LONDON -- Edward Gilling, Exchange Telegraph news agency correspondent with the British Eighth army in Sicily, reported Thursday that the German evacuation of Sicily is "now in full swing."
Thousands of German troops are being withdrawn daily from Sicily to the mainland of Italy, Gilling's dispatch said, adding:
"It is not a mass evacuation, but it has been built up steadily in the last 10 days.
Military sources here, commenting on the report, said the Germans appeared to be evacuating about 1,000 troops a day from Sicily, but available information lacked any suggestion of a full scale withdrawal.
Use All Type of Ships
Killing reported that, using ferries and all types of craft, most of the Germans were being evacuated across the narrow Straits of Messina under cover of a terrific anti-aircraft barrage from 300 guns which limited the accuracy of Allied air attacks.
German troops are being urged to take out as much equipment as they can, the dispatch said.
Informants here said the evacuation at a rate of 1,000 or so men a day evidently had been going on for three or four days. The evacuees were assumed to be specialists, technicians and non-combat troops in various categories.
