Posted on 03/09/2011 5:26:47 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
Winston S. Churchill, The Grand Alliance
News of the Week in Review
Where the Belligerents are Facing a Decisive Turn in the War (map) – 10
Twenty News Questions * – 11
Goal for Mid-1942 Set at 37,000 New Planes – 12
Income Tax Revenues Rising to a New High – 13-14
New York Times Magazine
Top Soldier of America’s New Army – 16-17
*Answers Saturday 3/12/11.
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1941/mar41/f09mar41.htm
Italian offensive in Albania
Sunday, March 9, 1941 www.onwar.com
In the Balkans... In Albania, the Italians launch an offensive along the front between the rivers Devoli and Vijose. There are a few local successes initially. The Italians have assembled 12 divisions for the attack and Mussolini himself has crossed to Albania to supervise the progress. There is little subtlety to the tactical plan and much that is reminiscent of World War I. The Greek intelligence of the direction of the attack is good and their defenses well prepared.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/09.htm
March 9th, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM: Portsmouth is heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe tonight.
In a joint report on the role of Coastal Command and the Royal Navy it is decided that “the predominance of the naval element in the existing operational partnership for the production of a sea-borne trade, but preserving the right of direct command of Coastal Groups to their own officers and the C-in-C.”
An officer who took part in the fighting from Sidi Barrani to Benghazi stressed the fact that the Italians fought well and chivalrously ... “The regulars often held out unexpectedly until they knew it was hopeless. Then amazing scenes occurred as our cavalrymen stepped out of their tanks. Fraternisation between the two forces was instantaneous, cigarettes were exchanged, and the greatest good humour prevailed.”
Instances of Italian chivalry were many. On one occasion when a British colonel was captured he as allowed to write a letter which was at once taken back to our line and dropped by an Italian aeroplane.
Another instance occurred when a British airman crashed and got killed behind the Italian lines. They sent over another aeroplane with a message that he had been buried with full military honours, stating place.
Newcastle: In a speech today, Ernest Bevin asked for 100,000 women to sign up for munitions work within the next fortnight. He said the women were needed desperately - primarily in shellfilling factories - and he asked them not to wait for instructions or registrations but simply to come forward. “I cannot offer them a delightful life,” he said. “I want them to come forward in the spirit that they are going to suffer some inconvenience, but with a determination to help us through.”
“We are anxious that the children shall be looked after properly and to assist them we are subsidising the cost of minding. We have left the woman to pay only what she would have paid before the war, which is about sixpence a day, and we are paying the additional sixpence.”
Instructions for management in companies which are not used to employing women are to be issued, and new terms of employment and wages for women employed in war work will also be announced soon.
Both the British and German war economies are both becoming more reliant on women workers. In Germany, the Nazis have been forced by circumstances to relax their ideological standpoint that women are good only for housework and maternity.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Gulfoss is mined and sunk in the English Channel. (Dave Shirlaw)
NETHERLANDS: The government breaks diplomatic relations with Bulgaria. (Jack McKillop)
ALBANIA: Greek forces hold firm against a strong Italian offensive, led by Mussolini himself, around Bubesh on the Albanian front, between the Devoli and Vijose rivers.
Mike Yaklich adds: The Italian spring offensive in Albania begins. The goal is to gain a victory against the Greeks before the Germans intervene, and Mussolini has personally come to Albania to watch. The Italians will employ nine divisions (including one armoured and two alpini), plus many smaller units of up to regimental size, against about 20 miles of front straddling the Vojussa river. The Greeks defend with the 1st and 15th Divisions in the line, and the 6th Div and half the 17th Div in reserve. The Italian preparations have long been detected, and the Greeks are established in well-hidden hilltop positions with interlocking fields of fire for their machineguns, mortars, and highly effective mountain artillery. The Italian attack is preceded by a two-hour barrage in which 300 guns fire off 100,000 shells, but these are mostly light field pieces (100mm or smaller) and their effect on the deeply dug-in Greeks is minimal. There are also air attacks by Italian Stukas. The main push will be north of the Vojussa in the 6.5-mile sector of Gastone Gambarra’s 8th Corps.
On Gambarra’s left wing the Cagliari Division is to break through the pass over Mt. Trebessina at Bubesi. But with its commander General Gianni sick in bed the Cagliari makes no progress. On the 8th Corps right De Stefanis with the Pinerolo Division twice reaches his objective, the Qafa Lusit pass, but is driven back both times by Greek counterattacks. In Gambarra’s centre, the Puglie Division advances half a mile over uncontested ground, but then meets a bloody repulse at Monastery Hill, which will become a focal point of the battle.
Cavallero tells Mussolini, “Our troops are not suitable for making a break in the front of the enemy, who has used the time that we used in forming the front to build up a very effective defense system. Facing a well consolidated defense system with centres of fire, troops are necessary who are capable of using infiltration tactics, and are well-supplied with officers. We do not have those conditions, and therefore, instead of using infiltration tactics, we apply weight and wear the enemy down... If success is not in sight, we must not continue to feed the struggle, but break it off...” (Mike Yaklich)
LIBYA: General Erwin Rommel, commanding the Afrika Korps, sends a message to the German High Command suggesting that it might be possible to go on the offensive before the hot weather begins. He suggests three objective, (1) the re-occupation of Cyrenaica, (2) the occupation of northern Egypt, and (3) the capture of the Suez Canal. He proposes 8 May to begin the campaign. (Jack McKillop)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: The British destroyers HMS Southdown and HMS Worcester repel a German attack on convoy FS-429A.
