Posted on 04/14/2013 4:21:47 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
Winston S. Churchill, The Hinge of Fate
* Thanks to InMemoriam for providing this link.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/apr1943/f14apr43.htm
Axis makes last stand in Tunisia
Wednesday, April 14, 1943 www.onwar.com
German sentry in the hills of Tunisia [photo at link].
In Tunisia... Axis forces are now established in what will be their final defensive positions. They occupy the ring of hills around Bizerta and Tunis from about Cape Serrat to Enfidaville. British 8th Army units are moving up from the south to pressure Djebel Garci and Takrouna.
In New Guinea... A Japanese raid on Allied shipping in Milne Bay sinks two transports. This is the last of the series of attacks carried out in their air offensive. Japanese losses have been heavy.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/frame.htm
April 14th, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
GERMANY: Stalin’s son Jacob dies in a PoW camp.
Stuka pilot Hans Ulrich Rudel is awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
U.S.S.R.: Leningrad: The Soviet High Command reports today that the Red Army has repulsed a heavy German tank and infantry attack south-east of Leningrad. The attack, says the Stavka, was of an “offensive-defensive” nature, and adds laconically that it resulted in “no material damage.”
It would seem from these reports that, although the Russian corridor to the besieged city is only some 12 miles wide in this area, the attack was not a serious attempt to cut the road and railway which the Russians have built to carry supplies to the city’s long-suffering people. It is far more likely to have been an attempt to seize a local advantage of terrain before the ground hardens and the Russians renew their attempts to drive the Germans and their allies away from Leningrad for ever.
Following their success in opening a route to the city on 18 January, the Soviets have twice tried to lift the siege completely. In their first attack, on 10 February, they were foiled by the Spanish Azul division, and then on 19 March they were driven off again. The situation now is like two boxers sparring, seeking advantage, before unleashing their big punches.
SARDINIA: Northwest African Air Force B-17s bomb the Elmas and Monserrato Airfields. (Jack McKillop)
Axis forces in North Africa, now occupy their final defence positions in a ring from Cape Serat to Bizerta to Tunis to Enfidaville.
TUNISIA: Ninth Air Force P-40s fly convoy escort, and carry out fighter sweeps over the battle area as the British Eighth Army’s 10 Corps continues to make quick jabs at positions at Enfidaville. These attempts to force an enemy retreat are unsuccessful.
During the night of 13/14 April, Northwest African Air Force Hurricanes and Blenheims bomb La Sebala Airfield and attack transport on the Tunis-Pont-du-Fahs road, and Western Desert Air Force light and medium bombers hit the Airfields at Sainte-Marie du Zit and Korba. During the day, B-17s bomb El Aouina Airfield. P-38s escort the heavy bombers and fly a bombing and strafing mission against a beached vessel southeast of Cape Zebib. A-20 Havocs bomb Bordj Toum. Fighter-bombers hit a motor convoy near Grich el Oued and trucks northeast of Dechret Ben Saidane and a battery east of Djedeida. Fighters fly reconnaissance and sweeps throughout the Tunisian battle area. Patrol planes maintain sea reconnaissance and patrols.
BURMA: Tenth Air Force P-40s dropping 1,000 pound (454 kg) bombs, hit airfields at Myitkyina and Manywet, rendering the runways at both unusable.
CHINA: Fourteenth Air Force P-40s strafe pack horses south of Tengchung, barracks and warehouses in Lungling, and cattle and trucks north of Lungling.
NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-17s, B-24s and B-25s carry out widespread attacks on individual enemy vessels. During these raids, B-17s bombing Hansa Bay sink an army cargo ship.
An estimated 144 Japanese bombers and fighters carry out a heavy attack on the Milne Bay area, severely damaging 1 vessel, beaching 1 vessel, and hitting 2 others, but doing very little damage to USAAF facilities in the area. AA defences and the 40+ P-40s and P-38s that intercept the enemy strike shoot down 7 aircraft with the loss of three US fighters.
