U.S. FLIERS DOWN 77 JAPANESE PLANES AT COST OF 6 IN GUADALCANAL BATTLE (6/18/43)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 6/18/43 | Sidney Shalett, Hanson W. Baldwin

[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]

The first part of this excerpt and the memo to Roosevelt are continued from yesterday.

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Best Pacific Score (Shalett) – 2
Malta-Based Bombers Strike; Rome Reports Allies Poised – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Red Army Smashes Nazis’ Orel Blows – 4
Rumanian ‘Feeler’ Disavowed by Axis – 4
Turks Call Envoy Home from Vichy – 5
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 6-8
Storm Clouds in Pacific (Baldwin) – 8

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/jun1943/f18jun43.htm

Promotions for Wavell and Auchinleck
Friday, June 18, 1943 www.onwar.com

General Wavell [photo at link].

In London... The British government announces that General Wavell will succeed Lord Linlithgow as viceroy of India in October. General Auchinleck is appointed Commander in Chief in India. At the same time a new and separate East Asia Command is created. The promotions of Wavell and Auchinleck are generally perceived as a loss of confidence in these commanders by Prime Minister Churchill.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

June 18th, 1943 (FRIDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: HMCS Athabaskan, a Tribal-class destroyer, Capt. George “Gus” Ralph Miles, OBE, RCN, CO, was damaged in a collision with boom defense vessel HMS Bargate at Scapa Flow. This resulted in the destroyer being under repairs at Devonport for a month. Athabaskan was dubbed “The Unlucky Lady” as the result of her many unfortunate escapades. In Apr 43, she was heavily damaged by weather and had to undergo major repairs. After her collision in June, she was hit by a German radio-controlled glider bomb on 27 Aug 43, which also required a lengthy period in a repair yard. Athabaskan was sunk in action on 29 Apr 44 with heavy loss of life.
Frigate HMS Byard commissioned.
Frigate HMS Windrush launched,

Minesweeper HMS Pelorus launched.

Boom defense vessel HMS Barbette launched. (Dave Shirlaw)

Minesweeper HMS Rinaldo commissioned.

(Dave Shirlaw)

ITALY: There is a heavy Allied bombardment of Sicily. (Glenn Steinberg)

Northwest African Air Force B-17s strike the Messina, Italy ferry slip and railroad yards while P-38 Lightnings bomb the airfield at Milo, Sicily. B-26 Marauders and B-25 Mitchells, with P-38 escort, hit docks and shipping at Olbia, Sardinia and shipping at Golfo Aranci, Italy. Northwest African Air Force (NAAF) aircraft claim over 40 aircraft destroyed. (Jack McKillop)
INDIA: General Auchinleck becomes Commander in Chief and General Wavell is the next Viceroy of India. These “promotions” are designed to move them to positions where Churchill feels they can be best used.

The other side of the appointments: Churchill had these fellows appointed less to “feel safe” than to use their talents where they could, in his estimation, be best used. Churchill failed to appreciate Wavell’s many qualities as an operational commander and had written the Great Auk off as an administratively capable but operationally incapable commander. In Churchill’s view, both generals were also smeared with a propensity for ill-luck. (Marc Small)

AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister John Curtin announces that Australia is no longer in danger of invasion. (Glenn Steinberg)

CANADA: Tug HMCS Glendower commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.A.: Submarine USS Burrfish launched Portsmouth, NSY.
Destroyer USS Hazelwood commissioned.

Destroyer escort USS Smartt commissioned.

Destroyer escorts USS Lovering and Sanders launched.

(Dave Shirlaw)

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Wow, what devastation.

[InMemoriam]

Staff Sergeant Wherley passed away this February. The Times article is incorrect; he enlisted at 14 according to multiple sources.

He retired for about a year. And then joined the Navy at 17.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I wonder what Wherley’s job in the navy was. Perhaps 100 combat hours in a machine-gun turret satisfied his yearning for the wild blue yonder. His chances of surviving past teenage would undoubtedly improve if he switched to surface ships.

[Mikey_1962]

"Wherley went on a nationwide bond tour and worked in a defense plant until he again falsified his age, this time to enlist in the Navy, his son said.

He was again assigned as a turret gunner, this time on a Navy B-26, but was once again sent home when his true age was determined.

He re-enlisted to serve in the Army Air Forces but was sent home after being deployed to the South Pacific.

“Just before he turned 18, the master chief told him he wasn’t 18 and they sent him home the third time,” his son said.

“He decided three times was enough.”

[Jacquerie]

Three times as many sailors were KIA in the Guadalcanal campaign as soldiers and marines combined.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Homer: His chances of surviving past teenage would undoubtedly improve if he switched to surface ships.

Jacquerie: Three times as many sailors were KIA in the Guadalcanal campaign as soldiers and marines combined.

By 1944 when Wherly would have arrived on the scene I bet that ratio had changed. In any case, a heavy bomber crew in the ETO remained at high risk throughout the war.

[Jacquerie]

Yeah, he could have arrived in time for the Kamikaze waves of 1944.