Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 August 1943 — Page 2

Defenses in Drive to - The Coast.

(Continued from Page one)

Americans near Troina, in an effort ‘to hold back the northern claw of the allied pincers -and prevent clos-

‘Resistance was described as the fiercest of the Sicilian campaign, ith, units of the Goering and the ISth panzer division putting up “suicidal opposition.” Admit Catania Loss

The enemy appeared to be attempting to prepare a new and much shorter line behind Mt. Etna, probably stretching from the Taormina area to somewhere around + Naso on the north coast. The British 8th army, pushing up the east coast through captured Catania, was believed already threatening Aoireale, eight miles to the north and only a little more than 50 miles’ short of Messina. Front dispatches indicated that the British probably were within artillery range of Aoireale. . Other British and Canadian forces, along with the U. S. 7th army, were hammering the ItaloGerman armies back toward Messina around an arc reaching the ‘north coast near San Fratello, about 53 miles west of Messina. . (An Italian communique broadcast by the Rome radio said. axis troops on the central sector were engaged in “tenacious defensive ting.” The communique ackowledged the loss of Catania.) = Authoritative sources here estimated that only 5000 Italians and 85,000 Germans still were fighting In Sicily and a front correspondent for the service newspaper Starsand ; pes said the two forces no longer could be considered allies. Ah .Armed conflicts have been reported between the Italians and the Germans, the (correspondent said. The Germans were reported “ to be hoarding food and keeping it from tle hungry Italians. : Flying fortresses opened the latest series of raids on Messina with a daylight attack on highway and railway communications in the port yesterday.

Raid in Darkness

British Wellingtons took over the assault in darkness, blasting evac- _ uation ships and other craft drawn up in the harbor and on the shore - ready for a dash across the two-mile-wide Messina strait to the ‘Italian mainland. Troop concentra“tions also were. hit, + Evacuation of, key. German service . personnel was . “believed. already under way, mostly by small boats at: ‘night. Any. lar ge-soale evacua-

Supremacy. Allied torpedo boats al-)

GOES TO THE FRONT Medical and food supplies, as well ‘as military equipment, are being ‘rushed to -our fighting fronts in - Victory containers made from used _ boxes, bags, brown wrapping paper, _ newspapers and waste basket paper. You can help relieve the critical paper shortage by saving all forms of waste paper, for conversion into overseas cartons. and ammunition packing cases. To sell your salvage to a dealer, or to give to charitable or other organizations, telephone a collector at MA rket 3321

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MAGCHINELESS PERMANENT

answer this question by opening up

of fire and fumes into the pillbox

if they are still alive—tumble from the pillboxes Bp {and yelling.” SF ver, because of Fallied air and naval].

Japanese who evidently were killed in this fashion. Some were hardly scorched.

with the destruction of 30 pillboxes in five days—a 100 per cent average. Their use in this battle for Munda was the most extensive in jungle warfare and the South Pacific area

ready have operated in Messina strait. © Medium bombers attacked road communications at Francavilla in southern italy, while light bombers struck at Adrano, a key point on the road looping around the western slope of Mt. Etna. -Other- light: bombers and fighter bombers in relays hit troop concentrations and road junctions in the shrinking axis bridgehead. Daylight raiders. also attacked electrical installations on Sardinia, while night intruder aircraft carried out offensive sweeps over southern Italy. ~ Eight allied planes were lost in all operations.

LIQUID FLAMES SUBDUED JAPS

Drove . Them Screaming From Their Pillboxes At Munda.

(Continued from Page One)

That's where Lt. James E. Olds, Des Moines, Ia. went to work. Using flamethrowers in the jungle is a tricky job, The chemical containers must be hailed through pe dense jungle growth to {within 50 feet’ or less of the well screened pitlboxes. The slender, blond Olds was & former highway expert. He joined the national guard and was called into service with the cavalry. He once submitted a paper on chemical warfare and then decided to switch outfits. “Sometimes we didn’t know the exact location of the Pillboxes,” Olds said. “The infantry would guide us to their approximate location. It was rather nerve-wracking trying to decide which bush hid the Nips. Sometimes the Nips would

with their machine guns, Then we lost no time in scorching them.” A Two-Man Attack

Protected only by the fire of riflemen, the flamethrowers, trained by and responsible to Olds, work on each pillbox separately. Usually two men are assigned to each fortification, approaching it from divergent angles. Almost always they are under fire of Japanese guns when they open the nozzles and pour two streams

apertures.

