Saturday, April 30, 2011

Current Events April 30, 1943:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, APRIL 30, 1943:
British 1st army troops northeast of Medjez el-Bab seized the village
of Sidi Ashmed today despite bitter counter-attacks Jby newly-reinforced
Axis infantry and armored with Tebourba.
The. Algiers radio identified the town as Sidi Ahmed, 10
miles north northeast of Medjez el-Bab. Maps located a Sidi Ahmed
on the shores of Lake Bizerte. too far to the north to be
the village taken by the 1st army.

The navy announced today that United States warships have" bom-
barded the Japanese on Attu island in what may well prove the open-
mg barrage of the spring offensive to drive the enemy from American
soil in the Aleutians.

India, Apr. 23 (delayed) (AP)—
U.S. P40s operating from this base have written a thrilling new chapter in aviation
history by plastering Jap targets in Burma with 1,000-pound bombs twice as
big as carried ever before by fighter planes.

President Roosevelt today appealed to
soft-coal miners, of whom 60,000 already are idle, to return to their jobs,
and said that if they did not do so by 10 AM Saturday he would use all
his power as President and commander-in-chief "to protect the national interest
and to prevent further interference with the successful prosecution of the war."



                            The Charleston Gazette
                                Charleston, West Virginia, April 30, 1943


Rim of Tunis Plain
Gained by 1st Army
As Key Point Falls
Yank Forces Battle
For Hill Position
Americans Ar« Engaged
In Heavy Fighting
HEAD HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, April 29.-(INS)
British 1st army troops northeast of Medjez el-Bab seized the village
of Sidi Ashmed today despite bitter counter-attacks Jby newly-reinforced
Axis infantry and armored with Tebourba.
The. Algiers radio identified the town as Sidi Ahmed, 10
miles north northeast of Medjez el-Bab. Maps located a Sidi Ahmed
on the shores of Lake Bizerte. too far to the north to be
the village taken by the 1st army. The.new gains brought the 1st
army to the rim of the Tunis plain 20 miles west of Tunis, while
American infantry gained "important ground." the communique said
within ,10 miles of Mateur.. French troops in the north were roughly
20 miles west of the Bizerte naval base.
Americans Gain Foothold
American troops meanwhile took a firmer foothold on the northeastern
slopes of Neftah hill, seven miles southeast of captured SidiN'Sir, and
engaged the enemy in the savage battles for control of other heights in the area. Particular goal of the Yanks is Bald Hill west of Jefna village and 10 miles west
of the pivot base of Mateur.

U. S. Warships
Bombard Attu
Island Barrage May Be
Start of Offensive
WASHINGTON. April 29.-,INS)
The navy announced today that United States warships have" bom-
barded the Japanese on Attu island in what may well prove the open-
mg barrage of the spring offensive to drive the enemy from American
soil in the Aleutians.
In a significant development of the aerial warfare in the South
Pacific the navy simultaneously revealed that heavy army bombers
ranged more than 1.000 mile? North of Guadalcanal to inflict "extensive
damage on the Japanese air base at Tawara in the heart of the Gilbert
islands. :
The naval attack on Attu was carried out last Saturday morning
apparently under cover of a storm that had gripped the western Aleutians
for three days.
Enemy Guns Unimpressive

STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
New York, N.Y.—London, England Friday, April 30, 1943

Allies Still Gain, But Resistance Grows
British Capture Hill
In Fiercest Fighiting;
Americans Advance
8th Army Faces Huge
Mass of Artillery
Near Coast
By the Associated Press
Driven back once by enemy counter-fire, British infantry charged
up Djebel Bou Aoukaz, 20 miles west of Tunis, and fought their way to the
crest on Wednesday, according to dispatches reaching London last night.
The assaults on this 700-foot hill guarding the entrance to the Tunis
plain from the Medjerda Valley were unsurpassed in fierceness and gained
their immediate objective only after nearly 24 hours' fighting in which 200 prisoners
were taken.
Over the entire length of the Tunisian, front Axis forces resisted yesterday, but
the Americans wrested some territoryfrom them in bitter fighting in the extreme
north.
Allied headquarters gave few details of the progress made in the north by
American troops. The communique yesterday said only that "in the north the
American Second Corps made further progress and gained some important
ground."
                                                 Axis Masses Artillery

