World War II Chronicle: August 12, 1942
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Hollywood icon Clark Gable is enlisting in the Air Force, story on page five… Two Doolittle Raiders are pictured on page seven during an Optimist Club event: Captains Harold F. Watson (pilot of Whirling Dervish) and Ted W. Lawson (pilot of The Ruptured Duck and author of 30 Seconds Over Tokyo)…
Page nine reports that American flyers are operating alongside the Royal Air Force in Curtiss P-40 fighters to acclimate to desert air warfare. This is the 57th Fighter Group. The combat element embarked aboard USS Ranger at Rhode Island and sailed to Africa’s Gold Coast. 72 P-40s took off from the flattop on July 19 and headed across the continent for Egypt where they link up with the RAF.
Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton took command of the Far East Air Force one month prior to the outbreak of the war. When news of the surprise attack on Oahu reached Manilla, Brereton twice tried to personally get approval from Gen. Douglas MacArthur to attack the Japanese at Formosa but was denied an audience. Had Brereton been given approval his crews could have hit the Japanese before they could decimate the Far East air fields. By the time MacArthur gave Brereton full use of his bombers the Japanese were on their way and smashed the Far East Air Fields. He was among the command staff that evacuated to Australia, and now commands the 57th…
George Fielding Eliot column on page ten… Sports section begins on page 42… On the following page we see that Birdie Tebbetts, starting Detroit Tiger catcher is off to join the Armed Forces. Also pictured is future Hall of Famer Charlie Gerhringer who will finish the season before joining the Navy.
Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Monarchs will play Josh Gibson and the Washington Homestead Grays tomorrow. Paige is 35 years old and will debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1949.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 12 August 1942. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-08-12/ed-1/