The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 12, 1942, Page 1

VOL. LX., NO. 9188. THE DAILY “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1942 LASKA EMPIRE MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS AMERICAN TROOPS RUSHING TO TUNISIA Tattered Rommel Force Is Run Into Libya Mrs. Reosevelt Visits Dutch Queen NAZI TROOPS AREBETWEEN ¥ AEF, BRITISH Anglo - American Contin- gents Have Setup for Squeeze Play CAIRO, Egyptr Nov. 12. — The British announced today that the mass of Field Marshal Erwin Rom- mel's tattered army has reached a point between Bardia and Gam- but, well within Libya. Yesterday his transports being attacked along a road by Allied fighter fighter-bombers and other planes. At the same time, other dispatch- es sald that the British Eighth Army has finished clearing Egyp- | tian territory of the enemy and | the only soldiers remaining are on their way east as prisoners. Nazi Stand Falls This announcement came shortly after a clash at Buobuo, just in- side Egypt, where a Nazi suicide reargard tried to hold out yester- day. This apparently leaves the Eighth | Army free to move on toward Lib- ya and Tripoli, toward which Am-| to New York. erican troops are racing with only o ‘Tunisia in their path. Thus Rom- mel’s depleted forces, and the fresh | Hitler air-borne forces in Tunisia | would be caught between two pow- | erful Allied contingents. i Meanwhile, long-range, two- engined Royal Air Force fighters attacked Elaouna airfield at Tunis, capital of the French protectorate where Nazi air forces have landed, | setting afire 19 planes which were | definitely identified as German, and scuttling 19 others. Came From Malta | [ i | | were | coastal planes, war- | RAP NEAR BUNA, NEW GUINEA The German announcement of} the attack said it was carried out yesterday, apparently launched| from the island of Malta, 200 miles off the Tunisian coast. The RAF smash was made as| American troops speeded toward the Tunisian border on their way to crush any attempt te take over the protectorate. ! .- — | |and inflicted heavy losses. And the {only course of retreat is into the S| hands of the American forces, flown by aerial transport into the vicinity | of Buna in Allied planes, and active | near the Jap coastal bases of Lae i and Salamau. Australian and Am- erican Forces MacARTHUR'S HEADQUART- ERS, Australia, Nov. 12—The Jap forces have been routed at Oivi, about 55 miles from Buna and the coast of New Guinea, and face en- trapment. Meanwhile, another enemy group at Gorari have been enveloped and destroyed in battles for the control of northeasterm New Guinea, the High Command announced, climax- ing the week-long battle southwest of Buna. At the same time, Australian troops, battling their way across the ‘()wen Stanley Mountains, have | forced the Japs from their positions Curious Aninovun(emenl | Interprefed Sev- eral Ways (By Associated Press) A cautiously-worded broadcast | picked up at Bern from Vichy this| afternoon said the Germans, by' a{ decision of Hitler himself, will not occupy Toulon, the home of | ——er——— the French Fleet in the Mediter- | ranean, because the navy com- manders there have pledged them- | SHOT D selves to resist “all aggressors” | | Although this indicated the Ger-‘ mans are satisfied the French will | R take care of Toulon themselves, if| WASHINGTON, Nov. 12. — The the Allies attack the base, the an- |destruction of 17 Jap bombers and nouncement could ' also be inter- |fighters which tried to attack Am- preted to mean the French sailors erican positions on Guadalcanal are determined to fight the Ger- | Was announced this afternoon by mans if they attempt to enter. |the Navy. A broadcast from Berlin. said, Seven US. fighters were lost. Toulon has been proclaimed a In addition to the Jap planes “camp retranche” area, set apart, definitely destroyed, when the Am- but developments will tell whe'.her\NiCfl" fighter planes intercepted the French commanders, new in|'Wo enemy dive bomber formations Toulon, have entered an under- OVer Guadalcanal yesterday, five standing with the Germans or are Jap bombers and fighters were re- standing off. But at any rate,|Ported probably destroyed. the broadcasts seem to confirm re-| Those shot down raised the to- ports that at least a considerable |tal list given in Navy communiques portion of the fleet is still at Tou- UP to yesterday to 566 in the en-|pm jn the Army — and nuts to| 'nrc Solomons