World War II Chronicle: August 22, 1943
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Page two discusses Lt. Col. James S. Coward’s fighter group, which has destroyed 111 Axis warplanes while operating out of Sicily. The King of England personally awarded Coward with the Distinguished Flying Cross before the pilots crossed the Mediterranean for Sicily. This is the 52nd Fighter Group, who were until recently led by Lt. Col. Graham W. West, whose legs were blown off. See West’s story on page four — he will fly again!. I believe Ernie Pyle wrote recently about how fighters are always on the move and don’t get much time to settle in, and here’s an example: after landing in Africa they spent November in Tafaraoui, Algeria, then quickly moved to La Senia. In January they transferred to Orleansville, then down the road to Telergma. Their last stop in Algeria was Youks-les-Bains in March. Next month they were in Le Sers, Tunisia. They spent May in La Sebala before settling in Boccadifalco, Sicily on July 30…
George Fielding Eliot column on page two… Pictured on the following page is Lt. Col. Donald P. Hall — commanding officer of the 8th Bombardment Squadron that has all but wiped out Japanese air forces at Wewak. Hall’s heroics were such that he earned the Distinguished Service Cross twice in July. Hall will fly an incredible 189 missions in the Pacific Theater. He and his crew will take out nine enemy warplanes and 11 ships — including a destroyer. His men recently received the new B-25G Mitchell bombers, which swapped out their plexiglass nosecone for an armored one with to .50-cal machine guns and a 75-mm. M4 cannon. The navigator now sits behind the pilot and doubles as the loader. The massive gun is fired by the pilot and is very effective against enemy shipping…
Seems too good to be true, but page 18 reports that 22 Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, equipped with special drop tanks, landed safely after a 1,300-mile flight from Midway Island to Honolulu. The pilots made it on fumes, ranging from just three to no more than 12 gallons of fuel in their tanks… Sports section begins on page 24. Joe DiMaggio played in an exhibition game against a Pacific Coast League squad, going 4-for-4 with two home runs… The war’s 207th week is summarized on page 34.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 22 August 1943. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1943-08-22/ed-1/