Jäger- und Flakerfolge –
Der Aderlaß von Foggia
…
U.S. Navy Department (August 21, 1943)
Joint Statement in Québec and Washington
For Immediate Release
August 21, 1943
A strong force of U.S. and Canadian troops supported by surface vessels have occupied the island of Kiska in the Aleutians. The landing began on August 15; no Japanese were found, and it is our belief that the enemy evacuation was made under cover of heavy fog.
It is evident that the position of the Jap troops became untenable because of the occupation of Attu, the harassment of enemy supply lines and the recent bombings and bombardments of Kiska by air and surface craft.
For security reasons, this announcement has been withheld pending the unloading of transports.
The present occupation of Kiska frees the last vestige of North American territory of Jap forces.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
W. L. MACKENZIE KING
Communiqué No. 459
North Pacific.
A Task Force of the Pacific Fleet has landed a force of U.S. and Canadian troops on Kiska, beginning on August 15.
No Japanese have been found. There were indications of recent hasty evacuation of the Japanese garrison. Presumably, the heavy bombardments by our ships and planes that have been carried on for some time and the danger to their supply lines by our capture of Attu made the enemy positions on Kiska untenable. It is not known how the Japanese got away, but it is possible that enemy surface ships were able to reach Kiska under cover of the heavy fogs that have been prevalent.
Since the air and surface bombardments in the latter part of July had apparently destroyed Japanese radio equipment on Kiska, the assumption was that they were not in communication with the homeland. Consequently, no release of Allied operations against Kiska has been made since July 31, as it would have conveyed information to the enemy which he otherwise would not have had. This particularly applied to the period during which the transports were in areas exposed to enemy submarine attacks and while they were unloading.
Chronology of Aleutian Islands Campaign
1942
On June 3: Dutch Harbor is attacked by four Japanese bombers and about 15 fighters at 6 a.m. Dutch Harbor Time. The attack lasts 15 minutes. (Communiqué No. 83).
There are few casualties as a result of the Japanese raid. Several warehouses are set on fire, but no serious damage is suffered. (Communiqué No. 84).
At noon, Dutch Harbor Time, a second wave of enemy planes flies over Dutch Harbor on a reconnaissance mission. No bombs are dropped. (Communiqués Nos. 85‑86).
On June 4: At about 5 p.m., 18 carrier‑based bombers and 16 fighters attack U.S. installations at Dutch Harbor, Fort Mears and Fort Glenn. No damage is inflicted at Fort Glenn, minor damage is inflicted at Fort Mears, and at Dutch Harbor a warehouse and a few fuel oil tanks are set afire, and the station ship NORTHWESTERN, is sunk. (Communiqué No. 98).
On June 12: Small-scale landings by the Japanese on Attu Island are reported. Enemy ships are sighted in Kiska Harbor (Navy Department Press Release, June 12, 1942). Later reports reveal Japanese also occupy Agattu Island (Communiqué No. 98).
June 15‑July 3: U.S. Army bombers and Navy patrol planes carry out reconnaissance and attack missions against enemy installations on Kiska and enemy shipping in adjacent waters. One transport is reported sunk and 4 cruisers, 1 destroyer, 1 gunboat and 1 transport are damaged. (Communiqués Nos. 89‑90‑94).
July 4: U.S. submarines sink two destroyers and damage another off Kiska, and sink a third destroyer off Agattu. (Communiqué No. 95).
July 5: A U.S. submarine torpedoes and heavily damages an enemy destroyer in the vicinity of Kiska. (Communiqué No. 96).
July 6‑August 4: U.S. Army and Navy aircraft continue long-range bombing of Japanese installations on Kiska. U.S. submarines sink three more destroyers in the vicinity of Kiska. (Communiqués Nos. 99-103).
August 8: A U.S. cruiser and destroyer task force heavily bombards Kiska and enemy ships in the harbor. Severe damage is inflicted on the camp area. (Communiqué No. 103).
August 19: Sinking of a cruiser, or destroyer by a U.S. submarine is reported. (Communiqué No. 108).