campaign. - BUY DEFENSE STAMPS lon. —_————————— BUY DEIi'ENSE BONDS Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) chats with Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in London during ihe American First Lady's busy day visiting Britain’s war centers. JAPS Why Guadalcanal, Is Question; | | | | This picture sent by cable from London !the Stalingrad front | today in Soviet military dispatches. Answer Is | Given To That Also Enemy Is Cvaliréht BeIween‘hfifiR—SAys A - PLANES JOIN AFRICAFIGHT [Axis Communique Lists Bombings of Convoys in Mediterranean (By Associated Press) | Adolf Hitler's command reports ‘today that Axis planes are joining |in the battle of Northwest Africa. His communique said that Nazis have bombed American-held Al- |giers and have scored hits on two |aircraft carriers, two cruisers, two Ldestroyers and a big merchant ship off the Algerian coast. The Nazi communique also as- serted that the 85,000-ton British | passenger liner, Queen Elizabeth, sister ship of the Queen Mary, |has been torpedoed in the North 1 Atlantic. | All these claims lacked confir- mation from any Allied source. The communique said that two |transporls totaling 16,000 tons, have {been sunk near Bougie, Allied- occupied port 110 miles east of Algiers. “continuous waves” are attacking the parties and have warships and mer- It declared of Axis planes Allied landing damaged twelve chant ships. e NUTS T0 YOU | NEW YORK — Judge Jonah J. Goldstein, selecting a special jury panel, was handed Monday a sub- prospective juror. On the reverse side of the sub- poena was written: “Rnses are red, violets are blue, | you.” The judge said the soldier had his blessings, poena that had been served on a By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, Nov. 12.—One of the capital's amateur etymologists threw the press corps into a dither the other evening by asking why Guadalcanal isn't called Guadal- canar. As a matter of fact there’s no good reason. When Alvaro Men- dona, the Spaniard, first discovered the “Isles des Salomon” he chris ened the one in question “Guadal- canar.” The islands were lost for 200 years until Philip Carteret rediscovered them in 1767. Subsequent French and British voyagers played around with the names. At one time the islands were called “Terres des Ars- cides” (Land of Assassins) and for years they were known as New Georgia. When the British took over in 1893 and signed treaties establishing ownership in 1899, it still wa. alcanar. Webster's continues to the “a spelling preference over the “a-l. The Encyclopedia Bri- tannica is neutral, spelling it one way part of the time and vice versa But don't let it woryy you. The Army, Navy and President Roose- | velt call it “Guadalcanal.” Mr. Web- | ster and the encyclopediacs will be | in line before this war is over I had hardly more than settled | back in my taxi the other morning when the driver blurted out: “Man, | that’s the sweetest music I ever| heard. As long as I can hear music | like that, Il never turn on my| radio.” I was already reaching for the door when I asked him just what the so-and-so he was talking about. He said: “Man, can't you hear it—the whine of these four new tires.” It was the same fellow who in-/ troduced me to one of the rationing board’s sillier rulings. When casing | and tubes are taken in for replace- ment, examination, the patches on| the tubes are counted. If you have | seven or more patches, okay you | get a new tube. If you have six or | less, nix—you ride it out. “I had| | 21 patches on one tube, but only | four on another. I figured that didn’t add up,” the driver explained, “so T just fished out my patch can | and slapped three more on the tube | that was short. I figured who's gonna pull off 2 patch tor see i | there is a hole under it. T was right.” | Wendell L. Willkie says Madame | o . (Continued on Page Five) ALERT IS POSTPONED Because of the American Le- gion and American Legion Aux- iliary programs scheduled for tonight, the practice alert sched- uled to take place at 7 o'clock tonight has been postponed until next week, it was announc- ed today by R. E. Robertson, Director of Civilian Defense. Alaska Territorial Guard meetings scheduled to take place tonight will also be postponed untll next week, Capt. G. F. Fréeburger, of the Juneau Com- pany, announced today. AIR POWER IS SHIFTED FROMRUSSIA Stalingrad Front Compara- tively Quiet, Old Planes Are Used in Raid MOSCOW, Nov. 12—Sharp