Monday, April 18, 2011

Current Events April 17, 1943:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY; April 17, 1943:
The Stars and Stripes of World War II will be one year old tomorrow.
It s first edition, an eight-page weekly, came off the presses of a private London
printing establishment on Apr. 18, 1942—the product of seven sweating, swearing
soldiers and officers who used to be newspaper men back in the States.

Infantry units of Lt.-Gen. K. A. Anderson's British 1st army,
holding the 10 strategic hills they captured in the Medjez El-
Bab sector in less than a week, hurled back savage German
counter-attacks today and improved their positions on those
heights overlooking Tunis and Bizerte.

Italy put it's Mediterranean islands on a full-scale war footing yesterday
as Allied troops gained still more ground on the north and central
Tunisian fronts and the Eighth Army continued to mass enormous numbers
of men and materials for its final blow at the Axis in Africa

Another Japanese convoy—the fifth which the enemy has sacrificed
in his efforts to relieve the hard-pressed Japanese forces on New
Guinea—is believed to be in the last stages of being destroyed by Allied
bombers off Northern New Guinea, according to late reports from the
Southwest Pacific.
Allied planes swept in relays across the English- Channel coast yesterday, with
long vapor trails pointing in the sunny skies toward Dunkirk and Boulogne on
the French coast. There were tell-tale tangles of vapor
over mid-Channel which indicated dogfights with the Luftwaffe.




The Charleston Gazette
Charleston, West Virginia, Saturday Morning, April 17. 1943.

1st Army Captures Mountain
Peak, Sighting Bizerte,Tunis;
Europe Heavily Hit From Air

Britons Hurl Back
Savage Onslaught
Hold 10 Strategic Hills
Near Medjez el-Bab
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, April 16.—(AP)—
Infantry units of Lt.-Gen. K. A. Anderson's British 1st army,
holding the 10 strategic hills they captured in the Medjez El-
Bab sector in less than a week, hurled back savage German
counter-attacks today and improved their positions on those
heights overlooking Tunis and Bizerte.
Supported by artillery, the infantry has pushed steadily eastward
in the area north of Medjez el Bab and now holds Djebel Ang, a 2,000-
foot peak from which both the north can be seen on clear days.
Near Plain Of Tunis


THE STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
New York, N.Y.—London, England Saturday, April 17, 1943

Stars and Stripes Now One Year Old
Weekly,Product of?
Men, Now Serves
Troops Daily
The Stars and Stripes of World War II will be one year old tomorrow.
It s first edition, an eight-page weekly, came oil [he presses of a private London
priming establishment on Apr. 18, 1942—the product of seven sweating, swearing
soldiers and officers who used to be newspaper men back in the States.
Today the first anniversary edition rolls from the big rotary presses of The
Times of London, which, on every night but Saturday, spout forth thousands of
copies of the daily paper for American troops—the only American daily now
publishing in Europe.
The paper has grown since the first eight-pager came out, 'but its idea is the
same: to give the guy in the field—or on the deck, if he be a Navy man—a newspaper
as much as possible like the one he used to read at home, with baseball,
home news, war news and stories about himself and other Americans under arms.
Difficulties at Start
The Stars and Stripes today is written, edited and distributed by a detachment
of about 70 men, but that first edition was the product of only seven; Maj. E. M.
Llewellyn, officer in charge; I / L t . Mark T. Martin, editor; T/Sgt. G. K. Hodenfield,
chief staff correspondent, S/Sgt. Ben Price, news editor; S/Sgt. Russell
I Jones, Northern Ireland editor; M/Sgt. Harold E. Ordemann, business manager,
and Cpl. Einar Eeg, assistant business manager

