Cclaza, Oxejca, Catex&z? I 2L IZU
Vo. 1
irrrzTY tixeid yeah
.Finn "Tension High
As US Legation
Leaves Helsinki
- ' r
Moye Seen as Pressure on Finnish
Government to Break Off War
Against America's Red Ally
By EDWIN SHANKE
STOCKHOLM. April 23-5)
. Most of the United States legation
staff at Helsinki left the Finnish
- capital by plane for Stockholm
- suddenly Friday in what was seen
by observers here as the begin-
siing of a "war of nerves" to force
the Finns to abandon the war on
; the side of the axis.
4 Clerks withdrawn from the Hel
sinki' legation were assigned to
duty in Stockholm, but Robert
Mills McClintock, charge d'af
faires, remained in Helsinki. The
American minister to Finland, H.
F. Arthur Schoenfeld, was called
to Washington dast December and
bas not returned.
; (The Berlin radio said a special
plane bearing the legation staff
' reached Brooma airport in Stock-
holm in' mid-afternoon. It said
'' political circles in Stockholm re-
garded the move as "the last prep
aration for a rupture of diplomatic
, relations between the United
States and Finland.")
. (Later, DNB, ,the official Ger
man news agency, ordered Ger
man news editors to discontinue
! publication of the story reporting
the departure of US legation offi
cials from Helsinki. The order
was reported by the US foreign
broadcast intelligence service from
the DNB telegraphic code trans
mission.) ' ' , . ? ;
The - Finns issued a communi
que . saying ; that "a considerable
part ( of the American personnel
of the fUnited : States legation is
' removing to Stockholm," and that
" McClintock would remain "to ad
minister the legation with the aid
f a few officers." A strict censor-
' ship was clamped on all political
dispatches out of Finland. '- ,
- (Unofficial-quarter! in viondon
. said they had ; knowrt ' for S some
time that the United States was
increasing its pressure on- the
Finns to get out of the war and
make a separate peace while there
still was time. Such a withdrawal,
they said, would have , an impor
tant psychological-effect on Italy,
another wavering German satel-
- lite. Britain long ago declared war
against Finland.)
- A dispatch from Helsinki said
the Finns appeared "surprised and
; concerned" over the American ac-
tion and expressed the hope it
. would not mean a final; breach
c'f relations." - .', . ;
Reliable informants, who could
not be identified by name, said
the Germans had demanded of
: Finland that she definitely sign
' tip with the axis and reopen mili
tary action against the Leningrad
Murmansk railway, which carries
- lend-lease supplies to the Rus
: dans. ;
There has been no new declara
''. tion of policy regarding Finland's
Involved position since the reelec-
tion - recently of President Risto
' Ryti and the formation last month
of a new government under Prime
' Minister Edwin Linkbmies. There
have, however, , been , Indications
f serious political tension in Hel
i Sinkl. J8.fr: ;::c :
Finland is the only country
I fighting beside Germany in which
r the United States has continued
't to maintain a legation, and : the
Finns still appear to admire and
respect America despite v resent
ment against American lend-lease
aid to Russia. Their distrust of
; Russia, however, is deep-rooted.
: Coal 'Mine
Tieup Looms
I NEW YORK, April 23 -;p)-Pos-
- sibility of a general work stop
; page in the nation's soft coal fields
loomed anew Friday as negotia
? tors for northern Appalachian
- bituminous ", operators left for
Washington to go before the war
'labor' board, and John -L. Lewis
' declared the joint wage conference
had been disrupted.
Part of the southern Appalach
ian owners negotiating committee
"F also left to appear tomorrow be
fore the WLB, to which Secretary
f Labor Perkins has certified the
case, while others remained to at
tend further debate on the united
mine workers' demands in the
morning.