August 22: Sinking of a large enemy merchant ship by a U.S. submarine is reported. (Communiqué No. 110).
August 30: Adak Island occupied.
September 14: U.S. Army bombers and fighters bomb and strafe enemy ships, aircraft and shore installations at Kiska. Two minesweepers are sunk, three cargo ships are damaged, three submarines are damaged, six planes are destroyed, and 500 enemy troops are killed or wounded. (Communiqué No. 127).
September 24‑25‑27‑28: U.S. Army bombers and fighters attack enemy shore positions on Kiska and ships off Kiska and Attu. Attacks of September 25‑28 are carried out by strong forces. (Communiqués Nos. 133‑137).
October 3: Announcement is made that U.S. forces have occupied positions in the Andreanof group of the Aleutian Islands, without opposition. (Communiqué No. 138). Adak is the island occupied (Communiqué No. 370), and the establishment of adequate airfields enables U.S. heavy bombers and fighters to operate from there in almost daily missions against the Japanese positions in the Western Aleutians. Throughout October, U.S. planes bomb and strafe the enemy ashore, and attack his shipping supply lines. (Communiqués Nos. 140‑143‑145‑150‑155‑157‑160‑161‑162‑170) Date of Adak occupation was August 30.
November 9: First Japanese activity on Attu Island in more than a month is noted as U.S. Army planes discover and destroy seven float‑type “Zeros” in Holtz Bay, Attu. (Communiqué No. 188) Earlier reconnaissance had detected no signs of continued enemy activity on Attu and Agattu (Communiqués Nos. 143‑145).
November‑December: Routine missions are carried out by U.S. planes against shore positions on Kiska and Attu and enemy shipping off both islands. (Communiqués Nos. 205‑218‑225‑227‑232‑235).
1943
January 12: U.S. forces occupy Amchitka Island, only 63 nautical miles from Kiska, without opposition from the enemy. (Occupation of Amchitka announced in Communiqué No. 370, on May 7, 1943.) Following the occupation, an airfield is established on Amchitka with enemy opposition consisting of a few ineffectual raids by small numbers of planes (Communiqués Nos. 268‑273‑281-287). Date of Amchitka occupation was January 12.
February: With completion of a closeup base on Amchitka, U.S. planes execute nine attacks on Kiska during the month, dropping more than 1,000 bombs, No U.S. planes are lost in these operations. (Communiqué No. 298).
March: Intensification of the campaign against the Japanese in the Western Aleutians increases. On March 15, U.S. Army heavy and medium bombers, escorted by fighters, carry out six missions against Kiska in the largest-scale attack thus far. (Communiqué No. 314). Raids on the enemy average better than one a day during the month.
On March 26, U.S. light forces patrolling to the westward of Attu Island engage a Japanese force composed of two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four destroyers and two cargo ships. Shell hits are scored on both of the Japanese heavy cruisers and one of the light cruisers. At least one torpedo hit is scored on an enemy heavy cruiser. U.S. vessels receive minor hits. (Communiqués Nos. 327‑365).
April: The month sees Kiska subjected to air attacks on a mass basis with occasional raids on Attu. The peak day is April 19, when 15 attacks are carried out against Kiska (Communiqué No. 351). Kiska twice is bombed 13 times in a day, on April 15 and April 25. (Communiqués Nos. 346 and 357). The month’s average is slightly under five missions a day.
May: Air attacks on Kiska and Attu continue during the early days of the month, and then, on May 11, U.S. forces land on Attu. (Communiqué No. 376). Supported by bombardment of enemy positions by U.S. naval surface forces, U.S. Army troops advance inland on Attu from the main landing points on the northeast and southeast ends of the island. In three weeks of fighting made difficult by Attu’s rugged terrain and unfavorable weather, U.S. troops complete conquest of Attu. By June 1, all organized enemy resistance has ceased. (Communiqué No. 401).
June: U.S. forces, now in possession of key positions in the Western Aleutians, concentrate attention on Kiska, and carry out bombing and strafing missions whenever the weather will permit. (Communiqués Nos. 400‑402‑403‑407‑409414‑420‑423‑424‑425‑427).