P40s With Special Bomb Rigs
Drop 1,000-Pounders on Japs
AT A U.S. FIGHTER BASE, Northeastern
India, Apr. 23 (delayed) (AP)—
U.S. P40s operating from this base have written a thrilling new chapter in aviation
history by plastering Jap targets in Burma with 1,000-pound bombs twice as
big as carried ever before by fighter planes. Col. John E. Barr, San Antonia, Tex.,
group executive officer, conceived the idea and proved it workable. In the past
month a team of six P40s, trained and led by him, destroyed four steel railroad
bridges, severely damaged runways of two important airdromes and leveled a large
section of an enemy-occupied city.
Barr told how Japs repaired the damage after direct hits were scored on. bridges
with 500-pounders. "That burned me up, and I decided to experiment with bigger
bombs."

Nazis Told of Rommel's
Departure by Leaflets
ALLIED HQ, North Africa,
Apr. 29 (AP)—German troops in Tunisia are being showered with leaflets
citing captured German documents showing that Rommel and his
staff left Africa several weeks ago.
The leaflets tell the Germans that they have been left behind to die and
call on them to take this "last chance" of saving their lives by surrendering.

President May Send Troops
Into Mines Closed by Strike
WASHINGTON, Apr. 29 (AP)—President Roosevelt today appealed to
soft-coal miners, of whom 60,000 already are idle, to return to their jobs,
and said that if they did not do so by 10 AM Saturday he would use all
his power as President and commander-in-chief "to protect the national interest
and to prevent further interference with the successful prosecution of the war."
The President stepped into the wage dispute between the miners and operators
after it had been turned over to him by the War Production Board, which had
been ignored by John L. Lewis and his associates in the United Mine Workers'
union.
The President sent telegrams to Lewis and the secretary-treasurer of the union,
Thomas Kennedy, asking the men in the mines to "resume work immediately and
submit their case to the National War Labor Board for final determination."
                                                            Hinder War Effort

Friday, April 29, 2011

Current Events April 29, 1943:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, APRIL 29, 1943:
Allied troops were reported last night to be advancing along the entire
line in Tunisia—in one sector reaching a point only 21 miles from Tunis—
and a spokesman at Allied Force Headquarters in North Africa said that it
seemed unlikely that the Axis would be able to offer prolonged resistance
to Allied pressure.

Formations of U.S. Army planes yesterday carried
out the 142nd attack against Japanese installations at Kiska this month.
Liberators and Mitchells, with Lightning and Warhawk fighters, participated in
these raids. Japan has made plans to invade the The States between June and October of this year, according to underground reports reaching Kilsoo Haan representative of the Korean National Front Federaion in Washington.



THE STARS AND STRIPES
Dally Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
New York, N.Y.—London, England Thursday, April 29, 1943

First Army Now 21 Miles from Tunis
U .S. Infantry Clears
Heights Near Mateur
As British Close In
French Enter Vital Pont du Fahs Plain
As British Attack Heights Near
Medjez, Approaching Tunis
Allied troops were reported last night to be advancing along the entire
line in Tunisia—in one sector reaching a point only 21 miles from Tunis—
and a spokesman at Allied Force Headquarters in North Africa said that it
seemed unlikely that the Axis would be able to offer prolonged resistance
to Allied pressure.
A warning that the Axis cannot be expected to be crushed quickly was
given, however, by a general commanding part of the Eighth Army.
First Army infantry, storming the hills to the east of the Medjerda River,
yesterday reached a point only 21 miles from Tunis. The attack, made
against repeated German counter-blows in the deepening salient cast of
- Medjez El Bab, carried them to a point
about 400 yards from the summit of an
important hill—the Djebel Bou Ackas—after heavy fighting.
French native troops have cut and crossed the road from Pont du Fahs to
Enfidaville southeast of Zaghouan mountain, about 15 miles southeast of Pont
du Fahs. The rear of the German Army facing Gen. Montgomery's troops is now
threatened on this sector.
Americans Clear Heights

