America at war! (1941--) -- Part 2

1081

Brooklyn Eagle (January 28, 1943)

Allies hold war council may speed Europe invasion

Study move to put Roosevelt-Churchill plans in operation

London, England (UP) –
U.S. and British military leaders held a council of war at Allied North Africa headquarters today and discussed means of putting into execution on the fighting fronts the broad strategic plans made at the Casablanca Conference between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The best military brains of the two nations were represented in the War Council that took place almost within the sound of guns booming on the Tunisian front.

There were reports in military circles here today that the Allied commanders in North Africa were working on a definite plan for an assault on Europe this year. Some sources said the invasion of Europe was considered such an urgent matter it might even be given precedence over the campaign against the Axis in Tunisia.

Highest officers confer

The United States was represented by Gen. George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff; Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied North African commander; Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commanding the U.S. Army Air Forces; Adm. Ernest J. King, U.S. naval commander; Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, of the Services of Supply, and W. Averell Harriman, Lend-Lease official.

For Great Britain: Gen. Harold R. L. G. Alexander, British commander for the Middle East; Vice Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations; Adm. Sir Dudley Pound; Field Marshal Sir John Dill; Lt. Gen. Sir Hastings L. Ismay and Air Vice Mshl. Inglis.

It was understood considerable discussion was given to the immediate plans for the attempt to drive Marshal Erwin Rommel and Gen. Jurgen von Arnim off the narrow bridgehead which the Axis still holds on the North African shore.

Roosevelt commends troops

While the Allied military chiefs were still discussing the place and time of the next blow at the Axis, President Roosevelt sent a message to U.S. troops in North Africa, praising their conduct and equipment.

The message said, in part:

I return to the United States with renewed confidence that American soldiers, equipped with the best equipment the world can produce and led by men who have proven themselves in battle, shall be victorious. Officers and men of the Armed forces of North Africa, I commend you.

Allied air attacks continued, and on Tuesday night bombers struck at Bizerte, the big Axis base in Tunisia. U.S. Billy Mitchell bombers left one Axis destroyer burning between Sicily and Tunisia and damaged another. One Allied plane was missing from yesterday’s operations.

Axis fears for Rommel

The British 8th Army continued to pursue the Afrika Korps through northwestern Tripolitania and Axis radios reiterated their fears that U.S. forces in Tunisia were about to start an offensive designed to cut off the retreat of Rommel’s forces.

The U.S. Army 9th Air Force in Cairo announced in a communiqué that on Tuesday night Liberator bombers attacked Sicilian harbors. Bomb bursts were observed on all target areas and all U.S. planes returned safely.

The Nazi Radio Vichy said the Americans were driving between Gabes, 100 miles from the Tunisian-Tripolitanian border, and Sfax, 63 airline miles above Gabes.

The Middle Eastern Command announced today the 8th Army fought the Afrika Korps’ rearguard yesterday in the area of Sabratha, 40 miles southwest of Tripoli, and 56 miles from Tunisia.

Allied successes in the Kairouan area and northwest of Gabes had lent substance to Axis fears that a big drive as impending against the German-Italian bridgehead in Tunisia.

Dispatches from Allied North African headquarters said the initiative in the Ousseltia area, northeast of Kairouan, had passed from the Germans to the Allies in the last three days, and the enemy had suffered terrible losses in taking positions the French and Americans were now wresting back.

Report 1,258 American casualties in Tunisia

Washington (UP) –
American casualties in Tunisia thus far total 1,258, including 211 killed, 532 wounded and 515 missing, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson said today. Of the missing, 228 were reported to be prisoners.

1082

RAF pounds Düsseldorf in 51st raid of war

Huge fires reported – U.S. joins attacks along 1,000-mile front

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1083

House group opens hearings Tuesday on pay-as-you-go

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1084

Boro rises to defense of jukebox – the ‘noise’ is music to its ears

Patriotic, jive tunes hit spot despite critic
By William E. Dunn

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1085

Editorial: MacArthur and airpower

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1086

The Pittsburgh Press (January 28, 1943)

Ernie Pyle V Norman

Roving Reporter

By Ernie Pyle

A forward airdrome in North Africa – (Jan. 27)
Nine American boys have just had a unique baptism of war. They left America very recently on a bomber, bound for the African front. They arrived here a little later, by camelback, after a series of incredible adventures, including a battle with German fighter planes. Here is the story.