Captain Richard I “Dick” Bong becomes a Double Ace when he gets his 10th kill, one of the Mitsubishi G4M, Navy Type 1 Attack Bombers (Allied Code Name “Betty”) attacking the Milne Bay area.
HMAS Wagga, a minesweeper, with HMAS ships Kapunda and Whyalla, took part in the defence of Milne Bay during a heavy Japanese air attack. The British vessel “Gorgan” was damaged and the Netherlands troopship “Van Heemskerk” was hit by bombs and set on fire. Minutes before the fire reached drums of petrol, which blew up, the Wagga took the survivors off the ship and saved a lot of lives in doing so. The ship was beached, but became a total loss. The Wagga sustained superficial damage. (Denis Peck)
PACIFIC OCEAN: The Japanese navy completes Operation I, a series of air attacks on New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, with a raid on Milne Bay.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: The Eleventh Air Force dispatches 30 P-40s, 17 P-38 Lightnings, 9 B-24 Liberators and 6 B-25 Mitchells to fly 10 missions to Kiska Island, bombing and strafing the runway, North Head area, installations, parked seaplanes, and facilities on Little Kiska. (Jack McKillop)
U.S.A.: John Grist Brainerd, director of research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School, submits a proposal for an electronic computer to colleagues at the U.S. Army’s Ballistics Research Laboratory. The proposal was written by the Moore School’s John Mauchly. In May 1943, the Army contracted the Moore School to build ENIAC, the first American electronic computer.
The USAAF activates the Weather Wing at Asheville, North Carolina to provide scientific weather information for the USAAF and the rest of the Army. This new wing assumes responsibility from HQ USAAF for the supervision of the Army Air Forces Weather Service which was established in 1937.
Page 6 suggested food rationing menu.
Half of America today has no idea how to cook and would starve having to make meals from scratch.
I am humbly awed. Thank you, Homer_J_Simpson.
"Alfried Krupp was head of the famous German arms manufacturer from the early 1930s to the end of the war.
This photograph shows him being taken into custody by American troops prior to being put on trial at Nuremberg.
Under his oversight, the Krupp works made extensive use of the cruel and cost-effective slave labor provided by the Third Reich's system of concentration camps. He paid the government for his workers, who received no wages.
Thousands died in the appalling conditions that characterized his factories."
"These mountains of shoes were once the property of victims gassed at Auschwitz.
The Nazis made a considerable effort to exploit their victims economically, and this included seizing any property that could be used in the war effort. At Auschwitz, confiscated property was kept in Effektenkammern (storerooms of movables).
The inmates called the area "Canada" because of the sheer amount of loot stored there, which they associated with the riches of Canada."
The front page is rich in unintentional (if retrospective) irony.
Left column: “organized labor began its offensive to . . .adjust wages upward to correct ‘gross inequities’ and to eliminate ‘inequalities’ . . . “ (Sound familiiar?)
Below that, an article about the government stepping in to fine 15 department stores for boycotting the New York Times. (Can’t allow free-market freedom of choice — government knows better.)
In the far left column (more irony) is Roosevelt, hypocritically declaring “No king, no tyrant, no dictator can govern for [men] as wisely as they can govern for themselves.” (Apparently he doesn’t read the New York Times, either.)
And, in the right-hand column, a subheading of two words: “Noose Tightening.” Indeed it was.
I have the feeling the father of the young German soldier figured his advice was the only way to keep his son from eventually being sent to fight the Soviets, where surrender was not an option and death the only likely outcome. At least in an allied POW camp, his son would probably survive the war.
I think that's the best explanation. The experience(s) his dad had that caused him to give such advise to his son would be interesting to learn. Obviously, we received the extremely condensed version.
That father was giving risky advice, but he probably had figured out that the alternative would be for his son to be drafted and sent to the Russian front slaughterhouse, probably never to return.
This movie was made during WWII and told the story of a fictional invasion of a British village by German soldiers pretending to be UK soldiers. It is very hard to find, but is a real gem. I won't give a spoiler, but if you can find it, watch it for sure.
Netflix doesn’t have it in their inventory but they do have it available to save, which I did.
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