1 20 3 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/16/372/Dibble_Text0102.pdf 0ac370e32fba46bb9932315f9d4c22e6 PDF Text Text IKE'S ESCORT On July 31, 1943 four pilots from the 1st Fighter Group, 94th Fighter Squadron, Lts. Archie Jackson, Jim Dibble, John Cram and Ralph Thiessen were selected for an escort mission. Following the usual breakfast of powdered eggs, bacon, hardtack bread, margarine and boiled coffee the pilots were told to fly to El Aouina airdrome which was located about 35 miles from the pilot’s base at Mateur, Tunisia and 15 miles from Tunis. They were to receive their final briefing after they arrived at the airdrome. The pilots were met by a high-ranking Army officer and told that they would be escorting a C-53 and it was to be protected at all costs. Soon a staff car arrived and the passengers proceed to head for the transport. The pilots were about to escort General Eisenhower and his staff around the Mediterranean area. Eisenhower had arrived earlier in the morning to meet with Air Marshall Tedder. The Air Marshall had word that Pietro Badoglio, who had recently been made Premier by King Victor Emmanuell III following the fall of Mussolini, was actively trending to the Germans. Tedder wanted permission to resume the heavy aerial bombardment of Italy, particularly of Naples and of the marshalling yards at Rome. Eisenhower agreed and gave his permission. Eisenhower had arrived in his B-17 but the fortress burned out a brake when landing at El Aouina. The group transferred to a C-53 which had a Disney insignia painted on the nose which read “Time’s a Wastin’.” With the General and his staff in the transport, the P-38 pilots took off and circled the field until the C-53 took off and was on its way to Sicily. Eisenhower’s first stop was to see General Patton in Palermo. Palermo had fallen to the Americans one week earlier. General Patton met Eisenhower at the Boccodi-Falco airfield. It was fortunate that the brake on the B-17 had failed because the runway that nestled amongst the mountains bordering Palermo was not only very short but also not level. The C-53 bounced hard and landed uphill. As the Generals left to tour the city, the escort pilots tried to leave the airfield for their own tour but were stopped because of Patton’s orders that anyone in the town had to wear a steel helmet. They had none so they had to stay with their planes. It was hot so the pilots found an olive tree close by and waited for Ike to return. �Meanwhile, Eisenhower and Patton were touring Palermo. The effects of the bombing that had taken place were devastating. The first thing the Americans had to do was organize Italian workers with G.I. bulldozers to clear streets, particularly those in the vicinity of the docks. General Patton was living in the Palace of the King of Sicily and following the tour of the city stopped with Eisenhower at the Palace for a Spam luncheon before returning to the airport. Upon the generals return the pilots were told that their next stop would be Syracuse. Eisenhower was anxious to meet with General Alexander to make sure that there were no misunderstandings over how the Allies were going to attack Messina, which was scheduled to start August 2nd. The group landed at a temporary landing strip near Syracuse. The headquarters for Alexander’s 15th Army Group were just being established and he and his immediate staff were quartered in a farmhouse near the landing strip. Eisenhower’s meeting with Alexander took place under an olive tree near the farmhouse. Eisenhower wanted Patton to continue his methodical and steady advance while Montgomery was to lay on all he had and try to break through to Catania. Also present were members of Secretary of War, Stimson’s staff that had just arrived from London with news that Montgomery’s failure to take Catania had given the public a let down on their hero. The Prime Minister had expressed to Secretary Stimson his gratitude at Ike’s statement intended to publicly balance the progress between the stalled British 8th Army and the rapidly advancing American 7th Army. In actuality the 8th Army had been getting a great deal of publicity for any kind of movement and the 7th Army, which was moving rapidly, was still suffering under the cloud of the great reputation of the 8th. Soon the party was off to the Luqa Airdrome on Malta. Eisenhower was the guest of Field Marshal the Lord Gort and stayed overnight at the Verdala Palace. While Eisenhower was meeting with his senior commanders to discuss the entire Italian campaign, the escort pilots along with the other transport pilots were taken into town and had an English supper consisting of steak and kidneys. Following supper the pilots were put up in a hotel and had a shower and bed to themselves. In the morning tea was brought to each pilot’s room along with a wake-up call. Following a breakfast of eggs, cakes and tea the pilots returned to the airfield to pre-flight their planes. About 7:00am a limousine drove up to the �field. The driver got out but the man in the back opened the door himself and started walking towards the pilots. Lt. Archie Jackson, the leader of the escort pilots, said “That’s Ike!” The pilots jumped to attention. He came toward them and said, “Rest men. I just came out to thank you for the good job yesterday.” Eisenhower looked at Lt. Jackson and asked, “Where are you from son?” Lt. Jackson answered, “Louisburg, Kansas.” Ike replied “Well I am from Abilene.” “Yes sir, I know,” Archie responded. The General then asked the others where they were from and shook hands with all the pilots. He then said “I won’t need your escort today. I will have an escort of Beaufighters so you may return to your home base. I have not had breakfast yet so I better get back, but I wanted to thank each of you for an excellent job yesterday.” After Ike left, a RAF Wing Commander came over and asked the pilots to escort a B-17 back to Tunisia. Upon their return to Mateur, the escort pilots were de-briefed by Captain Brown, the 94th’s Intelligence Officer. He told the pilots that the escort mission was secret and there would not be any mention of it in the mission reports. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Flying with Eisenhower Description An account of the resource See records of the flight where James and other P-38 pilots flew escort for Eisenhower in 1943.<br /><br />Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Recap of a mission where James Dibble participated in a flying escort for General Dwight Eisenhower in Italy Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Eisenhower. Description An account of the resource Recap of a mission where James Dibble participated in a flying escort for General Dwight Eisenhower in Italy. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Military history Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource James Dibble Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource unknown Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/16/371/Dibble_Text0101.pdf bc316225aacd2392383b39e52eeece56 PDF Text Text Archie G. “Gil” Jackson 31171 Monterey So. Laguna, CA 92651-6961 (949) 499-2765 Dear Mr. Dibble, Thanks for your letter of January 8, 2001.1 have been quite lazy in replying to you about the particular mission you would like information about August 1, 1943. As you may know, on most occasions pilots were informed after the evening meal if they were to fly on a sortie the next day. We didn’t know where it would be until after our breakfast; then the briefing would take place. Breakfast was powdered eggs, spam or bacon, hard tack bread, margarine, and boiled coffee. The bacon had been in an oven, and then sliced about %” thick (nothing but fat). The margarine was in a #10 can, and we called it axle grease. This particular mission we were told to go to El Aquina, about 15 miles from Tunis. El. Aqina was about 35 miles from our base at Mateur. We would receive our final briefing there. We were met at El Aquina by high rank Army officers, and told this was a most secret mission, and we were to take care of the C-53 at all costs, and we would land at Palermo, Sicily. We were to fly two P-38s on each side of the C-53.1 was the ranking P-38 pilot, Jim was my wingman, and Thiessen flew Cram's wing. The pilot of the C-53 was a major, and the co-pilot a captain. The C-53 is a C-47, but with the entrance door on the right side. This one had plush seats and was General Eisenhower’s plane. It was also used to fly celebrities around. General Eisenhower used a B17 most of the time, but at this time it was being repaired. The General and his staff appeared, and we took off circling the field until the C-53 took off and we were on our way. When we landed at Bacadifalco we were met and surrounded by armed guards, a staff car was there, and the General and his staff were escorted from the airdrome. Palermo had been secured a few days before. We wanted to go into town, but when we got to the gate, they said that General Patten had issued orders that anyone in the town had to wear a steel helmet. We had none so we had to stay with our planes. It was hot, about 105 F, so we found an olive tree close by and waited for Ike to return. �We each had a canteen of water, but the C-53 crew gave us a cool drink from their supply. Ike returned and said we would land at Syracuse. When we landed there, General Montgomery’s staff met us. The meeting was 100 yards or so from us. We saw General Montgomery, but we stayed within close proximity of our planes. Then we took off for Luga Airfield on Malta, and would remain overnight. General Eisenhower was having a conference with General Alexander and we would return the next day. \Ne were taken into town, and had an English supper of steak and kidneys (it was awful, but better than what we were used to). We were put up in a hotel and had a shower and a bed to ourselves. The next morning, we had one egg, cakes, and tea. The tea was brought to our rooms with a wake-up call (a real treat). We returned to the airfield and pre-flighted our planes. About 7:00AM a limousine drove up - a big one with no top and two sets of seats behind the driver’s seat. The driver got out, but the man in the back opened the door himself and started walking toward us. I said “That’s Ike”, and we all jumped to attention. He came on toward us and said “Rest, men.” Then he said, “I just came out to thank you for the good job yesterday.” Ike looked at me and asked, "Where are you from son?” I answered, "Louisburg, Kansas.” He then replied, “Well I’m from Abilihe.” I said, “Yes, Sir, I know.” Then Ike asked the others where they were from and shook hands with all of us. He then said, “ I won’t need your escort today, as I am going to Cairo, Egypt, and will have an escort of Beaufighters, you may return to your home base. I haven’t had any breakfast yet, so I better get back, but I wanted to thank each of you for an excellent job yesterday.” When he left, a RAF Wing Commander came over to us and said, “There is a B-17 that was shot up over Messina, and needs an escort back to Tunisia, can you take care of it?” So we escorted the B-17 back to its home base near Mateur - it was from the 97th Bomb Group. When we