A Flying Fortress, commanded by Lt. Harry Devers of Martinsburg, West Virginia, took off from America during the holidays and flew without incident across the Atlantic and to the coast of Africa. Devers’ crew of eight was composed of Lt. Richard Banning, of Britt, Louisiana, co-pilot; Lt. Charles Watt of Jacobsburg, Ohio, navigator; Lt. Victor Coveno of 11002 Woodland Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, and five sergeant-gunners – W. K. Thames of Fayetteville, North Carolina; Joseph Obradovich of Lacrosse, Wisconsin; Richard Hasbrough of Brooklyn, New York; Harry Alsaker of Montana, and Robert Oheron of Cresline, Ohio.

After landing in Africa, they took off one recent morning and formed up with two other Fortresses for the last lap of their journey to war. They headed for the designated airdrome at the front where they were to report for action. They flew all day, and when they arrived where they thought the field should be, they couldn’t find it. So, they flew on and kept hunting. The afternoon wore on and dusk grew near.

Suddenly, out of a blank sky, two fighters dived on them. Bullets began to spatter. That was how those youngsters, fresh from America, discovered that they had wandered into enemy territory. What a fine way to start their war!

Devers’ crew began shooting back, but the fighters switched to one of the other Forts, which soon circled downward and disappeared, apparently shot down. It has not been heard from since.

The two remaining planes lost the Germans in the dusk. One made a crash landing. Devers circled over it and was given a signal not to land. Several days later, American reconnaissance planes discovered this Fortress being towed along the road, headed for Italian territory. They dived at it, guns going and set it afire.

That account for two of the Forts and gets us down to our friends mentioned above.

They were alone in the air now and they headed back west to get away from the enemy. It was dark, and they still couldn’t find the airdrome to which they were being sent, so they flew far south to make sure of getting away from the mountains. They went up to 11,000 feet, flew until their gas was gone, and then jumped.

Devers gave them all instructions before they jumped. They were flying south and he would be the last man out, so he would start walking north and all the others were to head south. The plan worked. Eight of the nine found each other within half an hour. Lt. Coveno landed in a gully half a mile away from the meeting place and spent the night there, rejoining the others next morning.

That first night they all slept on the ground, wrapped in their parachutes. They didn’t know whether they were in enemy territory or not.

At dawn an old Arab came wandering past. He was a nomadic shepherd, and he spoke neither English nor French. But he was wonderful to these boys. He led them northward, and they walked all day, covering 20 miles. Again that night they slept in their ‘chutes, and they almost froze.

The second morning they came across a caravan of 15 camels. In charge of them was an Arabian enlisted man in the French Army. He was touring the desert buying camels for the French. This Arab took the boys along with him. They learned later that he thought they were Italian parachutists and that he was capturing them.

They rode camels for two days – and they never wanted to see another camel. They had to ride bareback, and they said a camel’s back would make an excellent razor blade. They rode till they couldn’t bear it any longer, and then got off and walked. But the sand was so deep they couldn’t walk either, so they had to get back on their desert chariots.

For two days and nights they traveled by camelback across the bare sands. There were no trails, no roads. On the morning of the fourth day, they came upon a French desert garrison and there they were able to identify themselves for the first time, as Devers speaks some French.

The French officers put them to bed and arranged for a truck to take them to a meeting place with an American truck. So, finally, at the end of the fifth day, they arrived at the airdrome they had hunted so desperately five nights before.

They were tired, but not in bad shape. They were still animated, and willingly told the story over and over. We finally had to make them go to bed, at 10 o’clock.

A good sleep was too much for them. The next morning, they felt washed out and weary. Some of them were even sick at their stomachs. But in a day or two they will be normal again, when their excitement over being alive quiets down a bit.