Firm Gels Contract
NEW ORLEANS, April 23-P)
A " spokesman here said Friday
it was revealed in Washington
that " a $40,000,000 contract for
construction of 100 new-type steel
cargo ships had been awarded
IligSins Industries Ia& here,
Easter Rites
Announced
Interdenominational
Services to Begin
At 6 a.m. Sunday
S a 1 e m 's interdenominational
Easter sunrise service will be held
at 6 sum. Sunday, announced Rev.
W, Harold Lyman, director, Fri
day. Music will be furnished by
the army band stationed at the
fairgrounds and directed by Chief
Warrant Officer Marion -Walter.
Dr. X. Edgar Purdy will preach
"The Easter 'Message. ..
The program is being sponsored
; JERUSALEM, April --.
Soldiers clad fat :' uniforms " of
most of the allied nations de
voutly . followed Archbishop
Francis J. Spellman i throafh
this Good Friday's Via Doloro
sa procession (stations of the
Cross) In the holy city. -
A; lartre croup of Anerieu
fliers, here from Egypt on an
Easter leave, fell in line with
other allied soldiers as the New
York archbishop, who Is Catho
lic military vicar for United
State armed forces abroad, be
gan : the procession.
by the Salem-Ministerial associa
tion, j Services are scheduled for
the steps of the capitol, but , in
case of rain will be moved into
the rotunda. , ..
Guest musicians -will be Prof.
R. J. Lush, who will play. a trum
pet "selection "Open the Gates of
the Temple," and CpL Mackey
Swan, who will sing "The J Holy
City," .Wendell Johnson, instruc
tor of music at the Oregon state
school for the blind, will lead
congregation singing.
All in Salem or surrounding
communities who wish to attend
the service are invited to do so.
The entire program will be com
pleted soon enough to allow at
tendance of regular church ser
vices, , even those which have
been moved up to 9 o'clock or so
to handle the large crowds ex
pected, to attend. -. :
Bottleneck
Accusations
Ire Jef f ers
WASHINGTON, April, 25 -)
Rubber Director William M, Jef
f ers is "boiling mad," close: asso
ciates said Friday night,' and is
resolved that the new flareup be
tween him and Undersecretary of
War Robert P. Patterson must end
in a real showdown bis resigna
tion or PattersonV..-;,:s-,'--;i
" Jeff ers, described by one of his
aides as '"the maddest Irishman in
all the United States," rwas en
route to Baton Rouge, La., this
evening to Inspect a new synthe
tic fubber plant.: He left behind
a flurry of official activity' stir
red up by charges attributed to
Patterson that the emphasis : on
synthetic rubber was hurting the
allied air offensive by curtailing
aviation gasoline. r
The . Union " Pacific r president
felt he had been accused by Pat
terson of sabotaging the war ef
fort by his insistence on priority
for the rubber program, a relia
ble source in his office disclosed.
This informant, who V cannot be
further identified, quoted Jeff ers
as telling associates that when the
investigation demanded by him
has settled the issue, either be or
Patterson should quit Washing
ton.' ' '
Ickes' Power
Broadened
y WASHINGTON, April 23--In
a broad -extension of his powers
over solid fuels, Secretary Ickes
received virtually blanket author
ity : Friday to say how coal shall
be produced and distributed. ;
; An executive order by Presi
dent Roosevelt empowered the in
terior secretary to issue "ncces
sary policy and operating direc
tives" to the solid fuels industries
"to assure for the prosecution of
the war the - conservation and
most effective development and
utilization of solid fuels." - C
BemosSee
mife
Tax
77 n .. . i
Re tana Qairn
Insuli.cient Votes
Held by Proponents
WASHINGTON, r AprU 23
Despite republican intimations to
the contrary, Chairman Doughton
(D-NC) Friday night claimed
sufficient votes in - the ways and
means committee to deliver to the
house , floor a pay-as-you-go bill
taxing 1942 income at 1941 rates,
and estimated to produce about
$3,000,000,000 additional : revenue
this year.
