Formation of Free French Government Announced in UK

[Globalization41]

London, Special Cable to The New York
Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941:
Formation of a Free French National Council,
to be in effect a provisional government, with
political as well as military aims, was
announced today. ... Today's move takes on
significance as a definite bid by the Free
French for the same status as other
governments in exile now enjoy. ... Their policy
was explicitly laid down in a statement by
General Charles de Gaulle. "The Free
French," he said, "recognize none of the
violations of the laws of the French Republic
perpetrated by the Germans and their
accomplices in Vichy. France is in a state of
latent revolt, made manifest by the horrible
deeds of the invaders and their collaborators.
Every day blood flows in Paris." ... [The aim
of the Free French] "is focussed on one policy:
the liberation of France." He said the Free
French now have 50,000 men equipped and
in fighting trim, mostly in the Middle East and
Africa, with a few in the United Kingdom.

Zagreb, Croatia, Associated Press, The
New York Times, Tuesday, September 23,
1941: Ninety-eight Croat soldiers and six
officers have been killed by Serbian "outlaws"
who defied an ultimatum by the German-
controlled government of Serbia to come out of
their hideouts willingly or be bombed out, it
was learned tonight. ... It was also announced
that two members of the official Ustachi
assault squads of Ante Pavelich, Croatian
Chief of State, had been court-martialed and
shot for "despotically murdering and robbing
Serbs." ... Another report told of the killing of
four Croatian Ustachis by Italians [both sides
allied with the Germans] near Mostar. The
Ustachis, members of the Croatian official
party, were shot as they emerged from a forest
near Mostar, which is under Italian rule,
accounts received here said.

Berlin, By Telephone to The New York
Times, By C. Brooks Peters, Tuesday,
September 23, 1941: Ten days after the
reported encirclement of four entire Russian
armies east of Kiev [475 miles southwest of
Moscow & 280 miles north of Osessa (on the
Black Sea)], the German High Command
announced in a special communique from
Reichsfuehrer Hitler's field headquarters today
that these trapped forces were in dissolution,
that 50 Soviet divisions had been destroyed,
and that 380,000 prisoners had been taken.
... Desperate Russian attempts to break
through the German lines were said to have
been repulsed with heavy Soviet losses. The
plight of the trapped Russians was so extreme,
the Germans declared, that officers and
political commissars tried in vain to escape
through the German lines to join Marshal
Semyon Budenny's still intact army far to the
southeast. ... It appears that Marshal Budenny
has succeeded in erecting a new line of
defense between Poltava [190 miles east-
southeast of Kiev] and Kharkov [250 miles
east of Kiev, 65 miles northeast of Poltava].
This is considered remarkable when one
recalls the terrific losses reported to have been
inflicted on the Ukrainian Army not only west of
the Dnieper River but also in the Kiev region.
None the less, the reports of the official news
agency, D.N.B., clearly intimate that Russian
resistance in the Eastern Ukraine has not yet
been crushed. [Hitler felt the Soviets were
counter-attacking with their last reserves and
continued to express that belief until Eastern
Europe was overrun by the Red Army in
1945.] ... Yesterday, somewhere west of
Kharkov, Soviet forces are reported to have
engaged in strong attacks against advancing
German motorized units. The Russians used
tanks, artillery, armored trains, aircraft, and
infantry in their attempt to halt the German drive
into the Donets basin [an ecomically strategic
industrial and coal producing region about a
165 miles southeast of Kharkov]. The
Germans claim to have repulsed all these
counter-drives and to have destroyed 30
Soviet tanks. ... The fact that the Russian
Command can deliver such counter-actions
implies that the Soviet forces in the Eastern
Ukraine are not in disordered retreat, but
continue to represent a unified military group
capable of carrying out tactical manoeuvres.
It is clear that the Russians wish to defend
Kharkov. ... The Germans officially report that
the battle of annihilation east of Kiev [and west
of Kharkov] is approaching its conclusion. ...
The Germans report that, in addition to
destroying 50 Soviet divisions and taking
380,000 prisoners east of Kiev, they have
captured or destroyed more than 570 tanks
and 2,000 pieces of artillery. These figures,
they add, grow larger each hour. On the basis
of this and prior official statements, the
Germans assertedly have taken some
2,200,000 prisoners and inflicted 4,500,000
casualties on the Russian armed forces. At
present, it is added here, the Soviets can less
afford to lose 50 divisions than in the early
stages of the campaign. ... From the main
theatres in the central sector the Germans
report nothing that gives any indication of the
progress of the operations there. Attacks and
counter-attacks continue -- but on so small a
scale as to suggest that nothing of importance
is happening in this sector. ... In the Leningrad
sector [400 miles northeast of Moscow] the
Germans claim to have repulsed all Russian
attempts at escape and to have made further
territorial gains at great cost to the Soviet. ...
Units of the German Air Force are said to have
bombed Leningrad and railroad connections
around Bryansk [210 miles southwest of
Moscow] and Kharkov [400 miles south of
Moscow] and in Crimea [700 miles south-
southwest of Moscow].

