June 2nd, 1943 (WEDNESDAY)
FRANCE: Paris: Jean Paul Sartre's first play, Les Mouches is staged by Charles Dullin at the Théâtre de la Cité (once the Sarah Bernhardt). Sartres has refurbished the classical story of the house of Atreus, to represent Orestes as that very Sartrean character, the justified murderer, conscienceless about killing the mother and stepfather who stood in the way of his cause. Liberty proved to be defined as the power of his will over everyone else's. Naturally the Propaganda Abteilung had not objection to this totalitarian concept, and it passed the censorship. Alfred Buesche, the German critic in the Pariser Zeitung, warmly recommended the play as "a theatrical event of the first order."ITALY: Rome: In a message aimed at Allied bombing strategists, Pope Pius XII appeals to the warring nations to observe the "laws of humanity" in air warfare.
U.S.S.R.: Luftwaffe raiders bombard Soviet positions at Kursk; the Russians claim 162 "kills" for the loss of 30 planes.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: The British destroyer HMS JERVIS and the Greek ship VASILISSA OLGA attack an Italian convoy, sinking the torpedo boat CASTORE and two merchant ships.
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutians, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-9 lands 17 tons of weapons and ammunition and 11 tons of food on Kiska Island. The sub then evacuates 55 sailors, ten soldiers and 14 civilians.
CANADA: HMCS Frontenac launched Kingston, Ontario.
U.S.A.: Actor Tyrone Power is commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Famed American football player Nile Kinnick, winner of the 1939 Heisman Trophy, dies when a training flight from the USS Lexington over the Caribbean. He experienced engine problems during the flight and ditched into the Caribbean, while a rescue boat arrived soon after he ditched, his body was never found. (C J Martin)
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-105 (Type IXB) Sunk near Dakar, in position 14.15N, 17.35W, by depth charges from a one-of-a-kind French Potez-CAMS 141 flying boat named "Antarés" of Flotille d'exploration 4E, French Naval Air Force. 53 dead (all crew lost).
The 4-engine flying boat that sank U-105 was the only one of that design built. The aircraft, named after a star as tradition in the French Navy, was based at Dakar and she sank the boat after a 2 hour chase. (Alex Gordon)
U-521 (Type IXC) Sunk in the North Atlantic southeast of Baltimore, in position 37.43N, 73.16W, by depth charges from the US submarine chaser PC 565. 51 dead, 1 survivor (Alex Gordon)