Evening star., 1943-06-09
Boyle

4
Boyle
Continued From First Page)
salvo into the rocky little italian
island between Tunisia and Sicily.
Just before taking off on the escort
mission, one group of P-38 fighters
was told that friendly naval vessels
simultaneously would attack the
enemy base, under air attack for the
17th successive day today and bom-
harded five times by British war
ships last week.
1--WE had a swell grandstand seat
at more than 10000 feet" said 1t.
Col. Troy Keith of San Jose, Calf ;,
group commander.
wonderfully Co. -ordinated."
"They were standing off shelling
| it when we got there. AS soon as the
Bits we were escorting started un-
| loading their bombs the war vessels
turned en- masse and steamed in
until it looked like they were within
a quarter mile of Pantelieria Harbor
and turned broadside.
They cut loose with everything
they had.
"1t was wonderfully timed and CO.
ordinated.
I'VE could see the red flashes of
the warships' guns-there seemed to
be number of them, cruisers and
destroyers.
They were really cutting loose.
| Grayish smoke belched steadily from
the deck guns as the ships circled to
avoid being hit in return and fired
| at will.
1--WE couldn't see what they were
| shooting at because the whole end
OF the island was covered with heavy
brown dust clouds raised by the
Fortress bombs. You actually could
see the earth shake when those
bombs hit.
Planes Protect Ships.
While the Navy ships circled,
firing continually, our planes also
were circling overhead to protect
them from any surprise enemy at
tack.
when the dust from the Fortress
bombs began to settle the warships
began pulling back from shore, keep
ing their big guns hot at they moved
away. We could see the red flashes
as the shells left the guns.
I'D hate to be any one on the
island today. The fax they threw
up was very light"
1t was so clear that the flyers
could see Italy and Sicily and they
said they were inclined to agree with
1t. Keith that they should have been
charged admission to see the naval
action below them on the mirror
smooth sea.
"It was like watching a battle in
a vacuum because the roar of our
motors kept us from hearing any,
thing" said 1t. Mark c. Hageny of
Hollywood, Calf.
"The water was very blue and the
wakes OF the ships very white. We
could see white splashes all around
the ships from shells fired by Axis
coastal defense batteries but they
didn't get a single hit that we no.
ticed."
Praises British Ships.
Those British ships we're doing
damn good" remarked Capt. Rich
ard E. Decker of Coffeyville, Kans.
1--WE don't usually get to see a free
show like that every day.
Every time the guns blazed it
was like somebody shining a dozen
mirrors in your face"
1t. Robert B. Riley of Auburn,
Calf, said he felt the flyers had
been help to the navy in allowing
1t to get close to the shore "be-
cause we have been pounding away
those Notifications" since the big
air assault was launched last month.
1t. Riley added:
I'VE came in for a low-altitude
bombing attack today while the
feet was bombarding from several
miles out. They already had start
ed fires in the dock area and there
were three big columns of smoke
curling up.
Building Hit Squarely.
I'VE dropped couple of bombs
squarely on building by a gun
emplacement. AS I passed over the
target felt an explosion beneath
that bounced me up. It apparently
was from the bombs of the flyer
ahead Of me, but for a moment
thought it was a naval shell.
boy, wouldn't that be something
to get hit by one Of those babies p
One P-3s pilot, Capt. William G.
Newman Of Dewey, Okla, who won
home leave after his fight over PAN
teleria, said:
THE bombardment the British
Navy put on really made my last
mission something to remember.
Everybody practically had his ship
over on its back so he could watch
the show"
A LITTLE ~Want ADJ In 1sha