Scharnhorst sinks the Greek merchantman Marathon (6,350 tons) (Navy News)
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/
Day 556 March 9, 1941
Overnight, Germans bombing of London damages Buckingham Palace and destroys the underground nightclub Café De Paris, where a bomb comes down a ventilation shaft and explodes on the dance floor (80 people killed including performer Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnston who is decapitated onstage). An hour later the club would have been packed with much higher casualties.
Mussolini is desperate for success in the Albanian mountains before the impending German invasion of Greece, after stalemate during the Winter months. He is in the Albanian capital Tiranë, having announced on the radio that he will personally command a “Primavera Offensive”. Following artillery and aerial bombardment, 11 infantry divisions plus 131st “Centauro” armoured Division attack through the Trebeshinë heights between the River Osum and River Vjosë. Pre-warned by the propaganda, well dug in Greek defenders repel the attack. This will continue for a week.
British submarines HMS Unique, Upholder, Upright and Utmost locate an Italian convoy from Palermo, Sicily, to Tripoli (freighters Fenicia and Capo Vita escorted by torpedo boat Papa and armed merchant cruiser Deffenu). HMS Utmost makes an unsuccessful attack on AMC Deffenu but sinks SS Capo in the Gulf of Hammanet, 35 miles off the coast of Tunisia.
The Suez Canal is clear of mines and British aircraft carrier HMS Formidable sails through from the Red Sea escorted by anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle and sloop HMS Grimsby.
250 miles North of Cape Verde Islands, German cruiser Scharnhorst sinks Greek SS Marathon (carrying coal to Alexandria around the Cape of Good Hope), taking the entire crew prisoner.
British minesweeping trawler HMT Gulfoss hits a mine and sinks in the English Channel 3 miles South of Dungeness, Kent (10 killed).
Great stuff again....I actually understand most of the 20 questions & could make some “educated” guesses on a lot of them.
In addition, interesting article on “income taxes.” The article verified one of my guesses.
Also found out that the fiscal year ended on June 30th back then....I wonder what triggered the change to the current Sept 30?
From the article on taxation.
“Ability to Pay” stressed
Behind this great growth of the income tax as a revenue source the impetus generally has been the theory of congressional and other governmental leaders that it is the best application of the theory of taxation on the basis of “ability to pay.”
While some critics hold that there is no more equity behind this theory of taxation than behind the ancient one described as “plucking the goose where the feathers are thickest,” yet it has been so generally accepted by legislators that no more defense of it seems necessary to them than repetition of the ‘the ability to pay” slogan. The contrary theory that taxes should be collected on the basis of the benefits of government received by the taxpayers is scarcely ever heard.
Government experts generally agree that the social effect of the income levy has been a leveling down to some extent of disparity of individual incomes, but the emphasis is all placed on the other theory, - plucking the goose where the feathers are thickest, and thus getting as much revenue as possible. And this, by and large, is of the the basis of most Federal taxation.
From the article on taxation.
“Ability to Pay” stressed
Behind this great growth of the income tax as a revenue source the impetus generally has been the theory of congressional and other governmental leaders that it is the best application of the theory of taxation on the basis of “ability to pay.”
While some critics hold that there is no more equity behind this theory of taxation than behind the ancient one described as “plucking the goose where the feathers are thickest,” yet it has been so generally accepted by legislators that no more defense of it seems necessary to them than repetition of the ‘the ability to pay” slogan. The contrary theory that taxes should be collected on the basis of the benefits of government received by the taxpayers is scarcely ever heard.
Government experts generally agree that the social effect of the income levy has been a leveling down to some extent of disparity of individual incomes, but the emphasis is all placed on the other theory, - plucking the goose where the feathers are thickest, and thus getting as much revenue as possible. And this, by and large, is of the the basis of most Federal taxation.
The start of the Federal fiscal year was moved to October 1 in 1976 as it was taking longer and longer for Congress to pass a budget. There was a Transitional Quarter July 1-September 30 1976.
I am looking forward to seeing how that little wrinkle came about. Did it happen in 1942? I once heard that a young Milton Friedman had a hand in it. At that point in the war the folks on the home front were unlikely to squawk to loud about a sacrifice that would be seen as helping the war effort. I guess Ways and Means just forgot to terminate it when the war ended.
Now I’m thinking the 1942 event I am waiting for was not the witholding but something else. Like when employer-provided health insurance became widespread as a response to a wage freeze. You could trace our problems today back to that development.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005921.html#ixzz1G86lalYl
“”History of the Income Tax in the United States”
...With the advent of World War II, employment increased, as did tax collections—to $7.3 billion. The withholding tax on wages was introduced in 1943 and was instrumental in increasing the number of taxpayers to 60 million and tax collections to $43 billion by 1945.”
I wasnt as cognizant of our govt’s workings during that era - I still kept up on the news, but I obviously missed that.
I wasn't cognizant, period, during that era. Though I do remember something about a Grateful Dead concert . . .
before witholding was instituted.
LOL....I did keep somewhat up on Nixon, Ford & Carter....
Now to be honest on my part, I am not sure I completely disagree with that. Preventing concentration of wealth and power (they are one and the same) is important to retaining our liberty. I disagree in the use of taxation to do this. My method is more freedom and less regulation. Only the big boys can deal with the regulation.
Americans have always been free to move up and down the economic ladder but not as much anymore..................
The 16th Amendment Income tax (1913) was sold as a Progressive Era measure to tax excessive wealth. Americans were assured that only the top two percent highest earners would pay the income tax. Sound familiar?
I was born during the Nixon Administration so I don’t remember much of it at all. I didn’t start paying attention until Reagan.
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