THE JEAN BART

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 November 1942, Page 3

THE JEAN BART

BATTERED & BROKEN HELL RESULTS OF AMERICAN ATTACK. ADMIRAL PRAISES COURAGE OF FRENCH. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, November. 16. “The French battleship Jean Bart, stricken by American naval might, lies at a pier at Casabalanca like a discarded tomato-tin, blown open at both ends,” says the Associated Press correspondent at the Allied headquarters. “Great steel deck-plates are buckled like cardboard, severed communication cables trail in the'water, and there is a hole in the side 75 feet long. Sisteen-inch naval shells and aerial torpedoes 10 times struck the 'Jean Bart. Twenty sailors were killed at the anti-aircraft guns when 24 United States naval planes made a continuous attack Rear-Admiral Hewitt, commander of the amphibious forces of the Atlantic Fleet, has praised the courage of the French. He said that the Jean Bart several times opened fire after he thought she -had been silenced. “We were forced to zigzag for safety. A shell from the Jean Bart just missed my ship, the splash reached me on the bridge,” he said. Three unharmed merchant ships only 75 yards from the Jean Bart testified to the accuracy of the American gunfire.

FUNDS FOR ARMY STRICT SECRECY OBSERVED IN LONDON. LONDON, November 16. Returning furtively after dinner, directors and executives of the Bank of England locked themselves in the vaults and counted, bundled, wrapped, and dispatched a large number of Algerian francs for the use of the First Army. Secrecy was essential because knowledge of the currency preparations would have “tipped off” the enemy. To provide the balance of the currency that is required by the First Army, the military for the first time in history has issued its own»notes in denominations of between a shilling and a pound. Unrestricted use of sterling notes might have enabled enemy agents to unload some of the vast quantity of sterling notes which was secured in occupied Europe. BENGHAZI BLASTED BRITISH AND AMERICAN AIR ATTACKS. RETREATING ENEMY HARRIED RELENTLESSLY. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.5 a.m.) RUGBY, September 16. Today’s Cairo communique states: “The pursuit of the panzer remnants continues. Benghazi and the coastal area eastwards were bombed and machine-gunned on Saturday night. One particularly large explosion and fires were caused in Benghazi port. Yester-

day our fighters continued to harass the retreating enemy. One Heinkel was destroyed. Our . long-range fighters again inflicted damage on west-bound Axis vehicles in the Agheila-Agedabia area. They also destroyed grounded aircraft. “From these and other operations in Libya and Tunisia five of our aircraft are missing.” A communique from the United States Army headquarters in Cairo, describing the part taken by American planes in the operations described above, mentions that a fire started in Benghazi on Saturday night was visible for 60 miles; also that the missions of American fighters against the retreating enemy were termed “most successful.”