The White Falcon - 17.04.1943, Qupperneq 2

2
Red Army Repulses
Nazis At Donets
Jap bombers don’t last long when American guns swing into action in the Southwest
Pacific. Here’s the remains of one Nip plane which was destroyed during an air skirmish.
RAF Bombers Hit Italy From Britain;
Surprise Attack Damages Ship Center
Bitter German attempts to up-
root the Red Army from its posi-
tions along the Donets River, re-
gardless of the toll in manpower
and equipment, have resulted in
fierce local battles, but the Nazis
still are seeking their first break
through the sturdy Russian de-
fenses.
A new German assault was
launched south of Balakleya, but
heavy Soviet pressure forced the
attackers to withdraw to their
original positions. Before the
Germans retreated, however, the
Russians killed 200 men, crippled
two tanks and destroyed five
tank guns.
Fighting in the Rostov region
has been limited to artillery du-
els this week. Russian big guns
smashed a battery of Nazi ar-
tillery and a battery of mortars,
while enemy trucks and gun em-
placements also withered under
the intense Soviet barrage. A
German reconnaissance force
attempted to scout Russian posi-
tions, but was destroyed by the
defenders.
Russian machine gunners kill-
ed more than 200 Germans in a
skirmish near Leningrad, while
artillery hammered six enemy bat-
teries into silence, and blew up
two ammunition dumps. Moscow
places German losses in this sec-
tor at more than 2,000 men kil-
led in unsuccessful attempts to
advance.
Russian planes have been aid-
ing the ground forces. One aeri-
al raid destroyed 70 Nazi guns
and 12 supply dumps. Soviet
planes also raided Koenigsberg
in East Prussia and set large
fires, while 25 German planes
were bagged when the Luftwaffe
attacked Krasnodar, 60 miles in-
land from Novorossisk.
Nine Receive
DSC Awards
The Distinguished Service
Cross was awarded to nine men
of the U.S. Army for heroism
in the North African campaign,
it was announced in Washington
this week.
In addition to the two officers
and seven enlisted men, awards
of the DSC were made posthum-
ously to an officer and three en-
listed men.
The men were Lt. Victor Kar-
pass of Chicago, Ill., Sgt. Clayton
Averson of Cleveland, O., Sgt.
Bill Layton, Ponoma, Calif., Sgt.
Hinson of Texas, Coxp. Crane of
New York City, Corp. Nelson of
Brooklyn, N.Y., and Pvt. Wayne
Sinclair of Walthill, Mass.
Illlni To Meet
A meeting of officers who are
alumni of the University of Il-
linois will be held Thursday at
2000 hours. Further information
may be obtained at the Base
Bond Office,
—Africa
(Continued from Page 1)
pounding the entire battle area
with mounting fury.
German Generals Rommel and
Von Arnim apparently intend to
carry out a fighting withdrawal
to the gates of Tunis and Bizerte
where the Axis armies will soon
face surrender or destruction.
Evacuation is now hardly pos-
sible. Recent reports indicate
Rommel already is in flight from
his devastated forces to Italy
where he is expected to take
command of southern European
defenses.
The swift succession with
which the Eighth Army swarm-
ed through enemy strongholds
from Gabes to Enfidaville has
cost the German and Italian for-
ces thousands of prisoners. The
advance has been over a trail of
burning, smashed trucks, tanks,
guns, planes and airports. At La
Fauconnerie airdrome, a main
Luftwaffe fighter base west of
Sfax, • Gen. Montgomery’s ram-
pant forces found 30 abandoned
Axis planes. In Enfidaville an en-
tire Italian garrison was cap-
tured.
Famed Hill 648, Djebel Man-
sour, once taken by the British,
then lost, has again been cap-
tured by the French in the Al-
lied drive west toward Bizeite.
German forces, backing up all
along the line in the northern
sector, are now entrenched in
stronger positions in the Medjez
el Bab and Sejenane area for
a last-ditch stand.
—Pacific
(Continued from Page 1)
19 of the enemy’s heavy bombers
and 10 fighter planes. In addi-
tion, two enemy bombers and
six fighter planes were blasted
out of action by the sharpshoot-
ing American aircraft gunners.
In all, U.S. airmen accounted for
76 enemy planes in 24 hours.
