Show weekly news analysis allied forces solidify gains as violent fighting rages in tunisia EDITORS NOTE win when opinions are r expressed in ia these columns they are those hose of western newspaper union sews news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper TUNISIA rising tide the tide of battle was rising even higher against the battered axis forces in africa veteran british soldiers familiar with the nazi type of warfare inflicted heavy damage on a german armored column in tunisia while french allies battered down two german assaults on their positions A from allied force headquarters in north africa announced that french patrols are operating far to the rear of axis advance positions and that ame american r ican flying fortress and pursuit planes shot down or destroyed nine german planes in a raid on the tunis airport even as the advance guards were testing the strength a continuous flow of guns and tanks made its way eastward for the decisive blow however a spokesman at allied allie d headquarters voiced a warning that the germans are well entrenched in the tunisian cities of tunis and bizette with large air forces force s and there will be severe fighting before they are ousted he said that allied action around bizette is growing heavier the allied forces had driven two strong wedges across tunisia reaching the the mediterranean at two points brommels Rom mels race mobile armored units of the british eighth army were reported 35 miles from el asheila Ag heila which offered marshal erwin brommels Rom mels tattered africa corps its best chance to make a stand but rommel knew he would find no rest from allied bombs bad weather prevented allied airmen from maintaining their deadly attacks on the retreating germans A british military commentator pointed out that if the axis armies still are planning to make a fight of it it certainly will be at el ag heila he said there was considerable sid erable evidence that the axis forces were close to exhaustion aft I 1 er fleeing across north africa at such a fast clip but he added that rommel apparently had received some tanks which had been left at rear line repair stations OFFENSIVE russia moves for weeks there had been little important news from stalingrad Stal ingrad except that the soviet forces were holding their positions within that stronghold city then a special from moscow told of the beginning of the russian drive which was to rip open two wide gaps in the nazi lines ringing the city end and then push the germans steadily dlly westward away from the don river first reports of this struggle said that germans had been killed in its opening phases and that the nazis had retreated 40 to 50 miles also prisoners were taken said the russians while even german sources were admitting that their troops had been forced to take new strategic positions further away from the don this latest campaign began just three months after the nazis began their siege of stalingrad Stal ingrad and during that time they had often claimed it tor for their own now the russians had the initiative and for the first time were meeting the germans on a basis of near equality of manpower and equipment front line dispatches said that these forces were taking the full measure by outfighting and outgeneraling outgeneral ing him in all sectors this russian victory was looked upon as one of great importance by ralli military tary strategists many of whom claimed it would have a direct bearing on the whole outcome of the war for most however it wa was too early to make such a claim definitely A more complete report of the nazi losses had to be heard from a neutral source before such reasoning could be accepted one thing was clearly evident the russians had been taking advantage of the long lull in the fighting by carefully preparing their operations erat ions further this campaign was timed to harass the Gerr germans hans just as the british and american forces were blasting their full strength at tunis and bizette in the north african theater LAVAL SCHEMES for axis alliance 4 1 1 11 1 X M amm DICTATOR LAVAL an n the interests of france climaxing a long series of moves by the vichy government dictator pierre laval revealed that his french government is seeking I 1 an open alliance with germany ai as the sole guarantee for peace in europe in his first speech since being invested with full political powers by marshal henri petain laval said that it is in the interests of france and peace in the future that we are seeking with germany a reconciliation and an entente it is to try to save our territory and our empire are following this policy laval the quisling of france ridiculed allied promises to return the seized portions of the french empire in the future pointing to the british possession of french canada and parts of the west indies long ago on the other side of the world laval continued japan an old nation by its history and a young one by its dynamism has just taken from britain and the united states immense territories treasures and raw materials it is with complete independence ot of action we are choosing this course I 1 am convinced germany will be victorious AIR ACTION hits japs while the jap has had plenty ot of reason to feel the impact of united nations air power in the southwest pacific until a few weeks ago he had been getting off fairly comfortably in burma and china but now a new air offensive in these areas seems to be taking shape both the chinese and american bomber commands are taking part in it two chinese bomber squadrons countered a jap drive dr ivein in central china by blasting munitions warehouses and an airfield near chasi this air force gave needed strength to the chinese ground forces which were putting up stiff resistance to an all out jap attempt to push them out of the area meanwhile in burma the largest force of U S bombers yet to attack the japs there blasted the railway center at mandalay