July: U.S. naval surface forces Join in the assault on Kiska, bombarding enemy shore positions on July 6‑9‑11‑14‑15‑20‑22‑30. (Communiqués Nos. 436‑438-439‑441‑442-446‑448‑455). Meanwhile, U.S. Army bombers and fighters continue heavy attacks on all enemy positions on the island.
August 1‑14: Kiska undergoes concentrated assaults by U.S. forces both from the air and sea. (Communiqué No. 460).
On August 15, U.S. and Canadian forces landed on Kiska. (Communiqué No. 459).
Communiqué No. 460
North Pacific.
In the period from August 1 to August 14, inclusive, U.S. Army and Navy aircraft and heavy and light U.S. naval surface units carried out the following previously-unannounced attacks on Kiska Island and Little Kiska
On August 1: Liberator heavy bombers (Consolidated B‑24) dropped bombs through solid overcast on the Kiska main camp area.
On August 2:
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In the afternoon Liberators attacked North Head on Kiska, and scored hits in the area.
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Immediately following the above air attack, heavy and light U.S. naval surface units heavily bombarded the main camp, submarine base, North Head, South Head and Gertrude Cove on Kiska Island, as well as enemy positions on Little Kiska. More than 2,300 rounds of large and medium caliber shells were fired at the targets, with no return fire from the enemy.
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Early the same evening Mitchell medium bombers (North American B‑25) and Lightning fighters (Lockheed P‑38) bombed and strafed Little Kiska.
On August 3:
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In the early morning, light Naval surface units shelled Gertrude Cove and the main camp area on Kiska. Return fire by the enemy was light and brief.
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Four bombing and strafing attacks were carried out by Mitchell medium bombers and Warhawk (Curtiss P‑40) and Lightning fighters on North Head, South Head, the runway, seaplane hangar area and the main camp on Kiska. Little Kiska was strafed. Hits were observed in all target areas.
On August 4:
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Shortly after midnight, a Navy Catalina patrol bomber (Consolidated PBY) dropped explosive and incendiary bombs on the Kiska main camp and submarine base. Large fires resulted from the attack.
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During a 12‑hour period from morning to evening, 18 attack missions were carried out against North Head, South Head, the runway, main camp and submarine base on Kiska and Little Kiska. Large forces of Liberator heavy bombers, Mitchell medium bombers, Army Dauntless dive bombers (Douglas A‑24), and Lightning and Warhawk fighters participated in these attacks. In addition to the bombings, cannon‑firing‑ Mitchells successfully attacked shore installations, while the fighter planes strafed at low altitudes. Many explosions resulted and numerous fires were started. The enemy’s opposition consisted of sporadic antiaircraft fire.
On August 5: In the early morning light Naval surface units shelled Gertrude Cove and the main camp on Kiska. No return fire was encountered.
On August 6: Light naval surface units again bombarded Kiska, scoring hits in the target area. There was no return fire.
On August 8: The Kiska main camp and the Gertrude Cove area were the targets in a further bombardment by light Naval surface units, with no return fire.
On August 9: Light Naval surface units shelled Gertrude Cove, the main camp and enemy positions on a hill North of Reynard Cove.
On August 10:
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Before dawn, Gertrude Cove and the main camp again were bombarded by light Naval surface units.
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Large forces of Liberator heavy bombers, Mitchell medium bombers, Army Dauntless dive bombers (Douglas A‑24), and Lightning and Warhawk fighters carried out 24 bombing and strafing missions on Kiska. Only light antiaircraft fire was encountered. Many fires were started.
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During the night, a Catalina patrol bomber dropped bombs on Kiska.
On August 11:
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In the early morning, light Naval surface units shelled South Head and Gertrude Cove, starting fires.
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Gertrude Cove, Reynard Cove, North Head and Little Kiska were the targets of 21 bombing and strafing missions carried out during the day by Liberator heavy bombers, Mitchell medium bombers, Army Dauntless dive bombers (Douglas A‑24) and Lightning and Warhawk fighters. Fires were started in all areas and considerable debris was observed in enemy emplacements on Little Kiska.
