NOVEMBER 30, 1942
Have we seen the last of Fred McCormick? Will Pete Papenfus and George Cleaves be able to come back after the war and start doing things with a baseball that they once did? Will Bill Barrett still own those razor-sharp reflexes and that famous wrist-snap that made him such a feared hitter?
Ask me another while you're at it. Ask me how long the war will last. I'll answer 'em all at once.
But I've talked to some veteran trainers and muscle men about the layoff, and what effect it will have on our top athlete's careers. They're unanimous in believing the war has pulled down the curtain on Fred McCormick's baseball success. Fred is now 33 years old. You cannot teach old muscles the old tricks in the twilight, they say.
*** LAYOFFS NOT FATAL ***
But the muscle experts are much more optimistic about the chances of youngsters like Bill Barrett and Pete Papenfus coming back. They think George Garrison and Roosevelt Brewer will be able to make it too. Garrison just turned 25 and Brewer is still 24. There was once a time when it was generally believed that an athlete who "laid off" for a full year could never hit his stride again, but the thinking has changed. Perhaps that was just a canard begun by the magnates to discourage holdouts, anyway. We will certainly have a much better idea whenever this war comes to an end, but you can wager that when it does more than a few careers of once prominent veteran big leaguers will also be ended
TWO OF THE SCHNEIDER TRIPLETS OFF TO THE NAVY
Buddy Schneider, the talented young second baseman of the Boston Minutemen is off to join the navy this week and will be joined by one of his brothers. Bart, a minor league pitcher in the Cleveland Foresters system, is joining Buddy as both elected to enlist in the Navy after receiving Selective Service notices for the Army. The final triplet, Chicago Cougars shortstop Skipper Schneider is staying put, at least for now, after Skipper once again failed his pre-induction physical.
The triplets had planned on enlisting together a week after last year's attack on Pearl Harbor but when Skipper was denied a position in the navy due to an undiagnosed hernia, his brothers elected not to enlist and returned to the diamond for the 1942 campaign. The choice was taken away from them this time as the trio received their draft notices and quickly requested permission to join the Navy. Buddy and Bart passed their physicals and will head off to training later this week but Skipper once more was turned away. He will rejoin the Chicago Cougars but is adamant that he will attempt to gain approval to join his brothers in the Navy.
The loss of Buddy, who hit .264 last season and was recently named the best defensive second sacker in the league by the Chicago Writers Association, is the latest in a series of devastating blows for the Minutemen, who saw pitchers Ray Dalpman and Bobby Montefusco enlist last week.
The triplets were drafted with 3 successive picks in the first round of the 1939 draft. Skipper, who also made the Chicago Writers list as the top fielding shortstop, is a key piece of the Chicago Cougars lineup and it appears he will remain with the club for the 1943 campaign after the Navy again rejected him. Bart spent last season in Class A with the Foresters organization and OSA would consider him to be a long shot to ever make the big leagues.
Here is the team by team list of players to enlist/be drafted this week:
BOSTON- Buddy Schneider 2B, Charlie Reed SS
BROOKLYN- Jack D Davis C, Rats McGonigle OF,
CHIEFS- none
COUGARS- Joe Crosby P
CINCINNATI- Ralph Joiner 2B, John Wicklund C
CLEVELAND- Eli Harkless OF, Walt Knight 1B, Lorenzo Samuels 1B, Bart Schneider P, Pete Sigmund OF
DETROIT- Ollie Williams OF,
MONTREAL- Ernie McCoy OF,
NY STARS- Chuck Cole P, Jack Wood P
NY GOTHAMS- Sammy Alger P, Frank Bunch Jr. 1B, Hub Parks OF,
KEYSTONES- Abe Abingdon P, Lee Scott SS
SAILORS- Jim McCarthy 3B, Mark Smith C,
PITTSBURGH- Henry 'Slim' Cook P, Al Cox 2B, Tony Puccinello P, Hans Stiles 3B
ST LOUIS- Ira Armstrong 2B, Mike Logan C,
TORONTO- none
WASHINGTON- Henry Bush Inf, Tommy Trott P
- Outfield is quickly becoming a position of need for the Montreal Saints. They lost Heine Billings and 22 year old Gordon McCarley a couple of weeks ago to the war effort. McCarley had a great season in AAA and just might have contended for a starting position with the big club after hitting .347 in Minneapolis. His main competition might have come from 1942 2nd-overall pick Ernie McCoy but now the Saints have learned the former Bluegrass State All-American got his draft notice and will be leaving next week.
