AMERICANS DRIVE 42 MILES, TAKE GAFSA; NAZI TANK THRUSTS AT DONETS LINE FAIL (3/19/43)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 3/19/43 | Drew Middleton, Frank L. Kluckhohn, Ralph Parker, Harry Summers, Milton Bracker

[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]

Winston S. Churchill, The Hinge of Fate

[Homer_J_Simpson]

U.S. Units Keep On (Middleton) – 2-3
Returning Americans Find Romantic Gafsa Desolated (Kluckhohn) – 3
Patton Commands in Mid-Tunisia; Leads Americans in Offensive – 4
Lighter Side of North Africa Campaign (photo) – 4
Russians Hold Foe (Parker) – 5
Japan Shifts Aim Against Australia (by Harry Summers, first-time contributor) – 6
War News Summarized – 6
Allies Bomb 14 Japanese Bases on Islands North of Australia – 7
Air Blows on Kiska at a New Intensity – 7
Jeeps Pull Plows on Yanks’ Farms (Bracker) – 8
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 9-10

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/mar1943/f19mar43.htm

New Zealanders on the march
Friday, March 19, 1943 www.onwar.com

Commonwealth anti-aircraft battery ready for action [photo at link].

In Tunisia... The New Zealand Corps begins its march toward Ksar Rhilane.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

March 19th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: ASW trawler HMS Sapper commissioned.

Submarines HMS Tireless and Token launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

BALTIC SEA Sea: U-5 is sunk in a diving accident west of Pillau. There are 6 survivors but 21 crew are lost. (Alex Gordon)

U.S.S.R.: German troops of the Gross Deutschland division reach Bielgorod, but are still battling with Soviet resistance in these northern approaches to Kharkov.

LIBYA: Tripoli: Chief Officer George Preston Stronach (b.1914) evacuated the fuel and ammunition-laden SS OCEAN VOYAGER after it was bombed, and braved flames to save four men. (George Cross)

Whilst at anchor in port at Tripoli destroyer HMS Derwent is hit by a Motobomba (circling torpedo) launched by an Italian aircraft She is beached with her engine room flooded, and although salvaged and returned to England she is never repaired. (Alex Gordon)(108)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: The first aerial mine-laying mission in the South Pacific occurs on the night of 19/20 March. Forty-two Grumman TBF Avengers of a Marine and three Navy squadrons drop 42 mines in the Buin-Tonolei area of Bougainville. The mines are dropped by parachute from an altitude of 800 to 1,300 feet (244 to 396 meters). The effectiveness of the mines is difficult to access but it is known that a destroyer and a cargo ship are damaged and a 6,400-ton merchant vessel is sunk on 18 April.

(Jack McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: The XI Bomber Command is activated on Adak Island, Aleutian Islands. This new command, assigned to the Eleventh Air Force, controls all USAAF bomber units in Alaska but at this time, the only subordinate unit is the 28th Bombardment Group (Composite).

CANADA: Frigate HMCS Chebogue laid down Esquimalt, British Columbia. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.:
Destroyers USS Newcomb and Bennion laid down.

Destroyers USS Halligan and Haraden launched.

Frigate USS Long Beach laid down.

Escort carrier USS Solomons laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-384 is sunk southwest of Iceland at position 54.18N 26.15W by depth charges dropped from a Coastal Command Flying Fortress of 206/B Squadron. All 47 crew are lost. (Alex Gordon)

The steamer SS Matthew Luckenbach in Convoy HX-229 torpedoed by U-527 and then by U-523. HMCS Columbia salvaged the Matthew Luckenbach and took her into port after she had twice been abandoned.

British Steamer Svend Foyne was a victim of an iceberg collision off the southern tip of Greenland. The U.S. Coast Guard and other craft rescued One hundred forty-five persons. International Ice Patrol was suspended during this period (1942-1945).
U-333 sank SS Carras in Convoy SC-122.

U-666 damaged SS Carras in Convoy SC-122.

(Dave Shirlaw)

[texanyankee]

Really enjoyed the article on Lt Gen Patton on page 4.

[Seizethecarp]

The brilliant Patton “brand” was established in this one article! Patton was eventually forced to back down on going after “shirkers.” Humans with genuine severe PTSD are functionally insane, IMO.

[PapaNew]

Good stuff. Patton article was fun to read. Thanks