Current Events August 18, 1943;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, AUGUST 18, 1943:

The Alled Headquarters of Sicily cost the Axis. 167,000 men up'.to the last week of the whirlwind campaign, it was announced of officially today, and the final figure is expected to be about 200,000.

A massive Allied air- blow that wrecked a Japanese fleet of 225 planes and canceled enemy plans for a counter-offensive in New Guinea was revealed today. "It was a crippling blow at an opportune moment," Gen Douglas MacArthur reported in his daily

communique.

Russian troops have won a bitter battle southeast of Kharkov, breaking German defenses, and materially bolstering the left flank of the Red army hammering the

Ukrainian stronghold, the Soviet military journal Red Star reported today.

                                          The Daily Herald

                PROVQ. UTAH. COUNTY, UTAH. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1943

AXIS LOSES 200,000 MEN IN SICILY

ALLIED GUNS

BLAST AXIS

ESCAPE ROUTE

Battle Moves To Mainland

of Italy as New Phase Opens

^ h

By REYNOLDS PACKARD

United Press Staff Correspondent

- ALLIED HEADQUARTERS,

NORTH AFRICA .—Aug. 18 (AP)—

The Ailed Headquarters of Sicily cost the Axis. 167,000 men up'.to the last week of the whirlwind campaign, it was announced of officially today, and the final figure is expected to be about 200,000.

Against the staggering Axis toll, incomplete figures on Allied casualties in the battle for the biggest island in the Mediterranean, totaled about 25,000 killed, wounded, captured or missing. An official summation of the Sicilian battle, issued as Allied artillery and planes carried the war to Italy proper, revealed that 135,000 German and Italian troops

were captured and 32,000 killed or wounded up to Aug. 10.

Shows Supremacy—

"The Sicilian campaign , is standing testimony to the supremacy- of Allied- -navies in this, area of' the Mediterranean, to Allied air supremacy, and to the determination of the Allied land forces to engage and defeat the enemy wherever they may encounter him," a statement said.

ALLIES BLAST

JAP FLEET OF

225 PLANES

At Least 120 Planes

Destroyed In Raid

In New Guinea

By BRADON TAWES

United Press Staff Correspondent

A L L I E D HEADQUARTERS,

SOUTHWEST PA Aug.18 (AP)—

A massive Allied air- blow that wrecked a Japanese fleet of 225 planes and canceled enemy plans for a counter-offensive in New Guinea was revealed today. "It was a crippling blow at an onportune moment," Gen Douglas MacArthur reported in his daily

communique.

At least 120 planes were destroyed. Fifty more were damaged. In addition, 4,500 Japanese fliers and ground fo'rce men, who never had a chance to get the planes in the air, died under – the Allied bombs and bullets rained onto- four airdromes in the Wewak area of New Guinea's northeast coast.

Biggest Assault Yet —

It was the biggest Allied ai assault 'in this,, area 'to date Fleets of Liberators, Flying For

tresses and A-20 attack plane about equal to the enemyl grounded forces rained down 10,000 bombs and countless thousands of bullets into the plane parked wing- to- wing, many of them warming up for .flight.

4,000 NAZIS

KILLED BY

RED ARMY

Crucial Struggle Ends

In Great Victory

For Russians

By HENRY SHAPIRO

MOSCOW, Aug. 18

Russian troops have won a bitter battle southeast of Kharkov, breaking German defenses, and materially bolstering the left flank of the Red army hammering the

Ukrainian stronghold, the Soviet military journal Red Star reported today.

A crucial struggle that had raged for several days in .the forested area below Kharkov

ended in a clearcut Russian triumph which may. prove a vital factor in the greater battle of the northeastern Ukraine.

Hammer At Kharkov

Red army units continued hammering at the northern, northeastern and eastern, gates of Kharkov, where the German defenses were found to be stronger than anticipated. In the general Karkov area the Russians beat off a widespread and persistent counterattack

which was beginning to assume the proportions -of a counter offensive.

The German blows failed to dent the Soviet lines, front reports said, while the unslackened Soviet offensive thrusts improved the Red army positions in several sectors