The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-08-06
Enemy Fights In
 Desperation to Escape
Continued from Page 1.)

tion would be possible except for a few specialists and key personnel.
 The capture of Misterbianca. which was doomed by the fall of Catania, and of the B Gerbini air. fields, west of Catania, gave the AL lies additional bases from which to press their all out aerial assault as land forces fought to close the mount Etna trap on the enemy.
 Italians Surrender
 The Italian 434th battalion, which was left behind as rear guard out fit when the Germans moved north ward from Catania, surrendered internationally to the British 8th army because the capture of Gen. turipe by . famous Irish brigade which fought well in Tunisia had made the position of Catania un- tenable. But there was bloody fighting ahead on the roads to Adrano and Randazzo, which lies north of Mount Etna.
 The Germans were fighting de- sperately, especially against the Americans near Troina, in an ef- fort to hold back the northern claw of the Allied pincers and prevent closing of the trap.
 Resistance was described as the fiercest of the Sicilian campaign, with units of the Hermann Goering and the 18th Panzer division put ting up suicidal opposition"
 The enemy appeared to be at tempting to prepare a new and much shorter line behind Mount Etna. probably stretching from the Taormina area to somewhere around Naso on the north coast.
 CLondon observers estimated that 60,O00 to 80,000 Axis troops still were fighting in Sicily but were doomed. They said there was as yet no evil dence of an important evacuation movement)
 Greater Aerial Onslaught
 The allied aerial onslaught against Messina and the Messina Straits area was the greatest of the Sicilian campaign. with flying for tresses, Welnngtons and all other types of craft participating in day and night raids.
 The British Eight Army, pushing up the east coast through captured Catania. was believed already threatening Acireale, eight miles to the north and only little more than 50 miles short of Messi1a. Front dispatches indicated that the British probably were within artiil- lery range of Acireale.
 Other British and Canadian forces, along with the U. s. seventh Army, were hammering the 1talo- German armies back toward Mes sina around an arc reaching the north coast near S1n Fratello, about 63 miles west of Messina.
 (An Italian communique broad east by the Rome radio said Axis troops on the central sector were engaged in tenacious defensive fighting" The communique ack- nowledged the loss of Cataniao
 About 10000 Left
 Authoritative sources here es- timated that only 5000 Italians ana 35. GOO Germans still were fighting in Sicily and front correspondent for the service newspaper stars and stripes said the two forces no long CT could be considered Allies.
 Armed conflicts have been report ed between the Italians and the Germans, the correspondent said. The Germans were reported to be food and keeping 1t from tn. hungry Italians.
 Flying fortresses opened the latest series of raids on Messina with daylight attack on highway and railway communications in the port yesterday.
 British Wellingtons took over the assault in darkness, blasting evacua- ton ships and other craft drawn up In the harbor and on the shore ready for a dash avross the two mile wide Messina Strait to the Italian mainland. Troop concentra- tions also were hit.
 Evacuation of key German ser- vice personnel was believed already under way. mostly by small boats at night. Any large-scale evacuation was believed impossible, however,