The committee Friday failed to
report the bill, and republicans
and democrats gave, conflicting
explanations on the reasons why,
the former hinting that there were
not sufficient votes. ; '
Meanwhile, a congressional tax
authority, who asked that his
name . not be used directly, said
this measure, supported , by demo
crats, would mean 1943 federal
revenue from'" personal : income
taxes would jump, from $10,000,
000,000 to about $13,000,000,000.
He expressed the view that the
increased collections wouid be ac
companied; by Ha freezing"; of
present rates, preventing any fur
ther wartime increases.
; The hike in - revenues would
come about by collecting in 1943
on 1943 incomes while taxpayers
at the same, time amortized the
reduced obligations on the 1942
income. A third of the 1942 lia
bilities would be due by Decem
ber 15 and the remainder in
1944 and 194V : v
' The measure includes a 20 per
cent withholding levy against the
taxable portions of wages and
salaries. f --
Doughton called another com
mittee session for Saturday, when
the body probably will vote on
reporting the bill.
Storm
Northwest
SEATTLE, April 23-)-Fears
rose Friday night that the death
listmight reach , six in the wind
storm that buffeted the Puget
Sound area Friday.
Four boys were believed to
have drowned in the capsizing of
their rowboat off Vashon island,
a woman died in! her burning
home and a logger was killed by
a falling tree. . : : I ,r
. , The body of one of , the boys
was recovered Friday night. Cor
oner John P. Brill Jr. , identified
the known victim - as Byron
Moore, 14, of Vashon bland. Brill
said he was informed five boys
were in the rowboat and that
Byron's brother was the only
known survivor." The coroner did
not know the identity of the
others i -
Mrs. Sadie Wilkinson, - T2. Se
attle, was trapped In her upstairs
room and burned to death at the
height of the storm: Her sister,
Mrs. Florence Barley, narrowly
escaped. The fire waa attributed
to a fallen power lintev '' 4 .
. Alfred Gardene, 54, Deming, a
logger, was killed by a fallinrtree
near Silver 4 lake. In the Belling
ham area. Four companions were
struck by branches from the tree
but not seriously injured. They
were cutting trees which had been
blown across a highway. i
' Ferry, service was disrupted on
Puget Sound and many trees,
poles, signs and windows were
(Turn to Page 22 Story D)
Heavy
Disrupt
American Fighters Occupy South Sea
By TOM YARBROUGH
OFF ELLICE ISLANDS IN
THE SOUTH PACIFIC (delay
ed) - 05) -United States marines
completed the job of moving into
the Ellice islands a few": minutes
ago without firing: a shot
It was simply a case of "get
ting there first.' 5 They f arrived
yesterday morning and met no
opposition whatever in planting
themselves . in the midst of this
group of tiny ' coral isles astride
the ; : international ' dateline, : just
south of , the equator and on the
south flank of the Japanese-held
Gilbert Islands. . 4 ;
; (A navy communiquein Wash
ington Friday disclosedthat the
United States had occupied Funa
futi In the Ellice island group and
that enemy . bombers had raided
it April 22. Secretary Knox told
a press conference ""We've been
there for some time and we've got
an establishment there,, but de
clined to disclose the time of oc
cupation or the nature of the
establishment. Knox ; said the
Funafuti base had the same value
as other island bases guarding
the ' line'; of communications . to
Australia, but noted that.lt was
British Take
I "tr7Sr'i -s i r 1 7 f r t ip i
. lSerrat; SjsXr
mmMk cm)) -
Srl French Repulse bSvtr r vLlirrrir5,i,: ::
STATUTE MILIS t
The British Eighth army, preceded by Its usual intense artillery bar
rage, occupied Enfidaville, 'eastern anchor of Rommel's Tunisian
' defense line, and pushed beyond the city into dominating heights,
, an allied eommonlque reported. To the west, French forces re
pulsed an attack at Oued Kebir, and the British First army to the
north made a small advance la the Medjea el Bab sector Asso
ciated Press Tclcmat.
