JUNE ail, 1943 HEMICTHIGAN DA[TN PAGE Air CampaignIs Prologue To Anticipated Allied Invasion * *. * * 4 ________-_______ * * *' * * * British, Americani Planes Active During Land and Sea Lull All Sea and Air Initiative Wrest from axis y Destruetive BOmbing Campaigns By GLENN BABB Associated Press War Interpreter Summer's first week-end finds the' world still waiting for the curtain to rise on the main show, the antici- pated titanic clashes of the armies and navies in. the fateful campaign of 1943. Meantime, however, its at- tention was gripped by the blazing prologue in the skies, where the soft- ening up of the Axis was carried for- ward at a new pitch of intensity and destructiveness. This pattern may continue for a few more weeks. On the other hand the setting of the stage is so near completion that any morning may see the Allied landing barges sweep- ing toward the enemy's coasts, prob- ably in the Mediterranean. Lull Still Rules' On land and sea the pre-invasion lull still ruled but in the air the British and American air fleets had their most tremendous week of the war. The "neutralization" of the Ruhlr, heart of German war produc- tion, was virtually completed and the sapping of Italy's power and will to resist mlade good progress. The lull aground emphasized the extent to which the initiative has passed from the Axis. The Allies rule the seas and the skies to such a degree that an Axis stroke in either element is out of the question. But both Germany and Japan still have the opportunity to launch great land offensives if they care to take the gamble. But the bright June days, so fav- orable for this porpose, slipped by and both remained quiescent. The anniversary of Hitler's attack of Russia passed with his armies still immobilized along the whole length of the eastern front. The belief held in some quarters that Japan might strike a blow for both Germany and herself by attacking Siberia received no support. The Japanese contin- ued to give ground in China. In the south and southwest Pacific Japan still was waiting for something, meanwhile suffering heavy attrition in the air. Italy Has Jitters Italy, with nothing left to do but await the dread day of invasion, did just that while the airfields, ports and communications centers of her islands and southern mainland shuddered under the daily blows of the -American and British air forces. With June almost gone it seemed the time was fast running out in which an Axis offensive could be ex- pected. Wider acceptance was found for the suggestion that both in Eur- ope and in° the Pacific the enemy, realizing that his power to wage of- fensive warfare was virtually gone, was content to stand on the defen- sive, hoping for some miracle, mili- tar'y or political, which would give him a stalemate. Air War Is First The war in the air therefore be- came the first front. Into the bat- tle over western Germany for the moment the two great alliances were pouring a greater proportion of their military resources than into any oth- er, with the Mediterranean a close second. The Britain-based squad- rons of the RAP and the U.S. Eighth Air Force clashed grimly with the most formidable array of air de- Allied Commiianders in 1 i1o Theatres 3 O LHAOD ALEXANDER iGN I EN. DOUGLAS B. MACARTHUR .i4 EN. BERNARD MONTGOMERY ADMIRAL WILLIAM S. HALSEY ...Their work in Nor th Africa and the South Pacific has made PO sible the imminent invasion of Europe. Gen. Sir Harold Alexander (unper left), commander of the British First Army, and Gen. Bernard Montgomery (lower left) head of the Umitish Eighth Army, cleared out of North Africa all Axis troops less than two months ago and forced the surrender of the German coin- inander Col. Gen. Jurgen Von Arnim. In the South Pacific theatre Gen. JDouglas B. MacArthur's troops have successfully resisted Japanese attacks. Admiral William S. Hal- sey, who predicted on New Year's IDay that comnlete victory over Japan is a possibility this year, has ousted the enemy from the lower Solomons Rominel Is Reported T Concentrating 350,000 BERN, Switzerland, June 29-t/P) himself wasr --Axis nervousness increased today chateau at M amid ever-growing reports of intense quently is sai defensive preparations both in Italy oneelVds ur and in France's central Rhone valley Frenchmen where Nazi Field Marshal Rommel in that sector was reported concentrating an esti- by "unending mated 350,000 troops as a barrier tanks, giving against Allied attempts to reach the among the p German heart of Europe. campaign inF Italy expected the start of the bat the dispatchs tle at any hour, said the Gazette de Lausanne, adding that the Italians acDor believed an Allied fleet was ready to attack the coasts of Sicily. Allied Around Lyon, on the Rhone, River in France, each morning German OTTAWA, troops wearing diverse uniforms, in- lied assault o eluding some of Rommel's Africa very near futi Corps, are seen, said a Lyon dispatch by Malcolm to the Tribune de Geneve. Rommel High Commis Ii ___ ___ o Be Troops reported stationed in a Zontdore, where he fre- id to set out down the Tto inspect "vast avia- ader construction" going to work at dawn were reported attracted lines" of artillery and rise to an opinion opulation that a new France was in prospect, said, * * * 'ld Predicts' 4ssa ult Soont June 29.