landed at Maetur, Captain Brown, Intelligence Officer of the 94th, debriefed us. He told us the missions were secret and there would not be any mention of what happened in the write­ up. This was the time General Eisenhower scolded General Patten for slapping a sick soldier in the hospital in Palermo and made him apologize for it. During this period, Otto Wellensiek was CO of the 94th, I was the Operations Officer, and Jim Hagenback was the Assistant Operations Officer. Otto came down with malaria in mid August and was hospitalized near Ferryville. He didn’t return until about the first week of September. �Hagenback took my place, and I was sent to Devisor, Egypt - an RAF base East of Cairo near the Suez Canal. While I was there, I flew up and down the canal looking for subs at both ends. When I returned to the 94th, orders were issued for my return to the States. I was lucky and got a ride home as co-pilot on a MATS aircraft taking the Southern Route. Dakar, French West Africa; Natel, Brazil; Blem, Brazil; Trinidad; Miami, Florida. I was relieved from active duty in June 1945.1 went home to Kansas and took my old job as Chief Chemist for the State of Kansas. I was recalled back to service in late 1947, and attended Meteorology school in Champaign, Illinois. Then, I was sent to Fairfield Susan AFB, California, and attended University of California in Nuclear Chemistry. I was then sent to the pacific atolls to work on atomic detonations with the laboratory on Guam. I was on the team of chemists whom first discovered the USSR’s first atomic detonation in October 1949. Relieved from active duty in May of 1950, I took a job with Hawaiian Punch as Director of Research. I stayed with them 25 years until I retired in 1985. R.J. Reynolds of Winston-Salem, North Carolina owned Hawaiian Punch. I apologize for telling you about Jim complaining about our diet, quarters, etc. But, in those times, he wasn’t the only one to complain - we all did. I was sorry to hear about him, as we had become comrades. I selected him as my wingman and my crew chief became his when I left the 94th. Sincerely, Archie “Gil” Jackson PS: I stayed in the AF Reserve until January 1977. My retirement orders stated 34 years, 11 months, and 15 days. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Flying with Eisenhower Description An account of the resource See records of the flight where James and other P-38 pilots flew escort for Eisenhower in 1943.<br /><br />Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed letter Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letter from Lt. Col. Archie Jackson (Ret) to Jim Dibble describing a mission where he and James Dibble flew escort to General Dwight Eisenhower Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Eisenhower. Description An account of the resource Letter from Lt. Col. Archie Jackson (Ret) to Jim Dibble describing a mission where he and James Dibble flew escort to General Dwight Eisenhower. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Personal correspondence Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lt. Col. Archie Jackson (Ret) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 3/14/2001 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022 https://barrycountyhistoryportal.org/files/original/16/370/Dibble_Text0103.pdf fc8aa14b71803e0b8473aa375e89775c PDF Text Text NE by (ZZZ. a-612 August 2, I924.3. DECLASSIFIED DOD DIR. 5200.9, Sept. 27, 1958 Dats 5?—3 0 ~ ^7 Algiers, Monday, August 2, 1943* — Following th^fehelving of Mussolini and the quick denunciation of Fascism within Italy, the Prime Minister and the President on succeeding days called for "unconditional surrender". After they had spoken to their publics, the proposed message to the Italians which Ike caused to be sent on Monday, July 26 — intended to give the Italians their "white alley* — was approved by the Combined Chiefs. The Prime Minister had insisted on in­ sertion of a saving clause demanding the Italians not turn over British or American prisoners to the Nazis to be taken away to Germany. is pasted nearby. Text of this message It was broadcast to Italy, starting Friday noon, July 30. Immediately there was a murmur in the press corps because the message indicated permission to retain the House of Savoy but this was necessary because we will need in. Italy a stable government' and the House of Savoy is the only peg to which such a government conceivably may tie during the transition, until a popu­ lar vote by the people may be held to select their own government. We left Maison Blanche by Fortress at 6:30 Saturday morning, ing to fly direct to Palermo but Air Marshal Tedder had telephoned Ike Friday evening that he urgently desired to talk to him. Aouina airfield at Tunis. Consequently, we stopped at kl The Air Marshal had word that Badoglic was actively trending to the Germans and wanted permission to resume the heavy aerial bombard­ ment of Italy, particularly of Naples and of the marshaling yards at Rome. Ike gave his assent. The Fortress burned out a brake when we landed at El Aouina but the Air Force had a C-53 (on the nose of which.was painted a Walt Disney insignia with an inscription "Time's a wastin'") standing by-with an escort of six Lightnings. I had asked for two Lightnings toescort the Fortress, figuring these would be useful to help our^round troops in Sicily identify the Fortress .as friendly �a-615 August 2, 1943» because the Lightnings are so easily distinguishable with their twin tails. The Air Force, always careful to protect the Boss, had raised the ante to 6. General Patton met us at the Bocco-di-Falco