The White Falcon - 14.08.1943, Blaðsíða 2

When a 100-mile gale swept this section of Texas, ten persons were killed and property damage
exceeded $2,000,000.
MacArthur Reports
‘Japs Can’t Win War’
Yanks Rip
Germans
At Troina
The American troops who took
Troina, perched on top of a
mountain 3,642 feet high, had to
fight for “every inch of ground,”
according to a dispatch from Si-
cily this week.
A military observer who saw
the opening stages of the battle
described it as “a major mili-
tary operation—undoubtedly the
most savage fighting that has
developed in Sicily.”
Twice the infantry tried to
envelop it by an outflanking
movement, and twice they were
thrown back with heavy losses.
On the wejt and southwest the
Germans sent over terrific artil-
lery and mortar fire, forcing the
Yanks into foxholes time after
time.
The Germans used 170 mm.
(about 6.7 inch) and 90 mm.
(3% inch) guns and an electric
rocket howitzer known as Whist-
ling Willie,” which spatters
down about 1,000 pounds of steel.
One company of Americans
advanced a few yards at a time,-
the first men to go forward dig-
ging in hastily. Then those be-
hind leap-frogged past them and
consolidated their gains.
The final assault came after
an American barrage which last-
ed one full day. In one sector,
72 American guns fired 1,800
rounds in half an hour against
a single point.
(Continued from Page 1)
In one assault, Stormovik dive
bombers escorted by Yak fight-
ers smashed Hitler’s crack SS
Deathshead Panzer brigade.
More than 40 tanks were knock-
out of the battle, and 52 Ger-
man planes which tried to divert
the slaughter were shot down,
Russian tanks and motorized
infantry continue fg pour
—Sicily
(Continued from Page 1)
forces forced an immediate ene-
my withdrawal to new lines, and
some 1500 prisoners were re-
ported captured. The landing
force then joined the main body
of American troops moving east-
ward.
The British Navy continued to
bang away at retreating German
and Italian troops all along the
east coast of Sicily, and sailed
in to blast reeinforcement points
on the Italian mainland. Rail-
way bridges at Cape Vaticano,
south of the Gulf of Saint Eu-
femia, came in for a heavy past-
ing, as did Castellamare Di Sta-
bia, a big ship-building and re-
pair yard 20 miles south of Nap-
pies.
Meanwhile, Allied air forces
hammered the enemy over the
entire front. While fighters and
fighter-bombers raked the flee-
ing columns, heavy bombard-
ment groups blasted the Messina
area. Other planes struck at im-
portant military targets in south-
ern Italy.
Allied headquarters announc-
ed that since the start of the
Sicilian campaign, Northwest Af-
rica air forces have destroyed
418 Axis planes. Allied losses in
the campaign have been 178
planes.
As the campaign draws to a
climax, Allied Headquarters re-
veals that very few German pri-
soners have been taken. Most of
the rear guard fighting, it wo1
disclosed, has been left to the
Italians.
through breaks in German dines
after cutting the Kharkov-to-Bri-
ansk railway. Possession of the
j railroad jeopardizes Nazi defen-
ses as far back as the Desna
River, flowing north to south
through the heart of Briansk.
The Germans are falling back
so rapidly in most areas, they
are abandoning much of their
heavier equipment,
‘Section-S*
An Italian soldier captured
in Sicily by Eighth Army for-
ces volunteered the following:
“Only one man wanted to
continue fighting when the
others said they’d had en-
ough.”
“What about the one man,”
he was asked.
“Oh,” he retorted, “he is
not right in the head. He is
delirious with malaria.”
Poses As Law,
Steals Payroll
A lone bandit staged a daring
daylight raid on a payroll car
in Yonkers, N.Y., this week and
escaped with $10,000.
The brazen bandit, dressed in
a police uniform, ordered driver
Charles Elhert to the curb and
popped the famous question,
“Where do you think* you’re go-
ing — to a fire?” Then he wav-
ed a revolver at Elhert, grabbed
the bankroll and disappeared.