142KiskaRaids
In April by U.S.
W ASHINGTON, Apr. 28—Formations of U.S. Army planes yesterday carried
out the 142nd attack against Japanese installations at Kiska this month.
Liberators and Mitchells, with Lightning and Warhawk fighters, participated in
these raids, the Navy Department announced.
Hits were scored in the enemy main camp area on the runway and a number
of buildings was destroyed. Daimage was also inflicted on Northhead. Canadian
pilots flying Warhawks executed two other attacks.
In the South Pacific, a. direct hit on a 4,000-ton Japanese cargo vessel in the
Arafura Sea, north of Australia, was scored by a heavy Allied bomber yesterday,
the communique added.
Two near misses were also scored on a second Japanese vessel of 4,000 tons in
the same area.
Japs Plan U.S. Invasion
WASHINGTON, Apr. 28 (UP)—
Japan has made plans to invade the The States between June and October
of this year, according to underground reports reaching Kilsoo Haan representative
of the Korean National Front Federaion in Washington. He said the Japanese
plans were outlined at a meeting of the Black Dragon Society. Tojo had hoped
to start the invasion on Feb. 7.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Current Events April 28, 1943:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, APRIL 28, 1943:
American troops stormed and captured three fiercely
defended hills straddling the road to Mateur and Bizerte and
the British First army battled. for a commanding height at Medjerda
village 21 miles west of Tunis.

R. A. F, heavy bombers struck at industrial Duisburg in Germany, Monday night
in what the Air Ministry described as " one of the heaviest attacks
of the war."
Seventeen planes were lost from a force which the RAF described as
"in great strength”.
A very heavy concentration of Liberators of United
States Ninth Air Force blasted an airdrome on the southeast coast of Italy
yesterday. One hundred and twenty-five tons of bombs gutted the airdrome and
assembly points

Sixteen American officers in the RAF and RCAF transferred to the U.S. forces
yesterday in London. Ten flying officers joined the Air Force as first lieutenants
and six pilot officers accepted USAAF commissions as second lieutenants.

The Sheboygan Press
T H E PAST IS GONE WE FACE T O - D AY.
SHEBOYGAN, WIS., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1943.

Americans Storm
Hills Near Mateur
Allied Headquarters In .North
Africa. —(AP).— American troops stormed and captured three fiercely
defended hills straddling the road to Mateur and Bizerte and
the British First army battled. for a commanding height at Medjerda
village 21 miles west of Tunis, it was announced at Allied headquarters
today, as Allied forces hammered against the tenaciously'
defended but weakening Axis bridgehead in Tunisia.
The British First and Eighth armies, the Second U, S. Army
Corps, and the French made "steady progress," an Allied "communique
said, but it was by dint of hardest fighting, especially in
the Medjez-El-Bab sector where Allied- attacks, were - followed – by
enemy counterattacks air day yesterday.
The Americans under – Lieut. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., cleaned-
Col. Gen. Jurgen von Arnim's northern Germans and Italians out
of Djebel Dardyss and occupied important high ground.
Threaten Jefna Station

  THE STARS AND STRIPES
    Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
              New York, N.Y.—London, England Wednesday, April 28, 1943

