Hull accepts leadership of Gen. de Gaulle
Secretary confers with French chief during trip to Russia
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Father draft rests in hands of Roosevelt
Senate action takes service decisions from McNutt
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W. W. Barbour, U.S. Senator, taken by death
Republican was third member of Congress to die in 24 hours
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Unions to base fight on free speech issue
Pressman and cotton prepare CIO’s appeal to Texas Supreme Court ruling that involves Thomas
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
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In Washington –
Patterson calls Canol Field a link in the road to Tokyo
Oil plants in the Canadian wilds surveyed as recently as October by experts, Truman Committee is assured
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Congress asks to hear more from Cabinet
Members are impressed by Hull’s address; bill is studied
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Twenty years can change a lot. It was a bit murkier back then.
Knox: Gilberts push aims at Japan
Pacific victory will also shorten supply line to Southwest Pacific
Washington (UP) –
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox said today that the U.S. invasion of the Gilbert Islands marks the beginning of a new drive aimed directly at Japan across the Central Pacific.
He told a news conference that the drive had two immediate strategic objectives. To drive the Japs out of the mandated islands and to shorten by hundreds of miles American supply lines to the Southwest Pacific.
He said:
This operation directed by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Area, is the beginning of a new campaign from the Central Pacific on a much more direct route toward Japan.
Jap fleet still hides
Up to the present time, no elements of the Jap surface fleet has appeared to oppose the Gilbert landings, he said, and added:
The threat has not as yet pulled the Japanese out of their shelter.
Mr. Knox believed that the nearest place to the Gilberts where the Jap fleet is gathered in any strength is Truk, the powerful enemy naval stronghold in the mid-Pacific.
Mr. Knox’s statement that one of the immediate aims is to drive the Japs out of the mandated islands indicated clearly that the next step of the forces under Adm. Nimitz will apparently be to drive into the nearby Marshall Islands and into the Carolines, site of Truk.
Explains gain
Clearing the path for a more direct supply line to the Southwest Pacific, Mr. Knox pointed out, would be equivalent to increasing the number of ships used to transport materials and troops. The shorter route would provide quicker turnarounds for supply ships and be an advantage in the matter of logistics, he said.
He said:
The fact that we are undertaking this campaign is a very clear demonstration of our overwhelming strength in sea and airpower.
Allied parley due this week, Nazis declare
But United Nations circles fail to confirm report about ‘Big Three’
By Edward W. Beattie, United Press staff writer
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How long will they last?
Jap home front doubtful now of Allied surrender
Tokyo man-in-street still believes island empire is impregnable, but he looks thinner and shabbier
By A. T. Steele
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1 Like
Writer describes training for mid-Pacific invasion
Scores of warships, tens of thousands of men rehearsed mighty punch against Japs
By B. J. McQuaid
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Millett: Women on wartime jobs would appreciate praise
Paycheck without a compliment now and then leaves the, just about ready to quit
By Ruth Millett
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
Ernie Pyle is describing his impressions of the home front in a short series of columns before shoving off again on assignment to the battlefronts.
Albuquerque, New Mexico –
I know another provost marshal story (or are you tired?). Just after Sicily was all over, we correspondents straggled back into Palermo. On the first night there, correspondent Chris Cunningham and photographer Chuck Corte parked their jeep on the street against regulations, and the MPs impounded it.
They spent all next day trying to get it back. They made innumerable phone calls, but the Military Police would have none of them. The only thing left to do was go plead with the provost marshal himself.
Several officers told them:
You’re just wasting your time. The colonel is a tough egg. You won’t get your jeep back, and he’ll probably throw you out of the office besides.
But they had to be have the jeep, so they decided to brave the colonel in his den. They asked if I would go along, just to bolster up their courage.
So, we marched around to the provost’s office. A long line of Army culprits was standing before the colonel’s desk, and it took about an hour for us to work up to him.
For once I had plenty of courage, as I wasn’t involved in any way, and was merely a spectator, you might say. But Chuck and Chris were having the shakes.
Finally, the colonel looked up at us, as if to say “Well, what, you swine?” And then he got up, came around the desk, and headed straight for me, with his hand out and a big smile on his face. He said:
Hello. Haven’t seen you since we met at Dakar last spring.
We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. “What trouble are you in?” he asked. I said:
Oh, I’m personally innocent of all things, but I’ve taken up associating with criminals.
I introduced the other boys and they explained their mess.
“What’s the number of your keep?” he asked. They told him.
The colonel said:
Sergeant, get this jeep out of the lot and bring it around.
And that was that. The provost in question was Claude O. Burch from Petersburg, Indiana, and it turned out he knew a Petersburg boy I used to go to school with named “Leaky” Harris. He’s been in the Army for 27 years, and he’s a nice guy despite the warnings we had. We all sat down on his desk and talked for 15 minutes.