- Keystones righthander Lloyd Stevens is in the Navy now and as such won't be pitching at Broad Street Park for quite some time but word is he may not be pitching for service teams for a while either. Stevens saw his 1942 season cut short by a pretty serious shoulder problem but the expectation was he would be as good as new by the New Year. However, it appears he reinjured his wing doing training exercises and has been told to lay off the lifting- and throwing- as it will take much longer to heal, possibly into the spring.
- Veteran outfielder Art Summers has left the Portland Green Sox after seven seasons in the northwest and joined the war effort. Prior to his lengthy stay in Portland the 35 year old spent half a dozen seasons in the Brooklyn Kings outfield and was a participant in the very first FABL all-star game back in 1933.
- There is a push by some FABL magnates to greatly reduce the league roster size for both FABL clubs and affiliated minors in order to allow all teams and leagues to continue to function. "It is the minor leagues I am worried about, especially the independent loops," said one at the recent winter meetings. The worry is there is just not enough players to go around so lowering roster maximums to 20-21 players at all levels would help keep all leagues afloat.
WILDCATS ONE WIN FROM PERFECTION
The Chicago Wildcats dominant season continued with arguably their best performance of the year as the Wildcats improved to 10-0 with a 47-0 rout of the Washington Wasps. No other team in the modern era (post 1935) has won 10 games in a season and all that stands between the Wildcats and a perfect 11-0 campaign is a trip to Cleveland for the season finale next week against the Finches. Chicago has dominated all facets of the game this season as the chart below illustrates. The Wildcats have scored the most points will surrendering the fewest in the league and have averaged the most offense will allowing the fewest yards against.
What makes Chicago's effort even more impressive is they have accomplished it without a true dominant star player. The Wildcats top rusher, Ira Hartley, is just 5th amongst league rushing leaders. John Fuchs, who shares the passing duties with Gus Brown, is 5th among throwers and the Wildcats do not have a receiver that makes the top ten in the league. What they do have is incredible depth and a coaching staff that spreads the workload, giving opponents too many threats to have to contend with. No one, at least so far, has been able to find a solution to top the Wildcats.
The St Louis Ramblers have really just one threat and while he is a very good one, the rushing heroics of rookie Bob Holt have not been enough to lead the Ramblers to a winning season. Holt did run for 83 yards yesterday and will be the prime focus next week in Detroit as he needs just 19 to tie Warren Howard's single season rushing record of 981 yards, but his Ramblers were shutout 20-0 by Brooklyn. Detroit also has a superstar player in extraordinary end Stan Vaught, who made 8 more catches yesterday and added his 10th interception of the season but it was not enough as the Maroons disappointing season continued with a 17-14 loss to Philadelphia.
Football is a team game and the Chicago Wildcats season just goes to show you do not need the best runner, or top receiver, to be successful. You need a team with depth and so far it looks like no one can match this season's group of Wildcats - possibly no one in the modern history of the game.
*** AMERICANS READY FOR CHALLENGE ***
While Chicago still has one more game to play, the Eastern Division champion Boston Americans wrapped up their 1942 campaign with a solid 24-0 victory in Pittsburgh. Boston finishes 9-2 on the season but the club will certainly have it's work cut out for it at Whitney Field in two weeks time. At stake will be the AFA championship and while the Chicago eleven looks daunting the Americans can use 1939 as inspiration. Three years ago the Yanks waltzed in to Whitney and walked away with a win and the league bragging rights. Many of the same characters will be suiting up for both sides with the most pressure likely on the Boston backfield duo of Del Thomas and Leon Fitzgerald. Each came up big on that afternoon with Fitzgerald being named the player of the game in the 21-14 Boston upset and much the same will be a necessity if Boston is going to repeat history with another title game road win.