1087

Völkischer Beobachter (January 29, 1943)

Englands Besorgnisse dauern an –
U-Boot-Gefahr überdeckt das Casablanca-Theater

vb. Wien, 28. Jänner –
Bemerkenswert ist die Reuter-Meldung, daß „die britische Presse am Donnerstag ihre Leitartikel der die anglo-amerikanischen Kriegsanstrengungen bedrohenden U-Boot-Gefahr widmet.“ Das Thema von Casablanca wird also überdeckt durch die deutschen U-Boote, über die bekanntlich das Kommuniqué von Casablanca sich ausschweigt. Daß dazu die jüngste deutsche Sondermeldung über die versenkten 103.000 BRT. wesentlich beigetragen hat, liegt auf der Hand.

Der Evening Standard knüpft an die „Initiative“ an, von der, wie das Blatt meint, gerade jetzt auf englisch-amerikanischer Seite so viel gesprochen werde. In einem Krieg wie dem gegenwärtigen, halte diejenige Partei die Initiative fest in der Hand, die über neuartige Waffen verfüge. Hier lägen die Deutschen weit in Führung, denn gegen die U-Boote, die sie neuerdings erfunden hätten, besäßen die Anglo-Amerikaner noch kein Mittel. Gleichzeitig befänden sich Flottenstützpunkte in Händen Deutschlands, von denen aus sie ihre U-Boot-Angriffe mit sehr großem Erfolg auf die britisch-amerikanische Versorgungsschiffahrt unternähmen. Die Erfolge aber, die der Gegner im Seekrieg erziele, seien entscheidend. Das dürfe man nicht übersehen, zumal eine Blockade des europäischen Festlandes Sich inzwischen als illusorisch herausgestellt habe.

Auch der Manchester Guardian spricht ebenso wie die Daily Mail von der anhaltenden Besorgnis, daß man nichts von neuen gemeinschaftlichen Maßnahmen gegen die U-Boote gehört habe. In der Öffentlichkeit würde man es bedeutend mehr begrüßt haben, wenn man von Casablanca aus einer feste Zusicherung über die U-Boot-Bekämpfung erhalten hätte.

„Die Front auf den Heeren“

Der Kampf auf den Meeren rückt auch in den neutralen Ländern wiederum stark in den Vordergrund. So schreibt unter dem Titel „Die dritte Front“ Yunus Nadi in der Istanbuler „Republique,“ daß man neben den Ereignissen an der Ostfront und in Nordafrika die seit Beginn dieses neuen Weltkrieges existierende Front auf den Meeren vergesse. Es sei unzweifelhaft, daß unter den großen Problemen, die zwischen Churchill und Roosevelt besprochen wurden, eines der wichtigsten die Gefahr sei, die die Achse auf den Meeren darstelle. Amerika gebe selbst zu, daß die USA. und England einen monatlichen Schiffsraumverlust von einer Million Bruttoregistertonnen erlitten.

Alle Welt und in erster Linie Deutschland und England wüßten, daß der deutsche U-Boot-Krieg im vergangenen Weltkrieg die Gegner fast auf die Knie gezwungen hätte. Nun aber sei es klar, daß Deutschlands Lage diesmal viel günstiger sei als im vorigen Weltkrieg. Die U-Boote würden heute von der Luftwaffe unterstützt. An Deutschlands Seite kämpften die Seemächte Italien und Japan, und Deutschland stände heute die europäische Küste- von Narvik bis Spanien und zum Mittelmeer zur Verfügung. Amerika und England hätten Tausende von Seemeilen bis zu den Schlachtfeldern zurückzulegen, und ein versprengter oder zur Hälfte versenkter Geleitzug sei wie eine. verlorene Schlacht. Nicht nur der versenkte Schiffsraum fehle, sondern noch viel mehr die kostbare Ladung. Hinzu komme der Verlust an hochqualifizierten Seeleuten, die eine längere Ausbildung benötigten als Flieger.

Yunus Nadi stellt abschließend fest, daß die anglo-amerikanischen Anstrengungen nicht genügten, um den zunehmenden Möglichkeiten des Angriffs der Achsen-­U-Boote mit Erfolg zu begegnen.