airfield which is nestled amongst the mountains bordering Palermo. It was fortunate the brake of the Fortress had given way at Tunis because the runway at Palermo is not only short, but not J D Our 0-53 landed uphill and bounced. level. General Patton was in fine form. provisional 7th Army. He was proud rcfvthe a/coinplishment of the He said it is the best group of fighting men in the world It is true their accanplishments are remarkable although their opposition has been less than that of the British 5th Army on the east. Howrever, the Americans claimed that if Montgomery's army had moved as rapidly as our 7th, the Germans could not have concentrated at Catania to stop them. Now the 45th Division moving eastward along the northern coast road of Sicily and the First Division moving on its right, were making steady but slow progress. Mere marching over the terrain is difficult. Gun implacements have to be spotted during the daytime, mortars and artillery — such as can be transported and implaced in the precipitous mountains — are care­ fully aimed at th'ese strong points and then break loose with their concentrated fire after darkness, while our infantry surrounds and mops up the blown-up enemy positions. This makes for slow- going but the progress has been steady. Patton said they would continue this type of attack persistently so the enemy would never have a chance to re-group. In order to keep the pressure persistently applied to the enemy he was relieving the First Division with the Ninth, and the 45th with the Third. One of the difficulties encountered, particularly along the coast road was effective enemy demolition of the road bed. On one side was the sea, on the other sheer cliffs, sometimes reaching mountain high. A dsnolition would tumble the base of the road into the sea and make the work of the Arny Engineers most difficult. Incidentally, General Patton paid a high tribute to their excellence. General Patton is living in the Palace of the King of Sicily who had been DECLASSIFIED . DOD DIR. 5200.9, Sept. 27, 1958 NE by Dale_ �August 2, 1943. A-616 overthrown in 1861 when Garibaldi took Sicily with 1000 men and the island was joined into the union which became Italy. Major General Terry Allen, commander of the First Division and Brig. General Theodore Roosevelt, his assistant, had been relieved by Patton and confirmed by Ike. .The former for "war weariness," and to be returned to America uhder our rotation policy without discredit. eral Huebner is taking his place. leader of inexperienced troops. Gen­ General Roosevelt had proved to be a gallant He is battle-wise and extremely courageous but this was the only quality which commended him as a general. Ike thought eventually his good quality could be retained by later assigning him to an inexperienced division about to go into battle. He will be given an assignment in the North African theater where his qualities may be useful. The First Division has been in more fighting than any other outfit in this operation and no doubt General Allen simply became fatigued to such a low level that he was unable to afford the inspiration and the leadership, as well as the imagination and discipline that are necessary for a divisional commander. We saw the effect of bombing in Palermo.. It was fl^vastaging but satisfactory. When I saw the effect of bombing at Bizerte I felt sacT, but at Palermo my feeling was "The Ities asked for it and they got it." Two ships of about 125 i r length had been lifted by the force of an.explosion entirely out of the water and onto the quay — a scene that would *0 make a cartoon for Ripley's "Believe it or not." gS 1 3s s § % 5 g 2 Apparently an ammunition ship which had been bombed blew up, created a tidal wave and washed the ships onto the quay 10 ft. above the normal level of the water. The first thing the Americans had to do at Palermo was to organize Italian workers with G.I. bulldozers to clear the streets, particularly those in the vicinity of the docks. Now most of them are clear. The port had reached a level of 2,200 tons discharge with .rapid increase in prospect. American destroyers and PT boats were lying in the harbor.' General Patton had called on the Cardinal of the Palermo arch-diocese, Lavitrone, and the Cardinal ha<^promptly returned his call.. They had become fine �August 2, 1943 . friends. The Cardinal had shown Patton some of the ancient cathedrals. A-617 He had also given the General a message to be transmitted to the Pope, a copy of which I carried back with me and dispatched from Malta at Ike's direction to the Combined Chiefs so it could be sent by proper channels representative of both governments. In it the Cardinal said he and his people were being treated with the "utmost cour­ tesy" and that the occupation had occurred without any "unpleasant incidents". The message had come through the former Lieutenant Governor of New York State, Poletti, who is now a colonel in the Allied Military Government. I asked General Patton how Poletti was doing and he said "Beautifully, but I think he is electioneering for Roosevelt among the Sicilians" After a Spam luncheon in the Palace we took off for Syracuse to meet General Alexander. The headquarters for his 15th Army Group were just being established and he and his immediate stafi sre quartered in a farm The two General3 craferred under an olive i i 21 v tree, backgrounded by a mule unwillingly affording the yosyer^mich drew water from house about ten minutes from the airfield. a deep and cool well. When the mule stopped he was beaten with a long lash by an Italian farmer — an ex-soldier of the