Ina miter of seconds, the Japs— &b hurry, sereaming

Some Hardly ‘Scorched’ I have seen the bodies of several

Our eters are credited

so far, Olds, in addition’ ta leading his specially trained crew, instructs infantrymen in the basic technique of flame throwing so there will always be an ample supply of “firebirds” ‘when the going gets tough.

| 2 Reported Missing, 1 Over India

(Continued from Page One)

operator and flying instructor at Anderson, was tlie pilot of a Chinese transport plane listed as missing on flight from Chungking to Calcutta, India, March 13,

8 8 =» Wounded LT. ALBERT H. KREKLER, son of Mrs. Helen M. Krekler of Hazel Bluff, has been wounded in

action in Sicily, his mother was informed today. » » ” Discharged PVT. KENNETH KOON, U. S. marine credited with killing 31 Japanese on Guadalcanal, has ‘been honorably discharged at the Great Lakes naval training sta tion, his parents, Mr. and Mrs, William Koon of Summitville, learned today. 8 2 8 Missing ‘ AMONG 132. soldiers reported missing in action by the war department today are 2d Lt. Ralph O. Grace, son of Friend Ralph Grace of Brookston, and 8. Sgt. - Wilbur J. Vankosky, son of Mrs. ‘Matie E. Vankosky of La Porte. . Lt. ‘Grace was in the Middle

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BELIEVE 12 YANKS DROWNED "LONDON; Aug. 6 (U. P.).—~Twelve American soldiers. are. believed to have drowned last night when a barge capsized in a west England estuary. All of the men in the barge were wearing full kit.

South African air forces need to

This is too much even for pillboxes which have stood: up under days of bombardment by artillery and planes. #

But Don't,

of devastating striking power, Intricate organization and vast cone tinuous supply operations surpassing the wildest flights of any fiction’ writer. British and American troops are firing over 300 types of ammunition. British, American, Canadian and

use. nearly 700,000 parts and bits to keep their planes flying.

RUSS DRIVE TO RING KHARKOV

Low- Flying Pilots “Shoot Into Columns of Fleeing Nazis. (Continued from Page One)

growing threats to Bryansk, strongest German bastion on the central front, and Kharkov, northeastern gateway to the. Ukraine. The capture of Kharkov, which may he next on fhe Soviet timetable, probably would lead fo a German retreat to behind the Dnieper river, 130 miles away. Some of the heaviest aerial fighting of the summer raged over woodlands south and southwest of Orel; where German columns were retreating frantically over two dirt roads in an attempt to escape encirclement by eight converging Russian columns. The Russian alr command was deploying its maximum effort to transform the enemy retreat into a rout that would disperse and destroy the German forces before they could reach prepared defenses. All reports indicated that the Russian high command has concentrated air power on the southcentral front on a scale never before witnessed in this country, :

Moscow Jubilant

Hedge-hopping roads, Russian air force bombers and Stormovik assault planes blasted and strafed tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and infantry clogging the two escape routes, leaving them littered with flaming wreckage and dead. Moscow was jubilant over the capture of Orel and Belgorod yesterday, first announced by Premier Marshal Josef Stalin in an order of the day. It was by his orders that the 120 guns boomed a 12salvo salute last midnight. Happy crowds jammed the capital’s streets until 2 a. m. under a special relaxation of the curfew.

NAVY: MAY ABSORB HOUSING PROJECT

BEDFORD, Ind., Aug. 6 (U.P.).— The Crane housing development may become part of the Crane naval ammunition depot near Burns City, Commander S. K. MacLean, second officer in charge or ordnance, indicated today. : He said that this development would deprive the county of taxes otherwise accruing from the housing project. MacLean’s statement was a reply to charges by Rep. Earl Wilson (R. Ind), that the housing project was “a waste of money.” Wilson had sent a message to President Roosevelt demanding that construction work be stopped.

BUY THE HOME

This is path the three allied groups are using fo drive the axis forces toward Messina. Meanwhile the Messina retreat is being bladed from the air on a day-and-night schedule.

