Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. ’* I lie News of the Oav In Pictures'* Member of I lie Associated Press
THE NOME NUGGET
VOL. 44. No. 91. NOME. ALASKA, Wednesday, July 8. 1942 Per Copy 15*
Soviets Check Nazi Break-Through
Revitalized Desert Troops Have Rommel In Retreat
Russian Armies Pictured by Soviets
Cheeking 120-Mile Nazi Break-Thru
UNDATED, July 8 (AP) — Marshal Timoshenko’s
armies, recoiling alter the initial shock of the assault
bv 2 '0 000 German troops, were pictured by Soviet
dispatches as checking the 120-mile Nazi break-thru
on the he'ghts west of Voronezh, and inflicting terrific
losses on the invaders. Red Army headquarters ignor
ed the otfi ,:a! German claim that Voronezh had fallen,
declaring that the battle is still raging before the key
city on the Moscow-Rostov railway. A communique
said more than 3,000 Germans are dead in the battle
area and 35 tanks were destroyed.
A bulletin from Hitler’s headquarters asserted that
strong Russian forces are encircled behind the Voro
nezh front and the gap in the Soviet lines has been
widened.
Be In Uneasy Over Rommel's Position
In the 15-dav-old battle of Egypt, the British an
nounced that British patrols, in living columns, slash
ed at Rommel’s armies all day yesterday, destroying
Axis tanks and capturing prisoners.
Overhead swarms of RAF warplanes bombed and
machine-gunned Axis troops grouped within the 35
mile-wide “bottleneck,” 70 miles west of Alexandria.
Dispatches from Cairo said there were r.o major at
tacks by either side, both forces saving their heavy
punches for the decisive battle expected M any time.
Italian headquarters asserted that a strong British
force was repu.sed with heavy losses.
Stockholm dispatches from Berlin indicates uneasi
ness in the Nazi capital over Rommel's position. One
report said Rommel had difficulty because his troops
are exhausted from the 350-mile sweep across the
sands from ToOuk, while Auchinleck’s armies have
been revitalized by fresh troops drawn from the Mid
dle East.
THE DESERT FOX SMILES
" . •
if
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, German veteran of
desert warfare (facing camera), smiles as he chats
with Italian officers in Fort Mechiii. This picture,
which reached the United States through neutral
Portugal, was made before the Axis commander in
North Africa launched the campaign which swept
into Egypt.
Chinese Close In
Around Japs
At Two Towns
Undated, July 8 (AP) —
Chiang Kai Shek’s Chinese
armies are reported to
have closed in around Jap
idvance forces which pene
trated the towns of Feng
Chang and Changshu in a
new drive aimed at the cap
ture of the Kiangshi-Hu
nan Railway.
With the Chinese still
cl:ng:.ng to a 25-mile sector
of the Checkiang-Kiangsi
line, and attempting to
seize the Kiangsi-IIunan
loop, fore-part of the pro
jected rail trunk linking
Shainghai and Singapore.
I fierce battles are reported
raging around the two
! towns.
Federal Agents Hounding
Up German-American
Bund Officers and Leaders
NEW YORK, July 7 (AP) —
i Armed with warrants obtained
from U. S. Attorney Correa, Fed
: oral agents are rounding up ev
i ery national officer, section offic
ials and principal leaders of the
German-American Bund, indict
ed by a New York federal grand
Jury. The defendants named are
, being sought in 8 states, all
accused of conspiracy and coun
sel to Bund members to resist
service ir. the armed forces of
the United States; consipracy to
conceal Bund affiliations, and fill
rig out alien registration forms.
Maj Gen. Carl Spaatz, of
Question Mark” Fame
Heads Air Force In Europe
LONDON, July 8 </P> — Major
Gen. Carl Spaatz, who in 1929
made aviation history as the com
mander of the Army endurance
plane ‘‘Question Mark," was ap
pointed comma nd e r- i n -ehi ef of
U. S. Army Air forces in the
European theater of war.
His first public act in the new
post, Spaatz awarded the Distin
guished Flying Cross to three
members of one American bomb
er crew which participated in
the first U. S. air raid on German
held western Europe on July 4th.
\Ilies Keeping
Constant Vigil
—
Allied Headquarters in
Australia, July 8 (AP) —1
. MaeArthur’s headquarters
reported that 16 Japanese
bombers raided the Allied
airdrome at Horn Island in
Torres Strait, between Aus
tralia and New Guinea, in
dicting slight damage. Oth
erwise there is only “inter
mittent air reconnais-;
sance.”
Gen. MacArthur report
ed that Allied H er- are
keeping constant vigil ag
ainst any new massing of
Jap invasion armadas in
the ring of islands above
Australia.
American Crews Manned
American Tanks in Battle
of Libya June 11 and 12
WASHINGTON. July 7 j,P> —'
' The War Department announced
that American crews had man-;
I ned American made medium |
J tanks in combat on June 11th
l and 12th, during part of the
I battle of Libya. In two days of
1 fighting, they knocked out sev
| eral Gentians tanlc- and although
hit repeatedly the tanks were
not seriously damaged nor were
there any casualties among the
crews.
