The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 26, Ed. 2 Monday, July 12, 1943 Page: 7 of 10
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O’Monday Evening! July 12, 1943
THE ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS
Tune In on FABC
PAGE SEVEN
y 12, 1943
rS
Tne
Bchange dry-P
Biisengers ride on
of the trip
The bus probable i
Bling together for-w I
he confessed, at
between New
Belesr that they
felt just to sit
net find
bad.a
HAIRS
B was stretching
the American
riously that he |
trust for chairs.
Bing in one sinced
Bn.five days ago.
FT this bus," he
spend the rest
up. I am afraid
again the chair
across_coun-3
Louis Mo. t
draft board.
award Pickens of
seemed very
the fact that
Bling since Monday
•Seattle. Wash, to
Than Second class
and expected to
around 5 p. m.
another son in
reported missing
ago and they,
other word.
employed in the
of the Lone
smooled at us good-
Penoment and said
w far it is from,
were afraid to
said, and took
b of soup.
table were Mr.
Evizenis who were
home in Taylor-
San Diego where
employed by Con-
for the past 14
going back to be
Frs. Avizenis was
Wing with her fam
PATRONAGE
reported that al-
Berican passengers
soldiers’ wives and
they come-from
The added—you
kind of load you
• things together
the journey, eld-
• Mrs. J. J. Tur-A
•taking her daugh-S
Dallas to spend
Fir home is in Las
Mary Ethel had
they were going
Title the worse . forg
Dat a corner table.”
Evho was eating a
• cream instead of
declared he was
Oakland, Calif.,
hemployed with a
Spany, to Oklahoma
s to enlist in the
5 One of his com-
Lorrow, was going
s Ark., to see his
finally admitted. He
We for the city
the group was Ed
Prancisco, a senior
enroute to Chicago,
stives .
fir at the table was
like most of thee
to his home in
• be drafted after
i Beach, Calif.
TAINMENT
that they had been
1 long journey they
liked at each other”
1 they sang, slept,
y read, gabbed. But
ne they just sat.
a pack of cards
i talking that overa
of the thirty min-
id passengers wan-
ck to the bus . . .
king over who had
test distance, oth-
hunting their seats.S
on was the fellow
list chairs. And he
long time before he
m and tried to read
Grim Schooling Given Invaders
AMERICANS STARTED DRILLING =
G Airfields
@Naval Bores
o Railroads
r
Scale of Miles
56
Tyrrhenian
ALER MO
19
PATALY
going out for
served a well-
WEEK
IE AD IN NORTH AFRICA
a (EDITOR’S NOTE—Now that the
W Allied invasion of Sicily is under way,
the story of the months of careful
planning and the intensive tra’ning
given the troops participating in the
invasion can be told. Don Whitehead,
Associated Press war correspondent in
, North Africa, was permitted to wit-
ness these secret preparations. In the
following dispatch, just released by U.
a S. Army field censors, he tells for the
first time what went on behind the
scenes in Africa before the invasion
could be-launched.)
By DON WHITEHEAD
AT THE AMERICAN ARMY’S
DINVASION TRAINING CENTER,
“North Africa, (—Delayed) —(PP)—
Long before Allied troops smashed
day to and from their problems.
With full field pack they ran ob-
stacle courses of ditches, walls, tun-
nels, barbed wire and other barriers.
• %. *
Over and over the troops prac-
ticed landing operations until each
man knew exactly what his job was.
I got a prevue of a daylight beach
assault while visiting the invasion
training center, an idea of what to
expect when these troops went in
for the real drive.
ri
The morning mists were just
clearing from the sea when the
assault craft appeared, trailing
white-feathered water in their
the Axis armies in Tunisia, the wake.
American Army in North Africa was
preparing for the move against Hit-
Ger’s European fortress in what
probably was the grimmest, most
amazing war school on all this con-
tinent.
Division by division, youths from
the farms and cities, the hills and
“plains of America poured through
this Army invasion training center
on the Mediterranean.
