World War II Chronicle: June 19, 1943
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You have to wonder what it was like for the Japanese when you send 120 aircraft to raid Guadalcanal and only 26 return (see the front page). At this point of the war, Japan’s corps of experienced aviators is dwindling and their once-feared fighters are now outclassed by high-performance American fighters like the new Grumman F4U Corsairs and improved Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. The picture will become even more bleak when Grumman’s newest Naval fighter, the F6F Hellcat, becomes operational soon. A war correspondent gives a first-hand account of the action on page four…
USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77), a Coast Guard cutter that was escorting a convoy between Greenland and Nova Scotia, is pictured on page two. No explosion was heard, but the ship was quickly engulfed and sunk in the frigid North Atlantic waters. Only two sailors were rescued, and that was because they had frozen to debris before the unconscious men could slip beneath the waves to join the rest of their crew. 19 officers and 92 men perished in what was believed to be a U-boat attack, but no German crew claimed the sinking, so it is possible the cutter hit a drifting mine…
George Fielding Eliot addresses German concerns that the Allies may plan an invasion of the Eastern Mediterranean on page six… The following page mentions that three flight cadets assigned to Shaw Army Airfield in Sumter, S.C. died in three separate crashes within two hours. Records indicate all three flew the BT-13 Vultee basic trainer and died as the result of a stall or spin… Sports section starts on page 17 and Boston Braves manager Casey Stengel is finally back in the dugout after missing much of the season with a fractured leg…
The St. Louis Browns’ star first baseman George McQuinn is headed for induction into the Armed Forces, despite being 32 years old, back problems, and he has an eight-month-old at home. Fortunately for the McQuinn family, his back issues are enough to bench him from military service. In 1938 he hit safely in 34 straight games, and was considered one of the best first basemen in the game. Rawlings made a George McQuinn model first-baseman’s mitt, which was worn by George H.W. Bush, the first sacker for Yale before he joined the Navy. When Bush became president, he kept his glove in the Oval Office’s desk.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 19 June 1943. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1943-06-19/ed-1/