Still wears G.I. socks
Most of the time here at home I have kept on wearing my heavy gray G.I. socks, because I’ve got used to them and they are comfortable. But they aren’t any bargain to look at.
Which takes us back to a remark a passenger made on the Clipper coming home a couple of months ago. My socks are always tumbled halfway down to my ankles, because they are too high and heavy to wear garters with, so I just let them sprawl.
A naval lieutenant had been sitting for three days across the aisle from me, where he couldn’t help but stare at my socks. Finally, on the third afternoon, when we’d all had time to get friendly and fresh with each other, he said:
You know, I’ve spent the whole trip trying to figure it out. Are those G.I. socks going up, or long underwear coming down?
A friend in the 1st Infantry Division has written to me of a post-war reunion plan that he and some of his fellow officers have. A code has been worked out, so they’ll all know when and where to meet.
Membership in the reunion group will be open only to men who have been officers in the 1st Quartermaster Company of the 1st Infantry Division at any time between March 17, 1942, and the end of the war.
The reunion is to be held on the first 17th of March after the war ends. It is to be at 1700 hours (5:00 p.m.) on the 17th floor of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, and headquarters will be in Room 1717.
Maj. Harlan W. Hendrick wrote me about it. A few people who have associated with the 1st Division have been invited as guests. I think the best plan would be for me to go up to Room 1717 right now, and just wait for them.
Maj. de Seversky: Overzealous airpower advocates put European bomber strategy out of limb
By Maj. Alexander P. de Seversky
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Landis bars Cox as Major League official
Phil owner banned for gambling; betting on games prompts ruling
By Robert Meyer, United Press staff writer
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Because the Polish nationalist claimed the multilingual Commenwelth as Polish:
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Völkischer Beobachter (November 24, 1943)
Neuer Schlag für die USA bei den Gilbertinseln –
Flugzeugträger und ein Zerstörer versenkt
dnb. Tokio, 23. November –
Auch bei der Landung starker nordamerikanischer Marineeinheiten auf den Gilbertinseln Makin und Tarawa, die – wie wir bereits berichtet haben – das Kaiserliche Hauptquartier am Montag bekanntgab, konnte die japanische Marineluftwaffe dem Feind empfindliche Schläge versetzen. Bei diesem Unternehmen sind bis jetzt ein mittelgroßer Flugzeugträger und ein Zerstörer versenkt worden. Weiter wurden zwei große Flugzeugträger beschädigt, einer davon so schwer, daß anzunehmen ist, daß er inzwischen gesunken ist. Ein mittelgroßer Flugzeugträger wurde gleichfalls schwer beschädigt, so daß mit seinem Untergang gerechnet werden kann. Ein Schlachtschiff oder schwerer Kreuzer und ein Transporter wurden beschädigt und in Brand geworfen.
Die feindliche Luftwaffe verlor in diesen Kämpfen 36 Maschinen, während von der japanischen Landarmee weitere 89 Feindflugzeuge abgeschossen wurden. Die japanischen Verluste belaufen sich auf 15 Flugzeuge.
Der Versuch der Amerikaner, durch die Landungen im Gebiet der Gilbertinseln den niederschmetternden Eindruck der fünf Niederlagen bei Bougainville zu verwischen, ist also nicht von Erfolg gewesen.
Wie diese japanische Sondermeldung zeigt, ist den Amerikanern auch ihre Landung auf den Gilbertinseln, die als strategischer und propagandistisch-politischer Ablenkungsversuch nach den schweren Niederlagen bei Bougainville unternommen wurde, teuer zu stehen gekommen. Wieder haben sie einen Flugzeugträger mittlerer Größe verloren und wahrscheinlich noch zwei weitere, darunter einen großen. Angesichts dieser neuen schweren Schiffs- und Flugzeugverluste wird sich für das amerikanische Oberkommando die Frage erheben, ob der Diversionsversuch mit diesem neuen Aderlaß für die amerikanischen Seestreitkräfte im Südpazifik nicht zu teuer bezahlt worden ist und der Versuch einer propagandistischen Ablenkung nicht im Gegenteil zu einer neuen Beunruhigung der amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit führen muß.
Die Gilbertinseln, deren größte, Tarawa und Makin, 40 beziehungsweise 30 Quadratkilometer umfassen, liegen am Weg von Hawai nach Australien. Für die Japaner bedeuten sie eine Flankensicherung ihrer Stellungen auf den Salomonen. Die Amerikaner hofften offenbar, durch diese Aktionen eine Zersplitterung der japanischen Streitkräfte zu erreichen, sie wurden dabei selber zersplittert und werden sich wohl keinen Illusionen darüber hingeben, welch hohen Preis sie für diese neue Art des „Inselspringens“ bezahlen müssen.