Obituaries

DONNA M. WILSON York

Donna M. Wilson, 78, of York, Pennsylvania, died Nov. 13, 2022 at York Hospital.

She was the wife of the late David E. Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were married for 36 years prior to David’s death in 2003. Donna Wilson Born Jan. 21, 1944 in York, she was the daughter of the late Harry and Anna (Ritter) Wagaman.

Donna was a graduate of William Penn Senior High School. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Some of her hobbies were cooking, painting, recycling and traveling, especially to Miami, Florida, and Ocean City, Maryland, where she spent her summers.

Donna was a strong proponent of fairness, equality and justice.

Donna is survived by her two sons, David E. Wilson, Jr. and his wife, Keota Silaphone of Berlin, Maryland, and Darren E. Wilson and Leah Thompson of Pittsburgh; and by her extended family, Kathleen Rogers, Christine Wagaman, Alan Wagaman, Cortney Derocher and Jarrett Rogers.

Donna was preceded in death by her two brothers, Gary and Rodney Wagaman; and a sister, Gloria Wagaman.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 at 11 a.m. at the Etzweiler Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, 1111 E. Market Street, York. Burial will be in Mount Rose Cemetery.

A viewing will be held Saturday from 10-11 a.m. at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: Speech and Language Pathology Scholarship, 112 Washington Place, Two Chatham Center, Suite 450, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15219; or to the Farm and Natural Lands Trust of York County, 350 North George Street, York, Pennsylvania 17401 (https://www.farmtrust.org).

Arrangements by the Etzweiler Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, 1111 East Market Street, York, Pennsylvania 17403 (www.etzweilerfuneralhome.com).

Crossword answers from page 24 Continued from Page 52

Most of what little was being sent to Rommel was being sunk. In addition, beginning on Dec. 6, Rommel began sending the non-motorized Italian units to Buerat to prepare a position there. Buerat is 230 miles west of El Agheila on the Gulf of Sirte, and 237 miles east of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It was imperative, to the Italians, that Tripoli be held. Before the war, one-third of the city’s residents were Italian.

The two armies clashed at El Agheila on Dec. 11. Two days later, Axis reconnaissance discovered Allied armor attempting to outflank the Axis Army. The movement was stopped by Centauro Armored Division, commanded by Count Giorgio Calvi di Bergolo (who was Italian King Victor Immanuel III’s son-inlaw), and the remnants of the Ariete Armoured Division. The encounter is described by Field Marshal Rommel:

“Bitter fighting ensued against 80 British tanks and lasted for nearly ten hours. The Italians put up a magnificent fight, for which they deserved the utmost credit. Finally, in the evening, the British were thrown back by a counter-attack of the Centauro’s armoured regiment, leaving 22 tanks and two armoured cars burnt out or damaged on the battlefield. The British intention of cutting off the 90th Light Division had been foiled.”

As he knew it must, without the proper resources, Field Marshal Rommel’s Panzerarmee Afrika began withdrawing on the evening of Dec. 15. The next day, the Panzerarmee Afrika arrived at Nofilia, 100 miles to the west. Two days later, the Axis Army had fallen back, 92 miles, to Sirte, which was described as, “... a shabby little Arab village of mud huts, clustered on the banks of a foulsmelling stream.” In a tent 12 miles south of the mud huts, Muammar Gaddafi was born that year. It currently has a population of 128,000.

The Italian Duce authorized Marshal Bastico to, slowly, withdraw the Panzerarmee Afrika to Tunisia on Dec. 27, 1942.

The motorized portion of the Axis army was reunited with the non-motorized portion in Beurat, 54 miles west of Sirte, on New Year’s Eve of 1942. The Panzerarmee held this position until Jan. 16, 1943, when it retreated to Homs, located about 60 miles southeast of Tripoli.

The field marshal ordered the evacuation of Tripoli on Jan. 22, 1943, and on Jan. 26, 1943, established his headquarters at Ben Gardane, Tunisia.

Monty’s Eighth Army entered the Libyan capital on Jan. 23, 1943, and the general ordered a victory parade, which was held on Feb. 3, 1943, at which time the British prime minister addressed the troops, saying,

“Let me then assure you, soldiers and airmen, that your fellow-countrymen regard your joint work with admiration and gratitude, and that after the war when a man is asked what he did it will be quite sufficient for him to say, ‘I marched and fought with the Desert Army.’ And when history is written and all the facts are known, our feats will gleam and glow and will be a source of song and story long after we who are gathered here have passed away.”

Shortly thereafter, the name of the army was changed to First Italian Army, and command given to Giovanni Messe, probably the best Italian field commander. Gen. Messe’s First Italian Army was joined with Fifth Panzerarmee, commanded by Hans-Jügen von Arnim, to form Armeegruppe Afrika, commanded, briefly, by Field Marshal Rommel.

The last Axis soldiers left Libya on February 13, 1943.

Next week: Army/Navy In Annapolis

Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own. He can be contacted at: wimbrowlaw@gmail.com.

$1,445.