Executed Fliet. Quoted, ,
'We'll Bomb It Again9
NEW YORK, April 23-(i95)-The Daily News, in a copyrighted,
story from Washington, quotes one American pilot who was cap
tured in the raid on Tokyo and later executed, as hurling defiance
at a Nipponese court with the declaration: .
Salem ''. Soldier
To Appear on
BBC Broadcast
Cart Ik S midland, sen of Mr.
and Mrs. C J. Sundland, 875
South Liberty street, ' Salem,- is .
to appear on a British Broad
. easting. eorperatloa r prorram,
"Visit to American Eagle Clab,"
at 7 pan. EWT, today, received
here over Matnal, hls parents
were notified Friday la a mes
sage from BBCs New York of
fice. ,r . -- ' "f)
Second USO
Center
Op
en
Salem Organizations
Cooperate jn Plana
For Servicemen .
. Civilian Salem has 'an oppor
tunity to share with servicemen
of the area the opening of the
capital ' city's first downtown
UJsO center as the establishment
is host, at open house from 3 o'
clock through the . remainder of
this afternoon and dedicatory ser
vices ar conducted at 2:30 p.m.
Sunday. ;. :
Second servicemen's club to be
put into operation under . USO
auspices here, the new center at
337 Court street, while tempora
rily housed ' in smaller quarters
than it is expected to occupy af
ter midsummer, features gay,
comfortable modernistic furnish
ings, a well-equipped canteen
and game room and lounge.
Adj. C, Thomas, : who with
Mrs. Thomas is to direct the "new
Salvation Army , operated center,
returned to Salem this week from
New York City, where he had at
tended USO classes at Columbia
university.' Mrs. V. Tucker, Sa
lem, . has been busy , during the
week preparing the canteen for
operation,- although the doughnut
machine, one of , its - attractions,
. (Turn to Page 2 Story E)
(The aary tfiselosee In WashiarUa ITMay that Aaierlcaa fvrees kave
establishea a has In the EUicc island! rUnklac the shipplnc rentes ketweca
the Unite States and Australia. Nary censors Uien releasee the following
eye-witness story of the landing there.) VA-
much nearer the scene , of active
operations, than some.) 4 v
-The Ellice greep is 750 miles
northwest ef Page Page In Sa
- mo and 575 miles north ef
Sava in the FTJi Islands. :
' When the landing was over
and our warships left the atolls
sinking beyond the horizon, as
they say in the movies the whole
thing had more the aspects of a
travelogue in color than an act of
war. The only -.' things v missing
were soft strains of south sea
music, waving palms and an an
nouncer's voice taking a "reluc
tant" farewell. r
i But Americans ashore. In for a
rough time at best, had no time
to ponder such idyls. The Japa
nese were only about 500 miles
away in the Gilberts and the ma
rines were busy preparing a re
ception for any attempt to dis
pute their occupation. 'KJi:j
The marines went ashore on
Funafuti, a low strip . of palm
covered land shaped like a boo
merang, five miles long and one-
Enfidaville
ITUNISIA
"Sore we bombed yea r
1 damnel town. And ' well bomb
It again. We'll bomb It twiee and
three times. I'll bomb It myself,
as often as God will let me." .
The story, written by Lowell
Limpus and appearing in the Sat
urday editions of the Daily News,
added: .: ' - : -"'--:-:.: ,
... These were the gallant words
with which one of the three Poo
little : aviators, executed by the
Japanese, sealed his doom, as he
hurled defiance at . a Nipponese
court, according . to reliable and
well authenticated reports which
hayo just seeped out of the island
kingdom. "
-And the Japs kiUed him for it
3ut this hermartyr : so far
nameless, like Capt Nathan Hale
of the Continental army has
passed on to his countrymen a
slogan to spur them during -the
coming strife:
Well bomb It again."
Limpus added that the trial of
the three American aviators who
were executed - is understood to
have been held late last Septem
ber. ,
He continued: .
