Bombs Over Italyshows American bomb

your commentator is george putnam the same great armada bombing planes that pulverize pantaloria concentrate now on the job of softening up the stronghold of italian fascism target for tonight the vital seaport city of geneva illuminated by a chandelier of flares dropped by british lancasters night after night a mounting load of bombs cascades upon foja naples messina and kotone as allied air power devastates italian arteries of transportation and harbor installations they fly in from north african bases across the mediterranean the climax is yet to come as general jimmy doolittle instructs pilots of the american ninth air force sky road to rome and a blow that shakes all europe religious and cultural centers are purposely avoided the fascists feared this day would come and they planned for it remembering what they did to ethiopia and britain but american flyers are of a different breed there lies the eternal city poorly defended helpless to stop the attack here's the first bombing run bombs away as the armada 521 farmers begins the blasting of military objectives they can see every target hit below over a thousand tons of bombs pour down the littoria and san lorenzo railroad yard serving all areas south of rome are smack it's a precision job with every stick of bombs and one of the finest examples of high altitude bombing accuracy ever attempted this devastating raid costs only five planes and shakes the access to its foundations back of the big guns troop ships sail for sicily and the greatest armada ever assembled one of the invasion ships is hit by german stukas above dive bombers try to break up the invasion fleet of over 3 000 allied vessels that move in close along more than 100 miles of sicily southeastern coast suffering only minor losses because of naval and air superiority grim determined american assault troops start for the beach in the landing barges stars on helmets identified generals among the men who crowd the hundreds of landing crafts many of them italian-speaking american soldiers the allied nation's greatest thrill comes with the news that general eisenhower has launched the first bull defensive against the european fortress men of america britain and canada swarm across the sands of sicily with a smooth precision testifying to eisenhower's genius for high command every part of a vast and complex machine works with flawless perfection rarely attained in a war of coalition lieutenant general george s patton hard-hitting two two-gun californian who commanded the american second core in tunisia not satisfied to remain in the rear comes ashore near lakota to personally direct the drive of the seventh army four transports arrive on schedule the canadians land the first of a great army from the dominion transported with amazing secrecy all the way from england this time it's no diff and the nazis soon find it out tons of supplies of every description followed to the beachhead two old sicilians watch the invasion without fear the third infantry goes forward in an american fences movement across sicily their commander is major general lucian king kruska jr allied heavy artillery is ashore and in action four hours after the first soldier wades to the beach the yank artillery blasts the roads ahead of the advancing men with deadly accuracy italian troops as usual are left by the nazis to fight our rear guard action many hundreds of them pay with their lives to assure the escape of their nazi masters near catania the british advance on the eastern coast after taking syracusa the tough tommies most of them veterans of the heroic and battle-tested eighth army under general sir bernard l montgomery hammer at the strong eastern anchor of the main nazi defenses again and again they storm axis positions with utter disregard for enemy out of blasted pill boxes the shaken enemy begins to appear with upraised hands the fascist general dave one of many high-ranking italians bagged by the invaders surrenders to major general guy simmons of the canadian army on every sector italian soldiers begin to give themselves up in droves frequently to one lone soldier they all tell the same story the nazis seize the food and their best weapons the invading army is welcomed everywhere by all civilians as an army of liberation symbolizing the end of fascism in town after town the people cheer them although many of their sons have parried significant is this sign and a tank driver grins through grime and sweat the british and canadians are greeted in augusta highlanders march in general montgomery presses toward mount aetna where the british meet the fiercest resistance thousands of axis prisoners are taken in the first few days of the invasion mostly italian with occasionally an officer who resents obeying the order of a trooper there are nazis too of the crack hermann gearing division the pride of the fat nazi marshal they're streaming toward the coast now bound for internment general montgomery watches them as they start on their way to join the hundreds of thousands of mussolini's warriors that he took in africa striking evidence of the low state of morale among italy's fighting men an allied tank pushes forward followed by an advancing column moving to the north italian airfields are wrecked by the terrific bombing that softened up sicily pulverizing defenses an american tank enters a deserted town advanced patrols proceed cautiously with danger of ambush in every street until all snipers are driven out a jeep appears from upstairs a rather unexpected quarter but the army is never surprised at anything these cars do with drivers who practically cut their teeth on the steering wheel of an automobile palermo falls and the american army moves eastward along the northern coast more axis prisoners stream southward across sicily toward embarkation points 125 000 men are taken in the first four weeks by the british canadian and american army italian prisoners expressing the hope that they are bound for the usa wait out to one of the amazing american landing vessels here at last a liberating army gives all europe hope captive people see the coming of a new day as the fascist rule of force and fraud is smashed the invaders are welcomed not as enemies but as friends victory in sicily has been achieved the allied land sea and air attack on hitler's fortress europe begins you