Their’s was no playtime
maneuvering. The gruelling
work under a hot san that sent
4 the mercury hovering near 100
e degrees in the shade was deadly
serious, dangerous and realistle,
so realistic at times that those
who fell to the ground were not
always feigning injury. Realism
a was an essential in conditioning
• the troops—most of them in-
experienced—for actual combat
Here they learned the most has-
ardous operation an Army can at-
tempt — learned under fire of live
ammunition to storm beaches of
Gnemy guns, learned how to crack
“beach defenses and widen the crack
for a flood of Allied troops, guns,
tanks and supplies to follow.
And in this school an Army WAS
grounded in the highly specialized
Otechnique of invasion operations,
first entire American Army to
be hardened for the great Allied
move against the continent.
9 #. *
in actual operation, the Navy’s
warships would have been on the
horizon pouring fire into shore,
pounding enemy shore batteries and
strongpoints.
About a half mile from shore,
batteries of mortars aboard the as-
sault crafts opened up with a bar-
rage of smoke shells. Soon the
beach and hillside behind were en-
veloped in white smoke shielding
the approaching craft from view of
those on land. Smoke boiled up
from burning brush and grass.
The flat-bottomed assault boats
beached and troops swarmed down
ramps into hip-deep water and
waded ashore. Engineers blew lanes
through a barbed wire entangle-
ment and the troops ran through
under cover, of machine gun fire.
Mortar squads set up their weapons
at the water’s edge and began lob-
bing shells at enemy “positions."
"Machine gun squads dashed into
position on the flanks to give cov-
ering fire to landing troops.
Into the beach came larger ships
with heavy machine gun squads
and new waves of troops, some with
heavy mortars. Soon the attackers’
machine guns were firing from the
ridge above the beach while troops
- clambered up the slopes. They fan-
, ned out through the pall of smoke,
dashing through the smoke screen
like wraiths. They scrambled under
roadway culverts, ran crouching
under cover of protective rocks and
ditches, and crawled across exposed
places toward their objectives.
This was a prevue for invasion at
A cloak of secrecy was thrown
around these feverish advance
Preparations. None but those with
“Special permission was allowed
within the training boundaries to
. see what was going on. War corres-
pondents were not allowed to men-
tion the schooling in their dis-
batches. Instruction was based on
"the experiences of the Americans
and British at Dieppe and in the
North African invasion last No-
vember. The American high com-
mand learned many things in the
African invasion, probably the most
important that minute advance
“planning is essential with close 89-
ordination of land, air and sea 1 munonaire
forces—and that troops must have | has stirrred
practice in beach landings coupled | colopy
with training in what to do after -
they reach shore. was ann-wn .c.-c-u ... ------------
•Weaknesses in the November: tion Monday to a final resting place
eration were studied and efforts -- 34 - 4
made to eliminate them. New Ideas
were adopted and woven into the
training fabric. t -------- - .- ,=*-*—, *
. And 59. along & picturesque ing on the charge that he is the
4tretch of white beaches MAsPed. bludgeon murderer of the 68-year-
“he Mediterranean—a setting for a old baronet.
summer idyl rather than the rattle Sudden orders Sunday recalled
of machine guns and the crash the fueneral plane bearing Oakes’
shells tan. toughened American body to the United States after it
youths received their final drills for had taken off.
The remains of the American
born baronet. which had been seal-
America’s greatest invasion train-
ing center.
Body of Oakes
Sent to Maine
Nassau, Bahamas, July 12—1-
The body of Sir Harry Oakes, multi-
millionaire whose mysterious death
.1 this quiet little British
------- more than any event since
the arrival of the Duke of Winsor,
was finally released for transporta-
in Bar Harbor, Me.
"At the same time, dashing Alfred
de Marigny, Oakes’ son-in-law,
prepared to face preliminary hear-
On" And night the training areas-----------------------
spread along 100 miles of coast-line ed in a casket in the presence of
swarmed with armed men. TruekS the United States consul, were re-
loaded with troops roared and —4 4 - -1- ------
down the beach roads. Beaches were
“fought over" dozens of times. As:
alault boats and various types
Panding craft practiced maneuvers
and landing operations. Water-
proofed tanks, trucks and armed
vehicles ran, almost submersed,
through the surf. and in bullet
Addled “shantytown" squads leamn-
the technique of street fighting
while live ammunition A1PPAA
apiNd .ala the foundation of
the present invasion move.
