Mediterranean Algiers Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1943, Algiers, Algiers                                Saturday August 21 # 1943the stars and stripes we Ekl i Page 3 y night to Messina Bottor Mussolini second wind carried tired yanks to their final prize we could hear the shells shriek a our shells and we could set the Jerry ammunition train still burning the fast growing Forest fire in the nearby Hill the bumper to bumper Convoy of trucks filled with waiting troops the sweat soaked doughboy catching a Short sleep on the Side of the Road we could see All this under the floodlight of a full fat Moon As our jeep raced along in a Midnight ride to Messina. This was the last Lap the 38th Day of the sicilian Campaign. There was a certain eagerness a second wind that comes even to the tired Man when he stands on the Brink of Complete Victory. This was a Brink this last Ridge which huddles prote tingly around the Homeric port of Messina. There Are two Quot stars and stripes staff writers a sgt. It aph <1. Martin and s sgt. Jack Foisie who covered the american forces through the sicilian Campaign entered Messina together. Then they sat Down with a typewriter and put their Heads together to Tell the Story of the last Axis hold on Sicily. Their dialogue on Messina follows sgt. Martins account appearing in Light face Typo sgt. Foisie in italics. Was something about he Way he said it that annoyed some of the Brooklyn boys in the crowd. They brought out wine that was very Good and when you told them you were from san Francisco they mumbled something about Clark Gable and Jeanette Macdonald and brought out an Orange wine that was better. They seemed to have a deep affection for Francisco Messina has suffered three major earthquakes the first in 1093, then 1783 and the worst in 1908. They have since built their buildings Flat and squat to Cut Down loss of life in any future disaster. But a new kind of disaster struck the Iron a. Pile of Rock ii. Face in the Frame belongs to Mussolini and the foot in the i shoe is the property of sgt. John c. Gegevich who arrived this week in Messina with the aral yank troops to reach the town. Sgt. Liege Vieh does no to think Mach of the sex Duce nor does his Friend Cpl. Vernon Wessman of Plymouth Cai As in other sicilian towns pictures and catchphrases of Mussolini pooled on buildings by Benito a representatives Are now being scrubbed off and torn Down. _ a photo by Hansen look Long Toms begin Battle of Italy with american troops in northeastern Sicily delayed a the Battle of Italy began at 36 minutes before a on Tost monday when the Debi american artillery Shell landed in Vula Sun go Thant. Important railway and ferry terminus on the italian coast. While the Sicily show was atm in the last scene of the test act tile number one iss my. Quot Long Tom of d Battery of a unit of Field artillery was pushed up ahead into an Advance position its nose pointed Over Messina into Italy you stood on your toes your Mouth hanging open your fingers in your ears to relieve the concussion As the regimental colonel pulled the lanyard which released the Hammer hit the primer shot Hie Flam through the vent into the Leader and High pressured the Shell about 15 Miles onto the soft shoe of Italy. Pvt. Joseph Talar Albany n. Y., brought Over the 96-Pound projectile pvt. Buster Williams Homerville. Ga., put the powder in the gun pvt. Robert Sears Georgetown ind., and pvt. Roswell head. Jacksonville fla., rammed Home the charge pvt. Robert Watson Lorain Ohio helped out the ammo Corporal and pfc. Elbert keel Atoka tenn., showed the colonel How to pull the lanyard that sets off the whole business yanks to Hie Hills As Well a a on i Over be i Ore me moved i Tel Worth Tom Bingo i tas just a the Road thai winds sharply 7i"h met by plenty of flak pile 0f rubbed Rock where build t ii rough the dark lulls. A Hanger Oum see the tracer.  used to be where Coule used battalion is on our right Hank. 0/ High a Irving up into the to live. But As we came in life the crack r a Nhi Bious battalion of meekness silvered by a full Moon had come Back to the rubble the the 3rd Dot Jon Nowman bound 9nh a j people were streaming out of their. Quot of Deanna inn we n caves marching through the streets f of urns Irina a i Yelling and cheering drowning out Messina Turtz a their smai1 h�1 what a members a heu Ai a a were fiercely playing on their halve muttered pie ital or zj1j4 to a lat agents. In the Back los anger in a Rej Azan  or re a a or and a a a of canned goods. Too 99 More rounds a that a it a said gunner Corporal Petter voice Cambridge mass. But Vojik and everybody else were too Busy for further comment. They had to shove in More shells pull More lanyards. There were 99 More rounds All marked special delivery waiting to hit roads and Bridges up and Down the italian coastline before the Day was Over to get into this particular position. Several thousand Yards behind Hie advancing recon the a Long Tom had to be squeezed through a courtyard under a Tunnel a Jie Cial demolition