June 6th, 1943 (SUNDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: W. Jay Stone along with 16,000 other US servicemen arrive at Gourock, Scotland aboard the RMS Queen Mary, 5 days out of New York.
EASTERN EUROPE: SS units murder thirteen thousand Jewish men, women and children in five medium-sized "Aktions" throughout occupied Poland and the Ukraine.(Greg Kelley)SPAIN: Madrid: General Franco proposes "no-bombing" zones in Europe; the Allies reject the idea as beneficial to the Axis.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: During the night of 5/6 June, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) Wellingtons hit the town and docks of Pantelleria Island. The following afternoon, Spitfires, P-40s, P-38s, B-26 Marauders, A-20 Havocs, A-36 Apaches, and B-25 Mitchells of the NASAF, Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) and USAAF Ninth Air Force continue pounding the island. The Allied air bombardment increases and is concentrated on coastal batteries and other gun emplacements as the second phase of air offensive against Pantelleria Island starts.
ALGERIA: Algiers: General de Gaulle, in a
controversial speech to the Free (Fighting) French here this morning, called for
a fourth republic. His appeal for "national renovation" is being taken
by observers here to mean that he does not intend France to return to the
pre-war constitution of the Third Republic. De Gaulle also told his audience
that "France does not want to be liberated by others, even by her best
friends. She does not want gifts. We intend win our liberty ourselves."
TERRITORY OF ALASKA: In the Aleutian Islands, the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-24 reports that it is approaching Kiska to land supplies and evacuate personnel. The sub is never heard from again.
U.S.A.: Less than two weeks after the home front riots in Los Angeles, California - Detroit, Michigan exploded in violence fed by rumours and resentment of blacks working in defence plants. At the end of this forgotten chapter of American history, 25 blacks and nine whites lay dead. Detroit citizens of all races called the awful event "bloody week." While war raged abroad, war of a different kind raged at home. (Denis Peck)