Chungking, China, Associated Press, The
New York Times, Tuesday, September 23,
1941: Changsha, Hunan Province, was under
alarm all day yesterday as Japanese
warplanes roared overhead through a steady
rain, bombing scattered parts of the province.
... Changsha itself was not bombed, but
Liuyang, 50 miles to the east, was raided three
times. ... ... Chungking, China, Associated
Press, The New York Times, Wednesday,
September 24, 1941: [Tuesday, U.S. time]
More than 100,000 Japanese troops and
scores of bombers are battering against
Chinese positions about 50 miles north of
Changsha in thus far indecisive fighting,
Chinese dispatches said today.

Cairo, Egypt, Wireless to The New York
Times, Tue., Sept. 23, 1941: Royal Air Force
bombers shattered a large Axis liner in the
Mediterranean on Sunday, landing eight direct
hits amidships and one on the water line, it
was announced here today. The raiders
pressed home the attack despite the anti-
aircraft fire of escorting warships. ... The
following night the Fleet Air Arm raided an
Axis convoy at sea and strafed a
merchantman. ... R.A.F. bombers were said
to have effectively raided Portolago Bay on the
Island of Leros yesterday. Daylight attacks
also destroyed barracks, stores dumps, and
trucks at Homs and Misurata in Cyrenaica.
The low-flying raiders machine-gunned Axis
troops and inflicted heavy casualties, it was
said. Bengazi and Barce were bombed the
previous night. ... Vigorous action by British
patrols from Tobruk is steadily enlarging the
no-man's land around the defensive perimeter.
The Italians hold some posts only in the
daytime and evacuate them each night to
avoid deadly skirmishing. In the frontier area
the British report that their patrols are carrying
the fight to the enemy.

Vichy, France, Wireless to The New York
Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941: The
execution of three more Communists by the
German military in Lille in occupied France
was announced today. All were convicted of
several bombing and arson attempts.

