17 Aug 1943
Page 1
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Newspaper
Dothan Eagle
Location
Dothan, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Aug 17, 1943
Page
1
In Washington the president and James Byrnes suggested new, intensified air operations against Nazi-held Europe. Byrnes praised past bomber success while noting future battles lie ahead, hinting air power may lead offensives, with war aims remaining broad and formidable.
Houston County farms face a 24 280 man day shortage for peanut harvests, with 18 soldier applications received. County Agent C M Ling says aid depends on ten days work for 150 laborers, camp facilities and lights, 28 cent hourly wage, and sufficient applications to meet peak harvest period.
AP report details U S troops swearing into an escape port of Mensina amid the M day campaign as enemy blowups on the Italian mainland and airfields are reported. Swiss dispatches flag critical changes. Tar i city hit by heavy bombing while Europe braces for further action and Allied plan advances.
British forces began clearing all non residents from coastal areas as war news described invasion talk and new moves by Allied chiefs. Reports noted heavy American air raids on Axis airfields and Germany declaring a siege in Norway, with Italy virtually isolated due to telegraph and telephone links with Switzerland.
Houston County Farm Labor Advisory Committee predicts 70 000 of 82 000 acres will be dug if labor and machinery are available, yielding 27 000 tons of peanuts and 2 400 tons of oil, 15 400 tons of peanut meal, 28 000 tons of peanut hay. Committee members H. E. Knowles C. W. Clearman and Arthur Johnson call the crop perhaps the county’s most valuable.
Reports from the Swiss Italian frontier describe mounting pressure on the Badoglio government as Italy debates peace with German insistence on continuing the war. Milan Turin Genoa Naples Rome face bomb damage and crippling services while Italian and German ties grow strained, with officials hinting that the Third Reich may view Italy as an enemy.
W C Faulkner named chairman of District 3 for Alabama War Chest drive to start October 1. Rev W C Phillips pastor Lafayette Street Mission church to serve as district chairman. District includes defunct towns and counties. Chest reports state wealth at 1,178,716 dollars with a slight shortfall of under one percent in war fund badges.
The Quebec War Conference enters its second week as secrecy loosens and hints grow that President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill will hold a sixth formal war council. Reports suggest General Eisenhower may attend and could already be in Canada, signaling a shift from prior war-time censorship.
Allied bulletins report targets near Marseille and Catania with invasion fleets sighted and troops aboard. In Detroit, five white youths are held for trial on first degree murder in the killing of Moses Kiska during the city race riots.
Washington reports new wartime ration updates with Brown Stamp A valid September 12 for meats fats oils butter and cheese and Brown Stamp B on September 19. Other stamps follow dispersal dates through October with Red stamps and gasoline coupons phased out or exchanged.
Red Army forces storm Kharkov from the north northeast and east while wings strike the German communications to the southwest in a bid to encircle and trap the rear guard. About 350 miles north, Red Army columns pierced Axin defenses between Smolensk and Bryansk during the third Soviet offensive in a month.
Houston County faces a wartime peanut crop of 45000 acres at risk from the velvet bean worm Anticarsia. County Agricultural Agent C M Ling cites a survey showing worms in the eastern county near Ashford. The same pest damaged peanuts previously in 1947 and 1948, with potential damage rising as acreage increases. Worms were found by W A Ruffing of the Alabama Extension Service and a USDA representative.
The Dothan Retail Merchants Association voted to keep closing each Thursday afternoon for the war duration, except the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Meeting at City Hall, Harvey McBryde presiding. They also agreed to leave display windows lit until 9 30 p m to brighten downtown at night. Arthur Johnson of the Chamber of Commerce noted complaints about darkness and insufficient street lighting. Some stores cannot switch off outside lights due to wiring, but steps will be taken to add outside night switches so police can turn lights off at the hour.
American sea borne forces advance toward Bougainville as General MacArthur reports the capture of Vella Lavelle in the Solomons. Japanese losses include transports and ships while Australian fighters purge Tambu Bay near Salamaua. Air battles loom as long range strikes target Balikpapan in Borneo.
A Houston County sergeant recounts a torpedoing and sinking of his ship in the Atlantic last February. In a letter to his parents, Amos Thurston Dennis describes mimeic wave peaks, the ship’s torpedo strike at dawn, and his escape by leaping into rough seas and grabbing a life raft to survive.
Allied air fleets moved from Dover Strait amid a daylight campaign over western Europe and northern Italy. RAF bombers struck Turin in a fourth raid on Milan in five nights, while Allied twin-engined planes pressed an extended offensive across France and the Lowlands, with a bomber loss reported. Milan endured intensive raids as Italy faced escalating air attacks.
Governor Aperks announced a new State Planning Board to draft an official master plan for Alabama’s postwar development. The 1842 act sets long range aims, with members from labor finance industry and communications, including C J Battles Birmingham Wallace D Merona Dothan and May or Lucien Burns Selma. An August 28 meeting in the Governor’s office will elect a vice chairman and set salaries up to five thousand dollars annually.
Moscow reports from Red Star say the drive on Sryanak near Moscow gains quickly while Kharkov battles slow German reserves. Soviet lines push toward Bryansk as they repel counterthrusts, with heavy losses inflicted on German forces and Germans nearing the Bryansk base.
Captain Eddie Rickenbacker after an 85000 mile tour said Germany must be broken from the inside out, with Italy bombed toward defeat. He warned Germans may stand at the Po river but Allied air power from northern Italy could strike Germany’s back door. Morale and Hamburg’s bombing showed the German will crumble under air attack.
Registration for liquor ration permits at Dothan state stores showed a slower pace in the final week, with registrars noting many applicants delaying until the last minute. Through the first week 2,731 signed up, including 1,188 Negroes. yesterday 316 whites were registered at Mate More No 2 and 199 Negroes at Hast Troy Street.
Allied reports say German and Italian forces evacuated to the mainland as British Eighth Army and American Third Division moved toward Messina. German commander in Sicily, Major General Hub, among last to depart. American Long Tom guns and infantry entered the city as naval and air bombardment intensified.
A flaming Japanese bomber crashed into an outdoor church service at an Allied base in New Guinea, killing an Army chaplain and wounding several soldiers. American fighters shot down 11 enemy bombers in a minute, while pilots and escorts fought over Water Valley and Salsunene, as anti air actions intensified.
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