-War Confab
(Continued from Page 1)
Mackenzie King. Then the party
boarded a special six-car train,
slipped through Montreal Wed-
nesday night, and joined Roose-
velt Thursday.
The President was accompani-
ed by his combined general staff.
Churchill’s party included the
British staff, War Transport Mi-
nister Lord Leathers, Mrs. Chur-
chill and their daughter, Mary,
and Wfng Cmdr. George P. Gib-
son, who led the squadron which
blasted the Monne and Eder
dams in the Ruhr Valley.
At a press conference in Wash-
ington before he left the capi-
tal, the President said he heard
of Churchill’s arrival in Canada
by telephone from Premier King.
“This will be a British-American
conference,” Roosevelt declared,
“but we would be very glad to
have Russian representatives
present.”
Meanwhile, Hitler’s crumbling
empire showed signs of anxiety
over the possible moves which
may follow the secret sessions.
— Bombs
(Continued from Page 1)
Air Ministry announced that an
estimated 1,500 tons of bombs
were dropped. The Air Ministry
communique said that the raid
“approached the proportions of
the recent saturation raids on
Hamburg.”
Swiss sources in Zurich said
this week that Reich Field Mar-
shall Goering has left the bomb
danger areas and has taken up
residence with his wife and child
at Schross Marbach, a small re-
sort town on the lower coast
of Lake Constance, not far from
the Swiss frontier. The report
was not confirmed from any
other source.
Reviewing the war picture in
the south Pacific area this week,
Gen. McArthur declared that re-
cent Allied successes have made
eventual victory in the Pacific
a certainty.
In making this statement, the
Allied leader cautioned that the
U.S. is still fighting in the Paci-
fic area with what he regards
a limited farce. He did not ven-
ture a prediction on how long
the war would last in that area.
Even as MacArthur spoke,
American and Australian planes
were lashing out in attacks on
Jap bases in the New Georgia
group. Coming in for the heavi-
est weight of bombs this week
was Bairoko, where a Jap garri-
son is still holding out. Vila,
which the Japs are using as an
airdome, also was given a ter-
rific pounding from the skies.
In one day, torpedo planes and
dive-bombers with fighter es-
cort attacked enemy positions in
Bairoko harbor with 22 tons of
explosives. Allied ground forces,
advancing on Bairoko from re-
cently captured Munda, are be-
ing hampered by heavy rains.
Heavy and medium bombers,
in two morning attacks, dumped
63 tons of explosives on Vila
airdrome in Lolombangara, and
returning airmen reported large
fires raging. Allied planes, at-
tacking in considerable strength,
also struck Ambon, the enemy-
held village of Alilit in the Tank-
ible Islands and the Lae supply
area in Salamaua Town Harbor.
During one of these raids, one
Allied plane fought off nine ene-
my fighters, shooting down one
and damaging three others.
They Laughed
When He Sat
But He Didn’t!
Ensign William Himmelmara
doesn’t care if he has to stand
up the rest of his life—he has
no love for chairs or seats.
At Seattle this week Himmel-
man rolled over his naval train-
ing plane and found himself
floating through space still at-
tached to the seat which had
broken off. He pulled the rip
cord of his parachute, but since
he was sitting on the ’chute, no-
thing happened.
After toppling 2,000 feet to-
ward the earth, Himmelman
worked loose his safety belt,,
waved farewell to the seat, pull-
ed the rip cord again and land-
ed safely.
18-Year-Olds Win
Vote In Georgia
Georgia became the first state
in the Union to permit 18-year-
olds to vote when voters this
week approved an amendment
to the state constitution giving,
minors, tbe franchise,
)
It started out as a vegetable “Victory Garden,” but when Air
Force Brig. Gen. George P. Tourtellot discovered he could wheedle
a fair crop of lettuce, cauliflower and cabbage from his care-
fully cultivated strip of barren Icelandic soil, he added a few
hardy flowers. Gen. Tourtellot (above) finds it pleasant relaxa-
tion to trowel in his garden by the light of the Midnight Sun
after flying a “soupedqip" Army fighter plane with ids pilots
during the day, (U.§. Army Air Corps photo). .
—Nazis Trapped At Kharkov