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 1^st 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 1^st army. The.new gains brought the 1^st

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

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.

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 59^th 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.

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

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.