Thursday, April 14, 2011

Current Events April 13, 1087BC and 1943AD:

THIS WAS THEN; Reported, April 13, 1087BC
1st Samuel 15:4; So Saul assembled the army and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 15:5 Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi.

THIS WAS TODAY; Reported, April 13, 1943:
Dispatches from Kairouan told of the joy with which inhabitants
greeted the first allied troops to enter the holy city, whose utilities
had been wrecked by the Germans before they pulled out on Saturday
night. Hand-clapping Arabs and French citizens lined the streets,
while Jews, still wearing the star of David on their coat lapels as required
by the Germans, tore them off and stomped them before the allied troops.
The last instance was at the Wadi el Akarit defense in Tunisia, where the Eighth army's successful break-through is reported to have been preceded by a bombardment of 500 field pieces.

Slashing into what appeared to be the beginning of a
Japanese aerial offensive, American P38 Lightnings and P40 Kittyhawks
caught a formation of 45 enemy planes in the sub-stratosphere above
Oro Bay, New Guinea, yesterday, and shot 23 out of action, with five divebombers
and 12 Zeros definitely destroyed.


                  THE BILLINGS GAZETTE
BILLINGS, MONTANA, TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 13, 1943

British and French forces moving in from the west in the general
allied scheme to box the axis in an area approximately 90 miles long
by 40 miles wide in the northwestern tip of Tunisia were reported
making progress, The communique said French troops made a local
advance in the Djebel Ousseltn area, some 25 miles west of Kairouan,
and continued to take a large number of prisoners, while the British
in the Mcdjez-el-Bab Munchar secitor. reported "steady progress."

Western front attacks in that war usually were preceded by concentrated artillery
fire from guns of different ranges, designed to soften up tho enemy and make
possible infantry advances. Montgomery first used artillery in that manner to break
the German lines at El Alamein. He repeated the, procedure whenever the axis
forces under Rommel sought to make a stand. The last instance was at the Wadi
el Akarit defense in Tunisia, where the Eighth army's successful break-through is reported to have been preceded by a bombardment of 500 field pieces.

The Charleston Gazette
Charleston_West_Virginia, Tuesday Morning, April 13. 1943.

Sousse, Kairouan Captured,
Allies Push Rommel Forces
Into Narrow Tunisia Corner

Enemy May Stand
Near Enfidaville
Pursuers Within Range
Of Mountain Line
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, April 12.—(AP)-
Plunging northward with almost reckless speed toward a final
accounting with Marshal Erwln Rommel's Africa corps, the British
8th army occupied Sousse today, almost within gunshot of
the new Axis mountain line anchored near Enfidaville.
Though impeded by demolitions. Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery'*
eager veterans covered the 75 miles from Sfax, which they captured on
Saturday morning, in exactly- 48 hours. Rommel's rear guard put up
only slight opposition as it raced a final 25 miles under a hail of aerial
bombs to join the bulk of Germanand Italian forces now concentrated
behind emplacements running from
Enfidaville 40 miles northwestwardr to Point-du-Fahs

   THE STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
           New York, N.Y.—London, England Tuesday, April 13, 1943

Fighters Get
23 Jap Planes
At Oro Bay•/
P38s, P40s, Intercept 45
Enemy Craft in Highest
Altitude Battle
ALLIED HQ, Southwest Pacific,
Apr. 12 (AP)—Slashing into what appeared to be the beginning of a
Japanese aerial offensive, American P38 Lightnings and P40 Kittyhawks
caught a formation of 45 enemy planes in the sub-stratosphere above
Oro Bay, New Guinea, yesterday, and shot 23 out of action, with five divebombers
and 12 Zeros definitely destroyed.
The air battle was the first in the southwest Pacific to be fought at heights between
20.000 and 35.000 feet.
This Japanese raid was the second heaviest on the lovely coconut palmfrin
«ed base on the southeast coast of Papua. Eighty-five Japanese bombers
and fighters attacked Oro Bay on March 28, and 25 of them were shot out of action
by the Allied airforce.
Fort Gets Two
Ten Zeros attacked a Flying Fortress on reconnaissance off New Ireland, flying
at 13.000 feet. In the first encounter the bomber's guns
jammed and the Fortress dived like a fighter-plane to within 200 feet of the
water. Fighting back just above the waves, the Fortress shot two Zeros into
the sea, set a third on fire, hit and damaged three more and then came safelyhome.
American Lightnings, which are able to meet the Zeros at any altitude the Japanese
may choose, met them in- sub-stratosphere dog-fights, and when the Japs were
driven downwards they were met by Kittyhawks.
Between them the two types of American planes used eliminated 50 per
cent of the Japanese raiders. Thus, in the fast three battles over Oro
Bay, Allied fighters have knocked out of action 62 out of 170 Jap planes, which
makes the cost of the raids almost prohibitive for the enemy.
Sweep for Last Ditch Fight
Libs Attack in Solomons
WASHINGTON, Apr. 12 (AP)—
Liberators attacked Kahili airdrome in the Jap-occupied Shortland Islands yesterday,
scoring direct hits on the runway and anti-aircraft positions, the Navy Department
announced today.
Two attacks on Munda, in the Solomons, were carried out yesterday by
Catalina patrol bombers during the night, and Avenger torpedo-bombers in the
morning.' Fires and heavy explosions resulted from both attacks.

Trieste Is Sunk,
Photos Disclose
Aerial reconnaissance photographs revealed yesterday at Allied headquarters
in North Africa that the Italian cruiser Trieste, bombed at La. Maddalena,
Sardinia, on Friday, had sunk. Another cruiser, the Gorizia, which
was hit in the same attack by Flying Fortresses under Maj. Gen. James H.
(Jimmy) Doolittle, was still afloat but badly damaged. Several tugs were lying
alongside her and oilslicks were spreading from the injured ship.
Completed in 1928, the 10,000-ton Trieste mounted eight eight-inch guns, 12
3.9 inchers and 18 AA guns of smaller caliber.
In a still later blow at Italy's port facilities, Liberators of the U.S. Ninth
Air Force on Saturday again raided Naples, it was announced yesterday in
Cairo. Two moles were damaged and direct hits smashed the Galato Pollene
quay, the communique said.

Allies Speeding
North to Close
Axis in Corner
Sousse, Kairouan Taken;
Speed of Rommel's Retreat


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