WW2 STORY OF THE JEEP

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The jeep comes to the South Pacific
August, 1942

WW2 BATTLE OF New Guinea

Pushing ahead through the jungles of New Guinea
August, 1942
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A group of American soldiers starts down a New Guinea road in single file to open a flanking movement against the Japanese. In the face of strong enemy resistance, American and Australian troops continued their ever forward movement over mud-covered jungle roads to force the invaders back to the sea. A campaign that finally met with success despite the hardships involve

STORY OF SOLOMON ISLANDS

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famous Tulagi Island (center foreground), stronghold of the Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands. Fires can be seen burning (right center) after American carrier-based dive bombers paid their first visit with bombs. In addition to fortifications, anti-aircraft batteries and radio station the Japanese had a small golf course on the island, but the unexpected arrival of U.S. Navy bombers gave them no time to yell "FORE" to Tokio. The operation in the Solomons inaugurated a series of offensive moves in the Pacific which continued for several months. The enemy occupation of the Islands permitted him the use of advance air and naval bases from which to attack the allies long Pacific supply line and the north coast of Australia. On August 7, 1942, therefore, United States Navy and Marine forces seized beachheads on Guadalcanal and Florida Island and occupied Tulagi. The highly prized Henderson airfield on Guadalcanal was held by the Marines against a long series of heavy air, sea and ground assaults by the enemy. The resolute defense of these marines under Major General (now Lieutenant General) Alexander A. Vandegrift and the desperate gallantry of our naval task forces marked the turning point in the Pacific.

WW2 EGYPT

On July 16 German forces attempted to recapture the positions they had lost on Ruweisat Ridge, and a big tank battle developed in which twenty-five enemy tanks were destroyed. In the north, where enemy counter-attacks had regained part of the ground lost on Tel el Eisa, Imperial forces drove the enemy out of most of the lost positions. On the 21st General Auchinleck launched a general offensive all along the front, and fierce fighting raged throughout the night and the followi

ww2 stalingrad

German drive threatens Stalingrad
 July 12-19, 1942
 
 
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Although the Germans had reached the very gates of Voronezh, they were unable to take it by storm. Farther south, however, a rapid advance along the railways brought about the fall of Kantemirovka (south of Rossosh) and of Lisichansk (100 miles southwest of Kantemirovka) on July 12, and heavy fighting was in progress near Boguchar which, together with Millerovsk, the Russians were obliged to evacuate on the 15th. This created a dangerous bulge in the Russian lines which threatened the industrial city of Stalingrad, on the Volga, and the port of Rostov at the mouth of the Don. The Russian armies inside the Don bend fought fierce rearguard actions whilst retiring to their main defensive positions along the lower reaches of the river, but by the 16th fighting was taking place before Voroshilovgrad, and two days later the enemy was only seventy miles northwest of Rostov, and still advancing rapidly. On the following day Voroshilovgrad was evacuated by the Red Army in order to avoid encirclement. The pictures show: first, Russian sappers on the Voronezh sector crawling forward to clear a gap in a minefield for the passage of their tanks and infantry, and second, Soviet infantry equipped with automatic weapons.

WW2 BATTLE OF EUROPE

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On June 28 the Germans began a new offensive in the Kursk sector, 120 miles north of Kharkov, the object of which was to capture the important rail junction of Voronezh, on the Moscow-Rostov railway, 130 miles east of Kharkov. This would have given the Germans a strong defensive bastion on the flank of their attack farther south. By early July fighting on a tremendous scale had also developed in the Byelgorod and Volchansk areas (between Kursk and Kharkov), where thousands of tanks, closely followed by infantry and supported by masses of dive bombers, battered at the Russian positions. In face of tremendous pressure the Russian armies slowly withdrew in good order, taking terrible toll of the enemy as they retired. On July 7 the Germans succeeded in establishing bridgeheads on the east bank of the Don opposite Voronezh across which they managed to throw an infantry division and 100 tanks. The crossings, however, were under continual fire from Russian artillery and aerial bombardment by Stormovik dive bombers, and the Russians launched repeated counter-attacks with strong forces of tanks and infantry. According to Russian reports the Don was flowing red with the blood of dead Germans. Meanwhile, farther south, the enemy was pushing eastwards in an attempt to gain control of the middle reaches of the Don. On the 8th the Russians evacuated Stary Oskol, and two days later they abandoned Rossosh after severe battles in which as many as 8,000 tanks were locked in combat on a front 110 miles long. The picture shows the ruins of a bridge across the Don blown up by the Russians in an attempt to slow up the smashing tactics of the well armed and fast-moving Nazi invaders in this new drive for territory. German troops can be seen threading their way past smashed trucks and cars, which litter the ground for miles around

story of SHANGRI-LA

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SHANGRI-LA was BORN
 In April, 1942, the United States and the world at large was electrified by an announcement by President Roosevelt that American flyers had carried the Battle of the Pacific to the heart of the Japanese empire with a surprising and daring raid on military targets at Tokio, Yokohama, Osake, Kobe and other Rising Sun industrial centers. The dangerous mission was headed by Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle, and in the picture above, one of the planes is seen soaring off the flight deck of the USS Hornet enroute to Japanese territory. Taking off in the middle of the day, flying at low altitude, the squadron of American planes led by General Doolittle, and accompanied by 79 other aviators raided the mainland. In the navy yard south of Tokio a new cruiser or battleship under construction was bombed and left in flames. "Along the coast line," said Gen. Doolittle on May 19, at Washington, when he was decorated by the President and the story of the raid was revealed, "we observed several squadrons of destroyers and some cruisers and battleships. About 25 miles to sea the rear gunners reported seeing columns of smoke rising thousands of feet in the air. One of our bombardiers strewed incendiary bombs along a quarter of a mile of aircraft factory near Nagoya. Another illuminated a tank farm. However, flying at such low altitudes made it very difficult to observe the result following the impact of the bombs. We could see the strike, but our field of vision was greatly restricted by the speed of the plume and the low altitude at which we were flying. Even so, one of our party observed a ball game in progress. The players and spectators did not start their run for cover until just as the field passed out of sight. Pilots, bombardiers and all members of the crew performed their duties with great calmness and remarkable precision. It appeared to us that practically every bomb reached the target for which it was intended. We would like to have tarried and watched the later developments of fire and explosion, but, even so, we were fortunate to receive a fairly detailed report from the excited Japanese radio broadcasts. It took them several hours to calm down to deception and accusation." He added that he had issued instructions that the Imperial Palace in Tokio was not to be bombed. In the picture above General Doolittle is shown wiring a Japanese medal to the fin of a 500-pound bomb which shortly thereafter was returned to its Nipponese makers in a blast of destruction. The ceremony took place on the deck of the carrier Hornet from which the raiders took off