, About, month after the North
“African invasion. even while the
Aled drive on Tunisia was stalled
in mud. General Eisenhower issued
a directive to set up a school for
training troops for invasion
. Hundreds of miles of North A+
“an coastline were inspected to find
the type of beaches wanted, beaches
similar to those to be stormed. The
area chosen included the beach on
which the American Rangers first
landed in the November invasion.
The urgency of giving greater
numbers of troops this training:
creased with Allied successes in the
Tunisian campaign. A second com-
bat team training area was opened
patterned on the same lines as the
goroginal one, and then a third. 59
"that three regimental combat teams
could go through the center sim.
ultaneously on time-table schedule.
Problems were practiced by squads,
platoons. companies. battalions and
finally by regiments.
A Many troops had received am-
"hibious training at camps in the
United States. but none had ever
- before experienced the therush-
ness and realism of the training at
this invasion center which tried to
anticipate every obstacle the enemy
Would put in the way of invading
troops—underwater obstacles, barb-
ed wire. beach “mines, pillboxes,
shore batteries.
1f*
It was assembly-line training in
Ghich the men learned by doing.
The purpose was to ground them so
thoroughly in invasion operations
that when they went into combat
they would do the right thing auto:
matically by applying the lessons
“earned in training. *
• And th ey were toughened in the
process. The bivouac area was es--
tablished purposely four miles from
the beaches so that the men had
to march at least eight miles each
turned to a hospital autopsy room
and reporters ordered off the
grounds.".
Later, British authorities an-
nounced they were "satisfied" and
said Oakes’ body would be sent
Monday to West Palm Beach, for
transportation to Bar Harbor, where
Sir Harry’s family has scheduled
services for Thursday.
It was learned that photographs
of the body had been taken at the
hospital.
De Marigny, whose marriage last
year to 18-year-old Nancy Oakes
was reportedly opposed by Sir Har-
ry, has flatly denied that it was he
who clubbed the baronet to death
and set fire ot Oakes’ bed.
New
ils Laid
On Mexico Line
MEXICO CIry. July 12.—-
Eighty-five miles of new rails have
been placed between Mexico City
and Nuevo Laredo, U. 6. border
point, the National Railways of
Mexico reported.
Other improvements completed
on this tsretch, it was reported, in-
clude reinforcement of six bridges,
signal installations, and reinforce-
ment of 117 miles of embankment.
Work on the Mexico City-Nuevo
Laredo stretch will be resumed in
November. Rehabilitation of lines
to the Guatemalan border is in
progress now.
Seven of nine locomotives acquir-
ed from the United States already
have been reconstructed. the com-
pany reported.
F Officials added that freight trains
now frequently travel the distance
between the Mexican capital and
the. U. S. border at Nuevo Laredo
in 42 hours, much faster than preve
jowly:
Protest Food Costs
TAMPICO. Mexico.. July 12.-
— A demonstration protesting
against the high cost of living was
staged here Sunday. The demon-
strators, incly ‘ing laborers and of -
fice workers. asked that withhold:
ing of commodities from the mar-
ket be stopped.
6
PALERMO, capital of Sicily and key harbor on the northern coast, was reduced to
ruins by multiple Allied bombing raids that preceded the invasion of this Italian island.
SCIACCA, with its harbor and airfield, is on the vulnerable southern coast of Sicily, a
probable target for barge landings or air-borne troops attacking from North Africa.
Wounded Don 1
Talk About War
PHOENIXVILE. Pa., July. 12 -
(A)The wounded don’t talk about
the war.
Here where the scream of the
Axis shells still echoes in the ears
of Tunisian veterans, they don’t
talk about the invasion of Sicily.
They talk about the all-star ball
same, their leaves, their future.
The old wheeze “join the Army
and forget about the war” is iron-
ically underlined along the labyrin-
thine corridors of the Army’s new
Valley Forge General hospital.
