No comic stripes yet, but–
There’s a new column now in Congressional Record
And it’s costing taxpayers $3,000 to reprint a 50-year-old speech on ‘silver money’
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No comic stripes yet, but–
Shipyards set mark with 175 boats in May
Almost two million deadweight tons produced; goal to be beaten
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Air-condition units wanted, WPB indicates
Power to take refrigeration machines from U.S. buildings may be sought
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Millett: When it comes to jobs, women are ‘good men’
‘Weaker sex’ proves it is anything but
By Ruth Millett
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Defeat at Attu may make Japs shift defenses
Yanks kill 1,500 of enemy on island, take only four prisoners
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U.S. South Pacific sailors find action despite ‘lull’
Letters from commanders tell of life on board warships during comparative inactivity
By B. J. McQuaid
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U.S. West Coast bombed twice by enemy planes
Eyewitness tells of attack near Oregon hamlet in early morning last September
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
Allied HQ, North Africa – (by wireless)
Men and machines have both now passed their shakedown period in this war – at least here in North Africa. Men who weren’t up to their jobs have largely been culled out and given different work. There are still some inept ones in office jobs, but among the line troops the mill of experience has pretty well ground out the weaklings, the freaks, and the misfits.
And it’s the same with machinery and weapons. Some things have proved themselves almost useless. Others have turned out so perfectly that the engineers would have to scratch their heads to think of any change in design.
In the mechanical end of our African war, three American vehicles stand out above all the others. They are the jeep, the GMC two-and-a-half-ton truck, and the Douglas DC-3 cargo plane.
The DC-3, known in the Army as the C-47, is the workingest airplane in existence, I suppose. It lifts incredible loads, and takes terrific beatings from rough fields, hard handling, and overuse. Almost any pilot will tell you it is the best airplane ever built.
The GMC truck does the same thing in its field. It hauls big loads, it is easy to drive and easy-riding, and the truck driver can do practically anything with it up to an outside loop. It seldom gets stuck, and if it does it can winch itself out. The punishment it will take is staggering.
Jeep goes everywhere
And the jeep – good Lord, I don’t think we could continue the war without the jeep. It does everything, goes everywhere. It’s as faithful as a dog, as strong as a mule, and as agile as a goat. It consistently carries twice what it was designed for, and still keeps on going. It doesn’t even ride so badly after you get used to it.
I have driven jeeps thousands of miles, and if I were called upon to suggest changes for a new model, I could think of only one or two little things.
One is the handbrake. It’s perfectly useless – won’t hold at all. They should either design one that works or else save metal by having none at all.
And in the field of acoustics, I wish they could somehow fix the jeep so that at certain speeds the singing of those heavy tires wouldn’t sound exactly like an approaching airplane. That little sound effect has caused me to jump out of my skin more than once. Except for those two trivial items the jeep is a divine instrument of wartime locomotion.
Only once in my long and distinguished jeep career have I ever had anything go wrong. That time the gears got all mixed up and the thing wouldn’t come out of low gear. It was while we were still fighting around Mateur.
There’s repair depot
Our road was under heavy German shellfire, so the only thing we could do was to take off cross-country and make a wide circle around the shell-infested area. We drove through shoulder-high barley fields, along foot-wide goat trails, up over hills, down steep banks, across creeks, and over huge rockbeds. Then just as we hit the main road and were out in the free again, this gear thing happened.
We still had 20 miles ahead of us, and there was nothing to do but keep on going in low gear. Luckily, we hadn’t gone more than a mile when we saw a little sign denoting an Armored Force repair depot. We drove in just on a chance, and sure enough they said they could fix the jeep. They not only fixed it but gave us supper while we waited, and were extremely pleasant about the whole thing. That’s better service than you get in the States.
The boss man of this outfit was Lt. George P. Carter, of Louisa, Kentucky. He had intended becoming a doctor, and had just finished his premedical course, but now he’s a doctor of heavy machinery. His gang retrieves tanks and repairs them, and keeps all the mighty rolling equipment of an armored division in order. To them, fixing a jeep is like a boilermaker fixing a watch, but they can do it.
The mechanic who fixed our gears was Sgt. Walter Harrold, of Wadena, Minnesota. Already that day his outfit had been forced to move twice. German artillery had got their range once, and they were dive-bombed another time.
Sgt. Harrold had been working and moving and dodging all day and would have to work some more that night, yet he worked on our jeep with as much interest as though it were his own. You can tell a mechanic at heart even on a battlefield. Or maybe I should say especially on a battlefield.
Davis orders rationing of canned milk
Red stamps in Book No. 2 to be used; babies, invalids benefit
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Pal of German saboteurs is draft dodger
Claims he’s a minister after one lesson on Bible
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Is it the maharaja of indore or bhopal?
1 Like
The former:
1 Like
U.S. Navy Department (June 3, 1943)
Communiqué No. 400
North Pacific.
On June 1, on Attu Island, U.S. Army troops combed scattered areas and by noon had eliminated minor groups of Japanese troops encountered.
It is further reported that the known Japanese dead on Attu Island total 1,791. This figure does not include the unknown number killed by artillery fire and bombs. Such casualties were either cremated or buried by the Japanese.
On June 1, formations of Army Mitchell (North American B‑25) and Ventura (Vega B‑34) medium bombers, Lightning (Lockheed P‑38) and Warhawk (Curtiss P‑40) fighters bombed and strafed Kiska. Hits were scored on the Japanese main camp area, runway and gun emplacements. A number of Canadians piloting Warhawks participated.
South Pacific.
During the evening of May 31, Liberator (Consolidated) heavy bombers attacked Japanese installations at Tinputs Harbor and Numa Numa Harbor on the northeast coast of Bougainville Island. Numerous large fires were started. In addition, two small Japanese vessels off Tinputs were bombed. One of these vessels was damaged and beached.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
June 3, 1943
Enemy submarine blown in two by Navy patrol plane
An enemy submarine was blown in two several months ago by depth bombs from a Navy Catalina patrol plane which surprised the undersea craft in South Atlantic waters as its crew members apparently were taking sun baths.
The submarine was blown out of the water. The plane’s crew reported that as it rose it broke, and several objects which looked like long cylindrical tanks floated up among the spouting debris and wreckage. The stern of the submarine then rose vertically out of the water, to a height of 8 or 10 feet, bobbed up and down, and then plunged straight down in the rough seas.