ALLIES WIN TROINA, THREATEN TO SPLIT FOE; RUSSIANS SWEEPING CLOSER TO KHARKOV (8/8/43)

Microfilm-New York Times archives, Monterey Public Library | 8/8/43 | Milton Bracker, Bertram D. Hulen, Alexander Werth, Sidney Shalett, Hanson W. Baldwin, John Goette

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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THE NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Sicily, 1943: Italo-German Counterattack, 11 July and Allied Advance, 12 July-17 August 1943
South Pacific Area Operations: Capture of New Georgia, 21 June-27 August 1943
New Guinea Force Operations: Capture of Salamaua and Lae, 29 June-16 September 1943
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, Closing the Ring

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Eighth Army Gains (Bracker) – 2-3
The Primate of Sicily Greets a Visitor (photo) – 2
Berlin Evacuation Stirs Washington (Hulen) – 3
War News Summarized – 3
Big Base Squeezed – 4-5
Nazi Chiefs Meet; Vial Move Hinted – 5
U.S. Navy Hits Foe – 6
Saved Comrades Under Enemy Fire – 6
What’s In a Name? (photo) – 7
Air Score in China 9 to 1 in 13 Months – 7
The Texts of the Day’s Communiques on the Fighting in Various War Zones – 9-11
2,000,000 Murders by Nazis Charged – 11
RAF Cannon Fire Pours Down on a Nazi Plane (photo) – 11

The News of the Week in Review
A Black Week for Adolf Hitler (map) – 12
Twenty News Questions – 13
The Red Army Breaks Through Axis Defenses (map) – 14
Russian Arms Prove Superior to German (Werth) – 15
In the Solomons the Allies Edge Ahead (map) – 16
Munda a Major Gain in Pacific War (Shalett) – 17
Italy’s Strategic Position in the Battle of Europe (map) – 18
Allies in Sicily Knock at Gateway to Europe (Baldwin) – 19
Answers to Twenty News Questions – 20

The New York Times Book Review
Burma Surgeon, by Gordon B. Seagrave (by John Goette, first-time contributor) – 21-24
The Best Selling Books, Here and Elsewhere – 25

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1943/aug1943/f08aug43.htm

Germans withdraw under Allied pressure
Sunday, August 8, 1943 www.onwar.com

Allied amphibious task force on its way to Sicily [photo at link]

In Sicily... Americans land a small force east of Sant Agata in an amphibious operation supported by 1 cruiser and 3 destroyers. The Germans withdraw and US forces take Sant Agata and Cesaro. British forces capture Bronte and Acireale.

In the Solomon Islands... On New Georgia fighting continues. US forces are attempting to prevent further Japanese evacuations to Kolombangara.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

August 8th, 1943 (SUNDAY)

UNITED KINGDOM: The USAAF’s VIII Air Support Command in England flies Mission 15: 36 B-26B Marauders are dispatched to Nord Airfield at Poix, France but the formation is turned back by weather.

GERMANY: An announcement of extensive evacuations of women, children, and elderly from Berlin. (Glenn Steinberg)

ITALY: SICILY: US forces are landed east of Sant Agata. Sant Agata and Cesaro Island fall because of this flanking movement. British forces capture Bronte and Acireale.

Verona: Italy assures the Germans that there will be no separate peace negotiations with the Allies.

Mussolini is imprisoned on Maddalena Island, off northeast coast of Sardinia.

A week-long Allied bombing campaign against northern Italy commences. (Glenn Steinberg)

SPAIN: Generalissimo Francisco Franco makes a cunning reply to August 2 telegram of Don Juan de Borbon y Battenberg, Infante of Spain, Count of Barcelona (Glenn Steinberg)

SOLOMON ISLANDS: Rendova: A patrol torpedo (PT) boat commander today told how two Solomon Islanders and a coconut shell saved the lives of his crew after they had been stranded for a week and given up for dead.
Lt John F Kennedy, the commander of PT-109, described the ordeal after his PT boat had been sliced in half by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri in waters off the Japanese-occupied island of Kolombangara on 1 August. Eleven of the 13 crew survived the impact, although one was injured.
After five hours clinging to the wreckage they managed to reach an island from which Kennedy, the son of a former US ambassador to Britain, swam out to sea and spent a fruitless night in the water hoping to flag down another PT boat.
Two days later PT-109’s crew swam to what the natives know as Plum Pudding Island, 200 yards wide and covered in palm trees, in search of food. But Kennedy and another crew member had to swim to a third island before eventually meeting two natives with a canoe. They gave them a coconut shell inscribed with the message “Nauru Island, Native knows posit. He can pilot, 11 alive, need small boat “, and begged them to take it to the US base on Rendova. Within a day help was at hand.

On Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands, 23 B-25 Mitchells, with P-38s, and P-39Airacobras of the USAAF’s Thirteenth Air Force, and US Marine Corps F4U Corsairs as cover, bomb Vila and Buki harbour.

U.S.A.: Minesweeper USS Serene laid down. Submarine USS Bluegill launched. Destroyer escort USS Marts launched. Destroyer escort USS Pennewill launched. Minesweeper USS Scuffle launched.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-262 shot down two aircraft from USN VC-1 Sqn.
U-664 shot down an aircraft from USS Card.

[Seizethecarp]

“Mussolini is imprisoned on Maddalena Island, off northeast coast of Sardinia.”

This tiny island is conveniently identified by name on the map in paper on this day!

[colorado tanker]

I noticed two particular items today.

The story out of London about Treblinka and millions of Polish deaths was accurate and chilling. I'm curious to see what kind of attention the story may kindle.

Second, I noticed the sinking of PT 109 and young Lt. Kennedy and his crew's ordeal. I give him his due - after the sinking he showed great courage, leadership and physical stamina in keeping his survivors together and finding help. But, that was the only PT boat lost in that manner in WWII. Despite a dark night, it's kinda tough for this landlubber to understand how you don't notice a destroyer running at high speed. Kennedy himself didn't know if he was going to get a medal or a court-martial. His dad's influence helped. It also helped that the report was written by his Navy buddy, one Byron "Whizzer" White - whom he would one day appoint to the US Supreme Court.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

This tiny island is conveniently identified by name on the map in paper on this day!

Here is a related excerpt from "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich:

"By August 1, Admiral Doenitz was reporting to Hitler that the Navy believed it had spotted Mussolini on the island of Ventotene. By the middle of August Himmler's sleuths were sure the Duce was on another island, Maddalena, near the northern tip of Sardinia."

Himmler's sleuths must subscribe to the Times.

[Seizethecarp]

Thanks for the added detail. I am surprised that it was taking Himmler so long to find him!

[Homer_J_Simpson]

It also helped that the report was written by his Navy buddy, one Byron "Whizzer" White - whom he would one day appoint to the US Supreme Court.

On August 20 you can read the N.Y. Times version of the PT-109 story.