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AFA STANDINGS
EASTERN W L T PCT
Boston 9 2 0 .818
New York 7 3 0 .700
Brooklyn 5 5 0 .500
Washington 5 6 0 .455
Philadelphia 3 8 0 .273
WESTERN W L T PCT
Chicago 10 0 0 1.000
Detroit 5 4 1 .556
St Louis 4 6 0 .400
Cleveland 2 8 0 .200
Pittsburgh 1 9 1 .100
AFA SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29
Brooklyn 20 St Louis 0
Philadelphia 17 Detroit 14
Chicago 47 Washington 0
New York 21 Cleveland 14
Boston 24 Pittsburgh 0
SUNDAY December 6
Brooklyn at New York
St Louis at Detroit
Chicago at Cleveland
END OF REGULAR SEASON
Code:
AFA LEADERS
SCORING PTS
Vaught, Det 126
Stein, Bkn 95
Holt, StL 60
Milatz, NYS 56
Hooper, Bos 50
Kelly, Bos 48
Frum, WAS 48
PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT
Thomas, Bos 164-300 1,776 17 12
Burnett, Det 148-282 1,698 21 13
Proos, Was 108-255 1,430 11 40
Boetcher, Cle 131-321 1,392 8 32
Fuchs, Chi 57-139 1,019 13 19
RUSHING YDS TD
Holt, StL 962 9
Stein, Bkn 833 7
Fitzgerald, Bos 643 5
Garecht, NY 566 5
Sadowski, Was 528 6
Hartley, Chi 503 7
RECEIVING CAT TD
Vaught, Det 80 16
Kelly, Bos 36 6
Hooper, Bos 30 4
Douglas, Was 28 2
G.Halladay, Pit 26 2
INERCEPTIONS #
Stein, Bkn 10
Vaught, Det 10
Murphy. Det 9
Spagna, Det 8
B McLean, Chi 8
Burnett, Det 7
Kurtzman, Cle 7
COLONELS ACCEPT EAST-WEST CLASSIC BID AFTER BLASTING GATORS 27-0
Georgia hears sweet music today -a brass band blaring: "California, Here I Come!" And followed it to a New Year Days engagement in Santa Ana's fabulous stadium. The invitation came -and was instantly accepted- a few minutes after Noble Jones College's great football team thundered over rival Georgia Baptist 27-0 before 45,000 howling fans in Atlanta.
The triumph, the final piece of a perfect season, seems to assure the Colonels their second National Championship in four seasons and third in school history. It marked a bitter end to the season for the Gators who, despite being forced to settle for a tie two weeks ago against Alabama Baptist, seemed certain it would be them and not the Colonels celebrating at the end of the day. Instead the Gators continue to search for their third national title, something they have not achieved since 1919.
Noble Jones, led by sensational senior Billy Bockhorst, was leading 7-0 before 10 minutes had elapsed and piled across two more touchdowns to gain a 20-0 advantage by half-time. From there it was no question of the outcome. The Colonels put across a fourth touchdown on a pass-interception to complete the victory and gain revenge for a 16-7 loss to the Gators a year ago.
Certain to be All-American Billy Bockhorst, playing his last regularly scheduled game for Noble Jones College, took the spotlight and ran with it...and passed with it as well. Bockhurst, seemingly cementing his claim to the Christian Trophy, gained 72 yards rushing and 107 passing, to run his unofficial yardage in total offense this season to 2,174 -an all-time record. Bockhorst set up the Colonels first scoring drive when he intercepted a Georgia Baptist pass on the 45 and ran 9 yards to the 36. Streaking off left tackle he went 19 more to the Gators 17. Three plays later Noble Jones had it's first lead and never looked back. Bockhorst scored the second Colonels touchdown on a 9 yard run and threw a 7-yard pass for their third major.
*** CUMBERLAND FALLS IN KENTUCKY ****
Cumberland's dreams of the first National Title in any major sport came crashing down as their hopes of a perfect season were dashed in Louisville with a heart-breaking 21-20 loss to Bluegrass State. The Explorers entered their season finale with a perfect 9-0 record and the thought that a Georgia Baptist win over Noble Jones might get Cumberland an invite to Santa Ana. That did not happen, of course, and the Cumberland loss knocked them out of a share of the Deep South Conference title as well. One small consolation was a phone call from New Orleans inviting the Explorers to participate in the Cajun Classic on New Years Day. Their opponent will be the Payne State Mavericks. The Stillwater, Oklahoma school went 9-1 on the year.
Miami State had also entered their final game with a perfect record, although against much weaker competition. The Gulls claims to a national title, weak as they might have been, flew away on Saturday when Huntington State played them to a 17-17 draw.