The unflinching behavior of
the American prisoners as they
faced the death sentence is part
ly credited with the recently no
ticed change in Japanese propa
ganda . , . the warnings to their
own people that they are in for
a long, bloody1-war, because the
Americans are a tough people who
Tike to fight."-
The Daily News added:
"The story Is that one of the
six misoing officers set the de
fiant example and that two of -the
other prisoners followed it ,
with such a Tiger that the Japs ;
branded them as overly arro-
gaat and insulting and deaerv-'
"ing of the death penalty.
. ."The name of the original hero
probably . simmers down to one
of the following half dozen: Sec
ond Lt William G. Farrow, Wash
ington, DC; Robert I Hite, Earth,
Tex.; Robert J. Meder, Lakewood,
O; Chase J. Neilseon, Hirum,
Utah, and Dean E. Hallmark, Dal-.
las, Tex. The other two also are
on this list. They are Sgt Harold
A. Spatz, Lebo, Kan., and CpL
Jacob D. Deshazer, Madras, Ore."
LONDON, Saturday, AprU 24
, (Turn to Page 2 Story A)
third of a mile - across at the
crook, which is the widest part.
Funafuti is the biggest of 30 islets
forming the Funafuti atoll, which
is the best of nine that make up
the Ellice group.
The Fanafntl atoll encloses a
fine lagoon where seaplanes can
be based. Long and flat Fnna
fnti Island might be soluble for
an airdrome runway extending
the United Nations, aerial
search and bomb radios by sev
eral hundred miles. '
By beating the Japanese to the
Ellice islands,. .the marines and
the navy moved up as easily as
the Japanese : had moved down
into- the Solomons earlier In the
war. ..-,: a ,;-
" Guarded by cruisers and de
stroyers, transports slipped . Into
the lagoon single file. : without ' a
sound except from cruisers cata
pulting their planes to maintain
an overhead watch. '
' Funafuti has a population of
about 350 light-skinned Saxnoan-
Mas
Oraen .Tiiiiniisisiim
Knox Denies
Losses Higher
"j Secretary Brands
Truman Report,
'Seriously Of F
WASHINGTON," April 23
Allied ship construction actually
exceeded allied ship losses during
1942, Secretary of the Navy Knox
declared Friday in describing as
erroneous a conclusion by the
Truman committee that losses bad
been greater.
. At a press conference, Knox
described as "very seriously off
a statement in the Truman com
mittee's report on merchant ship
ping and construction which said
that losses caused by German
U-boats last year averaged; ap
proximately . 1,000,000 . tons' . of
shipping per month and in aggre
gate exceeded the new construc
tion built by the United States f
and Great Britain."
The -actual figure of 1942's
losses to submarines, Knox ' said,
has never been officially given
out and he expressed the belief
that the senate committee, headed
by Senator Truman (D-Mo) got
its million-ton total from 'un
authorized , and uninformed
sources."
i Since the figure is inaccurate,
he continued, . it can not profit
ably be compared with such re
ports on ship construction as have
been issued. Furthermore, Knox
said, the committee arrived at an
erroneous conclusion because of
the method used. ;
j Apparently, he explained, the
committee compared the one mil
lion tons as if they -were gross
tons with construction' totals ex
pressed in terms of deadweight
tons. 4The result, since a ;' dead
weight ton is one and one-half
times ereater ' than a gross ton,
was to show, up a large discrep- L chases of. war.bonds for the cur
ancy between new (ronstrctiorrfveat second- loan ? drive mounted
and the assumed sinking total.
Senator - Brewster ' (Bt-Me)"
told reporters, however, that
the same unit deadweight
tonnage was used in describ
ing sinkings as well as the
laanchinrs. T
Brewster and Senator ' Mead
(D-NY), both, members of the
Truman committee, also said the
report had been submitted to the
navy and other interested depart
ments severaTdays in advance of
release and that no comment had
been ' forthcoming from -the navy;
Knox emphasized that he did
not want to be in the position of
criticizing the committe or taking
issue with its report generally,
remarking that it was "a very
fair and just report from , their
pint of view" and , that he
thought it excellent on the whole.