: When, pressed by a civilian, they
do remember. it isn’t of dates and
places. It’s things like this:
“The hardest part is the wait-
ing. You sit around for a couple of
days and nothing happens. Sudden-
ly they turn loose on you. When
it’s over you feel yourself say, "Well,
I got through that one.” Then you
sit some more.”
That’s Pvt. Charles H. Wilding
of Malone, N. Y. remembering. He
lost a leg:
"It was walking back from mess
at 5:30 a. m. to pick up my equip-
ment when I stepped on a land
mine. The ground just opened up all
sound me. Five others were hurt-
two of them lost their sight. I am
pretty lucky . .. Do you think I
could get a job on a newspaper?”
Or: “I cant tell you what it’s like
to be inside a tank when it’s hit.
The concussion is terrific but every,
thing inside is padded and if you
are lucky you don’t get hurt. You
just feel yourself to see if you’re all
there and if you are you get busy
again.’
That’s Staff Sgt. Walter Woods
of Trenton, N J., who had two
tanks shot out from under him but
walked away, only to stop some
bomb fragments with the back of
his head.
Then there is Sgt. Clarence Kiel-
man of Portage, Pa., who doesn’t
keep in mind any more African
geography than the average news-
paper reader. eBsides a shattered
leg. his most vivid recollection is
of two truckloads of dead Germans
being hauled away.
Sicilly? It’s a long way from
here. And the guys over there in
the corner got a poker game go-
E *
The Other Half—
BOCATELLO, Idaho, July 12.—)
: Soldiers in the United States need
handbooks similar to those issued
men going overseas, says Cpl. Don
Perkins in his column in the Army
air base newspaper,
"What does a Brooklyn boy know
about cowboys and how is a lad
from Miami going to understand
the intricacies of a coal stove?"
Perkins wants to know.
Undercover Rescue
HARRISBURG. Pa., July 12.—A9
— It was ladies last when the Sus-
quehanna river patrol rescued three
persons..-
One of the three, a woman, clung
to a canoe, demanding a blanket,
while her male companions were
being saved.
“Lost her dress when the canoe
turned over,” one of the men ex-
plained.
IT BIT BACK
DENVER. July 12.- Eight-
year-old Ronald Passarelli found
an object wrapped in paper.
. He bit it. | %
The explosion burned his tongue
and inflicted minor cuts. It was a
blank 22 caliber cartridge.
TRAPANI, -.Pan
mne-Le
INI
gong a ut Teprmins,
Porto EmpedeniGa., "eCanicatfi “Armerine 1
-—Calteginnemtuun
52Yc,nc
, • Pelessolo )
ve-25Z
TUNIRLA e
5 W MALTA
Mediterranean Sea
* QF *
VANIA
Two-month serial
pounding of Sicily’s
airfields and ports
softened up island
for Allied invasion
SICILY’S AIRFIELDS and naval bases are key objectives of Allied invasion forces.
Map shows the island’s principal cities and its agricultural and mineral products.
*S**Y
- ***,
‘ 1
A
SYRACUSE, ancient port in western Sicily, has seen war many times during the past •
2000 years. Close to Italy, modern Syracuse may become a key Allied base if invasion
forces capture it. • - ,
LANDING BARGES such as these carried American, Bri tish and Canadian soldiers to the shores of Sicily. After
beachheads were established, more troops and tanks follo wed in larger barges to carry the offensive inland against
axis forces. ..
BRITISH AND AMERICAN PARATROOPS, such as
these spilling by the score out of twin-engined transports,
spearheaded the Allied invasion of Sicily by landing be-
hind enemy lines, seizing airfields and communication
centers.
SOLDIERS URGED TO TAKE
MAXIMUM OF INSURANCE
‘ WASHINGTON, July 12.-)-
Until midnight of Aug 10, any
member of the armed services with
enough strength to sign his name
can get $10,000 worth of life insur-
ance—without so much as a physi-
cal examination.
It will cost him roughly what
an ordinary smoker spends on cis-
arettes.
