The Panhandle Herald (Panhandle, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 6, 1943 Page: 6 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Carson County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Carson County Library.
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A r
A
(Copyright—New York Times)
T 3 o’clock on the morning of July
10th, the Battle of Europe began,
The Second Front was opened. The
moment which the Allied world has long
awaited came with dramatic suddenness
in the dead hours of a moonlit Mediter-
ranean night. From North Africa to
Sicily moved thousands of Allied troops
that have for months been in training
for the initial assault on the fortress
Hitler has made of a continent.
The invasion forces came by sea and
air. Over the quiet waters steamed big
transports, snub-nosed, shallow-draft
invasion barges, powerful warships of
all kinds. Above them were big troop-
carrying planes guarded by fighters..
In minutely timed co-ordination the Al-
lied forces swept ashore or dropped
from parachutes to assault the tightly
drawn defenses of the Italian island of
Sicily. A naval barrage and days of
aerial attack had helped to - clear the
way. But the ultimate task was one
for fighters on foot—man-to-man com-
bat of the toughest kind.
It was truly an Allied attack. The
bulk of the assault forces that had been
gathered in North Africa were made up
of British, Canadian and American
troops. But there were also Polish,
Czech, Yugoslav and Greek units and
large French contingents. In all—the
Axis reported—there were more than a
million United Nations fighters assem-
bled. The Allies made no statement,
but Berlin dispatches said there were
forty-four infantry divisions, fifteen to
twenty armored divisions, at least 4,000
airplanes of all kinds, “a considerably
strengthened” naval force and two
full divisions of parachute troops.
Hitler’s Important Bastion
Their objective was one of Hitler’s
most important bastions. Sicily is the
largest island in the Mediterranean. It
is Italy’s second largest “compartimen-
to”—department—in terms of area,
third largest in population. Until re-
cently more than 4,000,000 people lived
• ROME
ITALY
-Ionian Sea
TUNISIA
Allies invaded Sicily on a 100-mile beach front from the southern tip
of the island.
in its 9,926 square miles. Many thou-
sands are reported to have been evacu-
ated in the face of the Allied invasion
threat. It is a land of upland wheat-
fields, hillside vineyards, citrus and
olive groves.
Militarily, Sicily is an island of strong
natural defenses. Its mountains and
seaside cliffs in the north command the
sea approaches. The southern coast is
shelving, but the terrain that lies be-
tween it and the strategic centers north-
ward and eastward is cut by many val-
leys, which afford the principal lines of
ebmmunication. These present a tough
footing for an invader. All these nat-
ural defenses had been capitalized by
the Axis. Large coastal guns and air-
fields had been installed in profusion.
Mines had been
strewn thickly in
the coastal waters
and planted in
belts all along the
beaches. Barbed
wire and machine-
gtm nests bristled
everywhere facing
the sea. Naval in-
stallation, includ-
ing submarine fa-
cilities, ringed the
island. The vol-
canic rock had
been tunneled for
underground han-
gars and garri-
sons.. Troops es-
timated at 300,-
000 to 400,000 are
believed to have
been stationed in
Sicily.
Vast Preparations
It was obvious
the Allies had not
vast preparation—the
MILES
millions of troops, including a recent
new mobilization, but there semed to be
no way in which he could possibly
stretch his most needed resource—air
power—to meet the enormous demands
being placed upon it. Much of it was
anchored in Russia. There is believed
to be a large concentration—larger than
recent Axis activity would indicate—in
the Mediterranean theatre. And yet
there was the crucial need of ever-great-
er hir defenses against the- bombing
from the West.
All in all July 10, of 1943, had brought
to the test the Hitlerian plan of world
domination. No one in Allied circles
expected an easy and early decision.
The move against Sicily simply inau-
gurated the whole gigantic task of the
reconquest of Europe. It seemed clear
that other moves, in other sectors, were
in prospect. But the attack demon-
strated, in the words of a London news-
paper: “Our invasion brings the war
of coalition to a new point *** a point
at which all the United Nations are en-
gaging every enemy and all Allied re-
sources are converging on Hitler’s fort-
ress.” In Britain 2fnd the United States
military leaders were grimly cautionary,
warning that heavy losses could be
counted on before Sicily was finally
conquered^
Air Domination
In the air lay much of the secret of
the Allied success. British and Ameri-
can aircraft dominated the skies. With-
in Sicily the roads over which Axis
troops were moving were battered
EPIC SEA BA TTLE
of Kula Gulf
B. J. McQuaid, Chicago Daily News writer,
was the only newspaper correspondent to ac-
company the United States task force which
sent a Japanese flotilla to destruction in Kula
gulf South Pacific, July 6, after the two fleets
had joined battle. Outnumbered and facing
some of Japan’s newest vessels, the United
States Naval batteries wiped out the enemy in
55 minutes.
