| Show U S troops overcome me early reverses to advance on all fronts during 1943 italy s surrender cracks axis bloc blo C japs pushed from pacific outposts after fter jungle fighting aleutian victory removes threat to west coast by AL JEDLICKA on july 25 1943 the world was electrified by the news that benito mussolini had resigned as premier of italy although details of the duces downfall were meager there was a feeling that the rome berlin tokio axis had cracked and this was confirmed september 8 when gen dwight eisenhower Elsen hower announced italis surrender thus did events shape in accordance with prime minister winston Chur chills calculations of italy being the soft underbelly of europe from january 14 to 24 churchill and president roosevelt had conferred with their war chiefs at casablanca north africa where mili A tary as well as political plans for the year were laid and the general principle of unconditional surrender was established there was further development of these plans when the allied leaders met again at quebec august 17 47 the year 1943 saw a new phase in world war II 11 with the allies swinging into the offensive and the axis resorting to rearguard rear guard action to slow the drive on their main bastions not only was this phase exemplified in europe but it also was brought to the fore in the south pacific where dynamic imaginative gen douglas macarthur began the push to oust the enemy f from rom their outposts in the solomons and new guinea and clear the path for the of the philippines and the defeat of the japs even as churchill and roosevelt conferred in casablanca gen bernard british eighth army was pursuing nazi marshal erwin rommel across the north african desert to the west along the tunisian border U S forces were moving into position to pinch off the enemy as they fought back toward bizette and tunis on may 7 these two seaports fell and five days later organized axis resistance in north africa ceased with the allies taking prisoners general montgomery had begun his drive at el kalamein in egypt where rommel famed fox of the desert had holed up just 67 miles away from the great british naval base of alexandria U S troops the wreckage strewn naval air station at pearl harbor following the jap sneak attack on the morning of december 7 1941 1911 an explosion sends a mass of flames and smoke into the sky moved into position along the tunisian border from morocco to the west and algeria where they had first set foot during the invasion of north africa on february 11 gen dwight eisenhower had been made supreme commander of allied forces in north africa and it was under his leadership that the north african campaign was concluded and the first attack launched directly against italy on july 10 when sicily was invaded over ships of all types bore the british canadian and american troops which cleaned out the island by august 18 bloody battle at salerno although italis surrender was negotiated by general eisenhower and marshal pietro badoglio baroglio Ba doglio on september 3 announcement was delayed for five days to give the british a chance to land on the toe of the italian boot and draw german forces southward while americans were to land farther to the north and trap the nazis from the rear but the ruse failed german marshal albert kesselring refusing to fall for the bait kesselring kept his troops concentrated around naples so when gen mark clarks fifth U S army landed at salerno the nazi commander rushed heavy artillery and tanks to the region and a bloody battle ensued before the americans established their beachhead with the allies firmly established in italy the germans strived to fight a delaying action in the mountainous country below rome to give ko them time to fortify the po valley and benito mussolini opportunity to establish a fascist republican government in the north following egv A leaders of U S armies on en worlds far flung fronts gen douglas macarthur who pushed japs from pacific outposts gen george C marshall chief of staff gen dwight eisenhower Elsen hower invader of north africa sicily and italy his release from captivity by nazi parachutists september 12 on september 20 the italian government of king victor emmanuel declared war on germany on the russian front february 2 saw the end of the great battle of stalingrad Stal ingrad with the repulse of nazis but only after the big industrial city had been pounded into ruins the reds claimed virtual destruction of the german sixth army and fourth tank army and capture of field marshal frederick von paulus and 14 other generals june 26 the nazis launched heavy attacks at orel and belgorod atthe two ends of the big bulgerin bul bulge gein in the rich agricultural and industrial province of ukraine but the reds broke through their lines and they slowly fell back to the banks of the river below kiev the swings due east before curving southward for some length and then cutting back toward the west again forming a huge bulge to trap the german army in this bulge the russians spilled over the below kiev but strong german rearguard rear guard action at krivoa rog gave their forces time to escape encirclement during the height of the russian advance in the south U S secretary of state cordell hull met with british foreign minister anthony eden and russian foreign commissar molotov in moscow where with china the representatives of the three great powers signed a historical pact agreeing to fight germany and japan until they surrender unconditionally and adker determining to establish an international organization based along the lines of the old league of nations to assure collective security while mile battles raged on land in europe they raged in the air too with U S and british bombers battering germanys germanas Germ anys great industrial cities of hamburg cologne dusseldorf essen and berlin and dwarf ing the early attacks on london port and manufacturing center hamburg was virtually wiped off the map and in all it was reported germans i were ere killed as a result of allied air air raids in the distant southwest pacific with the memory of heroic resistance on bataan and corregidor still impressed in his mind and with them his vow to return to the philippines to avenge the U S setback gen douglas macarthur struck out against the japanese in the solomons and new guinea following their rapid conquests after the paralysis of allied forces at pearl harbor december 7 1841 1941 the japs had surged within striking distance of australia before they were stopped short in the historic battle of the coral sea in may 1942 ousting of the japs from southeastern new guinea january 24 and the smashing of all organized resistance on guadalcanal Guadal canal february 10 giving U S control of the southern solomon islands set the stage for general macarthurs Mac Arthurs big push to drive the enemy from his remaining advance posts in the two areas the first gun was fired june 30 with U S forces landing on ren I 1 dova island in the central solomons on the following day U S troops set foot on nassau bay new guinea to fight inland for a junction with aussien moving northward through the jungles jungle cover slows fighting jap troops made use of the dense tropical foliage and rocky mountainous country for cover to slow the advances but especially in new guinea general macarthur adopted the policy of concentrating against enemy bases only and cutting off jap supply sources for cross country fighting Sala maua fell september 15 lae three days later and Finsch hafen october 3 meanwhile in the solomons U S forces hacked their way to Munda airfield on new georgia island august 6 after 38 days of bitter fighting on october 9 it was reported that the japs abandoned their last big base of in the central solomons during the solomons fighting U S naval and air forces took a high toll of jap ships and barges used to supply or evacuate troops especially at night As a result of the new guinea and solomons campaigns U S and aussie forces stood squarely between on new britain island the nerve center for resistance in their advance positions in the southwest pacific even as the japs rushed naval and air reinforcements to raba ul to hold it as a supply center and strategic fortress to threaten the flank of any allied movement to the north toward the philippines or tokyo 4 one russian soldier aims and fires the heavy antitank anti tank rifle while another hands him the ammunition to blast at an oncoming german tank on the soviet battlefield U S airmen dumped hundreds of tons of bombs on the big base on october 11 doughboys dough boys swarmed ashore on bougainville bougainvillea Bou gainville in in a fight to throw the japs from their last northern holding in the solomons the japs direct threat to the american mainland posed with their occupation of the aleutian islands june 12 1942 was ended august 15 1943 with announcement of U S occupation of kiska doughboys Dough boys setting foot on kiska fund no trace of japanese with evidence their evacuation had taken place within the two weeks prior to the islands fall the enemy had quit their aleutian holdings of attu aatu and october 7 1942 |