Französisch-Nordafrika spürt Roosevelts „Hand“

dnb. Algeciras, 28. Jänner –
Die wirtschaftliche Lage in Französisch-Marokko hat sich in der letzten Zeit erheblich verschlechtert. Bei ihrer Landung in Französisch-Marokko haben weder die Nordamerikaner noch die englischen Truppen Lebensmittel in größeren Ausmaßen mit Sich geführt. Sie waren daher vom ersten Tag auf Requisition angewiesen. Die Getreidevorräte, die sich in der Nähe der Stadt befanden, und die Lager von Trockengemüse und Trockenkonserven wurden sofort nach der Landung beschlagnahmt. Darüber hinaus haben die Nordamerikaner sogleich mit weiteren Requisitionen begonnen, um Lebensmittelvorräte anzulegen. Diese Requisitionen sind sehr bedeutend und entsprechen ungefähr dem Doppelten der gesamten jährlichen Lebensmittelausfuhr Marokkos nach Frankreich. Zu diesen Beschlagnahmungen kam noch ein besonders von den Engländern stark forcierter Aufkauf von Gemüsen, Wein, Tabak, Südfrüchten und getrockneten Früchten.

Durch die britisch-nordamerikanische Besetzung ist bei den Eingeborenen ein erheblicher Mangel an Lebensmitteln entstanden. Die Versorgung aus Überschußgebieten ist dadurch unmöglich geworden, da Benzin nur für militärische Fahrzeuge abgegeben wird und für den zivilen Transport nicht mehr zur Verfügung steht. Wenn auch die Städte und die landwirtschaftlich schwächeren Gebiete noch nicht von einer Hungersnot unmittelbar bedroht sind, so ergeben sich doch bereits sehr empfindliche Störungen im wirtschaftlichen Verkehr.

Ein Dorf wird ausgerottet

Im Dorf Balta bei Souk el Kamis in Französisch-Nordafrika erschien am 16. Jänner ein nordamerikanischer Offizier mit sieben Mann, um unter den dort lebenden Arabern eine Zwangsrekrutierung durchzuführen. Die Araber leisteten gegen die von den Nordamerikanern beabsichtigte Pressung zum Heeresdienst Widerstand. Der nordamerikanische Offizier erteilte hierauf den Befehl zur Eröffnung des Feuers gegen die Eingeborenen, wobei 14 Araber erschossen wurden, über die Hinschlachtung der 14 Araber empört, sammelte sich eine große Anzahl von Arabern aus der Gegend, überwältigten die nordamerikanischen Soldaten und töteten sie. Auf Befehl des nordamerikanischen Kommandanten wurde hierauf gegen das Dorf Balta eine Strafexpedition durchgeführt, bei der Männer, Frauen und Kinder von den Nordamerikanern erschossen wurden.

1088

La Stampa (January 29, 1943)

Intensa attività esplorativa in Tunisia

La Valletta bombardata da formazioni aeree – 6 apparecchi nemici abbattuti – Il piroscafo colpito dal nostro aerosilurante è affondato

Screenshot 2022-01-29 080304

Il comunicato tedesco Il Quartiere Generate delie Forze Armate ha diramato nel pomeriggio du ieri il seguènte bollettino numero 978:

In Tripolitania, nessuna azione di rilievo. La caccia germanica abbatteva in combattimento cinque «Curtiss».

Intensa attività esplorativa da ambo le parti in Tunisia, ove mezzi corazzati nemici venivano respiriti dal tiro delle artiglierie. La base navale di La Valletta (Malta) è stata bombardata da una nostra formazione aerea.

Apparecchi britannici hanno sorvolato Rocella Marina, Siderno e Giolosa (Reggio Calabria) lanciando alcuni spezzoni e mitragliando due treni; un morto e tredici feriti, tutti colpiti da pallottole esplosive.

Sono stati purs mitragliati un treno tra Cassibile e Avola (Siracusa), e la stazione di Brolo (Messina); vengono segnalati un morto e alcuni feriti.

Sulla rotabile Vittorie-Ragusa, altro apparecchio sparava raffiche di mitragliatrice, ma centrato dal tiro contraereo, precipitava in fiamme:

Dalle varie missioni belliche, due nostri velivoli non sono rientrati.

Il piroscafo nemico di medio tonnellaggio, citato ieri nel Bollettino come colpito da un aereo silurante (capo equipaggio, tenente pilota Battista Mura) risulta affondato.