Sicily Battle Nears End,

(Continued from Page One)

Think It's Over

Every allied soldier requires approximately five pounds of food and water daily which gives some idea of the vast quantities of foodstuff alone required and the prob-

lems of shipping and transporting it right up to the front lines. To keep the allied armies in Sicily going, more than 1,000,000 tons of shipping is constantly moving into the Mediterranean. More than 3000 ships were used. in the initial invasions and most of them continue to operate a shuttle service,

Ues Many Types

Allied air forces frequently employ more than a dozen different types of bombs on § single raid. All aircraft fire at least three types of machine guns and cannon bullets, namely tracers, incendiaries and armor piercers, When 100 flying fortresses go roaring off over Sicilian and Italian targets, they have a combined horsepower of 480,000 or sufficient power for seven sSuper-battleships. These fortresses consume about 200 gallons of gasoline per hour for each plane or ‘20,000 gallons of high octane every hour When’. 100 planes operate. : Some allied duiriipe alone contain more than 50,000 mines and thousands upon thousands of shells. As Hitler's tide recedes, it leaves behind the wreckage of men, machines, towns, cities and shipping in amazing quantities. I crossed the Mediterranean in an airplane troop transport crowded with eager youngsters fully equipped with packs and rifles peering excitedly from small windows for the first sight of their new battlefield. Their faces resembled those .of a freshman football team. Returning from: Sicily after visiting the front, I rode in an ambulance plane filled to capacity with drawn, weary looking men in stretchered tiers, all very quiet and docile, Of course there were far more going over than returning wounded, but these two plane trips provided plenty of contrast.

GARFIELD GOP CLUB OUTING TOMORROW

The Garfield Republican club will hold its annual outing tomorrow afternoon at Garfield park, Sam Walker, club president, has announced.

workers in the engineering department and the street commissioner's office is scheduled for 2 p. m.

HOPE TO AVERT STRIKE WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (U.P.).— Representatives of 1,000,000 non-op-erating railway employees conferred today with railroad officials in an 11th-hour effort to obtain a wage agreement before the rail unions

{pay much attention’ to the ships,

‘| were the first things we knocked

A- baseball game between the|

i" Hixon, Transport Fireman, |= :

Describes Landing of ‘Yanks on Sicily. * (Continued trom Page One)

Our ship was’ standing by for a quick ° ‘about. three ‘to’ six miles out, The sed was covered with boats of all sizes, shapes and descriptions. - wi “Que izansiort helped ward off attacking enemy planes: The first

planes weren't so bad. They strafed and bombed the beach and didn’t

but on Sunday evening the air attack became heavy. They dropped magnesium flafes which lit up the water like daylight. We could hear the planes but we couldn’t see them.

Knocked Out Searchlights

“Once two torpedo planes flew so close to the water between the fantail of our ship and the bow of the next one that we couldn't fire for fear of hitting another ship. “At night it was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Then a searchlight came on and laid right across our ship about a dozen fimes. We couldn’t fire because ‘that would have revealed our position. But when the time came to fire those searchlights

out.” ‘Fireman Hixon talked to soldiers who were in the first landing parties, They told of meeting Italian soldiers on the beach, their guns stacked beside them, waiting for the allied troops. Expected the Invasion “Germany and Italy expected: the invasion,” he stated, “but they had their forces in the wrong place at the wrong time. They zigged when they should have L Native Sicilians welcomed the allied troops, and women and children came to the shore where soldiers. fed them field rations, the local sailor said. After the landings were accomplished, Fireman Hixon’s boat returned to Africa, carrying both Italian and American casualties. One of the injured men was an American paratrooper who broke his ankle when he parachuted down on the island and then walked 20 miles to the beach and safety, Fireman Hixon ‘said; Our Men Are Good “Our men are good and theyre rugged,” he declared. “They're not afraid and ‘they're anxious to get in the fight. But I don’t think we'll knock out Germany this year. “I've seen some German prisoners... They're "well-built, well-fed; brown as Indians, and in perfect physical -condition.. Many of them still think the Germans are fighting in Africa and that New York City has been bombed and burned. “In contrast the Italian prisoners I've seen in Africa look like little kids with the rickets. They're undernourished, many of them nothing but skin and bone. The Germans have taken everything away from them. And the Italians are glad to be picked up.” First Back to New York Fireman Hixon thinks his ship. was among the first to return to New York from the Sicily invasion. A fellow crew member is Jack Paris, son: of Mrs. Harry W. Pruitt,

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