Evening star., 1943-06-22
bombers Start
Is Great Fires
In Naples Area
Reggie CoIobrio and
San Giovanni Also
Blasted by Allies
BY the Associated Press.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, June o.
Twenty-fi five great fires, one COW
ering an area a mile in diameter
were left blazing yesterday in the
port of Naples and in the nearby
air stores depot of Cancello by AL
lied bomberS, which began their
attack before dawn and contin-
ued it into the afternoon
In similarly timed assault Brit
from the Middle East command
raided the Italian toe cities of
Reggie Calabria and San Giovanni
before dawn and again by daylight,
demolishing harbor mole and scat
tering destruction in the wake of
Allied headquarters warnings that
the air war is to be extended widely
to Mussolinis factories and inland
cities, as we'll as to his ports.
Maj. Gen. James H. Doolittle's
twin-engined Mitchells also carried
out the first medium bomber mis-
sions against the italian mainland
and with their P-38 lightning es-
corts blasted the railroad yards and
other objectives at Salerno and
scored Is direct hits on railroad
sidings and at Battipaglia. Both
Salerno and Battipaglia are south
of Naples.
Attack Started Sunday Night.
British WELLINGTON bomberS the
blockbuster carriers, began the on
slaught against Naples. Italy's
greatest port, Sunday night with
their cargos of high explosives and
incendiaries which started num-
Der of fires.
Then an armada of 100 Flying
Fortresses picked up the task by
daylight and smashed through the
afternoon at the same smoking
targets.
Weaving through 30 OF 40 enemy
planes, two flights of the huge
winged Bits rained bombs through
out the Naples industrial area, hit
ting roundhouses, locomotive repair
shops, the royal arsenal and tor
pedo factory stores and oil dumps.
In a companion assault at Can
cello approximately so per cent of
the railroad trackage was left use
less and several buildings were
smashed by direct hits.
Operating like an aerial scissors,
the Middle East commands Ameri-
can Liberators came in from the
south yesterday for the attacks on
Reggie Calabria and San Giovanni.
dropping nearly 275,0OO pounds of
high explosives and incendiaries, a
communique from Cairo announced.
The Liberators swept in on the
heels of heavy RAF bombers from
the Middle East which bombed the
same targets.
Mole Is Demolished.
Bad visibility prevented observa-
ton of the RAF attack, but the
communique said the mole west of
the ferry terminal at San Giovanni
was demolished, ferry in a slip was
turned over from a direct hit and
heavy columns of smoke sent spout
ing from the bombed area.
At Reggie Calabria numerous
bomb bursts were seen in the rail-
road yards and along the water
front.
Our formations met unusually
heavy fighter opposition and under
went aerial bombardment," said the
Cairo announcement which said 20
enemy aircraft were shot down and
probably eight others destroyed in
fierce battles. None of the American
planes was lost.
Cairo dispatches said the Axis
has concentrated heavy fighter
forces in the toe of Italy to
combat the incessant raids on
both sides of Messina Straits and
that yesterdays formations en-
countered about so Messerschmitt
109s and 1l0s, Macchi 202s,
Focke-Wulf 1905 and Heinkel
1l3s.
(The enemy planes renewed
their tactics of gathering in
formation ahead of the Ameri-
cans and trying to drop bombs
on them, the dispatches said.
When their bombs were ex-
hausted they dived, splitting ma
chine-gun bullets and canaon
ShellS.)
Total of 23 Planes Bagged.
Three more fighters were brought
down by the Northwest African
Forces for an Allied total of at
least % enemy planes yesterday,
compared with the loss of two
Allied planes. The Northwest
African Forces total of Axis aircraft
(See MEDITERRANEAN, Pg. A-16J !