The tanks were commanded by
S Captain Charles Stirling of Aug
usta, Georgia.
i
- ' 1
French Report Russians
Push Germans Back
Across Krasnaya River
LONDON, July 7 iJP> — Reut
ers quoted the Vichy news agen
cy as reporting that the Russians
launched a violent counter of
fensive at Izyum Kupyan.sk on
the southern flank of the Ukraine
battlefront and pushed the Ger
mans back across the Krasnaya
river.
Two Ships Torpedoed
In Mozambique Channel 1
Off Portuguese East Africa
LGRENCO MARQUES, Portu
guese East Africa, July 8 f/P) —
| Two ships, one Norwegian and
the other Swedish, were torpedo
ed in Mozambique Channel, and
two other believed to foe Brit
ish, were attacked by subs, but
with unknown results.
China, In Sixth ^ ear of War, Renews
Plea for Second Front In the Pacific
WASHINGTON, July 7 (AP) — Battered China
entered its sixth year of struggle against the Jap in
vaders and renewed her plea that the Pacific rather
than Europe be made the United Nations’ “second
front.” Speaking for the Chungking government, Major
General Chu Shih Ming, military attache, declared
that the United States and China could knock the Japs
out this year, if full American power be concentrated
in the Pacific. He said “A force of only 500 warplanes
of all types would enable China to launch an offensive.
Facilities, including gas, are still available despite Jap
anese advances. Bases remain from which Japan can
be bombed. If the Japs are allowed time to consolidate
their gains it may take a long time to defeat them.
Meanwhile the United Nations will never be able to
throw their full strength into a European second
front.”
Possibility That American May Be
* m
Supreme Commander United Nations
Gen. Marshall, Gen. MacArthur. Adm. Leahy Named
WASHINGTON. July 8 (AP) — Some high inter
Allied personages here speculated on the possibility
that an American, perhaps General Marshall, might
some day become supreme commander of all United
Nations’ land, air and sea forces throughout the world.
So far there has been no official move toward creating
a supreme command, but it can be said for one idea
now. that some important people, who refuse to per
mit the use of their names, either expect or hope that
the one assuming the job will be an American, which
both British and American sources here do assume,
might not necessarily go to Gen. Marshall Other pos
sibilities include Admiral Leahy and Gen. MacArthur.
Canadian Army
of RCAF Are S
VICTORIA, B. C, July 7 (AP) — Canadian Army
units as well as squadrons of the RCAF are now sta
tioned in Alaska, Air Minister Power disclosed in a
statement issued here. He was accompanied by Air
Marshal Breadiur. chief of the Air Staff. Power ar
rived after a flight of several days which took them
from Ottawa, al .ng ihe northern air rente to Alaska.
The statement said the object of the tour was to
inspect the chain of airports built through to north
west Alaska by the Canadian government. The diffi
culties of developing the air route were immense,
Power said, but it is now in full operation, “proving
i of inestimable value in reinforcing Alaska.”
In Alaska the Minister and his party visited the
main U. S. bases, meeting U. S. Army, Navy and Air
j commanders for discussion at first hand of the prob
lem of Alaskan defense as related to Canada's west
j coast. Power said he was “much impressed by the
U. S. commanders’ appreciation of the situation, which
is most reassuring.” The statement said the minister
also visited Canadian army units in Alaska.
Power added “The Americans are doing everything
within their power to make the Canadian squadrons
comfortable and have given them a most important
role in operations.”
---
Germans Appear Gut Gommimications
Russian Northern, Southern Armies
Auchinleck’s Armies Bolstered by Big L\ S. Tanks
—
UNDATED, July 7 (AP) — Hitler's armies, exploit
ing a swift 120-mile break-through, appeared to have
cut direct communications between Russia’s northern
and southern armies, and is a grave turn of events for
: the Soviet campaign, while in Egypt, the British are
reported to have bent the Axis southern flank back
west for the third successive setback. A bulletin from
British headquarters said General Auchinleck’s army,
bolstered by fresh troops and big American tanks,
“continued pressure on the enemy, who extended his
southern flank west.” This evidently meant that Rom
mel w'as forced to weaken his forward line, within 70
miles of Alexandria, to build a protecting or “extend
ed” wall against the British flying columns hacking
1 at his flanks.
A German communique asserted tersely: “In the
fight at El Alamein, several enemy counter attacks,
supported by tanks, failed.”
On the Soviet front, the Germans reported that
tank-led Nazi troops captured the important city of
Voronezh on the Mosc-ow-Rostov railroad, principal
rail communication between the Red Armies in the
north and south. Simultaneously the Nazi controlled
Paris radio asserted that the “Germans are advanc
ing from Voronezh in the direction of Porovino,” 140
miles east of Voronezh, which is a city of 212,000 pop
ulation. 10 miles east of the Don river, about half
way between Moscow and Rostov.