detail. Under a sgt. M. R. Solie Cornell wis., hacked away at the two Brick posts at the Yard Entrance and then smoothed off the Job with a one Pound stick of dynamite. That got the tractor and gun almost through the Tunnel where they were blocked by a tall fir tree. Traux Driver Chi. William guest Franklin n. A. Crashed the tractor Headon to the tree bending it until it broke then cleared out a passage for the big gun to Roll in. After that it was just a matter of digging in the two steel Spades one under each Back Corner of the gun which absorbs so percent of the Shock of Hie shooting and lowering the Center Bogie to give it a triangular suspension. Once he 15-ton gun was set solid. Sgt. Elmer Wilbert Butler a. Chief of Section alerted the gun. Got it correctly sighted and called his gunner Corporal Volpe and his ammo Corporal. John it Hosto. Natch Miocha la. They in turn. Issued tile orders to their twelve canno neers who make up the Crew. Pvt. Mike Congelo Plainfield n j. And pvt Raymond Meyers. Ridgley tenn., took rare of the Elevation pvt. Stanley Check Shaboyan wis., and greater Range up to 1940, the army still used he old French made world War i Gopf Model of the 155 Rifle. But our recently test passed american counterpart has greater Range 15 mile greater traverse 60 degrees and greater mobility soft pneumatic tires than the old French Model. It was in the med Jezel Bab sector that the British nicknamed the gun a Long Tom a and it stuck. That was a warm up before we tit  said Cpl. Volpe. Volpe has a pretty Little doll pasted on a Straw base which hangs from the gunfight. Quot Pat is our Goodluck Charm a Volpe explained. That and our Little  the dog was a piece of rope skilfully twisted and shaped about fifteen minutes before the gun made history some of the boys trooped Over and scribbled names and messages on the Shell some of them were Quot to Hitler with  a a Finnegan from the  a a Betty and  the stars and stripes message minted on the Shell was a a greetings. How Are the printing facilities in Rome a on the left. Neither will share the glory of being first into town both will be remembered in the operation journal of that final night. Ghostlike towns the towns along the Way looked shadowed and Ghostlike. Yesterday there were germans Here. Today a a a a a a a on it it. Monca Cocos a Loo the Jerries had left everything to t,0� Ilen Long starved they had broken Lute hurry to the beaches to pile onto March and an italian army warehouse Al the barges to get away from the i As fa8f a most rioting grubbing m much As full final Force that was stepping i f f j could find a Way for they could carry. The slow moving Down of on them. But there were human Convoy was a picture of  the worst of War. We went up to the Garrison bar. Dawn came quickly. Together rocks where the food had been with the first signs of Light the stared. The priests fearful lest the bombers were Back again to soften citizens get entirely out of hand any enemy setup that might still were doling out of talk shotguns be waiting for us. We could see that teemed like togs to the few the flak puffs More clearly now troops who had arrived it urns a but they were still wide of Mark. I rather needless precaution the As we pushed ahead we pained if bogs quieted the pea pie two More blown up Bridges the w More than a scowl. First was a to Borough Job would a it Arm Friendly midday us almost an hour. The Sec f like the two women Ond was a Sloppy demolition. Their Dean hand would hardly slow us Down More it sweat off than 15 minutes. There was an  j�1 and the Way they in other patrol going towards towns de that we take their figs and and we tagged along walking a Ponds and tapes. And the. I with them we saw tile litter of Way walked beside us touch Dozer carved out nine bypasses in vehicles ammunition pipers. Then. A a Al ring a a a rounding a curve we saw Italy. Americano Here. No More bombing. No More War a one Only a thin Stream of water lot them said. Seemed to separate the Island from the Mainland. Its dark bulk was Holiday harness ominious and threatening for we vehicles had not get reached the knew the coastline Ivas bristling Tufty and the Only transportation with guns. When would they open were carts towed by mules Wear a. J it was strange this Conquest ing their Holiday harnesses. The going. Asked the tired looking we had non Sicily and yet Sicily bouncing wagons looked too hard or j would not be entirely ours until 0n an already jeep sore Bottom to  we answered we had those guns across the i we finally picked up an abandoned brightly. Straits of Messina. Quot hell. Might truck driven by a Jovial native. Listen Bud. There ainu to nobody just As Well go right on Over  to touring americans he started out in Messina  he said. Quot we re said one enthusiastic recon Ais int Breakneck Speed flying Over the still waiting for the patrol to get a a in a a a am ii. Down on on them. But there were some Heinie who would never get to the boats. They Lay beside their burning vehicles freshly dead. Their enemy would Bury them. Of