By B. J. McQUAID
(Copyright), 1943, Chicago Daily) News)
a BOARD A LIGHT CRUISER IN
Z\ NEW GEORGIA WATERS, July
6, (Delayed).—It will go down in
naval textbooks as a classic. It was the
most devastating sea battle of the South
Kolombangara, and after that
Bougainville (to the northwest)
if Japan does not support its
troops and its faltering air
power with heavy naval strength.
There seems to be only one alternative
to Japan’s letting the Solomon’s go al-4
most by default. That is to bring down*
the main Jap fleet for a showdown.
On Rendova Landing
I had made the first landing on Ren-
dova island, leaving there because I
wished to be in on the Rice anchorage
landing coming up a little later.
During the ride back from Rendova,
I found an opportunity to board this
cruiser. The mission was to support
NIGHT BATTLE OF KULA GULF—“Our flag ship stood by leisurely, shooting away at the
crippled Jap ships.”
Pacific war. It was a thing of incredi-
ble perfection.
American naval gunnery proved that
'it has solved difficult problems in these
slugfests in the darkness.
Through the Battle of Kula gulf, I
stood on the bridge of the flag ship. It
seemed unbelieveable that, outnumber-
ed as we were, we could wipe out this
big Japanese flotilla.
Five in Five Minutes
In the 5-minute opening phase of the
b~tUe, we silenced or sank, or blew to
bits, three Jap destroyers and two light
cruisers. In the second phase we had
err. pled one of their heavy cruisers and
set the other afire. And for the rest
of the hour-long interlude we stood by
• calmly and almost leisurely, shooting at
their crippled ships; exploding them,
pumping up their raging fires, and
blowing fragments of their hulks all
over Kolombangara island.
We sustained a tragic loss—the sink-
ing of the U. S. S. Helena—but we paid
a cheap price for the complete destruc-
tion of all those Japanese men of war.
Japan is now confronted with a hard
decision. Japan’s dilemma is simply
this:
We shall surely take New Georgia and
the Rice anchorage landing.
. Our support mission came off on
schedule and our bombardment was
brilliantly successful. I had intended
to leave the cruiser after the bombard-
ment and rejoin the amphibious force.
I nearly did just that. A pilot offered
to fly me to a point from where I could
rejoin the amphibious force. A hunch
caused me to reject the offer, though
no one knew at the time that within
fourteen hours this ship would be in the
greatest night battle of the war.
One of our aircraft reconnaissance
missions from Guadalcanal soon sighted
a powerful Jap naval concentration in
Shortland harbor. The airman report-
ed two of the newest of Japan’s 8-inch-
gun cruisers, two light cruisers and a
screening force of destroyers.
To Engage Enemy
Minutes after this report flashed over
the short wave, the commander of the
South Pacific radioed orders from his
base. We were to run back to Kula
gulf, find the enemy and engage him.
We approached our rendezvous with-
out much hope of finding our quarry.
It was only speculation that the Japs
(Continued on Page 5, column 4)
moved without
assembling of great strength and the
most intensive training possible. The
presence of the Canadians was appar-
ently a complete surprise to the enemy.
They had been in England for more
than two years and in all that time they
had been rehearsing landings on the
beaches of the south and the rock coasts
of the north. .
By these signs the importance the
Allies attached to the Sicilian assault
could be gauged. It was a big stake
for both sides. Sicily is the doorstep of
southern Europe.. It leads directly to
the mainland of Italy, and the Italian
peninsula leads toward the German
heartland. The Alps are a barrier, but
they need not be traversed. The con-
quest of Italy would give the Allies an
all-important foothold on the Continent,
a powerful base for sea and air opera-
tions. Moreover, Italy flanks the Bal-
kans, where most observers expect an
Allied move at any moment and sections
of which Germany has put under a
state of siege.
The Effects in Russia
A further significance, of highest im-
portance, lies in the effect of the Sicilian
move on the Russian front. The Allied
invasion of North Africa, came at a time
of heavy fighting between the Red
Army and the Wehrmacht. This time
the Germans had just launched their
long-expected 1943 offensive. They
had thrown great weight into the drive
but were being vigorously resisted. The
sudden attack in the South came at a
time when Hitler’s forces—Luftwaffe,
infantry .and armored divisions—were,
heavily committed in the East. What
the result will be only the coming days
will tell but it was certain that Hitler
was at last faced with a Second Front.
Before and in the early days of the war
he had talked much about the dangers
of fighting on two fronts at once. This
danger now confronts him. He has
.-joys*
' ’ >;
small triangular corner of north Sicily,
50 by 60 miles, with Messina at the tip,
remained in Axis hands, defended
chiefly by 70,000 Germans, including
Hermann Goering’s armored division,
who were putting up a skillful and de-
termined fight to hold the gateway to
the escape port-of Messina.
The terrian favors a knockout blow
by the Americans along the north coast,
with a wider shelf and lower mountains
than along the eastern edge of Sicily.
But supply difficulties, mountain de-
fenses and' fierce resistance of some
70,000 or more German troops indicat-
ed hard and probably slow fighting
ahead until the stage could be set for
final devastating blows.