last war who expressed his friendship for the Allies in this one by freely giving of his Chianti and Marsala. Ike was anxious that there be no misunderstanding between Alexander and Patton as to plans for the attack scheduled to start the next day —August 2 — today. Patton was to continue his methodical and steady advance; Montgomery was to lay on all he had and try to break through! Incidentally, Monty has 400 big guns and his attack at Catania will be reminiscent of El Alamein. It should be re­ ported, too, that members of the Secretary of War's party who had just came from London said the failure of Monty to take Catania had given the public a let down on their hero. The Prime Minister had expressd to Secretary Stimson his profound gratitude at Ike's statement at having undertaken publicly to balance the progress between the stalled British 8th Army and the rapidly advancing American 7th Army. Ike had told the press, the 7th Army had relatiyely easy going and the 8th very DECLASSIFIED DOD DIR. 5200.9, Sept. 27, 1958 N.E by U6-L Date_£r3^7 �August 2, I943. difficult. A-618 Actually the 8th Army has been getting a great deal of public ity for any kind of movement and the ?th Amy, which has been going great guns, is still somewhat under the cloud of the great reputation of the Sth. Returning to Malta we stayed overnight at Verdala Palace, again the guests of Field Marshal the Lord Gort and his friendly assistants. g •s 4 CO Ike had a meeting of the senior commanders Sunday forenoon during which the entire Italian situation -was discussed, plans refined for attacking the toe of Italy and consideration 5 igiven to helping General Wayne Clark and his 5th Army plan its attack on Naples, probably September 9, with the BUTTRESS to come September 2. i 2 John Gunther, the newspaperman, happened to be a house guest at Verdala Jo Palace. He asked me to read a story about Ike which he had written for Readers Digest. It was most complimentary but I asked him to remove some quotations which I felt General Marshall might feel lacking in dignity. The fact that Malta served as headquarters during the on Sicily will be released for publication on August 4* ^of the attack Ike prepared a statement paying his tribute to the heroism of Malta as a symbol of the united nations which will be released at the same time. Returning to Algiers late, yesterday afternoon after a 3-hour and 40 minute direct flight from Malta in our Fortress, the crew of which had quickly repaired its brake — utilizing a part from a wrecked Fortress at El Aouina — I found that the French papers here were filled with a story that the Italians had sent a delegation to Algiers to confer with Ike.. While it is true we had a report that there was a man in Algiers willing to serve as "contact,* Ike has declined to see him. Naturally any emissaries from the enemy must come under appropriate flag of truce — if they should come here at all, as I suspect negotiations will come through the Vatican which will deal either with the Prime Minister or the Presi­ dent; more likely the latter. Ike was itching this morning to know the result of the long planned boobing of the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania. More than 150 B-24s of the 9th Air Force � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James P. Dibble: Flying with Eisenhower Description An account of the resource See records of the flight where James and other P-38 pilots flew escort for Eisenhower in 1943.<br /><br />Jump to other sections of the collection: <ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/5">James P. Dibble: World War II P-38 Fighter Pilot</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/6">His Early Life</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/7">High School into the Army Air Corps</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/8">Flight Training</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/17">We Got Married!</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/9">Combat!</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/10">Mission Reports</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/11">Letters Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/16">Flying with Eisenhower</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/12">The Day of Armageddon - August 30, 1943</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/13">Killed in Action</a></li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/14">The Search for Answers</a><ul><li><a href="https://www.barrycountyhistoryportal.org/collections/show/15">The Monument in Padula, Italy</a><a href="http://omeka/collections/show/15"></a></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> </ul> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Typed document Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Declassified report of General Eisenhower's visit to Italy in August 1943 Subject The topic of the resource James Dibble. Eisenhower. Description An account of the resource Declassified report of General Eisenhower's visit to Italy in August 1943. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Mission report Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1943-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/ Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Hastings Public Library Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jim Dibble Date Accepted Date of acceptance of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Accepted may be relevant are a thesis (accepted by a university department) or an article (accepted by a journal). 1/18/2022