military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (08/07/90)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Wednesday, 7 August, 1940 Reinforcements, in the form of the 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch, reach British Somaliland. The Italian advance continues, however. Italian troops are also reported massing on the Egyptian-Libyan border. Unrest continues in the Balkans; Hungary demands that Rumania return at least 75% of Transylvania, and Bulgaria likewise demands the transfer of South Dobruja before the wheat crop there is harvested. The United States continues to increase her military readiness. Air bases at Pearl Harbor and other Pacific sites are reported to be progressing ahead of schedule and are expected to be serviceable by the year's end, and federal arsenals are ordered to commence 3-shift production 6 days a week to increase output by 65%. About 24000 employees will be added to meet these goals. General George C. Marshal, Chief of Staff, states that the Army can now muster 5 infantry and 1 cavalry division, plus about 60% of the two mechanized divisions currently under construction, if needed to repel a foreign invasion. Secretary of State Hull calls for Americans to be prepared to sacrifice if war is to be avoided. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "In the face of terrific problems, and conditions, and until the present serious threats and dangers have disappeared, we cannot pursue complacently the course of our customary normal life." - Secretary Cordell Hull