military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (11/07/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Thursday, 7 November, 1940 Free French troops under the command of Colonel Leclerc land north of Libreville in French Equatorial Africa. The Vichy troops there offer scattered resistance to the invasion. In Italian East Africa, the 10th Indian Brigade under General Slim captures Gallabat. A counterattack with tank and air support forces the British to withdraw, however. The RAF bombs the Krupp works at Essen and the Italian port of Brindisi, through which flows much of the supply for Italian forces in Greece. Nine Hurricane fighters are delivered to the American volunteers of No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron, thus making it the first American unit in WWII to fly combat-qualified equipment. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed "Galloping Gertie," collapses into Puget Sounds during 40+ mph winds. The bridge was completed in July, and the passengers of the three vehicles on the bridge at the time all escape serious injury. Reporters: Earl Boebert (boebert@SCTC.COM) Dan Tilqued (ant@mtdoom.WR.TEK.COM) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "On paper, Italy has a fleet not negligible in quantity, but when individual encounters between ships of the same class have taken place previously, the British usually emerged the victor. The answer probably is this: materiel is important, but is less important than the man behind the gun." - Admiral William V. Pratt, USN, Retired