*** CC LOS ANGELES LIKELY WESTERN REPRESENTATIVE ***
The opponent for Noble Jones College in the East-West Classic has not been finalized but all indications are it will be the CC Los Angeles Coyotes. CCLA still has two games remaining -next weekend against lowly Idaho A&M and December 12 vs Los Angeles rival Coastal California- and assuming all goes as planned the 6-1-1 Coyotes will play in Santa Ana. Two wins would give CCLA the West Coast Athletic Association title thanks to a tiebreaker due to an early season win over Redwood. The East-West Classic committee is not expected to wait until those two games are played before naming the western representative. That decision is to come next weekend and will be CCLA unless they somehow lose to Idaho A&M.
NAVIGATORS FINEST ATTACK OF YEAR UPSETS ROME STATE
It has not been a great season for Annapolis Maritime as the Navigators were just 5-3 entering Saturday's showdown at Annapolis with Rome State. But the sailors saved their best effort for last and a win over the Centurions always makes it a successful season, no matter their other results. The Navigators did a great job controlling the time of possession, using a pounding running game to keep Rome State off-balance and off the scoresheet. The loss is a tough end to what was a pretty solid season for Rome State, finishing with a 6-2-1 record.
DETROIT CITY COLLEGE & WISCONSIN STATE SPLIT GLA
The Great Lakes Alliance will have co-champions after both Detroit City College and Wisconsin State finish a perfect 5-0 in section play and each are 9-1 overall. The Knights pulled even with a 54-3 thrashing of Western Iowa on Saturday and, with their lone loss this season to St Blane, will accept an invitation to the Desert Classic in El Paso. Detroit City College's opponent on New Year Day will be Bayou State from the Deep South Conference. The Cougars are 7-3 following their 20-3 victory over Baton Rogue State on the weekend.
CLASSIC MATCH-UPS
All games to be played on Jan 1
EAST-WEST CLASSIC (Santa Ana, CA)
Noble Jones College (11-0) vs TBD - likely CCLA (6-1-1)
SUNSHINE CLASSIC (Miami, FL)
Alabama Baptist (6-3-1) vs Commonwealth Catholic (7-1-1)
DESERT CLASSIC (El Paso, TX)
Detroit City College (9-1) vs Bayou State (7-3)
CAJUN CLASSIC (New Orleans, LA)
Cumberland (9-1) vs Payne State (9-1)
LONE STAR CLASSIC (Austin,TX)
Georgia Baptist (8-1-1) vs Travis College (6-2-2)
HAWAIIAN CLASSIC (Honolulu,HI)
cancelled due to WWII
WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD
KEY GAMES
Noble Jones College 27 Georgia Baptist 0
Bluegrass State 21 Cumberland 20
Miami State 17 Huntington State 17
Detroit City College 54 Western Iowa 3
Annapolis Maritime 14 Rome State 6
Coastal California 26 St. Blane 26
St. Patrick's 17 Commonwealth Catholic 17
Great Lakes Navy 17 St. Magnus 7
Jacksonville Naval Air Station 10 Carolina Poly 7
Brooklyn State 21 North Carolina Pre-Flight 14
Central Ohio 30 Iowa Pre-Flight 14
Georgia Pre-Flight 24 Hawaii All-Stars 0
Redwood 35 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 0
Pierpont 21 Brunswick 3
St. Ignatius 23 Lane State 10
Lubbock State 7 Red River State 3
Darnell State 17 Travis College 14
OTHER RESULTS
Boulder State 20 Mile High State 3
Strub College 46 Lakehurst NAS 0
Bayou State 20 Baton Rouge State 3
Daniel Boone College 45 Lawrence State 3
Valley State 7 College of Waco 7
Texas Panhandle 45 El Paso Methodist 0
Payne State 48 Arkansas A&T 0
Provo Tech 31 Idaho A&M 0
Topeka State 21 Cache Valley 20
Chesapeake State 10 Alexandria 7
Columbia Military Academy 9 Cowpens State 0
Richmond State 24 Petersburg 7
Opelika State 26 Coastal State 0
Lincoln 30 Camp Grant 3
Indiana A&M 34 Fort Knox 10
College of Omaha 14 Eastern Kansas 0
Northern Mississippi 37 Mississippi A&M 0
South Valley State 20 Tempe College 7
Eastern Oklahoma 29 Northern Minnesota 13
Laclede 37 Perry State College 6
Sunnyvale 27 California Catholic 0
Amarillo Methodist 20 Texas Gulf Coast 7
Penn Catholic 14 Conwell College 0
Spokane State 7 Rainier College 0
Oklahoma City State 23 Richmond State 7
Golden Gate University 31 Alameda Coast Guard 0
San Francisco Tech 17 Albuquerque Field 6
St Ignatius continues to hold down top spot in the polls, with Liberty College in second place. The Lancers lone game this week was a 46-34 win over Pueblo State and, aside from a December 11 meeting with Ohio Poly, the St Ignatius schedule does not look very difficult prior to the Christmas break. Liberty College improved to 5-0 with a dominating performance in a 57-27 win over Pierpont.