Americans Moving Toward Tebourba
Nazis' Defense Shell
Is Reported Broken
Northeast of Medjez
U.S. and French Forces Only Nine Miles
From Tebourba, Outpost of Tunis;
British Make New Gains
By the United Press
Axis troops are retreating towards Tebourba, less than 20 miles from
Tunis itself, with the shell of the bridgehead defenses in Tunisia broken in
at least one sector northeast of Medjez El Bab, according to,, reports last
night from Allied forces headquarters.
One report placed American and French troops only eight or nine miles
from Tebourba, and there was no indication where the enemy intended to
make a stand.
Further southeast British troops have dented the Axis positions, and
Allied armor, including Churchills and Shermans, has thrust a.spearhead
forward to a point five miles from the important Pont du Fahs defenses.
French troops have taken a height overlooking the town of Pont du Fahs, whose
capture is imminent. In the extreme north American and
French troops are pushing ahead, now less than 12 miles from Mateur, with the
Axis troops moving back fairly quickly on one part of the front.
The Eighth Army also has made more progress, although there is no indication
that their main attack on the Hallouf line has yet been launched.
Savage Fighting
Fighting on all parts of the front, yesterday was described by an official spokesman
as " bloody, fierce, stubborn and savage," as the Germans battled desperately
to hold the Allies advances. The fighting in the Medjez sector of the front
was the heaviest and also the most decisive.

Duisburg Hit
By Big RAF Night Force
Nazi Inland Port Blasted
In One of the War's
Heaviest Raids
Heaviest Raids'
R. A. F, heavy bombers struck at industrial Duisburg in Germany, Monday night
in what the Air Ministry described as " one of the heaviest attacks
of the war."
Seventeen planes were lost from a force which the RAF described as
"in great strength." The Air Ministry's description of the raid on
Europe's second largest inland port " would put it in the class of the 1,500-ton
bombings of Cologne and other targets of saturation raids."
In daylight yesterday Allied light
bombers and fighters took up the offensive, striking across the Channel at
German shipping and sweeping against the Nazi-held coast. One enemy
fighter was shot down without Allied loss, it was reported
The attack Monday night was the 59th On Duisburg
The last raid was on Apr. 9, when eight bombers were lost. 
                                        Highly Concentrated

USAAF Blasts
Axis Assembly
Drome in ltaly
Planes,Hangars,Runways
'Utterly Destroyed' by
125 Tons of Bombs
CAIRO, Apr. 27 (AP)—A very heavy concentration of Liberators of United
States Ninth Air Force blasted an airdrome on the southeast coast of Italy
yesterday. One hundred and twenty-five tons of bombs gutted the airdrome and
assembly points.
Bari—which was one of ""the main assembly points for fighters, fighferbombers
and Stukas for Rommel's aid to Tunisia—was completely blanketed by
American high-explosive and fragmentation 'bombs. A quarter of a million
pounds were dropped as the planes flew over in continuous waves. Not only aircraft
on the ground, but hangars, runways and the surrounding area were
blasted. All the American planes returned, the communique said.
The American airmen saw tremendous explosions and black smoke rising
thousands of feet into the air from the devastation.
                                                Nothing Escaped

Veterans of RAF, RCAF
Transfer to U.S. Air Force
By Andrew A. Rooney
Stars and Stripes Staff Writer
Sixteen American officers in the RAF and RCAF transferred to the U.S. forces
yesterday in London. Ten flying officers joined the Air Force as first lieutenants
and six pilot officers accepted USAAF commissions as second lieutenants.
Fighter and bomber pilots, gunners and air observers were among the 16. Their
experience ranged from a bomber pilot with 37 .missions, and a fighter pilot with
more than 60. sorties and 200 operational hours to untried pilot officers who recently completed their advanced flying course.
F/O Jack Berry, of Parkersburg, W. Va., one of the 16, recently holds the
DFC. " I haven't seen the citation yet; I'm not sure what it's for," Berry said.
Friends explained that last October Berry and five other Wellington pilots
were briefed for a low altitude, daylight raid on Essen. Cloud formations were
supposed to provide cover for the operations but weather cleared as the small
squadron approached the target. Five of the planes turned back, but Berry felt he
could do the job and bring his crew and ship back safely. He carried out the one
plane raid on the heavily guarded area at about 2,500 feet with no casualties.
The Americans said they had joined the RAF and the RCAF for a hundred
different reasons. Some of them were too young to join the U.S. forces, so they
headed for Canada or England where they accepted 18-year-old cadets even at that
time. Others were veteran fliers when they joined, and did it either because Ihey
were looking for adventure or because they wanted to fight the war before other
Americans thought it was time. F/O Albert Eckert,.an RCAF transferee from
Sand Point. Idaho, claimed he joined because " I was too lazy to work.''
Eckert's logbook indicates he has 200 operational
hours, has been on 63 sorties, offensive and defensive,, and shot down a Dornier
217 over the commando action at Dieppe and a FW190 over England.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Current Events April 27, 1943:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY APRIL 27, 1943:
Allied armored forces have driven to within
four miles of the Tunis-Font Du Fahs road and have destroyed
8O German tanks in the big-scale battle which has raged since
Sunday, Allied headquarters announced today.

Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur's headquarters disclosed today
that American and Australian troops now command hills
overlooking Mubo village. only 12 miles south of the big
Japanese .base at Salamaua, New Guinea, and Allied patrols have
penetrated within^ six miles of that base itself.

A Japanese attack on British positions south of Buthidaung in the
northwest Arakan coastal district of Burma was repulsed with considerable
casualties to the enemy, the India command announced today.

Britain's biggest b o m b e r s blasted the great German island
port of Duisburg last night in "one of the heaviest
raids" ever carried out against the Reich, an official British announcement
declared today.
17 ( R A F ) Bombers Lost

         The Port Arthur News
       PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1943.

GERMANS LOSE 80 TANKS IN TUNISIA
Allied Armies
List Advances
On All Fronts
Americans Drive Forward So Rapidly Nazis
Unable To Bury Dead; U.'& Bombers Hit
Italian Airport Northwest Of Rome
By Wes Gallagher
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA,
April 27 (AP).—Allied armored forces have driven to within
four miles of the Tunis-Font Du Fahs road and have destroyed
8O German tanks in the big-scale battle which has raged since
Sunday, Allied headquarters announced today.
Gain 11 Miles.
Farther north, the British First army infantry cleared 1 1
miles of the road from Medjez-EI-Bab to Tebourba and reached
Toun railroad station, only 23 miles west of Tunis, front line
dispatches reported, and for the first time since last Novemthe
Allies were again on the threshold of the Tunis plain.
The same reports, said the French skirting the Mediterranean had
penetrated to within six miles of Lake Achkel,. which almost ajoins
Lake Bizerte. Apparently this placed the British and French
within 23 miles of both the twin cities of Bizerte and Tunis.
In the sector between Medjez-El-Bab and the Mediterranean, the
Americans of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., continued an advance
so rapid that German rearguards wove unable' to bury their dead and
assaulted the two strategic knobs, Green hill and Bald hill, the most
heavily fortified mountains in the northern sector.
Gain On All Fronts



ALLIES ARE REPORTED
NEAR MUBO
By The Associated Press
Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur's headquarters disclosed today
that American and Australian troops now command hills
overlooking Mubo village. only 12 miles south of the big
Japanese .base at Salamaua, New Guinea, and Allied patrols have
penetrated within^ six miles of that base itself. Details of the Allied advance
were lacking, and it was not immediately clear whether Gen. Mac-
Arthur's' forces we;e preparing a new, offensive.
.Observers noted, however, that recent ^communiques have stressed
the. incessant aerial pounding of Japanese troops below Salamaua, frequently the prelude to an offensive—and dispatches from Allied
headquarters today said United Nations airmen were making 10 to
20 low-strafing sweeps over the enemy daily.
ALLIED PLANES RAID
MUBO AREA TWICE
By Don Caswell
GEN. MACARTHUR'S HEADQUARTERS,
Australia, April 27 (UP).—Two waves of Allied planes
bombed and strafed the Mubo area, 10 miles southwest of the Japanesa
base at Salamaua, a communique said today.
Aerial operations were limited but the spokesman said an Allied
plane wrecked a building and a radio tower at Gasmata, New
Britain, in a bombing and strafing attack while other single planes
bombed Ulithi, New Britain, and the
airdrome at Finsch Harbor, up the
north New Guinea coast.
                                    —Buy Extra Bonds In April—