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A Catalina patrol bomber dropped bombs on the main camp and Gertrude Cove during the night.
On August 12:
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Shortly after midnight, a light Naval surface unit shelled Kiska.
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In the morning, heavy and light Naval surface units bombarded the south coast of Kiska. Gertrude Cove and Bukhti Point were the main targets. There was no return fire.
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The Kiska area was heavily bombed and thoroughly strafed during the day in 20 attacks by forces of Liberator heavy bombers, Mitchell medium bombers, Army Dauntless dive bombers, and Warhawk and Lightning fighters. Many fires were started.
On August 13:
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Light U. S. Naval surface units bombarded Kiska early in the morning, drawing no return fire.
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During the afternoon nine bombing and strafing missions were carried out against Kiska by U.S. Army Liberator, Mitchell and Dauntless bombers and Lightning fighters. Buildings at Gertrude Cove and North Head were destroyed by direct hits, and fires resulted at Gertrude Cove, North Head, the main camp and north of Reynard Cove. Light antiaircraft fire was encountered.
On August 14:
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In the early morning hours, a Navy Catalina three times bombed installations on Kiska, with unreported results.
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At hourly intervals, light U.S. Naval surface units bombarded Kiska four times. No return fire was encountered.
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In the late afternoon U.S. Army Liberators, Mitchells and Lightnings bombed and strafed enemy positions on Kiska. Results were not reported.
The Pittsburgh Press (August 21, 1943)
Kiska is captured by Yanks, Canadians
Japs give up last base in Aleutians without firing a shot
By Merriman Smith, United Press staff writer
Québec, Canada –
U.S. and Canadian troops have occupied Kiska in the Aleutian Islands without firing a shot, freeing “the last vestige of North American territory of Japanese forces,” President Roosevelt and Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King announced today.
The Japanese, estimated at 10,000 by the U.S. Navy, apparently escaped under the cover of fog sometime in the night of Aug. 13-14. They fired on U.S. aircraft on the 13th, but on the 14th, there was no reply to either air or surface raids. The Allied forces began landing on Aug. 15, the Navy said in Washington.
The dramatic announcement by the President and the Canadian Prime Minister was made as the war-plan conference between Mr. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill neared its close. Reportedly, the President and the Prime Minister had reached agreements to push the Pacific offensive with the Jap fleet as the main objective.
Cleaning out the Aleutians meant that the eastern end of the road to Tokyo was open and that probably Paramushiru, the big Jap naval base in the Kuril Islands, was next on the list for heavy attacks.
Conscript Canadian troops were used in the occupation, their first combat duty. Under Canadian law, they cannot be used outside the Western Hemisphere.
White House Secretary Stephen T. Early, who made the announcement for Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. King, said that the President was “particularly happy” that he was in Canada when such good news could be given to the world.
Text of the joint statement:
A strong force of U.S. and Canadian troops supported by surface vessels have occupied the island of Kiska in the Aleutians. The landing began on Aug. 15; no Japanese were found, and it is our belief that the enemy evacuation was made under cover of heavy fog.
It is evident that the position of the Jap troops became untenable because of the occupation of Attu, the harassment of enemy supply lines and the recent bombings and bombardments of Kiska by air and surface craft.
For security reasons, this announcement has been withheld pending the unloading of transports.
The present occupation of Kiska frees the last vestige of North American territory of Jap forces.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
W. L. MACKENZIE KING
A naval communiqué issued simultaneously in Québec City and Washington said:
A task force of the Pacific Fleet has landed a force of U.S. and Canadian troops on Kiska beginning on Aug. 15. No Japanese have been found. There were indications of recent hasty evacuation of the Japanese garrison.
Presumably the heavy bombardments by our ships and planes that have been carried on for some time and the danger to their supply lines by our capture of Attu made the enemy positions on Kiska untenable. It is not known how the Japanese got away, but it is possible that enemy surface ships were able to reach Kiska under cover of the heavy fog that has been prevalent.