If you are looking for a breakout star early look no further than Baton Rogue State's Brent Bell. The senior guard is a 4-year starter for the Red Devils and averaged a solid 11.8 points per game a year ago. It has only been two games this season but the Watson, Louisiana native put together a outstanding performance in each of them. He opened the season with 22 points in a 59-50 overtime win against Richmond State and then followed it up with 26 points in Saturday's 56-48 loss to Northern California. No other Red Devils player had more than 4 points in that contest. Bell's 26 point effort established a new school single game record.
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AIAA TOP 25 RANKINGS
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. St. Ignatius (51) 2-0 1769 1 Great Lakes Alliance
2. Liberty College (14) 5-0 1723 2 Northeast Conference
3. CC Los Angeles (7) 4-0 1653 4 West Coast Athletic Association
4. Detroit City College 4-0 1623 3 Great Lakes Alliance
5. North Carolina Tech 4-0 1510 5 South Atlantic Conference
6. Coastal California 3-1 1394 7 West Coast Athletic Association
7. Carolina Poly 3-0 1333 9 South Atlantic Conference
8. Lane State 2-0 1311 8 West Coast Athletic Association
9. St. Patrick's 5-0 1257 11 Northeast Conference
10. Bulein 3-0 998 12 South Atlantic Conference
11. Alabama Baptist 4-0 971 13 Deep South Conference
12. Mobile Maritime 4-0 929 15 South Atlantic Conference
13. Minnesota Tech 5-0 901 18 Great Lakes Alliance
14. Western Iowa 3-1 884 19 Great Lakes Alliance
15. Chesapeake State 5-1 839 23 South Atlantic Conference
16. Jersey City Tech 5-0 761 22 Independent
17. Rainier College 2-1 702 21 West Coast Athletic Association
18. Whitney College 3-1 436 6 Great Lakes Alliance
19. Central Ohio 3-1 403 25 Great Lakes Alliance
20. Lubbock State 2-0 325 NR Southwestern Alliance
21. Northern California 2-1 214 10 West Coast Athletic Association
22. Wisconsin State 2-0 186 NR Great Lakes Alliance
23. Brooklyn Catholic 3-0 183 NR Independent
24. Hamman 5-0 173 NR Independent
25. Coastal State 1-0 142 NR South Atlantic Conference
RESULTS INVOLVING TOP TEAMS
Monday November 23
Central Kentucky 37 Garden State 30
Narragansett 42 Lincoln 35
Tuesday November 24
#9 St Patrick's 50 Bardney 38
#12 Mobile Maritime 57 Glover(GA)54
#13 Minnesota Tech 53 Miami State 45
#14 Western Iowa 60 East Missouri Seminary 50
Bayou State 57 #21 Northern California 32
Bluegrass State 43 Ohio Poly 41
Columbia Military Academy 55 Georgia Baptist 34
Huntington State 47 Indiana A&M 46
Wednesday November 25
#2 Liberty College 57 Pierpont 27
#7 Carolina Poly 41 Sadler 34
#16 Jersey City Tech 54 Wyoming A&I 47
#17 Rainier College 62 Fond du Lac 47
#22 Wisconsin State 49 Miners College 41
Annapolis Maritime 44 St Matthew's College 43
Thursday November 26
#3 CCLA 47 Flagstaff State 24
#11 Alabama Baptist 48 Brookland 31
#12 Mobile Maritime 59 St Martin's College 38
#13 Minnesota Tech 64 Great Plains State 57
#14 Western Iowa 46 Frankford State 43
#24 Hamman 47 Alexandria 44
Friday November 27
#7 Carolina Poly 54 Pierpont 30
#15 Chesapeake State 56 Allentown State 31
#16 Jersey City Tech 41 North Central (NE) 31
Fond du Lac 49 #18 Whitney College 47
#20 Lubbock State 40 Miami State 34
#21 Northern California 56 Baton Rogue State 48
#23 Brooklyn Catholic 45 Erie 37
Noble Jones College 40 Commonwealth Catholic 32
Saturday November 28
#1 St Ignatius 46 Pueblo State 34
#4 Detroit City College 48 Grafton 31
#10 Bulein 45 Provo Tech 27
#22 Wisconsin State 49 Flint 32
#24 Hamman 49 Cowpens State 41
Annapolis Maritime 48 St Blane 47
Dickson 55 Georgia Baptist 43
Sunday November 29
#5 North Carolina Tech 66 Brunswick 59
#8 Lane State 36 Bayou State 29
#12 Mobile Marine 57 Dudley 53
#16 Jersey City Tech 50 Constitution State 34
JOE HAMPTON UPDATE