New Ration
Stamps Valid
PORTLAND, April 23. 1. f-The
OPA reminded Oregonians Fri-4
day that blue ration stamp G, H
and J m book 2 will become valid
tomorrow u for purchases of ra
tioned processed foods.
; Stamps D. E and T expire April
30. The overlap period is designed
to aid houswives in month-end
shopping when family ration books
might otherwise lack a sufficient
number of points to buy a needed
item, the OPA explained. .
A tolls
type natives and normally only
one European a British colonial
officer. Fliers from our cruiser
who alighted, in the lagoon said
the naives were pnysically excel
lent, big, strong and friendly.
They started to peddle fine woven
baskets as soon as the marines hit
the beach. , .
Disclosure of the occupation
of Fonafoti raised considerable
speenlation here as to the pur
pose. Most ' naval authorities
were of the opinion It would
serve as aa outpost for the main
American position in Samoa
and the Ftjls. Some authorities
surrested -the occupation might
have. , been effected man y.
months ago, '
;?Tbe rnam; American line of
communications - with - Australia
runs generally south from Hawaii
to Samoa and then generally west
to Australia. A study of the map
indicates that the base on Funa
futi is one, of a series of forward
outposts lying between this main
line and the . strong enemy - posi
tions in, the Gilbert and Marshall
archipelagoes.
MMed
A rt i llery
Soften Nazi Lines
Foe Loses 30 Plane's
20 Mammoth Troop, Freight Ships :
Downed by US and British Airmen;
'Long Stop HilP Fighting Fierce
1 . . By WES GALLAGHER !
LONDON, Saturday, Aprir 24(AP) The Daily
Telegraph said in a Stockholm dispatch today that axis ''
headquarters had been : moved from Tunisia to Sicily
and now were established in village on the ouskirts
of Messina., - ' . . " V-
- ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH 'AFRICA, April 23
-(flVAHied artillery barrages and determined infantry attacks
cracked open three salients in Marshal Erwin Rommel's Tunisia
bridgehead Triday and fighter piiots celebrated another smashf
ing aerial triumph in their destruction of an entire fleet ' of 20
mammoth six-engine German transport planes loaded with troops
and precious gasoline. r !T ; " ; '
(In Washington, the war department identified the planes as
Merseburg 323's, which are described as power gliders with six
engines, 700 to 800 horsepower and a speed of 125 to 130 miles, v
County Total
Is $2,115,063
' Salem, Citizen Buys "
$75,000 Bond; Only
$384,937to Goal
"Make Marion county a mil-lion-dollar-a-week
. , contributor!
was offered as a new slogan by
the county's Victory fund com
mittee' Friday as non-bank pur-
toward the assigned quota of $2,
500.000. .- '-
' "I believe Marion county will
exceed its , quota for this three
weeks campaign,". Chairman Jess
J. Gard announced. "If we all get
in , and , buy . more. . bonds during
the. coming week we can run our
non-bank purchases up to $3,000,
000." ' ' -
Swelled by a single $75,000
subscription made by a "substan
tial and patriotic Salem citizen"
through ; Ladd . & ; . Bush - Salem
branch of the United States Na
(Turn to Page 2 Story B)
WLBAsks
Armed Guard
For Miners
v WASHINGTON, A pril 23-i()
The war labor board called upon
the president Friday: to step into
the dispute of a the Celanese Cor
poration of America plant at New
ark, where members - of : district
50, United Mme Workers,-on
striken' ' '. .
-The board's decision was unan
imous. ..
The president could call out the
army or navy to protect those who
want to work and permit resump
tion of full-scale operations at the
New Jersey plant, as in the case
of . the General Camble company
dispute .- at Bayonne . and Perth
Amboy, N. J. and S. A1-! Woods.
