Stars and Stripes Review: July 29, 1943

Scanned by Cody Lizotte.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, The Stars and Stripes is the daily publication for the U.S armed forces and has been published since World War I. It has been published both as a traditional newspaper and a tabloid. Today, many issues of Stars and Stripes that denote famous wartime events are highly sought, such as D-Day and "Hitler Dead". This issue, however, does not show any events of major historical importance, but is instead a unique insight into the everyday reality of World War II.

This specific issue was published in London, however as the war progressed other editions sprang up such as North Africa, Paris, and Munich, Germany. This issue's headline topic concerns the Allied policy of the Combined Bombing Initiative, where the Americans would bomb Germany during the day and the British would bomb during the night.

Also included in this issue are the first signs of strains between Germany and Italy. As peace talks begin, Italy is seen as willing to surrender to the Allies, an act that they won't commit until the Allied invasion of mainland Italy (at the time of this issue, the Germans had yet to be defeated in Sicily).

Along with various war-related stories, there's also the full-page sports section (the issue's only one sheet of folded paper, with sports being on page 3 and the other pages dealing with war issues) reporting the results from the minor leagues of baseball as well as an upset for the Phillies as the Cardinals beat them 6-2 and 5-2, leading to a replacement of the Philies' manager.

Finally, there's the comics. There are only two strips in this issue (sometimes there's at least five), and neither of them are in circulation today: Li'l Abner and a 'new' one Terry and the Pirates. These strips follow the model of serials rather than witty one-offs every day. However, for the men in the trenches it was a refreshing break from the harshness of war. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.