ALLIES SWEEP THROUGH SOUSSE AND KAIROUAN, CORNERING ROMMEL FOR SHOWDOWN BATTLE (4/13/43)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 4/13/43 | Edward W. Beattie

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Tunisia, 1942: Situation 22 April and Operations Since 26 February 1943
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Advance Goes On – 2-3
Kairouan Populace Strews Flowers on Allied Deliverers (Beattie) – 3-4
Nazis Use Convicts on Tunisia Fronts – 4
War News Summarized – 4
As American Units Were Linked with the British Eighth Army in North Africa (photos) – 5-6
Japanese Hard Hit – 7
Foe Has Air Bases at Kiska and Attu – 7-8
Tojo Warns Japan of New Hardships – 8
Here They Are Again (with photo) – 8
City Employs 14 Women as Change Makers to Ease Manpower Problem in Subways – 9
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the War – 10-12
New Uniforms Designed for Women Air Raid Wardens (photos) – 12

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/apr1943/f13apr43.htm

USAAF bombing Kiska Island
Tuesday, April 13, 1943 www.onwar.com

In the Aleutian Islands... US bombers conduct day and night raids on Kiska Island.

In the North Atlantic... The British destroyer HMS Eskdale is sunk off the Lizard Head, Cornwall (in southwestern England) by German motor torpedo boats during the night (April 13-14).

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm

April 13th, 1943 (TUESDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: USAAF, 78th Fighter Group equipped with P-47-Cs flies its first combat mission.

Imber, Wiltshire: An RAF pilot, demonstrating new tactics for attacking ground targets, kills 25 when he mistakenly fires on spectators rather than the practice target.

ENGLISH CHANNEL: German ships tonight sink the Norwegian destroyer ESKDALE, which was manned by a joint British/Norwegian crew, in a night attack.

GERMANY: German radio announces the finding of mass graves in Katyn, Poland, filled with the bodies of thousands of Polish officers. (Mikko Härmeinen)

ITALY: SARDINIA: Northwest African Air Force P-38s bomb a cruiser at La Maddalena and other shipping at Porto Torres. (Jack McKillop)

SICILY: Ninth Air Force B-24s are dispatched against the harbour at Catania. Total cloud cover prevents visual contact with the target. One drops bombs in the target area, but others jettison their load or return to base without bombing.

Northwest African Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses bomb the airfields at Castelvetrano and Milo. (Jack McKillop)

TUNISIA: The British Eight Army’s 10 Corps, continuing north reaches an anti-tank ditch guarding new enemy positions at Enfidaville and unsuccessfully attempts, on a limited scale, to force a retreat before the line can be strengthened.

Northwest African Air Force B-25s bomb Oudna Airfield. Fighters maintain sweeps and armoured reconnaissance over northeastern Tunisia and the Straits of Sicily. During the night of 12/13 April, RAF aircraft bomb Megrine landing ground. (Jack McKillop)

BURMA: 9 Tenth Air Force B-25s bomb the Myitnge bridge without inflicting further damage to the structure; 9 others hit Monywa Airfield. Six P-40s knock out a bridge at Shaduzup. (Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force A-20 Havocs bomb and strafe the Labiabi area while a single B-17 bombs the runway at Finschhafen. (Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force P-38s and Navy aircraft bomb the airfield at Munda Airfield on New Georgia Island and strafe barges. (Jack McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches 15 B-24 Liberators, 15 B-25s, 28 P-38 Lightnings and 20 P-40s to fly 11 attacks to Kiska Island; 43 tons of bombs are dropped on the Main Camp, North Head, and runway.

Fighters attack the Main Camp causing large fires, and also strafe aircraft on the beach. Heavy AA fire damages 2 P-38s, 1 of which later crashes into the sea, and a B-25. (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial. (Tony)

[BroJoeK]

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April 13, 1943:

• "In the Katyn Forest in the Soviet Union, the Germans discover more than 4,000 corpses of Polish officers, some of them Jews.
  The officers were killed by the Soviets."

"Bergen-Belsen, in Germany, opened in April 1943 as a transit camp.
Hence, the majority of its early inmates were non-German Jews, and conditions there were less severe than in other camps.
Nonetheless, as the war turned against Germany, and large numbers of prisoners reached the camp after death marches, conditions deteriorated.
Around 50,000 died in Bergen-Belsen, approximately 14,000 of them after the camp's liberation."

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