Since the air and surface bombardments in the latter part of July had apparently destroyed Japanese radio equipment on Kiska, the assumption was that they were not in communication with the mainland. Consequently, no release of Allied operations against Kiska has been made since July 31 as it would have conveyed information to the enemy which he otherwise would not have had.
This particularly applied to the period during which transports were in areas exposed to enemy submarine attacks and while they were unloading.
Earlier reports from the conference between Mr. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill had indicated that some action on the Jap front could be expected. Heavy naval and air action in the Pacific against the Jap fleet was believed to be one of the major military decisions reached at the conference.
This did not mean there would be any relaxation of the Anglo-American effort in Europe, but it was becoming increasingly evident that the Pacific was near, if not at the top, of the agenda at the Citadel where the President and Mr. Churchill are meeting.
Russian demands to the contrary, the conferees were believed to have decided that the situation in the Pacific is such that it will not permit an all-out concentration against the Germans in Europe to the entire exclusion of Japan.
The Allies were expected to hit twice – in Western Europe and, at about the same time, in the Pacific. The fall campaign in Burma was decided at the Roosevelt-Churchill conference in Washington last May. Coincident with the Québec Conference was information that a section of the British Navy is moving into the Pacific and there were some sources which foresaw a major naval battle with the Japs in the very near future.
Sir Alexander Cadogan, British Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was one of the key figures in the Pacific planning here. He came over with British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and is one of the high-ranking Far Eastern experts of the British Empire. Naturally, he is not a master of military logistics, but his counsel is being received by the two top figures in the conferences along with that of Mr. Eden and Secretary of State Cordell Hull.
There was a widely circulated but unconfirmed report that Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, commander of U.S. forces in China, India and Burma, had joined the discussions. Gen. Stilwell, along with Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault, commanding the U.S. Air Force in China, and Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell, new Viceroy of India, were key figures in the May conferences with the President and the Prime Minister.
If the reports about Gen. Stilwell are true, they mean one thing: The plans for Burma have been given a final touch and a new pattern of Allied combat against the Jap is being born.
Attack by fall
Meanwhile, from the Citadel, there came no information but many indications. Among highly unofficial reports were:
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The Allies move against Germany by autumn, this operation timed with a body blow against the Japs in Burma.
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The race for Berlin is on, with Anglo-American forces poised to beat the Russians who have made far more tangible progress in this direction.
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Great Britain and the United States would much prefer to accomplish the “ruthless” destruction of Japan without the benefit of Russian bases in order to give them a better advantage at the peace table. Such bases, however, would be accepted in exchange for a costly push against Germany.
To talk in Ottawa
Mr. Roosevelt speaks in Ottawa from the steps of the Parliament Building Wednesday at noon. This means he leaves Québec Tuesday, and this, in turn, means that the Roosevelt-Churchill conferences will end then.
Mr. Roosevelt goes to Ottawa really as the guest of Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King, but formally as the guest of the Earl of Athlone, Governor General of Canada. The President speaks to members of Parliament, not reconvened but invited to reassemble to hear him.
In the area stretching in front of the Parliament steps from where the President will speak, there is space to accommodate 20,000 persons.
Go fishing
According to White House Press Secretary Early, the conferences are going along well to the point that Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill were so “caught up” in their work they spent yesterday picnicking and fishing with members of their staffs at a lake north of Québec.
The “caught up” phrase used by Mr. Early did not mean the truly important and final decisions had been reached. According to Mr. Early, the import of this statement was that Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill had cleaned up a batch of paperwork laid down by their generals and admirals and gone out to fish while the staff chiefs got together more material for them to pass on.
Toe of Italy is bombarded by Yank fleet
Allied warships shower destruction on railyards at Naples
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer
…
U.S. casualties 7,400 in Sicily
British losses placed at 11,835 in campaign
By Ned Russell, United Press staff writer
15th Army Group HQ, Sicily, Italy – (Aug. 20, delayed)
Gen. Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, Allied ground commander in the Mediterranean theater, revealed today that 7,400 U.S. soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in the conquest of Sicily, which he said clinched the ultimate defeat of Germany.