Birthday Greetings from, the Chiefs
The Commanding General, ETOUSA ; the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in
Europe, and the American Ambassador to the Court of St. James's joined yesterday
in congratulating The Stars and Stripes on its first anniversary in World War 11.
Lt. Gen. F. M. Andrews, in a letter to Maj. E. M. Llewellyn, editor, said :
"On the occasion of the first anniversary of The Stars and Stripes publication
I wish to extend congratulations to you and your staff.
"The American1 Forces in the European Theater have greatly enjoyed our paper
and join with me in wishing for its continued success."
Adm. Harold R. Stark said in a statement :
"Apr. 18 marks the end of the first year of publication of The Stars and Stripes.
"Whoever and whatever contributes to good moral in war-time contributes
most effectively towards victory. The Stars and Stripes during the last year has
played a noteworthy part in maintaining high moral among Americans in the
European Theater of Operations.
"To the Editors and staff of this splendid service newspaper may I say ' Well
done!' "
Ambassador John G. Winant wrote:
"On this anniversary of the first publication of The Stars and Stripes, London,
may I warmly congratulate you on the service the paper has rendered the American
Forces in this Theater of Operations. I was here before we had worked out its
organization and publication, and know the great need it has filled in giving us the
news from home.
" It has also made a very real contribution to better understanding between our
forces and the British people. The high standards and purposes which The Stars and
Stripes has set for itself have been a source of pride to our countrymen in Great
Britain."

THE STARS AND STRIPES
Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces in the European Theater of Operations
New York, N.Y.—London, England Saturday, April 17, 1943

Italy Girds for Invasion as Allies Gain
Isles on Full
War Footing
Sardinia and Sicily Again
Pounded by Planes;
1st Army Advances .
Italy put it's Mediterranean islands on a full-scale war footing yesterday
as Allied troops gained still more ground on the north and central
Tunisian fronts and the Eighth Army continued to mass enormous numbers
of men and materials for its final blow at the Axis in Africa.
Mussolini, hastily throwing up defenses against an Allied invasion
which he obviously believes imminent, was reported by DNB (German news
agency) to have designated Sardinia, Sicily and other islands off Italy's southern
coast as areas of military operations.
These serious measures, accompanied by a shakeup in the Italian police,
followed II Duce's four-day conference with Hitler and suggested that Mussolini
himself shares the view that the cleanup of Axis forces in Tunisia will now be
quick and complete.
Air Blows at Islands
Meanwhile, the Allied air forces, maintaining their unquestioned mastery of the
air, struck new blows at the Axis bases, both on the Italian islands and mainland
and on the battle-scarred strip of land which is all that remains to Rommel in
Tunisia.
Jap Convoy
Blasted Off
New Guinea
Bombs Batter Enemy Ships
Carrying Supplies to
Hard-Pressed Forces
By the United Press
Another Japanese convoy—the fifth which the enemy has sacrificed
in his efforts to relieve the hard-pressed Japanese forces on New
Guinea—is believed to be in the last stages of being destroyed by Allied
bombers off Northern New Guinea, according to late reports from the
Southwest Pacific. News of the sighting and initial
successes against this convoy came at a time when warnings against invasion were
still being issued from leading statesmen and military spokesmen in the Pacific
zone.
The Japanese ships—six merchant vessels and three destroyers—were sighted
off Wewak, on the north coast of New Guinea, and soon were being battered
by Allied heavy bombers. In the smashing mast-high attacks
which followed, an 8,000-ton cargo vessel was seen listing heavily, a similar vessel
left sinking and a 5,000-tonner was beached.
The bombers attacking this convoy are the same which completely wiped out the
convoy of 22 merchantmen and warships in the Bismarck Sea—the third Japanese
attempt at relieving the island

All-Day Sweeps
By Allied Planes
Air Battles Over C hannel
As Fighter Relays
Keep Up Blows
Allied planes swept in relays across the English- Channel coast yesterday, with
long vapor trails pointing in the sunny skies toward Dunkirk and Boulogne on
the French coast. There were tell-tale tangles of vapor
over mid-Channel which indicated dogfights with the Luftwaffe.
It was the second successive day of almost continuous Allied attacks against
targets immediately across the Channel in which American planes took part.
Thursday night the RAF switched from lethal swarms of bombers over
Europe to intruder patrols striking over a wide area. Two, enemy planes were
shot down and freight trains were attacked in three countries—France,
Belgium and Germany. Shipping off the Channel coast also was hit, all without
reported loss of Allied planes. Earlier, Eighth Air Force pursuit pilots
took part in Allied fighter sweeps at dusk over France, destroying two enemy
fighters. Three Allied fighters were lost, two of them Americans.
Early yesterday, one enemy fighter was shot down during an Allied offensive
sweep.
Meanwhile, Paris Radio reported that the German occupation authorities had
announced the immediate evacuation from Dieppe and Cherbourg, on the Channel
coast, of all persons not on war work.

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