,
peninsula and the extreme porfb
eastern tip of Sicily, only ,vo
miles from the toe Of The hs.n
mainland boot.
The few and perilouS escaDe
routes from the center to Messn,
| lie west and north of Mount Eua,
which makes Nazi deployment ap.
pear already only rear guard ac.
tons to facilitate escape Of as
many German comrades as pos
sible. Italians in west Sicily are
being left to their fate.
| General EisenhoWer's warning
that hard fighting still lies ahead
particularly for British Genera
Montgomery's men on the riga.
flank before Catania, is typical Of
military caution. The fact seems
to be that once Catania falls, The
Nazi forces east of the Mount Eta
bastion could be walled off in the
sloping difficult and narrow ter,
rain north of Catania, while The
main British effort was diverted
west and north about the base d
the towering volcano. Etna is En-
circled by inland road and raj!
systems from Catania through
Randazo, on the northwest slope
That interior route around E@
has always seemed more practice
BILE than the short push up te
narrow and formidable easter
coastal slope 1t would allow Brit
ish forces of the right and cenC
to approach the Messina peninsgs
from the west rather than tif
south, to take the Nazi defenders
of the coastal shelf above Catanii
in the rear.
Messina peninsula itself has the
makings of another Bataan in re-
verse. 1t is rugged and noun
famous in the center and |.'2o"
road or rail service except aIoas
the north and southeast coaS,s.
A good. two-way highway Eals
north from Randazzo to Cape d Vt.
lando on the north coasl d, 0',
base of the Messina penlnsola, "
secondary highway parallels " gr. llr,
ther to the east, from trancdI,l.o tt
to San Biagio There IS no 0u's, .s.
practical route connecung o ae
north and southeast coasts u .,G
peninsula except the coastal I'1.
! ways and highways mee'Ins
Messina itself. And those coas@, l,.
routes on both sides are no' s.r,. u,a
under close ,ange Allied an D.. .1
: bardment now, but open 10 Ila.o' ,,S
gunfire through their whole leD.,, ~.
There is the stuff not Of aoo, Wv ~
Dunkerque, but another Cape 6o1
at Messina for the AXIS