Evening star., 1943-07-18
THE SUNDAY STAR WASHINGTON D. G. JULY 49, e43
Catania Drive Seen
Aimed 10 Block Axis
|Counteraftacks
BY MAI. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.

ELlOl.
Readers Of these articles will have
noted that in all discussions of ST.
cily, both before and after the drive
began, I have pointed out the vita
Importance to attacking forces OF
the city Of Catania and the great
plain bearing that city's name.
Now great battle is raging Or
that plain for the possession OF
these twin ohjectives. and it may be
of some interest to examine the
reasons they are so important to
our high command from the point
of view of purely ground operation.
Sicily is triangular island whose
northeastern point. at Messina, ap-
proaches within miles the main
land of Italy. Through Messina
reinforcements and. supplies must
reach its garrison and through Mes
sina lies garrison's line of retreat
From Messina two main railroads
with paralleling highways, diverge
One runs along the north coast tc
Palermo, the capital, near the west.
ern end of the island. In this area
the bulk of the enemy forces hac
gathered, due to the illusion built ur
in the minds of the enemy high
command bv Gen. Eisenhower This
railroad and highway therefore may
be considered the enemy's main line
OF communication.
Second Line Through Defile.
A second railroad and highway
runs south from Messina to Catania
Along a narrow shelf between noun
tain heights on the west and the
sea on the east. Once Catania is
in our hands, there can be no Axis
threat from the direction of Mes
sina, because no army couE force
its way through this narrow defilt
against an enemy. but command
ing both the sea and the air.
A third railway connects Palermo
and Catania coming into Catania
south of Mount Etna through the
plain of Catania. This railway joins
the Messina Palermo railway at
Cerda, % miles east of Palermo
There is no cross connection be-
tween the two lines. Hence with the
fall Of Catnia, the Sicilian railway
system is cut in two parts, con-
nected only by the north coastal line
Messina Palermo.
The Sicilian highway system !:
more extensive. From the enemy's
point of view, its efficient use in the
transfer and supply of troops de-
pends on certain locations to the
center of the island. where most oi
the internal highways converge
There are four places in Centra
Sicily. not far apart. which control
through traffic between east to west
Caltanissetta, Emma, Leonforte ano
Nicosia.
TwO-Way Break Through.
Once we occupy the plain and
hold Catania we block off attack
from the direction of Messina and
have the vast mass of Etna to guard
our right flank We are breaking
into the Catania Plain not only from
the direction of Syracuse but also
that of Caltagirone Presently our
whole line in this direction will face
northwest. Once we control the
highway functions we are secure
from further fear of enemy counter
attack.
1t should be noted that as we are
converging on the Catania Plair
from two directions, so we also are
converging in two directions on the
road centers at Canicatti, American
troops are only Is miles from Cal.
tanissetta. The push toward Agri-
gento obviously is intended to Sc
cure the flank of this operation
Should Agrigento fall there would
be little opportunity for forces from
Western Sicily to interfere with an
advance from Canicatti toward CAL
tanisetta.
The development of all these oper-
ations depends, as a house depends
on its cornerstone. on the capture
of Cantania and the occupation of
the plain. Once this has been ac-
complished the rest will follow in
natural progression.
'copyrisht. 1943, New York Tribune, Inc }