British Inflict Losses On
Japs In Burma
NEW DELHI, April 27 (INS).—
A Japanese attack on British positions south of Buthidaung in the
northwest Arakan coastal district of Burma was repulsed with considerable
casualties to the enemy, the India command announced today.
Active patrolling was reported on both sides but no change occurred
in the central situation.
                               Buy Extra Bonds In April—-

17 RAF Bombers Lost
As Duisburg Is Blasted
Big Planes
Lash Port
59th Time
LONDON, April 27
Britain's biggest b o m b e r s blasted the great German island
port of Duisburg last night in "one of the heaviest
raids" ever carried out against the Reich, an official British announcement
declared today.
17 ( R A F) Bombers Lost
Seventeen bombers were reported missing from the attack, which
an air ministry communique described as highly .concentrated. .
The language of the communique indicated .that at least 1000 tons
of bombs were dropped on the .city, the weight of. explosives. probably
approaching that of the first 1,000
bomber raid 'on Cologne last May 30 when 1500 tons of bombs were
dropped.
The nigh traid followed blows by Mosquito bombers late yesterday
at railway centers in northwest Germany, in the Rhineland,
and in France near the Loire river.
All of. the raiding planes returned safely to bases, it was announced.
                                                        59th Raid On City

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Current Events April 26, 1942:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY APRIL 26, 1943:
French troops have seized Djebel Mansour, strategic hill position
10 miles southwest of Pont duFahs, the French announced today,
while Allied armor and infantry kept hammering at German
positions all along the mountainous, 140-mile Tunisian front.

In bomb-scarred cathedrals and churches, at outdoor altars set up in
city parks, and at their own camps and installations, American soldiers
throughout Great Britain yesterday celebrated their second Easter of the
war.
With music by their own military bands and with massed regimental
flags as a colorful background members of the U.S. contingent in the
British Isles joined with civilians and members of other Allied services in the ceremonies

American, British and French troops advanced steadily eastward against
stubborn resistance on the northern and central fronts in Tunisia, while the
Eighth Army prepared for its next move northward along the coast, according
to dispatches reaching London last night

After accomplishing a flight of nearly 1,500 miles Allied heavy bombers dropped
21 tons of explosives and incendiaries on Kendari in the Celebes, today's official
communique says.Kendari is one of the main air supply assembly bases for the
enemy in the Netherlands East Indies.

The first of a fleet of 200 blimps, armed with depth
charges and guns, are now guarding more than 1,000 ships a month against submarine
action in the Atlantic, the Navy Department announced yesterday. Only
one ship in their care has been lost.



The Charleston Gazette
Charleston, West Virginia, Monday Morning. April 26. 1943.

Four Allied Armies Cut Deep
Gaps in Foe's Tunisian Lines

French Seize
Strong Point;
Yanks Advance
Djebel Mansour Falls;
Bon Ficha Threatened;
Tank Battle Rages
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, April 25.—(AP)—
French troops have seized Djebel Mansour, strategic hill position
10 miles southwest of Pont duFahs, the French announced today,
while Allied armor and infantry kept hammering at German
positions all along the mountainous, 140-mile Tunisian front.
Djebel Mansour, scene of bloody fighting earlier in the Tunisian
campaign, was evacuated by the Germans after "lively pressure".
from French troops intensified in the last 24 hours, a French communique
declared, and one spokesman said it might be the first indications
Germans were starting evacuation of their southern positions.
The hill is the key to high defenses the Germans held
on the northern end of the Grand Dorsal, which formed a salient
into Allied-held territory— North of this French advance,
Gen. Sir Harold Alexander has thrown British armor into a savage
battle with two German tank divisions southeast of Goubellat, a
headquarters spokesman said.
Tank Fighting Heavy

THE STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
New York, N.Y.—London, England Monday, April 26, 1943