Machine, company, South Boston,
last August. '
Lumber Wage
Boost Rapped
PORTLAND, Ore, April 23-Up)
-Criticism of James . F Byrnes.
director of economic stabilization,
for approving wage increases to
pine industry wodrkers " while
denying price ceiling increases was
voiced Friday by the western pine
association. f
Byrnes granted a 7 -ce"nt av
erage hourly wage, raise " rec
ommended by the west coast lum
ber commission.'
Kaiser Lawyer
Denies Charges
PORTLAND, April 23-SVGor-don
Johnson, Henry J. Kaiser at
torney, Friday, accused the na
tional labor relations board of
failing to define its charges of
unfair labor practices against three
Kaiser shipyards in this area.:
"We know it involves the ap
propriate unit theory, 'Johnson
said. "The difficulty is that the
board ; never has Epecified Just
when there was an appropriate
unit or what constitutes one. The
board says we are wrong, but
Atfttaclk
Salients
Bar rage
capable of carrymg 100 to 110
uicu.; -t , ;
With! furious fighting coverinsj
two-thirds of the Tunisian front, '
this was the allied position at dusk
Friday night: i., - ,
1. Preceded by the heaviest sin
gle artillery barrage -of the cam
paign, British infantry attacked
the German. "Verdun of the Tu
nisian front Long "Stop hill, 2$
miles southwest of Tunis.
2. First army infantry attacked
on a nine-mile front between
Goubellat and Bou Arada and ad
vanced three miles against stub
born opposition; to within 34
miles of Tunis. . . '
v: Front! .dispatches 2 sali JOf
prisoners were captured Thurs
day In the successful drive on ,
, the sooimtala which Am topped
by the fort and town of Tak-
' roana.. J,'-: I-
S. Gen. Sir Bernard L. Mont
gomery's Eighth army stabbed si
miles north of Enfidaville along
the marshy' coastline, whBe
mountain v assaults to the weti
which resulted in the capture of
Takrpuna were slowed by con
tinuous counterattacks, approxi
mately 40 airline miles from Tu-
nhCUl;; - '-- (' '
In i ten blazing minutes, Brit
ish, South 'African and Australian
fighters who caught the aerial
convoy over the ? Gulf of ? Tunis)
wiped out every one of the 24
transports and shot : down teis
escorting plans to carry out what
was regarded here as the most im
portant stroke against enemy sup
ply lines since the fighting began.
An official statement said the
annihilated . . plane f - convoy. wa
carrying, gasoline and personnel
to .Tuaisiav-v.- ...'.:", .
: - Atthovgh so amaay aircraft
were shot -dowav the also and ;
. hnportaace of tkfar victory . rank .
alongside the ctcccbb ' ef last -'
Sanday When 77 enemy planes,
IneJediBg 5S Jamkere 62 trans
ports; were destroyed la t one
engagement, the air. force an-
neanced. , :T :-
- Four allied planes were lost fn
the lightning action featuring Fri
day's aerial warfare, which saw
the allies downing a total of 39
planes against, the loss of five of
their own. ; J ' . ' ' ' V ' '
, The fighter squadrons of the
western' desert air force ripped)
into the transport fleet almost
within range of German anti-air
craft batteries and blasted all 30
planes into-the sparkling gulf wa
ters of the sea approach to Tunis.
Dwarfing the three-engined
Jankers 52's, which themselves
carry 18 to 20 soldiers and 5000
pounds of cargo, the ME-2Z3's
are the largest planes In- Opera
tion In this) war. They have si,
wing span ef 180 feet, compared
with the 102 feet nine Inches oft
the American Flying Fortresses,
. and can be opened at the nose
to take In tanks and tracks. :
"They were flying 50 feet off
the water" : said Maj.! F. Parson,
who led the Kittyhawks and Spit
fires against the convoy and shot
two transports himself.
I first ordered a head-on at
tack to break up their light, thick
formation and at once five fel
flaming toward the sea. Then we
went in from all sides and hunted
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