enemy defenses were reported weak and large fires in warehouses and in the railway yards were started compulsory LOANS congress may decide legislation in the new session of congress will be topped by a plan for compulsory loans to the government sen walter F george D ga chairman of the senate finance committee said in an interview george commented that congress should take the initiative if the treasury and other agencies are not rea ready dy with a program shortly after the first of the year various estimates of the amount covered by such a program range up to 15 billion dollars a year reports indicate it would involve such pronounced increases in levies as to take almost 30 10 per cent of the income from citizens in the low income brackets As far as possible george said said he intended to see that taxation did not become unbearable for individuals and corporations he pointed out that the legislation might involve some readjustments of present high tax rates to compensate tor for the expected compulsory savings demand meteorology offered 18 19 year olds A new program offering training leading to commissions as meteorological officers in the army air forces particularly to the 1819 18 19 age groups was announced in chicago by the university meteorological committee representing five universities to be eligible a 2 man must be between 18 and 30 years of age with a high school diploma or its equivalent he must have completed a high school course in trigonometry analytic geometry and college algebra the course will include pre meteoro meteors logical training of 12 months tor for high school graduates and six months for college freshmen and sophomores men will be paid 50 a month plus a day for rations and quarters advanced training will be given at the university ol of chicago university of california california institute of technology massachusetts institute of technology and new york university NEW GUINEA japs lose destroyer the battle in new guinea had been hard despite the loss of a destroyer the japs had succeeded in landing additional troops under cover of darkness but that prevent the allies from closing in iii on all sides of the enemy positions at buna dispatches from the battlefield reported that the jap destroyer and two smaller craft were sunk by medium bombers other medium bombers supported ground troops by b bombing and strafing the enemy some australian units manag managed ed to get into buna itself for a short time inflicting heavy damage before retiring american forces were said to be threatening the japanese from three sides apparently severing the enemy communications to gona 12 miles northwest U S dive bombers blasted the jap airdrome at buna with more than allied aerial sorties corties in one day a aimed at softening up the enemy base for a knockout blow the destroyer sunk in late action was the third warship the japs have lost at duna buna previously when a reinforcing jap fleet appeared and attempted to land help heir allied bombers sank a cruiser and a destroyer forcing a third destroyer to flee from washington came word that an additional american destroyer had been sunk in the great naval battle of the solomons in mid november this brought the total of american losses in the action which smashed a jap invasion armada to two light cruisers and seven destroyers the japs lost 28 ships 16 of them warships and 12 transports cranky tank F 0 V corp bernard 3 kessel brook lyn N Y was one of the crew of a general grant tank which went on a rampage ram ramming ming and destroying 75 mm guns and 50 motor v vehicles ehl c I 1 CA in oran after being separated f arf r I 1 m V 71 their unit they penetrated the ch hours before other allied units entered emerging without undue mishap BRITISH CABINET shakeup Sha keUp in an unexpected shake up sir stafford cripps stepped down from the british seven man war cabinet to become minister of aircraft production capt anthony eden took over cripps leadership in the house of commons while herbert morrison minister of home security replaced cripps in the war cabinet just why cripps left the cabinet was not immediately made clear but for some time he is known to have 4 disliked certain phases of the war effort and it is felt he may have left because becaas e he could not agree with many actions of winston Chur chills advisers that there were stronger motives in the action was the belief of many observers who pointed out that this was a bad time politically for cripps to disassociate himself from churchill british successes in egypt and elsewhere in africa have given much strength recently to the churchill government other sources claimed that cripps had been wanting to get out of the cabinet for some time but had refrained from doing so previously to save embarrassment ras for churchill when cripps left and anthony eden took over his leadership in commons many british citizens saw a further grooming for eden to some time succeed winston churchill as prime minister BUTTER frozen one hall half of all cold storage butter reserves in the 35 principal markets of the united states has been set aside for the exclusive use of federal agencies upon order of the war wa 4 production board v I 1 the move was taken to assure butter for the armed forces and tor for lend lease requirements war demands and increased civilian consumption were said to be responsible for the shortage dr roland vaile of the office of civilian supply in washington said that present prospects indicated that rationing would not be necessary however he urged housewives to conserve butter by using other fats and oils for cooking the order will be felt primarily by bakers ice cream manufacturers and others using cold storage butter he said by january or february increased production is expected to meet demands the nations reserve supply of butter has shrunk to an estimate estima ted pounds lowest since 1931 Z released by western newspaper union |