BRITISH AND FRENCH TAKE KEY HEIGHTS IN TUNISIA AS ALLIES BOMB AIRFIELDS (4/16/43)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 4/16/43 | Frank L. Kluckhohn, Sidney Shalett, Tillman Durdin

[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]

The index by author on Homer’s profile is now updated through May 15, 1943.

First Army Scores (Kluckhohn) – 2
War News Summarized – 2
Stimson Defends A.E.F. in Tunisia, Asserting it Held Line as Ordered – 3
Africa Nazis Leave Propaganda Sheet – 3
Allies Reorganize Air Forces in East – 3-4
We Deliver the Goods to Russia and a Knockout Blow to a Nazi Bomber (photos) – 4-5
Aid Promised to MacArthur, but Secretary Implies Rebuke (Shalett) – 5
Big Fleet at Truk, Knox is Reminded (Durdin) – 6
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on Fighting in Various Zones – 7-9

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/apr1943/f16apr43.htm

Poles demand Red Cross investigation
Friday, April 16, 1943 www.onwar.com

Bodies uncovered in Katyn Forest [photo at link].

In London... The Polish government in exile issues a statement on the Katyn massacre asking for a Red Cross investigation.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

April 16th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The Polish Government requests a Red Cross investigation of the Katyn Massacre.

FRANCE: The evacuation of all children and non-essential civilians from the Channel ports of Le Havre, Dieppe, Cherbourg, St Malo and Brest is announced.

The VIII Bomber Command flies Mission Number 51: 25 B-24s are dispatched against the Brest U-Boat base while 83 B-17’s are dispatched against the Lorient U-Boat base. 19 B-24s drop 52 tons on Brest at 1337-1338 hours; the B-24s claim 2-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost. 59 B-17s bomb Lorient at 1412-1414 hours dropping 147 tons of bombs; they claim 9-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost. The attack is hindered by an effective smoke screen and strong fighter opposition. (Jack McKillop)

ITALY: Sicily: Ninth Air Force B-24’s attack a tanker in Catania harbour, scoring several hits on the target and in surrounding areas. Northwest African Air Force B-17s bomb the dock area at Palermo. (Jack McKillop)

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Destroyer HMS Pakenham in company with HMS Paladin encounter the Italian torpedo boats Cigno and Cassiopea. Pakenham sinks Cigno with gunfire and a torpedo, but not before Cigno has put a shell into her engine room which brings her to a stop. Paladin takes Pakenham in tow, but it is later decided to scuttle Pakenham since air attacks can be expected, and the destroyers are outside the envelope of air cover from Malta. Location 12 miles off Cape Granitola, Sicily at 37 26N 12 30E. (Alex Gordon)(108)

TUNISIA: The British Eighth Army abandons their attempts to force a German retreat from Enfidaville by quick jabs and prepares to launch a full-scale assault during the night of 19/20 April. Ninth Air Force fighters fly sea patrol.

Northwest African Air Force fighters strafe trucks during the night of 15/16 April and during the following day. A-20s and fighter-bombers bomb Djqobel el Raar and concentrations located in various wadis in the battle area. Aircraft maintain sea reconnaissance and patrols while B-25s and B-26s hit the Oudns landing ground and P-38s bomb vessels near Cape Zebib and at Cape el Ahmar. (Jack McKillop)

CHINA: Fourteenth Air Force P-40’s strafe a group of buildings east of Tenchung. (Jack McKillop)

BURMA: Tenth Air Force P-40s, bombing a railroad bridge near Mogaung, score a direct hit on the target and blow up both approaches, leaving the bridge temporarily unserviceable. Later in the day the bridge near Pinbaw is demolished by direct hits. Eight B-24s hit the Rangoon Marshalling Yard, 9 B-25s bomb the Thazi rail junction, while 9 more, weathered out of Maymyo, hit rail targets in Mandalay. (Jack McKillop)

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: RAAF No. 18 (NEI) Squadron B-25s bomb Vila Salazar on Timor. (Jack McKillop)

NEW GUINEA: Fifth Air Force B-24s bomb Kaimana, Wewak, Madang, and Lae. B-17s pound shipping at Wewak damaging the destroyer HIJMS Tachikaze. (Jack McKillop)

BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO: From his HQ at Rabaul on New Britain Island, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku orders that Operation I-GO against the Allied forces in the Solomons and New Guinea be halted. He mistakenly believes that the Japanese air offensive has severely destroyed Allied air and naval forces. (Jack McKillop)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Thirteenth Air Force B-17s bomb Kahili Airfield on Bougainville. (Jack McKillop)

TERRITORY OF ALASKA: ALEUTIAN ISLANDS: Kiska Island is bombed and strafed 13 times. A total of 13 Eleventh Air Force B-24 Liberators, 12 B-25 Mitchells, 32 P-40s, 29 P-38 and 2 F-5A Lightnings cover targets which include installations in the Holtz Bay area and gun positions on North Head. (Jack McKillop)

U.S.A.: Dr. Albert Hofmann discovers the effects of LSD. (William L. Howard)

MEXICO: Mexico City: Jacques Monard is sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Leon Trotsky, including six-months for carrying an ice-pick.

[henkster]

“MEXICO: Mexico City: Jacques Monard is sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Leon Trotsky, including six-months for carrying an ice-pick.”

Monard had a crappy attorney. I would have no problem convincing the Court that it was Trotsky’s ice pick. He was the last person in possession of it.

[dfwgator]

Jacques Monard is sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Leon Trotsky

You should never be punished for killing a Communist. And Trotsky was just as nasty as Stalin, he just lost the power struggle.

[colorado tanker]

One of the worst jobs in WWII must have been to be a sailor on the Murmansk run. Miserable weather, a sea infested with U-Boats, threat of air and sea attack from Norway . . . And if you make to Russia, what the heck would you do for fun with a pass in Murmansk???

[henkster]

There was no fun in Murmansk. My understanding is that the Soviets only let the merchant sailors off the ship only if essential to unloading. The dock workers were all in the Gulag as forced labor (who would want to be a dockworker in Murmansk?)

The merchant sailors said that looking into the eyes of the dockworkers was like looking into the eyes of the damned.