We will follow the former St Louis Pioneers draft pick and son of former Chicago Chiefs star Jim Hampton as he continues his freshman season with Western Iowa after giving up on his baseball career. The Canaries are 3-1 on the season with wins last week over East Missouri Seminary and Frankford State. Hampton played in both games, including the contest in St Louis which was a 60-50 victory for the Canaries over the Crusaders. Hampton started the game but had a quiet night, going 0-for-4 from the field in his 28 minutes of action. He had just 1 point and a single assist while turning the ball over once. Perhaps the pressure of playing in St Louis got into his head but he did not recover two nights later either. It was a tight win but the Canaries prevailed 46-43 over Frankford State. Hampton again started, which he has done all 4 games this season, but was 0-2 shooting and just 1-3 on free throw attempts. He did chip in with 3 steals, 2 assists and 2 boards and did not turn the ball over.
On the young season Hampton is averaging 6.5 ppg and 27 minutes of playing time. He had 12 points in each of his first two games - a loss to St Patrick's and a win over Piedmont University but just one in each of the next two. His Western Iowa team does not play this week and are not back in action until December 9 when they face College of Cairo and then Colorado Poly two nights later.
The Knights dropped one spot in the polls, falling behind CC Los Angeles and dipping to fourth in the rankings despite picking up a win in their only game of the week. That was a 48-31 laugher over Grafton in which the Knights led 25-8 at the break. Jack Kurtz led the way with 20 points, which was a career best for the junior. Roman Sollars added 14 and through the first 4 games is averaging 17.3 ppg, which is good for fifth in the entire AIAA. Grafton is 0-3 on the year but playing a tough early going schedule with all three losses coming to top 10 teams as St Patrick's and Coastal California where the others. It doesn't get much easier for the Scholars this week, as after a game they should win at Troy State tomorrow they then visit Philadelphia to meet #2 Liberty College on Friday.
THE WEEK AHEAD
A quiet week for the Knights, who do not play at all in the next 7 days. They are back in action a week from today with a game against Armstrong College. The Aces are another Keystone Alliance school, like Detroit City's earlier opponent Mahoning Valley State. The Aces are 3-3 thanks to a strong showing at the Bigsby Invitational. The Aces lost to eventual tourney champ Chesapeake State in their opener but then claimed the consolation championship with wins over Grange College and Middlesex. Armstrong is in action tonight, playing Queen City, and then has the rest of the week off before the Detroit City College game.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 11/29/1942
- Reports from the Polish underground movement suggest that Heinrich Himmler, head of the Nazi Gestapo, has ordered that one-half of the large Jewish population in occupied Poland be exterminated by the end of the year.
- Allies score rapid gains in a full scale attack in Tunisia
- The Red Army is reporting it killed or captured more than 43,000 Germans in 4 days and driving ahead to fully retake Stalingrad. If successful the drive will trap nearly 400,000 Nazi soldiers. The Germans are rushing more tanks to the region an effort to counteract the Russian advance.
- The R.A.F. switched the focus of it's attack from battered Italy to Germany, as hundreds of planes rained demolition and incendiary bombs on war factories in the Stuttgart area.
- With the Nazis attacking the French base in Toulon, intent on taking possession of the remaining French warships there, French sank their entire fleet rather than allow it to fall into German hands. A few days later a French sub arrived in Barcelona from Toulon, adding hope that others may have escaped the German takeover and might join Allied forces.
- Leaders of the Congressional anti-rationing bloc met to consider legislation for outlawing the gasoline rationing program in oil-surplus areas in spite of President Roosevelt's warning that nationwide rationing must start next week to prevent victory being delayed by a shortage.