The 38-day campaign put the Germans in the worst predicament they have yet faced, Gen. Alexander told Anglo-American war correspondents.
He said:
The Germans are in a jam. We are closing in on them now. We are bound to win now and the Germans must be thinking they are bound to lose. We’ve got them all right, but it will take time.
British lose heaviest
The British suffered the heaviest casualties in the Sicilian campaign, losing 11,835 dead, wounded and missing, he reported, while Canadian casualties totaled 2,388 for a grand total for all Allied forces of 21,623. The figures covered the period up to last Tuesday, when the campaign ended with the capture of Messina.
An official statement issued at Allied headquarters in North Africa last Wednesday estimated Allied casualties at 25,000, but this figure presumably included air force and naval casualties, while Gen. Alexander’s report covered only ground forces. The headquarters statement also estimated Axis dead and wounded at no fewer than 82,000 and Axis prisoners at more than 135,000.
30,000 killed, wounded
Gen. Alexander said the enemy lost 30,000 of their original 300,000 troops in killed and wounded, and 134,000 in prisoners. The original Axis forces comprised 94 Italian battalions assigned to coastal defenses, four Italian divisions of mobile reserves and two German divisions in “poor, widely-scattered positions” as battle groups, he said.
Many Sicilian soldiers deserted, donned civilian clothes and returned to their villages and farms. Gen. Alexander said he was not concerned with them unless they engaged in sabotage or espionage, which, he warned, would be punished with death.
Italians collapse
Gen. Alexander said the Italians “just collapsed” when the Allies landed, but the Germans fought bravely and hard to the end.
Gen. Alexander revealed he originally expected the Sicilian campaign to take up to three months, and was agreeably surprised when it took only one month and one week. He said the fighting taught the Allies many lessons, especially in the use of airborne troops, which he acknowledged had not been perfected completely.
He singled out U.S. Army Engineers for special praise, paying tribute to their “remarkable road-building feats in the wild Sicilian mountains.”
Fix bridges quickly
He said:
I visited the American front for several days and never saw such remarkable military engineering accomplishments. It was magnificent. The American engineers built miles of road at night over mountains you wouldn’t think you could get a mule over.
The Germans blew up 15 bridges in 20 miles along one sector of the coast, but they delayed the Americans only a matter of hours. It was a wonderful feat.
The Americans went from Palermo to Messina in a fortnight. You wouldn’t hike it in a fortnight in peacetime.
Enemy’s casualties put at 1,222,000
London, England (UP) –
Official British figures disclosed today that Axis casualties in the Mediterranean and African theaters since Italy’s entry into the war in June 1940, total 1,222,000 killed, wounded and captured – more than two-thirds of them Italian.
The Axis casualties included 227,000 killed or wounded and 995,000 prisoners.
British Empire losses in the same theaters up to last May 18 were placed at 220,000 killed, wounded or prisoners, including 35,000 casualties in the battle of Tunisia. In addition, British, American and Canadian casualties in Sicily have been estimated at 25,000 men.
Nazis fail to trick Yanks with captured Fortresses
U.S. air crews quick to spot Trojan Horse planes posing as stragglers
By Nat A. Barrows
…
Mail order house ordered to grant union checkoff
WLB overrides Montgomery Ward’s contention that anti-strike act is unconstitutional
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I DARE SAY —
Parryscope
By Florence Fisher Parry
Impressive as is the photograph of the dignitaries assembled before the grandiose background of the Château Frontenac, there is one figure lacking to make it perfect: Gen. MacArthur, the great war hero of them all!
I shall be glad when events point their arrow his way, and that’s our pent-up idolatry which is waiting in the hearts of us all, to heap upon this herp, may at last find full relief.
It is an odd thing about heroes. The spell which they cast has little to do with their actual accomplishments; it springs from something more – an indefinable fire which ignites the hearts of their idolaters into a blind unalterable devotion.