The Japs also attacked Oro
Bay in New Guinea. However,
American pilots were prepared
and gave the attacking planes a
savage reception. The Japs lost
17 fighter planes and six heavy
bombers.
In retaliation, Allied four-mo-
tor bombers conducted a de-
vastating raid on the Jap-held
base at Wewak in New Guinea.
Shore installations were given a
terrific pounding, while three
ships were wrecked.
In the Aleutian Islands, a force
of Mitchell bombers with Cor-
sair and Lightning fighters scor-
ed hits on a Jap airfield. The
runways on -the airfield were
blasted, and the Americans also
knocked out enemy gun em-
placements in the camp area.
RAF bombers flew across the
Alps this week to strike a sur-
prise blow at Le Spezia, impor-
tant shipbuilding center and har-
bor in northwestern Italy, while
other Britain-based planes
pounded military targets in
Nazi-held Europe.
The venture to Italy required
a non-stop flight of almost 2,000
miles, but no planes were lost
in the. raid, The Air Ministry
disclosed that the attack was
“particularly heavy,” and re-
turning pilots reported huge fi-
res could be seen burning after
they dispatched their bomb loads
over La Spezia.
Railway yards at Abbeville
and Caen in Northern France'
were crippled when large RAF
formations slipped across the
Channel protected by fighter es-
corts. German planes tried to
intercept, but were cleared away
by fighters and the British bom-
Jap-Americans Train
For Duty In U.S. Army
A group of 2,500 Japanese-Am-
erican soldiers has reached the
West Coast from Hawaii to join
1,000 Jap-Americans from contin-
ental U.S. for training at a Mis-
sissippi Army camp.
hers reached their objective.
Three British fighters were lost,
while two Nazi planes were de-
stroyed.
RAF Mosquito bombers attack-
ed a railway station at Maline,
Belgium, and a factory at Henge-
lo, Holland, with the loss of only
two planes. Other activity was
confined to mine-laying in enemy
waters.
Reports indicate the Germans
are working frantically to bol-
ster their defenses in France and
Norway in anticipation of an Al-
lied drive against the continent.
The German radio said channel
Marine Hostess,
‘Mother’ Deboo, Dies
“Mother” Deboo, 65, the only
Marine Corps hostess, died this
week. Appointed by the late Maj.
Gen. Smedley Butler, the widow
of Sgt. Maj. Michael Deboo used
the title of “Mother” even in sign-
ing legal papers.
For 18 years, Mother Deboo
officiated at Quantico and was
the Marines’ guest-of-hortor at
the New York World’s Fair.
She is survived by a daughter
and, as she used to say, “200,000
sons—all Marines.”
fortifications include “gigantic
concrete concentrations with en
ormous guns, and imposing forts
built into rock.”
Nervousness has been caused
among Germans by reports of
Allied raids in the Norwegian
coastal areas, according to a
Nazi newspaper. “German and
Norwegian ships, in the course
of their normal traffic, have fre-
quently been exposed to five
from German coastal batteries,”
the item said, “because the gun-
ners' think the ships belong to
an enemy fleet.”
One crew sent an SOS for help,
thinking they were being shelled
by Allied ships. Several days
later it was admitted that the
Germans had sunk their own
ship.
Glider Pilots
Enter Training
For War Duty
Several hundred trained glider
pilots are soon going to enter a
combat training school where
they will be taught advanced
combat tactics similar to para-
chutists training, it was an-
nounced by U.S. Army authorities
in Louisville, Ivy., this week.
The combat course will include
additional flight training and will
cover a period of 21 weeks. The
trainees will use large gliders
capable of transporting fifteen
soldiers with small field auto-
mobiles and large guns.
Army" Exchanges
Limit Stock
Army Post Exchanges in the
United States have given up hign
priority rating on all items ex-
cept for a limited list of those
deemed essential to maintain
morale. The purpose is to save
materials and transportation.
Actually the sacrifice is a gest-
ure to assure delivery of ade-
quate PX stock to AEF garrisons
overseas where the demand is
higher, and the supply limited.
Sure-footed mules, led by Allied soldiers, carry supplies along
muddy North African roads toward the Tunisian frqpt. The ani-
mals can get through the deep mud where seasonal rains make
the roads difficult for motor transport.