re- duction of German air activity on is reported The communique noted that the Nazis are now using outdated planes and dropping only small | bombs. This may indicate that they are shifting the first line air units to other fronts, perhaps to southern Europe. During the past 24 hours, there have been barely 200 flights over the lines, an observer for Pravda said. This contrasts with a previous daily average of from 1,500 to 2,000 daily. The German raids were aimed Russian communication lines. Damage inflicted on the towns and villages on the east bank of the Volga River was small and no deaths were caused. Dispatches say that the German garrisons are clinging to precari- ous footholds on the outskirts of Stalingrad. They are reported to be placing metal nets at the win- dows of occupied houses in pro- tection against the Russians’ hand grenades. Winter has fightened its grip on the front and the Volga is already choked with floating ice and is whipped with bitter winds at sub zero temperatures. at LATE WAR BULLETINS CAIRO — Nine Italian Gen- erals have been captured so far in the Battle of Egypt. VICHY — Laval, after ferring with Hitler, has turned here by plane. con- re- | HUESCA, Spain — German troops have reached the French-Spanish frontier north of Canfrane, a small Spanish town in Huesca Province, at a pass in the towering Pyrenees. | VICHY—Italian troops have arrived at Nice, the French Riviera, and the advance de- tachment continued west. LONDON — A Reuters dis- patch says the town of Bone, in eastern Algeria, 60 miles from the Tunisian border, was occupied by American troops this morning. The Americans landed from British ships and immediately took over the town, Lol NSRS COOPER TO SITKA James Cooper, public accountant, left Wednesday for a business trip to Sitka. ARMY AWARD Cargo Vessels of Japs AtKiska Are Damaged In Army Bomber Raid The | erican planes returned safely to WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 Navy in a communique reports that | their base. |Army bombers in the Aleutians| Reference to Attu is virtually the damaged two enemy cargo vessels| fipgy mention of the-island in any at the Japanese base in Kiska. One| communique since the Navy an- American plane was damaged by|nounced in October that two rec- anti-aircraft fire but returned | onpajssance flights failed to show safely to the base. |any signs of enemy activity there The destruction of seven float| .= .0 ) waeks type enemy zero fighters in an, The Navy spokesman said noth- attack on Holtz Bay, Attu Island ing else was observed at Attu and uso in the Aleutians, is also re- ported. The action was carried there is no indication the island has been reoccupied out withqut opposition. All Am- Ufiusual Prodamations Are Issued by Roosevell, Thanksgiving, Ngw Year SLIP IT OVER OUR ENEMIES the American people to observe both Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day as days of Undercover Work in North Africa Revealed for | First Time 1 The proclamation is devoid of the usual “whereases” as Is customary in Presidential proc- lamations. The proclamation issued to- day started with a quotation from the 92nd Psalm, “It is good to give thanks unto the Lord.” > prayer. LONDON, Nov. 12.— The Alli(‘di Headquarters disclosed ‘today that American and British officers ne- | gotiated with the pro-Allied French | leaders before the AEF landed in| ar Piciure | French North Africa. y This confirms reports heard long | ago in London but held back un-| (hanged Now til now by censorship that the | Allies had been doing effective undercover work in North Africa. | {Hitler's Invasion of France, e et 2 e | NextMoves Indicated Maj. Gen. Mark Clark, Deputy Su- | by Cth(hlll preme Commander of the Allies forces now in Fi rica, | in Prench North Africa,| | 4\noN, Noy, 12—The realiza- :rdmgone Secretly by & submar "¢ |tion that the American invasion of e enemy territory before the o pfediterranean area has changed North African attack started and|ipa entire complexion of the war opened negotiations with represen- | gurope was brought out in the tatives of French General Giraud. |House of Commons by Prime Min- This was disclosed in an an- | ister Winston Churchill who prom«~ nouncement that Pregident Roose- |ised a second front on the continent velt has nominated Clark for pro-| Even as the Germans overran all motion -to Lieutenant General in |of France, Churchill declared, “an recognition of his brilliant