Evening star., 1943-06-20
Doo|itt|e Flyers
Down 80 Planes
In Great Day
Sicily and. Sordinio
Hit Hardest Since
PonteIIeriu's Fall
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, June 19.-
American warplanes, lashing out
with their heaviest blows since
Pantelleria collapsed June II,
blasted Axis shipping, troops and
airflelds in Sicily and Sardinia
yesterday, Allied headquarters
announced today.
Maj. Gen. James H. Doolittle S
Strategic Air Force-one of the two
sections of the Northwest African
Air Command-scored its greatest
single-day victory, downing 80
enemy craft.
Eight American planes were lost
as the mighty air arm punched at
M ussol mis- island fortresses
spreading destruction in Messina
and Milo airfield in Sicily, and rip
ping at shipping, airf1elds and COM
munications in Sardinia.
% Downed in Big Dogfight.
The 80 enemy planes downed In
air battles was the largest toll in
any day by the Strategic Air Force
the aerial division assigned to
strike at enemy bases, communica-
tions and supply lines. Larger
numbers of Axis planes have been
destroyed however, in one day in
combined operations of the Stra-
tegic and Tactical Air Forces and
Middle East flyers.
Twenty-three of the 80 were
smashed down in great doghght
over Golfo Aranci in Northern Sar-
dinia, where BIS Mitchell bombers
laid hits among docks and railway
yards.
The communique did not disclose
the number of participating Ameri-
can aircraft, but the force was de-
scribed as the largest winging out
in pre- invasion aerial assault since
Pantelleria capitulated to air power.
Messina Struck in Daylight.
Messina was struck in daylight by
Flying Fortresses and hits were
made on the ferry terminal lead
ing to the Italian mainland, on rail-
way yards and on the power sta
ton, headquarters reported.
P-38 Lghtnings carrying bombs
pounded the airfield at Milo, in
Western Sicily near Trapani, and
shot up Axis troops there. and also
strafed airplanes on the Villacidro
airfield.
Marauder bombers set three ships
on fire at Olbia in Northern Sar-
DINA, one of them exploding, and
flghter-bombers shot up three ra-
dio stations in Southern Sardinia
The heavy assaults Friday fol-
lowed a Thursday night raid by
big RAF bombers of the Middle
East Air Command on Comiso,
Sicily. The night raid came after
a daylight pounding of the same
target by American Liberators, and
set fire to hangers and workshops,
a Middle East communique re-
ported.
Enemy Shipping Harrassed.
RAF long-range fighters harried
enemy shipping off the west coast
OF Greece Friday, and struck rail-
road installations on the mainland,
the communique added
Intruder planes from Malta
bombed railway targets in Southern
Italy Friday night.
In defensive actions, American
fighters of the Tactical Air Force
drove off German planes attempt.
ing to bomb Pantelleria.
Both Berlin and Rome broad
casts announced the Axis planes
had attacked Allied shipping at
Pantelleria and along the Alge-
rian coast, with the Italians
claiming 6,O0o-ton ship sunk off
Algeria and another damaged,
and the Germans reporting direct
hits on 5,000-ton freighter at
Pantelleria
(The Italian communique said
q Allied planes were shot down
yesterday. 1t also indicated an
Allied attack on Syracuse, on the
southeast coast of Sicily, but
Syracuse was not mentioned by
Allied sources)