Griffith Stadium, Washington, Associated
Press, The New York Times, Tuesday,
September 23, 1941: A two-run uprising in the
9th brought Washington [68-80, 6th place] a
4-3 decision over Boston [80-69, 2nd place]
today for the Senators' sixth straight victory.
[Boston clinched 2nd in the A.L. on Sunday
behind the Yanks (98-51) who clinched 1st
place on Sept. 4th. With the end of the
regular season in less than a week, the
Senators and Browns (67-82) contended for
6th while the White Sox (74-76), Tigers
(74-76), and Indians (73-76) battled for 3rd.
The A's (63-87) were one loss (or one Brownie
win) from ensuring themselves of a basement
finish.] ... Pinch-Hitter Buddy Lewis [batting for
Jimmy Bloodworth] drew a walk to open the
final frame and went to second when George
Case walked. Roger Cramer drove a single to
left center, scoring Lewis, and Case raced
home when Dom DiMaggio fumbled in fielding
the ball. [Cramer went two for five with a
double.] ... The Red Sox produced a run in the
2nd on Bobby Doerr's single, Lamar [Skeeter]
Newsome's double, and Frankie Pytlak's
infield bounder. They added two more in the
4th [giving them a 3-2 lead] on doubles by Ted
Williams and Jim Tabor and Doerr's one-
baser. [Hitting one for three, Williams
dropped one point off his batting average,
from .406 to .405, with 176 hits in 434 at bats.
... Additionally for Boston, Dom DiMaggio
singled three times, Al Flair doubled, and
Pytlak singled.] ... In the 3rd, Case was safe
at the plate [tying the contest at 1-1] and
Cramer took third on a double steal which
caught the Red Sox flat-footed. Cramer later
tallied on Cecil Travis's double [which was
Travis's 210th hit of the season as he closed
out the day hitting .358 in 586 at bats]. [Hillis
Layne for Washington and DiMaggio for the
Sox also stole bases.] ... Jack Wilson [2.1
innings, one hit, three walks, two strikeouts]
went to the mound for Boston in the 7th when
Joe Dobson [5.2 innings, six hits, three walks,
three strikeouts] pulled a shoulder muscle.
Wilson was charged with the loss. ... Jimmie
Foxx, acting Boston captain, wrote Dick
Newsome's name by mistake on the notice of
starting batteries handed the umpires and
under the rules Newsome was required to
pitch to at least one batter. Case,
Washington's first batter, smacked a grounder
at Newsome, was thrown out at first, and Foxx
immediately sent Dobson to the mound.
[Washington hurler Sid Hudson left for a
pinch hitter in the home 9th, trailing 3-2, but
picked up the win and a complete game when
the Senators rallied. He scattered ten hits,
fanned seven, walked one, and stranded
seven Red Sox. Hudson mixed his pitches
well, delivering seven outfield flyouts (two
each to Cramer in center and Roberto Ortiz in
right and three to Case in left) and ten fielding
assists (four by Jimmy Bloodworth at second,
two by Layne at third, three by Travis at short,
one by Vernon at first, two by catcher Jake
Early, and one comebacker). ... Bloodworth
turned the game's only twin killing, going 4-3.
... The Red Sox totaled eight fielding assists,
led by Doerr with three at secondbase.
Boston's outfield alignment of Williams in left,
DiMaggio in center, and Stan Spence in right
gloved only three flyballs, one by each
outfielder. ... Washington stranded nine
baserunners. ... Case, Layne, Mickey
Vernon, and Bloodworth each contributed a
single for Washington. ... The attendance
was estimated at 5,000. ... The umpires were
Bill Grieve calling pitches, Bill McGowan at
first, and John A. Quinn at third. ... Time of
game was 1:40.]

Starting Lineups

Boston Red Sox
Dom DiMaggio cf
Stan Spence rf
Al Flair 1b
Ted Williams lf
Jim Tabor 3b
Bobby Doerr 2b
Skeeter Newsome ss
Frankie Pytlak c
Dick Newsome p

Washington Senators
George Case lf
Doc Cramer cf
Hillis Layne 3b
Cecil Travis ss
Mickey Vernon 1b
Roberto Ortiz rf
Jake Early c
Jimmy Bloodworth 2b
Sid Hudson p

Washington, Special to The New York
Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941: It was
doubted in diplomatic circles here today that
the United States would take any cognizance
for the moment of the French National Council
established in London by General Charles de
Gaulle as a de facto French Government. The
United States still recognizes the French
Government in Vichy.

Rushville, Indiana, United Press, The New
York Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941:
Phillip Willkie, 21, son of Wendell L. Willkie
[Republican candidate in the 1940
presidential election], said today that he
intended to enlist in the Navy "soon." Young
Willkie, who is visiting his grandmother,
registered here in the 1941 draft registration
for 21-year-olds. [Wendell Willkie advocated
a U.S. foreign policy of interventionism in his
1940 presidential bid. But the instinctive
isolationism of the general American
population allowed Roosevelt to politically
cut off Willkie by promising to keep America
out of the war.]