service |attack will be made in due course during preparations for the opera- |across the chanriel or the North tions in North Africa and during Se&.” the attack itself. | He referred to the German over- | running of Prance as a “breaking |of the armistice which the Vichy | government has kep$ with such piti- |ful and perverted fidelity at the BRILLIANT WORK | rescue ships. |said. “Here is a moment when all liberation of his native land.” . | happen within the next few days. Honors for Rescue in in North Africa, France and Italy, |Gen. Simon B. Buckner, Jr, has bombing of Italy,” he added. | Lieutenant, and other Army awards Northern Europe, he said that “such | The Distinguished Flying Cross|army trained division by division | horrible cost of even sacrificing their T Double-Crossed | “Now they have been struck down {by their German N | Frenchmen should sink their per- sonal views and rivalries and think Churchill also made the prediction “T would be merely presuming if I | Aleu"an Area attempted to give a divested opinion ‘ fiirs i > | HEADQUARTERS, ALASKA DE- except to say that we shall shortly | announced the unusual award of a Getting Ready to three additional naval men for an attack requires an immense de rescuing the crew of an Army bomb- | gree of preparation, vast numbers o was sent to Lieut. George W, Smith, | in amphibious warfare. USN, no address given, for the feat, “All this is proceeding, but it takes ships and sailors, firing on American taskmasters,” he as DeGaulle is thinking—only of the Bll(knfl' AflnOUfl(eS Newimat “many things are going to on how the situation will develop | FENSE COMMAND, Nov. 12.—Maj. have far greater facilities for the | Distinguished Flying Cross to a Na Speaking.on the invasion o er in the Aleutian combat area. special landing gear and a great ; <Cununued~x;n7Pnge ’;u;__ (Continued on Page Five) BRITISH IN AIR ATTACK NEAR TUNIS Germans Have Sent 1,000 Dive Bombers and Fliers There 19 AXIS PLANES ARE SET AFIRE Unifed Stafes Forces Ap- parently Headed To- ward Tripoli (By Associated Press) British bombers are reported to have struck the first blow in the battle of Tunisia, attacking the airdrome near Tunis where the Axfs air-borne troops and planes are said to be massing as Ameri- can soldiers raced to the Tunisian frontier from the west. “At least 19 Axis aircraft were set on fire and many were dam- aged,” the British reported. Vichy Denied Landing ‘The Vichy radio had previously denied that Axis aerial forces had }lnnded in Tunisia as was reported by the Allled command. Tunisia, Frengh protectorate and one-time pirate stronghold of the Mediterranean, s the buffer state between American-occupled Algeria and Italian Libya. Allied reports sald the Germans have sent about a thousand air- men and dive-bombers into Tunisia to meet the Angio-American of- fensive. Strategic Area Tunisia’s strategic importance is emphasized by the fact that the Tunisia border lies only 90 miles from Tripoli, main Axis base in Libya, Bizerte, its chief port, reported to have been fortified by Italian marines, is only 150 miles below the Itallan island of Sicily, 300 (Continued on Page Three) FRENCH IN AFRICATO SURRENDER Admiral Darlan Orders Cessation of Hostilities Against AEF ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, Nov. 12.—Admiral Jean Darlan, former French chief of Al defense forces, who has been negotiating secretly for days with United States Ma). Gen. Mark Clark, has ordered the cessation of hos- tilitles in all French North Africa 1gainst the American Expeditionary Forces under Lieut. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. Thus the first phase of the occu- pation campaign is brought to a lightning conclusion after a little more than three days' resistance from Morocco and Algiers. Darlan’s sudden order to the French forces to surrender, said: “Our engagements having been ‘ulfilled, a bloody battle has become useless. The order is thus given all land, sea and air forces in North Africa to cease to fight against the oower of the Americans and their ulies as from receipt of this order. “They are to return to their bar- -acks at their bases, and to observe the strictest neutrality.” American troops occupied Casa- slanca yesterday morning, following the surrender of French land and sea forces there by the commander, Admiral Micheller. Maj. Gen. George Patton, U. 8. Commander in Moroocco, conducted the surrender negotiations there.