Evening star., 1943-09-04
American Landing
Near Naples Forecast
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot.

Exactly four years after Great Britain
declared war on Germany and set in
motion the British expeditionary force
across the Channel, British troops are
once more on the soil of the European
continent.
1t is entirely fitting and proper that
on this historic occasion, the honor Of
leading the invasion OF Europe should
have been given to the British; and
even were it not for the anniversary.
surely Gen. Montgomery and his gallant
9th Army have well earned this high
distinction in their own right.
At the time of writing there are no
details available of how the landing is
progressing, save for the important fact
that the beachheads on the Calabrian
side of the Strait of Messina appear to
have been firmly established.
1t may, however, be assumed that the
landings in the vicinity of Reggie Gala
bria are only a part of a much larger
operation. The Allied high command
hardly will expect to fight its way into
Italy through the narrow bottleneck
OF the Calabrian peninsula, and with
no better facilities than are offered by
the beaches now being used and by the
bomb-shattered harbors of Reggie and
Villa San Giovanni.
The American 7th Army still has to
be heard from. SO also the American
5th Army, which was not used in Sicily,
and the French army of Africa, which
was not used there to any great extent.
The most probable use of these troops
would seem to be in landing farther up
the italian coast, possibly in the vicinity
of Naples where the bombings OF the
past two weeks have done much to cut
off the movements of Axis counter at
tacks. Naples is only 167 miles from
Palermo, which means that the Allied
air forces can give good fighter cover
to a landing in that vicinity.
Another possibility is landing some
where in the Gulf of Taranto, which
is the deep indentation between the toe
and the heel of the Italian boot"
laramie itself is an admirably equipped
harbor, but it is also an important naval
base and is heavily fortified against at
tack from the sea. To what extent it
might be able to resist attack by land,
delivered by troops put ashore at nearby
points, is doubtful The airline dis
tance from Messina to Taranto is slightly
less than that from Palermo to Naples.
so that fighter cover is practicable at
either place. The coast of the Italian
heel affords many opportunities for land
ing, and the port of Gallipoli, about As
miles southeast of Taranto and not much
farther by air from Messina, has a con-
siderable equipment of docks and good
anchorage for ships of any size
less ambitious operation might in
clude landings anywhere on either side
of the Calabrian peninsula, or at some
intermediate point on the west coast
between Reggie and Naples The Gulf
of Salerno and the Gulf of Policastro
both offer opportunities. The port of
Crotone, on the eastern shore of Gala
bria, frequently has been bombed and
shelled, perhaps in preparation for a
landing. Its anchorage is limited, but
the harbor gives good shelter for small
and medium ships.
Finally, We must consider the posi-
bility that the landing at Reggie is
purely diversion, intended to facilitate
major stroke somewhere else. Either
much farther up the peninsula of Italy.
or even in Southern France. But this
Is unlikely. So far Gen. Eisenhower,s
strategic schemes have been very tightly
co-ordinated, and it seems good guess
that this one will be of the same char
acter. The British appear to have used
landing barges and other small craft
for the most part; indeed, nothing larger
would be needed to make the passage
OF the narrow Strait of Messina That
leaves the big transports for the Ameri-
cans and French to use in attacking
some point more distant from the 81.
Gillian bases
1t seems on the whole the best guess
that such an attack will come, that it
will come very soon, that it will be CLOSELY
artlculated with the Reggie landing
and that its purpose will be to cut off
the retreat of such German troops as
may be opposing the British, and to
surround and destroy them as pre-
liminary to effecting a strong Allied
lodgment in Southern Italy.
1t remains to be seen what forces the
Germans may be willing to risk in de-
tending Southern Italy under such dis
advantageous circumstances, and also
whether the italian forces on the main
land will have any greater will to fight
than those which were met in Sicily.
Copyright, 1943. New York Tribune, Inc1