Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (9)

News Clippings from The Gazette: July 15, 1943

Allied Armies are Definitely on the Move

A Sherman tank moving at speed near Catania, 4 August 1943

Loughlin, G. (Lieutenant), No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section,

Imperial War Museum (IWN) NA 5522

Introduction:

Besides keeping readers abreast of Allied progress since the beginning of Operation Husky, invasion of Sicily, as of July 10, 1943, the following clippings provide significant news concerning Commandos, Canadian Correspondents in the field, and Canadians (at least a few of the officers and occasional stoker!) in Combined Operations (C.Ops). 

Articles that mention folks in C.Ops are rare indeed, so today could be described as a banner day. But since I've scanned microfilm at least into the middle of August 1943 (you've been warned, many more scores of clippings to follow) and - in the exciting process, akin to watching paint dry on occasion - I've found a couple more informative pieces re the sailors (RCNVR/C.Ops) who handled flotillas of landing crafts for about four weeks in the Mediterranean off the eastern coast of Sicily. So, more banner days ahead.

Below please find good reading from one of the leading newspapers in Quebec, Canada... July 15, 1943, eighty years go, give or take 5 weeks:

"The Axis is hanging on the ropes" says one military observer:

The microfilm from which I copied these clippings was fairly dark in some spots. The blotchy line to follow reads "to that in Tunisia. British troops, and the Canadians attached to the Eighth Army...":

The British Army in Sicily 1943. Men of the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders

advance along a road near Noto, 11 July 1943. Photo - NA 4306 IWM

 Stubbs (Sergeant).  No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section

Please visit the previous post in this series (Part 8) to read one of Ross Munro's dispatches re Allied progress. The following photo also appears there. Very timely:

"AXIS STILL STUNNED" continues:

Canadian War Correspondent Ralph Allen does a rare thing... he shines a spotlight on the work of the Royal Canadian Navy (and Volunteer Reserve (!) of which Doug Harrison of Norwich, Ontario was a member):

Editor's brief FYI: The 55th and 61st Canadian Flotillas of Landing Craft (LCAs or landing craft, assault) transported members of the British Eight Army to beaches near Noto and Avola for a number of hours; the 81st and 80th Flotillas of Landing Craft (LCMs or landing craft, mechanised) followed, and transported materials of war to HOW and GEORGE Beaches (respectively) for approx. 30 days. 

Canadian Flotillas of Landing Crafts (LCAs, LCMs) are seen lower right

Map from Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks

Appendix A, as found in St. Nazaire to Singapore, page 179

HOW Beach seemingly straddles Noto and Avola, Sicily in the "Most Secret" map above. HOW was sub-divided into Red, Amber and Green Beaches, as was GEORGE Beach, which is marked 'most secretly' with a magic marker in top right corner. My father served at GEORGE Beach and lived in a nearby cave with 50 - 60 other sailors for 2 - 3 weeks between July 10 - August 7, 1943.

Ralph Allen's article continues:

Lt. Cmdr. Bartlett, RCNVR, mentioned above wrote several columns re 'daily life in the Canadian navy'. I think that an interested reader might find them in The Winnipeg Tribune entries found here.

About the last paragraph: Canadian sailors were paired with Canadian troops in some landing crafts during the Dieppe raid, and the next instance occurred during the invasion of Italy (i.e., Operation Baytown, at Reggio, the toe of the boot) beginning September 3, two months after Operation Husky.

More information about Operation Baytown, during which the 80th Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft were involved for approx. one month, can be found here. (Baytown).

Illustration from ECLIPSE by Alan Moorehead

Commandos were also involved in assisting with landings on the eastern shoreline of Sicily, south of Syracuse. They were to soften resistance near GEORGE Beach where my father's flotilla of landing crafts (80th Flotilla) were operating. An article referring to Commando 3 at GEORGE Beach can be found here.

Articles like the one above, i.e., listing the names of war correspondents with particular newspapers, assist those who are interested in tracking down as many stories as possible re Canadian forces during WWII. Lionel S. B. Shapiro (paragraph 2) will be featured in many posts in this series (as from The Gazette), and Sholto Watt of the Montreal Star was featured in a lengthy series of posts shared earlier on this site.

No doubt about it. Monty was loved by (the majority of) his troops, and even the Navy gave him a 'thumbs up' on occasion, likely because Monty appreciated their hard work on his Army's behalf:

"We all know we wouldn't be here without the mighty efforts of the Canadians

in Combined Ops," is a real quote by G. Harrison, Editor ; ) IWM

Okay, here's what Monty actually said:

Here is a photo of another Allied leader who got 'thumbs up' on occasion:

"Hey, nice shorts! And you're wearing very practical shoes" : )

Please click here to read the previous entry, Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (8) with many more clippings from The (Montreal) Gazette.

More news to follow!

Unattributed Photos GH