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Naval base of Diego Suarez falls in 1942...
Naval base of Diego Suarez falls in 1942...
Item # 724931
May 07, 1942
NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM, May 7, 1942
* World War II "Operation Ironclad"
* Naval base of Diego Suarez captured
* Battle of Madagascar - Southeast Africa
The front page has a nice banner headline: "MADAGASCAR BASE FALLS" with subheads. (see images) Nice for display.
Complete with 36 pages, light toning at the margins, small library stamp slightly affects the headline, small binding holes along the spine, generally nice.
background: On May 7, 1942, the critical naval base of Diego Suarez fell to British forces following a daring maritime maneuver that effectively ended the first phase of Operation Ironclad. After two days of grueling inland fighting, the stalemate was broken when the destroyer HMS Anthony performed a high-speed dash into the harbor, landing 50 Royal Marines directly onto the quay under heavy fire. These Marines quickly seized the Vichy French command center and artillery batteries from the rear, causing a total collapse of the local defense and leading to a formal surrender by the afternoon. This victory was a vital strategic win for the Allies; it preemptively denied the Imperial Japanese Navy a deep-water port from which they could have intercepted vital supply lines in the Indian Ocean, though it also marked the beginning of a long, difficult campaign to bring the remainder of the island under Free French control.
Category: The 20th Century
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