The Wilmington morning star., 1943-06-06

The War =
BY GLENN BARR

endpter appear,
near an end. Last week brou,s'
strong indications that the uerio, ir'
which Allied leadership has dew, ,,'
ed to reviewing the war outloo,,
reassessing its resources and W..
poets and preparation of tbs s'uS wv.
blow was about to give w,r 4eA' 4
blazing action. ""' I"
The battle OF the Medierr.....
already was well under war! Hli'a'
fact, IT had begun even befors r' ~
nisia was cleared of the eno... ~
The Allies were steadily increasir,
their dominance of the skies S, shors
and the waters around sontbs,s
Italy and its island approaches s1s
1t was difficult to see how the I' s'
try of the land forces into this ~. s.'
tle-the beginning of invasinn m
could be much longer deIava5
There was no reason 10 asNim.
however, that the United Nation,
offensive would be confined IN M'
Mediterranean and its shores. AMI
around Hitler's fortress of Eurons
stood Allied armies ready for IN
command to advance.
Churchill Returns
Prime Minister Churchill retr,
ed to London from the Wasbjngto,|
war council. En- route he mado i
dramatic visit to North Afric,
which afforded evidence that fbp
post-African interim was Just sbom|
over. Accompanied by GenersI,|
Marshall and Brooke, the Amer.
can and British army chiefs Al
state, and Foreign Secretary An.
thony Eden, Churchill conferred
with the commanders of the great
Allied army, air and naval force,
arrayed along the North African
coast looking across toward ItaIy
"Details of plans for striking the|
most powerful possible blow at theI
Axis" formed the subject matter
of these conferences, said an offi.|
cial announcement.
For the theatrical setting Of a
pre-battle speech to American and|
British troops, the prime minister
chose the ruins of the amphi-theater
of ancient Carthage, stirring mem.
ories of another war to a finish Of
1000 years ago when mastery Of
the Mediterranean and world dom.
nance were at stake.
The softening up of Italy, espe.
cially Pantelleria, Sicily and Sar.
DINA, the islands which still bar
clear sailing for the Allies through
the Mediterranean and also offer
pathway for invasion, went on at
accelerated pace. There was al
lull, however, in the terrible air
punishment of the German Reich
perhaps an indication that still
heavier blows were being prepared
for early delivery.
Goebbels Talks
The besieged continent shudder.
ed under the double impact Of the
Allied air assault and the war of
nerves. Doctor Goebbels and 9TH
er German spokesmen tried to for
tify the spirits of their own people
and their Italian allies with talk
of the impregnability Of EuropeS
fortficatons, of great stores Of arms
prepared for the coming summer
test, of mysterious new weapons
of the readiness of the AXIS for
either offensive action or defense
Nevertheless Italy awaited her
hour of doom with indications Of
mounting fear. Both Berlin ana
Rome sought frantically for clues
as to where and when the bio"
would fall.
The Great American and British
air fleets based on North Africa
and the British navy gave the ltal'
ians no respite. Pantellerla, mos
distant of the island outpoSts, uh'
derwent a savage unremitting ham,
both from the skies ana
the sea. Four times during tAe
week Admiral Cunningham's Snlp'
came close to shell the little Is
and heavily, while Flying FOR
.resses and other Allied planes az
led daily bombardments' Cua'
lingham's ships dashed in close u
he Italian mainland to smaSn
just off the entrance "
he Messina channel.
But while action in the Europe'I
heater was in the preparS'ol!
stage, the Pacific war witnesses
he cleaning up of some unilnlsr un,5ar
ID business. Except for deans
With a few isolated nests of snip
,rs American forces completed uH
occupation of Attu in the As: Alea
lans. A Navy communlque az
:losed the cost of roofing the ens,
ny from this strategic AmerltS.
outpost which looks across Is
Jorth Pacific toward Japan's own yo5
sland bases, beginning some ". wv
niles to the west! 342 Amerlcs,s %
oldiers killed, 1,135 wounded
Missing. Known japanese deaa'
ot including many buried @ or , c[' II,
mated by the enemy, totalleo ..t. !,
81. Only II prisoners were ss, 'aa
n, showing how well the Japan'sss y
till observe the merciless code "
heir war machine, which IS VIZ
r die, no surrender. ..r
China, bolstered by An1efl.;aa .;t'
ir power, contributed highly .s ~
ificant victory to the Allied caus. :sst
what appeared a for'nlSa f. ~
90 to be a dangerous Ihre".