Dawn Rites
Highlight of
ETO Easter
U.S. Servicemen Worship
In Cathedrals, Camps;
Parties for Orphans
By Bryce W. Burke
Stars and Stripes Staff Writer
In bomb-scarred cathedrals and churches, at outdoor altars set up in
city parks, and at their own camps and installations, American soldiers
throughout Great Britain yesterday celebrated their second Easter of the
war.
With music by their own military bands and with massed regimental
flags as a colorful background members of the U.S. contingent in the
British Isles joined with civilians and members of other Allied services in the ceremonies
commemorating the Resurrection of Christ.
Training activities were suspended for the day, but with pass and furlough restrictions
in effect because of transportation problems the great majority of the
troops attended services in their own camps.
Following the religious ceremonies, which began at sunrise, many of the
camps continued a holiday practice inaugurated soon after the Americans
arrived here. Evacuated and orphaned children were the soldiers' guests for the
day, receiving gifts of candy, watching American movies and eating GI rations
as a substitute for the traditional American Easter egg-rolling.

U.S. Troops Gain on New Front in North
Moved from Guettar
Yanks Near Mateur
In Difficult Terrain
Second Corps Now lO Miles from Key Town;
British Take Most of Long Stop Hill;
Air Offensive Reaches New High
American, British and French troops advanced steadily eastward against
stubborn resistance on the northern and central fronts in Tunisia, while the
Eighth Army prepared for its next move northward along the coast, according
to dispatches reaching London last night.
The United States Second Corps, switched to the extreme northern front
from El Guettar with a speed and secrecy which earned the praise of Gen.
Alexander, were advancing toward Mateur and last night were reported only
10 miles from the important Axis stronghold.
A few miles to the south bitter fighting was going on for the eastern slopes
of Longstop Hill (Hill 174), which was almost entirely retaken Saturday
night by few hundred British Tommies after a terrific artillery barrage.
Nearer the coast the British Eighth Army prepared for an assault on the
enemy's Hailouf Line, north of Enfidaville—a line considered even stronger
than the one at El Alamein, where the British crashed through in November to
begin the.ir advance across Libya to Tunisia.
1,500 Air Sorties
The Allied aerial offensive, mean while reached a new peak as a total of 1,500
sorties were carried out by American, British and Allied air forces in one day.
It was also revealed that the Axis lost 31 instead of 21 of its biggest air transports—
the Messerschmitt 323s—in the second big air battle of the Mediterranean
Thursday.
This represented a much bigger loss to the Axis than the earlier battle in which
61 Ju52s were shot down, since the Me323s can carry as many as 130 men each to
the Ju52's 20 men.
Axis air forces have been practically driven from the skies, while ton after ton
of bombs have been hurled on vital positions by Allied planes.

Allied Bombers
Fly 1,500 Miles
In Raid on Japs
Drop 21 Tons of Bombs
On Enemy Base
In Celebes
ALLIED HQ, Australia, Apr. 25 (AP)
After accomplishing a flight of nearly 1,500 miles Allied heavy bombers dropped
21 tons of explosives and incendiaries on Kendari in the Celebes, today's official
communique says.
Kendari is one of the main air supply assembly bases for the enemy in the
Netherlands East Indies. Explosives and incendiaries were dropped on the airdrome workshop areas and among ground aircraft, destroying
at least five twin-engined planes parked on the runway, and practically wiping
out the workshop and repair hangars.
A large convoy of Japanese ships was attacked by Liberators northwest of
Wewak, New Guinea, during which five Japanese Zeroes were shot down, the
communique announced.
On Friday Allied planes struck at a Japanese convoy off Kavieng, New Ireland.
Liberators attacked, leaving one 8,000- ton ship sinking, and on fire.
Japanese raiders have appeared over Funafuti, the biggest of the Ellice Islands
in the Pacific, which were re-occupied by American forces recently,. but no action
is reported from them.

Blimps Thwarting Subs
Off U.S. East Coast
WASHINGTON, Apr. 25—The first of a fleet of 200 blimps, armed with depth
charges and guns, are now guarding more than 1,000 ships a month against submarine
action in the Atlantic, the Navy Department announced yesterday. Only
one ship in their care has been lost.
With a cruising speed of 80 miles an hour, blimps are nearly four times as fast
as the fastest Axis submarine. Lighter than air, they can hover practically
motionless over their target and bomb it as accurately as dropping stones down a
well.