--(P)--An Al- n Axis territory in the ure was predicted today MacDonald, Britain's sioner to Canada, who disclosed also that enemy U-boats had been knocked out at the rate of one a day for the last two weeks. Preparations for the blow at Ger- inany or German-held territory were well advanced, he told a press con- ference, and it was unlikely that "we will have to wait very long" before the effort to crush Hitler on land is launched. He suggested that com- paratively small assaults might serve as a prelude to the opening of a full- fledged second front. The Allies "obviously are ap- proaching another great crisis of the war," he said. The promising picture of anti-sub- marine activity served to emphasize recent Allied reports that the At- lantic was becoming an increasingly unhealthy field for U-boat opera- tions. RecentdLondon reports said submarines had been sunk at a rate, of better than one a day for the past two months and MacDonald de- clared, "We have had a dead sub- marine served up for breakfast every day for the past fortnight." I- - - _________ __________ It AWL \ a Over the 4th and ail1Ammer' it j IaeemU jieam incc JpoPlA C04eJ Make yours a real Victory holiday - stay in Ann Arbor and play over the Fourth! 'You'll have l-ore time for sun-fun - for relaxation -- and that precious train seat you don't use will make some service man's trip home possible - and much more pleasant. And to make your staying home much more fun we're ready with all the sun-catching play clothes you need for the Fourth - and for all Summertimev lav davs G iII- 1 i I I I i * ' i, "FIXING UP" IS FUN Mak your room an inviting spot this summer with LINENS, SPREADS, and other items that may he purchased at the Gage Linen Shop. SUMMER STORE HOURS: Monday 12:00 to 8:30 P.M.j Tuesday through Friday 9:00 to 5:30 Saturday 9:00 to 12:00 GAGE LINEN SHOP and has blasted the Javanese Navy called "the best in all the war." consistently. his pilots have been 19 N I(KELS ARCADE Always Reasonably Priced 40-6 d FRESH ON THE BEAUTY MARKET VICTORY GARDEN CRATE fenses ever concentrated, brought to western Europe by Hitler in an ef- fort to prevent the destruction of his war potention and the will of his people to continue the struggle. The Allies scored tremendous successes, the enemy's cries alone showed he was badly hurt, but they also paid a stiff price. A week of attack cost the Allies 202 multi-engined bombers, many of them carrying ten or more men. The RAF, out every night, lost 165, the Americans 37. To show for this they had the crippling devastation of Krefeld, Muelheim, Wuppertal, Huls, Bochum and Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr, the great Schneider ar- senal at Le Creusot in France, the German "Radar" factory at Fried- richshafen, the Italian naval base of La Spezia. Reliable reports said between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 civil- ians already had been evacuated from the stricken Ruhr, above which the accustomed industrial haze from factory chimneys was reported many degrees lighter. ('ermany Was Wounded There was no doubt that Germany was sorely wounded in a vital spot. The reaction of Goebbels' propa- ganda reinforced this conclusion. It was a combined attempt to appeal to the soft-hearted in Allied countries by vivid accounts of civilian suffer- ing and to the hatred in German hearts by stories of alleged destruc- tion wrought by the American bar- barians to the cultural monuments of the Old World. In the Mediterranean the Allies, ranged along. the north African shore, obviously were well along with the job of softening up Sicily, and to a lesser extent Sardinia, for inva- sion. Naples and its industrial en- virons, on the nearby mainland, also were heavily blasted. On Sicily the week began and ended with shatter- ing attacks on Messina, chief port for communications with the main- land. More than 100 Flying Fort- resses blasted that city on Friday in the largest operation yet by these great planes in the Mediterranean theatre, From end to end of Sicily airfields and ports were shattered and raked with gunfire. When the airfields are put out of commission the time for invasion is near. Sar- dinia got it too, especially Olbia in the northeast, raided twice, and a long list of airfields. Mediterranean Area Livened One new figure in the pattern of the Mediterranean war was a long- range raid last week by more than 50 American Liberators on the Greek port of Salonika, pointed reminder that big events are brewing in that area., In the words of 14 successive Mos- cow communiques, there were no significant changes on the long Rus- sian battle line. But Moscow took occasion of the second anniversary of Hitler's attack on the Soviet Un- ion to remind the western allies of the imperative necessity of a second front in Europe if Hitler Germany is to be destroyed. The Allied an- swer was to plough ahead with the Casablanca - Washington program which none doubted called for an invasion of the continent as soon as possible. The aspect of the war in the south and southwest Pacific saw little change, although the Japanese air force continued to lose heavily in its few attempts to challenge Allied rule] of the air. A feature of the week was a raid by American Liberators on Makassar on Celebes, involving a 2.000-mile roundtrip flight. Indica- tions persisted that aggressive Allied action somewhere in the south- southwest Pacific was impending. The trend toward Allied victory in the battle of the Atlantic persisted. There was nothing to dispute the growing belief that the curve of Al- lied ship losses, declining sharply since March, would dip even lower in June, We smart Two- Casua Static Cordu Mixm blous tume sox. cic for special merei y ly tailored slack suits _ Sizes for Juniors, misses and i from 6.95 piece play suits from 7.95 S'Y al cotton frocks _... from 6.00 )n wagon jackets 6.00 Slacks to match 5.00 aroy shortie coats 10.95 latch skirts, culottes, es, sweaters, bogs, cos- :tay jewelry, and scores of-ay at l of fig cott 7.9 Dress -above of striped chambray 6.00." iEy War Stajimps ami Iiondis and Shop iin (>tOC 0 ! 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