Napoleon had it – nor cruelty nor greed nor utter defeat were able to extinguish it. His tomb is still a shrine. Lenin had it. Lincoln had it. Washington had it, and Robert E. Lee, Gen. de Gaulle certainly possesses it.
And Gen. Douglas MacArthur thus has it.
We may cheer Gen. Patton; we may delight in Gen. Montgomery, we may burst with pride and satisfaction in Gen. Eisenhower. But they will never be heroes in that deathless way that makes a hero a martial saint. They will never be able to cast the spell that makes men willing to perform deathless deeds in their name.
What is that quality that makes a warrior a her such as this? Of all our generals, only Gen. MacArthur possesses this strange attribute. We know that come the day war interest is at last focused in the Pacific, this man will emerge the greatest figure of them all.
And I for one do not like the way his exploits have been played down. From the time he was so thrillingly rescued from Bataan, and overnight became the world’s No. 1 idol, he has been PLAYED DOWN.
Let the testimony to disprove it be placed before us to read.
‘Heaven Can Wait’
One of the most delightful motion pictures of the season is now showing at the J.P. Harris Theater: Heaven Can Wait; and I hope its audiences will be made up of a goodly number of those of my own generation, for I suspect that of all the enthusiasts it will attract we are in positions to appreciate its fine flavor most.
It is just charming. Its very pace and tempo, which to the younger generation may seem slow and deliberate, seem to me to add to its leisurely distinction. It provided me, I know, the very most satisfying evening at the movies I can remember having enjoyed this summer.
The dialog is as flavorful as a smooth old wine; its humor is as mellow as it is malicious; its settings and costumes are a sheer delight; and its story as charming and reminiscent as a lovely old plush album. Please, I adjure you, make a point of taking mother with you, yes and father too. And even grandmother. It is for every age, and for all gentlefolks!
Have you read Western Star? It did not affect me as did John Brown’s Body, although its publication so soon after the death of its fine author reminds us with extraordinary sharpness what we have lost in the death of Stephen Vincent Benét.
The moon
The moon, this month, never shone more furiously, nor shed a sterner invitation to our imaginations to ponder the terrifying meanings of this world conflict.
One of the most incredible feats of the human mind is the success with which we have managed to rationalize and accept the wholesale demolition of property and lives. It is as though, arming our countries and our armies, we have succeeded also in encasing our imaginations in thick armor, immobilizing their functions so that the physical horror of this war cannot penetrate our comprehension nor our minds play upon the meaning of such universal pain, except in terms of personal family loss.
“Bomb – burn – destroy.” These are OUR words now. They are, perhaps, the most implacable declaration of all-out war that ever has been uttered by civilized man. We say the words; we mean them, nothing can swerve us from our intention to CARRY THEM OUT. Yet their meaning in terms of human life and death, has lost its power to affect us.
Wright plant is threatened with seizure
Produce airplane engines or Army will, Truman warns company
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Wordy war
Allied HQ, North Africa –
Allied war correspondents sent out 2,305,429 words – equivalent to about 23 average-sized novels – on the Sicilian campaign, it was revealed today.
Men overseas love Pyle, foxhole companion says
Capt. Russell Wight who met Ernie in Africa thinks it amazing that ‘he weathers the war’
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Broadcaster charges OWI persecution
Testifies at FCC hearing he was told to dismiss two announcers
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Final attack on Salamaua set to start
Outer defenses of Japs’ new Guinea base smashed
By Brydon Taves, United Press staff writer
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‘Wolf Scouts’ qualify under rigorous tests
Tough three-day course tries skill, common sense of soldiers
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Total casualties in Navy now 28,731
Washington (UP) –
The Navy today announced additional casualties bringing to 28,731 the total casualties of the naval forces.
This includes 9,874 dead (7,758 Navy, 1,934 Marines and 192 Coast Guardsmen), 5,036 wounded (2,512 Navy, 2,501 Marines and 22 Coast Guardsmen), 9,670 missing (8,788 Navy, 724 Marines and 158 Coast Guardsmen) and 4,151 prisoners of war (2,225 Navy, 1,925 Marines and one Coast Guardsman).