St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Tuesday, Sept.
23, 1941: Robert "Rudy" Kober, a South St.
Louisan who has been officiating as an umpire
in the Southern Association for several years,
returned home [Tuesday] upon the conclusion
of the Dixie Series in which Nashville, of the
Association, won four straight games from
Dallas of the Texas League. Kober said he
had enjoyed a fine season and was fortunate
enough to draw assignments in the Texas
League playoffs as well as the Dixie Series.
... Kober lives with his mother at 4263
Ellenwood Avenue. ... ... Advertisement:
Famous - Barr Co., St. Louis's largest array of
celebrated Hats, second floor. ... "Brimmer"
by Knox, $6.50. Soft rich tones of mid brown,
cape tan, khaki snuff, and many other
shades in Knox's fall classic. Wide brim,
streamline crown, welt edge.

Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Associated
Press, The New York Times, Tuesday,
September 23, 1941: Taking advantage of a
jittery defense that committed four errors,
Chicago's Cubs routed Johnny Vander Meer
[1.1 innings, three hits, two walks, no
strikeouts] in a four-run 2nd inning today and
went on to defeat Cincinnati 5-1, behind Bill
Lee's eight-hit hurling. [Lee tossed nine
innings, fanned two, walked one, and stranded
six. Lee's deliveries had the Reds hitting
harmless bouncers up the middle as the
Cubs converted 14 fielding assists, seven by
Bobby Sturgeon at short, four by Lou Stringer
at second, two comebackers, and one by
catcher Bob Scheffing. Cincy batsmen lofted
only two outfield flyouts, going to Barney
Olsen in center and Phil Cavarretta who had
subbed for Lou Novikoff in left.] ... However,
since the Pirates [79-70, 4th place] lost one
game [of a pair with the Cards (95-54, 2nd
place)], Cincinnati [84-65] needs only one
more victory to clinch 3rd place. [The 6th-
place Cubs (69-81) trailed the (70-78) Giants
by two games. ... The Dodgers (97-53, 1st
place) and Braves (61-89, 7th place) were not
scheduled while the Giants divided a
doubleheader with the Phils (42-107, last
place).] ... Eddie Lukon's two-base muff of Bill
Nicholson's fly, doubles by Babe Dahlgren and
Bob Scheffing [the only extra-base hits of the
contest], an outfield fly [by Sturgeon scoring
Stringer who had walked prior to Scheffing's
double], and a single by Lee [putting the
Cubs up 4-0] sent [the southpaw] Vander Meer
to the showers and his 13th defeat and iced as
well the Chicago hurler's eighth victory.
[Righty-throwing Jim Turner (6.2 innings, four
hits, one strikeout, no walks) relieved lefty
Vander Meer and stayed on the mound for
the Reds until rookie call-up Hank Sauer
pinch singled for Turner in the 8th. The Cubs
could muster only one tally off Turner, that
coming in the 5th for a 5-0 lead. The Reds'
run came in the 6th. ... Joe Beggs (two hits,
no strikeouts, no walks) mopped up the 9th for
the Reds. ... With Cincinnati short on
southpaws, Chicago manager Jimmie Wilson
swapped in lefty hitters Charlie Gilbert for
Olsen in center and Cavarretta for Novikoff in
left after Vander Meer departed. Both Gilbert
and Cavarretta singled. (Besides Vander
Meer, who made only one relief appearance
for the year, Bob Logan posted the only three
other innings hurled from the port side by the
Reds' 1941 staff. Thus Cincinnati's otherwise
sound pitching staff was unable to neutralize
top lefty hitters unless Vander Meer started.)
... Johnny Hudson, Nicholson, Sturgeon, and
Stringer each contributed a single to the Cub
offense. ... Chicago thirdbaseman Hudson
posted no fielding chances. ... Cincinnati
shortstop Eddie Joost totaled ten fielding
chances -- three putouts. four assists, and
three muffs. ... Other fielding assists for the
Reds included three each by pitcher Turner
and secondbaseman Lonny Frey, two by
catcher Ernie Lombardi, one by Frank
McCormick at first, and one by Mike
McCormick from centerfield. ... Cincy's two
twin killings were started by Turner (1-6-3) and
Joost (6-4-3). ... Cincinnati slapped eight
scattered singles, two each by Lukon, Bill
Werber, and Gleeson and one each by Joost
and Sauer. ... Cub hurler Lee helped himself
by turning a comebacker (1-6-3) into the only
Chicago doubleplay. ... The Cubs stranded
four baserunners. ... The umpires were
George Barr behind the plate, Lou Jorda at
first, and Al Barlick at third. ... Time of game
was 1:44. ... The attendance was 2,172.]