Italian and German prisoners in
American hands, on July 28th, number-
ed about 60,000. Total taken by the
Allies thus far was expected to mount
to 110,000 when all have been counted.
The U. S. Navy disclosed that more
than 1,500 of its vessels, ranging from
cruisers to small landing craft, effect-
ed the landing of United States’ inva-
sion forces on the island of Sicily. The
ships were handled by a force totaling
more than 40,000 officers and men.
Revealing details of naval participa-
tion in the Allied drive into the Italian
island, the Navy said that the huge fleet
included not only large combat units and
many sizes of landing craft but also a
number of anti-submarine patrol ves-
sels and “a swarm of motor torpedo
boats.”
The men had been especially trained
PLANES FOR PARATROOPERS—These Douglas C-47s airplanes were the kind used by para-
troopers during the invasion of Sicily. Note the exits on the side from which Allied paratroop-
ers dropped behind Axis lines.
again and again. In Italy, Rome and
Naples, the rail centers through which
Axis reinforcements could be rushed to
Sicily, were hammered. Naples was a
shambles, with Allied planes cruising
over it for six hours at a stretch.
The ground troops also received
strong support from the Allied navies.
British and American fleet units boldly
sailed the waters about Sicily. The
British bombarded Crotone on the Ital-
ian mainland, a town through which
goes a secondary route to Sicily. The
Italian fleet—three battleships, seven
cruisers and twenty-five destroyers, all
that was left of the five battleships,
twenty-one cruisers and 120 destroyers
that started the war—declined the chal-
lenge and remained in port, half in Ta-
ranto, on the east coast, and half in
Spezia, on the west coast.
Ready for Knockout Blow
Two weeks after the invasion, only a
/
for months in the operation which they
carried out on the Sicilian Coast but the
Navy said that success of the invasion
from the naval standpoint was essential-
ly a story of the success of specialized
landing craft “which have been develop-
ed to break down the coastal walls of
the Axis’ European fortress.”
A royal proclamation by Italy’s King
Victor Emmanuel over the Rome radio
station July 25 th, announced that
Benito Mussolini, the former street
rowdy who leagued with Hitler and led
his unwilling country into war against
the Allies, had resigned as dictator and
that the King was assuming command
of all armed forces of the country.
Marshal Badoglio, former chief of staff,
took over the reins at the behest of the
King, and announced that the “war con-
tinues.”
Martial law was proclaimed through-
continued on Page 5, column 3)
VICTORY School Band
Concerts 1®
rr^HE State Board of Education this
year sponsored eight Victory Band
A Concerts afnong the schools of
Texas which featured the selling of war
bonds and stamps. A total of $14,709,-
247.77 in bonds and stamps were sold
by the 328 schools that participated
in the 854 concerts. The Victory Con-
their eight Victory Concerts. This honor
was the more notable because only three
other high schools in Texas exceeded
the Floresville School in the sale of
bonds and stamps. These three were
San Antonio, Dallas and Longview.
Floresville also won first place for the
entire State of Texas for highest aver-
age concert attendance. This small
Southwest Texas community, with a
population of 1,800, had a total attend-
ville Chronicle-Journal, who is dis-
trict chairman for war bond sales
in the 14th Congressional District
of Texas, made this comment:
“Naturally I am proud of the fine
honors won by my home town in this
State-wide contest. The true Ameri-
can spirit was exemplified in such a
noteworthy cause. All races and creeds,
fathers, mothers and children, were
fighting on the home front for their
sons and brothers in establishing this
record. Our people made the school
the center of all war bond effort dur-
ing the Victory Concerts and not only
The Floresville, (Wilson county), School Band,
certs aroused State-wide interest and
were attended by 329,070 persons, ac-
cording to a report by the Board.
Based on scholastic classification, the
Floresville School, Floresville, (Wilson
county), won first first place in schools
with from 100 to 250 high school enroll-
ment in the selling of a total of $271,-
483.65 in war bonds and stamps during
—PAGE 2—
■Wif t »i
which contributed to the sales of $271,483.65 in
ance of 7,050 persons at the concerts, an
average of 44 1-16 per cent of the total
school district population served by its
public school system.
For this honor the Floresville School
will receive the framed Victory Concert
Contests proclamation of Governor Coke
R. Stevenson.
Sam Fore, Jr., publisher of the Flores-
if
war bonds and stamps during its eight concerts.
won State honors but developed a spirit
of loyalty and patriotism that will live
through the years.”
In a letter to the Floresville people
Governor Stevenson said: “*** I COM-
MEND THE EXAMPLE OF FLORES-
VILLE IN THE VICTORY CONCERTS
CAMPAIGN TO THE ENTIRE NA-
TION.”
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Warren, David M. The Panhandle Herald (Panhandle, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 6, 1943, newspaper, August 6, 1943; Panhandle, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth874775/m1/6/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Carson County Library.