Le perdite nordamericane in Tunisia secondo Washington

Buenos Aires, 28 gennaio –
Il ministro della guerra statunitense Stimson ha comunicato oggi che le perdite nordamericane in Tunisia ammontano già a 1258 uomini.

Il comunicato Tedesco

Berlino, 28 gennaio –
Circa le operazioni sui fronti africano e mediterraneo, il comunicato diramato dal Quartier generale del Führer reca:

Nell’Africa Settentrionale, vivace attività di pattuglie da ambo le parti.

Il porto di Algeri è stato nuovamente e gravemente colpito dall’arma aerea: un mercantile e un deposito di carburante sono stati inoendiati.

Al confini tra la Tunisia e la Libia, cacciatori germanici hanno disperso una formazione da caccia nemica, abbattendo senza subire perdite, cinque velivoli avversari.

Quattro navi di un convoglio affondate nell’Atlantico

Lisbona, 28 gennaio –
Il dipartimento della marina americana annuncia da Washington che, nei primi giorni di gennaio, tre navi di medio tonnellaggio ed una piccola unità della flotta mercantile americana sono state affondate dai sommergibili dell’Asse nell’Atlantico, davanti alle coste settentrionali dell’America meridionale.

Le navi affondate facevano parte di un convoglio.

1089

U.S. Navy Department (January 29, 1943)

Communiqué No. 265

South Pacific.
On January 27:

  1. Ground operations on Guadalcanal Island resulted in the capture of a large, well-established enemy command post. Thirty-six Japanese were killed and 3 prisoners and a large amount of enemy equipment were captured. In other sectors 2 pockets of enemy resistance were wiped out.

  2. During the morning, enemy dive bombers and high-level bombers, escorted by fighters, approached Guadalcanal. U.S. fighters engaged the enemy planes and incomplete reports indicate that nine Zeros were destroyed and six others probably destroyed. The enemy planes dropped no bombs. Four U.S. planes are missing.

  3. A force of Marauder (Martin B-26) medium bombers, with Airacobra (Bell P-39) escort, bombed enemy installations on Kolombangara Island in the New Georgia group. A large fire was started. All U.S. planes returned.

  4. During the evening, a force of Dauntless (Douglas) dive bombers and Avenger (Grumman TBF) torpedo planes with Wildcat (Grumman F4F) escort attacked an enemy destroyer and a cargo ship in the Vella Gulf. Two direct hits were scored on the cargo ship which was left sinking. Bombs fell close to the destroyer which was left smoking.

On January 28: During the afternoon, a force of Dauntless dive bombers and Avenger torpedo planes with Lightning (Lockheed P-38) escort attacked Japanese ships about 15 miles northeast of Kolombangara Island. A torpedo hit caused a large explosion on an enemy destroyer. One bomb hit and several near hits were scored on a cargo ship and near hits on a tanker were observed. The cargo ship and tanker were left dead in the water. The tanker was last seen smoking. One of the four enemy Zeros which intercepted was shot down. All U.S. planes returned.

1090

Brooklyn Eagle (January 29, 1943)

U.S. fliers devastate Sfax

Heaviest raid fires Tunisia port – zero hour near in Africa

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1091

U.S. aces down 10 more Zeros on Guadalcanal

Six others possibly destroyed – blast 5 Jap ships in area

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1092

Giraud political pact near, says de Gaullist

But Algiers dispatches claim 2 leaders declare subject is ‘out for duration’

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1093

WAIT DETAILS OF ROOSEVELT’S BRAZIL VISIT
Say President stopped to tour Dakar

Meets Liberia head – Vargas will reveal full story of talks

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1094

Stripteasing ex-WAAC fumes as officer denies they will wed

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1095

Air offensive clears sky of Rommel planes

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Captured Yank airmen escape in Nazi auto

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1096

Flynn may ask Roosevelt bar him if defeat looms

Opponents foresee move – close vote expected in Senate

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1097

Astronomer says Peg could have seen moon

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1098

More, not less, to Allies, Lend-Lease boss’ area

Stettinius says way to victory is surer with pooled resources

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1099

New Navy list has 17 local men missing in action

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1100

Chinese idealize U.S., look to us for guidance, says Dr. Carpenter

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