Starting Lineups

Chicago Cubs
Johnny Hudson 3b
Barney Olsen cf
Lou Novikoff lf
Bill Nicholson rf
Babe Dahlgren 1b
Lou Stringer 2b
Bob Scheffing c
Bobby Sturgeon ss
Big Bill Lee p

Cincinnati Reds
Eddie Joost ss
Eddie Lukon rf
Bill Werber 3b
Frank McCormick 1b
Ernie Lombardi c
Mike McCormick cf
Jim Gleeson lf
Lonny Frey 2b
Johnny Vander Meer p

Rome, By Telephone to The New York
Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941:
Praise for Switzerland because she freely
permits social teachings of the church is
contained in a letter from Pope Pius XII to
Joseph Scherrer, President of the Swiss
Christian Social Workers League, which
Osservatore Romano publishes today.

Rome, By Telephone to The New York
Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941: Five
Communists were condemned to death in
Tuzia, Bosnia, according to [a dispatch printed
in the Italian press]. ... ... Berlin, By
Telephone to The New York Times,
Tuesday, September 23, 1941: From
German-occupied Belgium today came
reports of five new death sentences -- three
against Communists and two for "favoring the
enemy."

London, Reuters, The New York Times,
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1941: The Peoples Court
in Berlin has sentenced to death Josef Skalda,
Czech leader, and 15 other Czechs to long
terms of imprisonment for being associated in
the publication of two Czech newspapers
[circulated illegally].

Manila, Wireless to The New York Times,
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1941: Apparently working
on the assumption that the U.S. Congress will
make available $54,000,000 for Philippine
defenses, President Manuel Quezon and Lieut.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, chief of the Far
Eastern Command, have determined at
a series of conferences on plans for
incorporating all the Philippine reserve forces
into the United States Army by the end of the
year. [The Philippines flanked the long sea
lanes to the Dutch East Indies oil, coveted by
the Japanese Empire desiring self-
sufficiency.] ... ... Honolulu, United Press,
The New York Times, Tuesday, Sept. 23,
1941: The Hawaiian territorial Senate adopted
unanimously today the administration's "M-Day
Bill," giving Governor Joseph Poindexter
broad powers over the civilian population in
the event of an emergency in the Pacific.

Manila, Wireless to The New York Times,
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 1941: Each day brings the
Filipinos a step nearer complete preparation
for any part it may be forced to play in the Far
Eastern upheaval. Blackouts and air-raid drills
are being held more and more frequently, with
millions of persons cooperating.

London, Special Cable to The New York
Times, Tuesday, September 23, 1941: In his
speech at a luncheon attended by John G.
Winant, U.S. Ambassador, Mr. Maisky, the
Russian Ambassador to London, declared that
at the present moment the fate of humanity for
many generations to come was being decided
on the battlefields around Leningrad, in White
Russia, and in the Ukraine. ... ... He said that
in 1940 there were more than 300,000
independent religious communities of every
kind in Russia, more than 8,000 churches, and
about 60,000 clergymen. Roman Catholic
chaplains conduct services in the new Polish
Army in Russia, he said.

[Stay tuned for late breaking war bulletins.
... Globalization41.]