America at war! (1941– ) (Part 1)

Five killed as bomber crashes in Memphis

Memphis, Tenn., March 21 (AP) –
At least five persons were killed when a two-motored Army bomber crashed and burned near the Municipal Airport today.

The dead, brought to a Memphis funeral home, were not immediately identified.

Two others were reported pulled from the flaming wreckage, badly burned.

The plane took off from the airport and crashed in the underbrush a quarter-mile from the airport.

Mrs. MacArthur asks women to aid Allies

Melbourne, Australia, March 21 (UP) –
Mrs. Douglas MacArthur, wife of the new supreme Allied commander in the Southwest Pacific, appealed to the women of Australia today to:

…aid our men in every way.

Arriving by special train with her husband and four-year-old son, Arthur, she said that she would continue to devote most of her time to her family.

She said:

That is my real message to the women of this lovely country. We must help our men in every way to do their work well.

Mrs. MacArthur, attractive and slender, revealed that Arthur had…

Jap suffer major losses at Mindanao
U.S.-Filipino troops of Gen. Wainwright make surprise attack

Near Zamboanga

Manila Harbor defenses heavily bombed by guns of enemy

Entire New Jersey coast 'dimmed out’

Electric signs turned off for duration

Woman seeks higher ranking officers for proposed corps

Pepper demands draft for 'everyone in U.S.'

National conscription of all men, women and children advocated as only method for bringing war to quick end

French reassure U.S. on Axis ban

Won’t permit Nazis, Japs to enter ports, Vichy says

American bombers taking heavy toll on Jap ships
31 vessels, 13 planes knocked out

U.S. crews seasoned after 15 solid weeks of severe fighting

Congress nearing showdown in battle over war profits
Plan to curb returns on Army orders

Vinson charges firms have paid big bonuses to pad expenses

1313’s his number

Columbia, SC, March 21 (AP) –
When Glenn Sigmon built his home at 1313 Gladden St., he got permission for the number to be changed to 1315, explaining he’d been dodging 13’s all his life.

This week, he got his number in the draft lottery. It was 1313.

Cited for alertness

Washington, March 21 (AP) –
James F. Farrell, radio monitor, has been awarded a formal citation for alertness while on duty at his listening post at West Chester, Pa. The Communications Commission said Farrell intercepted an SOS message Jan. 15, and assisted in recruiting seven men in a Navy patrol plane forced down at sea off the Galapagos Island. When Farrell heard the plane radio, the commission said, he immediately communicated this and subsequent information to the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Army, Navy, Marines compete for recruits at post office

Local woman tries to enlist in Navy

A Reading woman, who wishes to remain unidentified, was the first female to file an application for a yeomanette position with the U.S. Navy, Chief Boatswain’s Mate Harry Rightmyer, naval recruiting officer, announced today. The Navy has not yet issued orders to enlist yeomanettes, Rightmyer said, although it is expected that women may be accepted soon.

During World War I, Rightmyer recalled, women joined the naval forces with a yeoman rating and were assigned to clerical tasks at training stations, Navy yards and ordnance depots. At present, the Navy is accepting women for nursing duty only, Rightmyer said.

Fundamental changes in draft system planned in future
Will affect many listed as deferred

National board plans to reclassify men with dependents

Need for post-war adjustment cited

Women may stay on jobs, Mrs. Roosevelt says

Reading Eagle (March 22, 1942)

Tribal warfare alarms Australia
Headhunters threaten both enemy, Allies

Tokyo claims shock troops have reached Papua for attack on Port Moresby
By the Associated Press

Luzon troops brace for Jap drive
Renewed fight seen signaling foe’s offensive

The guns of Manila Bay forts thunder in artillery duel

Patrols in clashes

Bataan forces inflict damage on enemy in surprise raid

U.S. labor unions rapped by Arnold

Says small businessmen, farmers are abused

Sugar dearth starts riot

One convict dies, seven injured in uprising at eastern pen

U.S. gunboat feared lost in Java fight
1,270-ton Asheville is presumed enemy victim by Navy Department

185 officers, men

19th American combat ship reported missing since start of war