some other germans posted in Back of Bridges to stall our push our Well aimed artillery shells had not left enough pieces to fill a grave. German engineers had worked until the last cutting the Road at every Bridge every Point where a manufactured landslide would impede our Progress. Yank engineers headed by of. Robert l. Spring Meyer of Provo. Utah worked All through the night Patching up the Dis auction. Cpl. John a. Peters of Edgar. Wis., with his 13-ton Bulldozer carved out nine bypasses in a stretch of five Miles. For explosives the yanks were using German Teller mines and italian int. That a one Way of getting Back at  mused it. Springmeyer at the last busted Bridge we left the jeep and walked Down the Gully to the Road Fork. A a and where in the hell do you think you re Back. So will v i please get the hell off the  a weapons move up we got off tile Road just As a ribbon of a Road feeling a Little heavy weapons company moved up. I uneasy knowing that a Jerry of flanking off on the right Fork into on the High ground across the the Hills. Tsien. Like tile others water could easily spot us but St Ore bomb craters. We thumbed through John c. Begovich of Plymouth half an italian dictionary without Calif. But distances Are deceptive in the Early Light. We walked slowly around the around us. We wrapped ourselves in blankets and Fillipe Down near the Road for a Quick Nap. The sound of the explosion u Oke us up. We did no to know it then but the Racket came from the italian Shore. Our bombers Mere giving nothing happened and four Miles later we were Ai the Edge of town saying hello to Joe Giuseppe who had lived in Buffalo Niagara Falla and Altoona. A. And when we asked him about Brooklyn Joe said in ids chopped up English. Their Shore batteries a Good going Quot me never live in  there and finding the command Quot slow  finally someone shouted Quot Damn it Bud. Take it  he understood. Three Messina citizens in a Imu rent imitation of Quot the spirit of �?T76,�?� came marching Down Hie main Street carrying the american Flag. On the Field of Blue was pinned the Union Jack. The Banner of the United nation it. Gen. George s. Patton. Jr., commanding the american 7th army entered Messina at ims. So did shells from the italian main Sicily is dead. Long live Sicily with american troops in Messina delayed a the end came quietly on the 39th Day of invasion Sicily is dead Long live Sicily. American infantrymen entered Messina at 0530 aug. 17 British tank men came in from the South four hours later. Neither army encountered any resistance once the Dawn had come and the cite was in sight. Tile people were glad to see the yanks and called them englishmen. There was a Good Deal of confusion Over nationality. If you spoke to them in French you were Pinch american in italian a sicilian american. You were never ust Plain american. The people of Hess Ilia seem very Well informed on the american melting pot. A every american is a foreigner is it not so a they said no germans were seen in town. At least not in uniform. Last minute evacuation Drew american artillery fire. But otherwise the Boche had gotten away. He had left a lot of stuff behind however. His vehicles of every description jammed the last four Miles of Highway and his gear littered tile Road All tile was into town. Messina was dead. Allied bombers had done As Good a Job As the 1908 earthquake which in thirty seconds destroyed the entire City killing 84,000 of their 120.000 people. Allied  had taken longer three months and More of intermittent visits and had killed far less. But tile Overall damage must Piave been As great a every building was pockmarked by shrapnel deserted and looted. The Harbor area was flattened. Much of the City a population had hidden in a giant Cave located near sic a an ammunition depot. Now they were coming out to Greet the conquerors. Tile people of Messina come out and give the Yankee doughboy the usual hand clapping wine sour grails and a Hya  the Yankee doughboy the tension off begins to feel hts All night March. He mutters a return a a Bon Journo and looks about for a place to sit Down. The people Start Back to their Homes hungry but easy in mind for they no longer need fear the bombers. And then the first German Shell from tile italian Mainland Breaks into tile City. There is a mad headlong race by Trie people Back into the Hills and into the Cave. Messina of ancient glory and modern calamity. Must continue to feel the horror of War. Until not Only Sicily but Italy As Well Are in acted hands. A a that a Italy Over there a exclaims pvt. Arthur Fenstad. Of Little Marais Minn. Quot no can to be. Why Heil i could swim across to that  countered sgt. John c. Begovich of Plymouth Calif. But it is Italy Over there two Miles away. Through Field glasses you can pick out a multitude of Landing barges that carted the enemy from Sicily. You sense the hundreds of guns pointed your Way eyeing you. Only a thin Fence of water separates you from hitlers men. A a Heil lets keep on going right on Over a said sgt. Begovich. Ujj