Under the National Service In-
surance act, the greenest rookie,
or the chief of staff each is eligible
for maximum of $10,000 of this
But in the rush of building a
big army and training it in a hurry,
many soldiers didn’t find time to
take care of insurance or just did-
nt bother.
The percentage of insured per-
sonnel in the army was found to
he so low that Congress some
months ago amended the act so
that during a period of 120 days-
from April 12 to Aug. 10, inclusive,
the physical examination is waived
for any man in the armed- forces.
The army indicates it is difficult
to explain to a father and mother
how their son, killed in battle,
could have neglected to take out
insurance, while the neighbors
life insurance.
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION
Normally, a man entering the
Army has just passed his entrance
physical examination and so for might be getting $60 to $70 per
120 days thereafter does not have month in insurance benefits be-
to take another physical examina- cause their son had provided for
tion to get insurance. them through the national service
life insurance system:
CARRIED NO INSURANCE
Maj. Gen. James A. Uliq. the
Army’s adjutant general whose of-
fice is in charge of insurance mat-
ters, estimated some time ago that
possibly more than 25 per cent of
the American soldiers killed in bat-
tle carried no insurance, and that
those who were insured carried an
average of only about one half
the permissible maximum
His office has taken steps to
change this condition: Here at
home, every unit 0 a regiment or
its equivalent strength has an in-
surance officer detailed to it to
promote among all ranks the idea
of this insurance.
Teams of insurance officers have
been sent into combat areas to help
Quick Recovery
Slows Rushing
CHICAGO, July 18. — - St.
Glenwood Mauk, assistant some
mander of the guards at the Army
Air force training school here, star-
ed in surprise as he drove along in
an Army car.
Coming toward him was his own
automobile which he had left in a
parking lot. The sergeant swung the
Army car around, save chase and,
curbing the pursued automobile
seized one of its two youthful gccu-
pants The other escaped.
Police Sgt. John Warren said the
seized youth identified himself as’
O’Dane Rushing, 15, of Oklahoma
City, Okla., where, Warren said,”
he had escaped from the count,
jail.
Small World
PHOENIX, Arin, June 12. —-
Pvt. Howard Caldwell of the Ma-
rines landed in New Zealand and
met a friend of high school days in
Webb City, Mo. Bernard Riggs, in
the same company.
They went to a band concert.
Tooting on the trumpet was J. W.
Meyers, another H. S. pal. Surprise
No 3 was waiting in Caldwell’s tent.
— Cpl. Orville Sayre, also a former
classmate.
It was the first time the four had
met since school days.
local- insurance officers cover the
field. All these officers were insur-
ance men in civilian life..
F V9IEN MME NOT *199
CAl PERMANENT
WAVE
Your hair will be newly styled by Gee W Scoggins,
nationally known hair stylist and member of the Los
Angele: Coftuire Guild.12.50 and. 15.0044
$.50 - 7.80:10.90
Phone 2-0424 for appointment—its Cool t
CAAACINC OF THE
sCOGGINs HILTON
4th St. and Lobby Entrance 1984 *
But When?
WINDSTORMS may not come
this week, or next week . . . and
yet one may hit tomorrow. You
can be protected, however, aggin-
st damage to your property by
haying Windstorm Insurance.
You’ll be surprised to learn how
little this valuable policy costs!
Ask‘
Motz & Curtis
Citizens Bank Eidg-
Dipl 5264
A Message
From Yeur
HOME
TOWN
JEWELER
No. 10 of a series of talks to
explain your jewelers unique
place in your community.
TAKI NO
CHANCES
You'll be taking no chances in ,
home town jeweler. From over two
buying your jewelry from your
decades of trust with the custo-
men of his city, you’ll do well to
take his advice on matters per
taining to precious stones and jew-
elry You ron be sure he will not
violate the trust.. -
W. E. FISHER:
Jovelor-Qelometrin —
Over • Quarter Centers
126 Pine
3
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The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 26, Ed. 2 Monday, July 12, 1943, newspaper, July 12, 1943; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1635789/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Public Library.