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«* a Served By Leased Wire 01 The I ' Dedicated To The Progress 01 ASSOCIATED PRESS WILMINGTON With Complete Coverage Oi ^ Soulheast6rn Hortll Siaie and Naiional News Carolina VOL. 74—NO. 252 _ WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, JUNE 23, 1941 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 ChurchillPledges RussiaBritishAid "STRIKE TOGETHER” Premier Calls Adolf Hitler “This Bloodthirsty Guttersnipe” REVERSAL OF COURSE Indicts Nazis For Work Of Butchery and Deso-, lation” in Europe By The Associated Press LONDON, June 22—Prime Minister Winston Churchill promised British aid to Soviet Russia in her fight against Germany tonight and strong ly suggested that the United States do likewise. In a ring ing 20-minute radio address to the world, Churchill de clared Britain “will give what ever help we can to Russia” and will appeal “to all our friends and allies” to take the same course. Russia’s danger is our danger, and the danger vof the United States,” he cried. “Any man or state that fights against Hitler will have our aid.” He offered to the U. S. S. R. “any technical and economic as sistance” within Britain’s power. Course Reversed In a dramatic reversal of one of the main courses of British foreign policy since the Bolshevik revolu tion of 1917, Churchill appealed to Britain and her new ally to “strike with united strength while life and power remain.” He made no direct mention ol British military or naval aid to Russia, but he said, “We shall bomb Germany by day as well as by night in ever increasing meas ure. casting upon them month by month a heavier dose of bombs and making the German people taste and gulp each month a sharp er dose o£ the miseries they have showered upon mankind.” In a sweeping and bitter indict ment. Churchill accused Hitler of intending to carry his “work of butchery and desolation” into not only Russia but Asia as a prelude to an attack on Britain and “sub jugation of the Western hemi sphere.” “It is not for me to speak of the action of the United States,” Churchill said, “but I will say if Hitler imagines that his attack on Soviet Russia will cause the slight est division of aid or slackening of effort in the great democracies who are resolved upon his doom, he is woefully mistaken.” Both In Same Boat The prime minister asserted: "The Nazi regime is indistin guishable from the worst features of Communism. It is devoid of all principle except appetite and racial domination. It excels in all forms of human wickedness, in the efficiency of its cruel and fero cious aggression. No one has been (Continued on Page Five) ¥ ANNOUNCEMENT At the request of the Treas ury department we announce a new feature of interest and service to many readers who are buying or will buy defense savings bonds and stamps. This will be called the Defense Sav ings Quiz, starting tomorrow. The questions will be chosen from among those asked by most bond and stamp buyers. The answers will tell what the new defense savings program means to the individual and to the nation. RUSSIAN NAVAL AID DOUBTFUL American Sources Question Soviets’ Ability to Help In the Atlantic WASHINGTON, June 22.— (JP) — American naval sources expressed belief today that Russia would be incapable of any major contribution to the sea war against Germany, at least as far as the Atlantic is con cerned. The Russian fleet, except for ton nage just completed or still under construction, is rated very low among the world’s navies and con sists largely of aged relics of the Czarist regime. Latest available data credited her, however, with 716 merchant ships totaling about 1,315,766 gross tons which, if not already bottled up in the Baltic or Black seas, doubtless would be a welcome addition to Britain’s hard-pressed merchant ma rine. The Soviet does not make public data concerning the size of her < navy, but the latest Janes’ “Fight- ■ ing Ships” said there were a total of 290 combatant ships of all cate gories either built or under con struction for the Russian navy. i Three battleships, one a 35,000 tonner and the others possibly 45,000 tons each, are reported to be under construction and naval men said they thought the first one should be nearing completion al though Janes’ reported that the work was going very poorly, chief ly because the Soviet was forced to import most of the machinery. l Numerically, the Russian fleet is I strongest in submarines, having 171 ^ in service and an undetermined number under construction. Accord ing to Janes’, the Soviets have nine cruisers with four more building, 64 destroyers and 34 more building , and two aircraft carriers under con- ’ struction. The present whereabouts of these units is problematical. Vladivostok, on the Sea of Japan, is regarded as the main Russian naval base but Janes’ said only 70 submarines, 50 motor torpedo boats and a number ■ of patrol craft are reported to be ( there. From Vladivostok, the Rus- , sians presumably would have access to the North Pacific but there was 1 considerable doubt among naval men here as to whether any of the ] balance of the Russian navy, if ( now in the Black or Baltic seas, could get out to assist the British 1 in the battle of the Atlantic._ 1 Close Cooperation Seen : U. S. Course In Outbreak, «■ - ] By .T. C. STARK WASHINGTON, June 22.— LW — Establishment of close economic cooperation among the United States, Great Britain and Russia was envisaged in diplomatic quar ters today as a result of the Ger man invasion of the Soviet Union. Striking with bombshell efflect comparable to the surprise Rus sian-German non-aggression pact of 1939, Germany’s sudden war move eastward caused intense di Plomtac activities in the capital. The American government with held any formal statement of its 'news but State department sources described the German action as convincing proof that Adolf Hitler was bent on domination of the en tire world. was described in tnese same quarters as another indication that a non-aggression past with Ger many meant simply an opportunity fur the Nazis, if and when they desired, to attack the other party to such a pact. Branded Aggressor The State department reaction Ciearly branded Germany as the aggressor and thus raised the ques tion of possible American aid— lease-lend or otherwise—to Russia. Officials would not indicate the American course of action pending * further study of all the implica tions of the development. One high diplomatic source, how tVer; said he expected close eco nomic cooperation at least to de ve'°P now between Great Britain and Russia with the United States Probably adopting a more liberal Policy on exports of vital defense ""•tetiaii to the Soviet .Union, High state department officials 1 went to their offices to study the 1 reports received from abroad and 1 to keep President Roosevelt in- I formed of developments. 1 Viscount Halifax, the British am bassador, made an unusual Sunday ' call at the State department and was in conference nearly two ’ hours with Undersecretary Sumner ( Welles. Lord Halifax made no comment , for direct quotation but he clear ly indicated that he regarded the 1 Russo-German conflict as a de- . velopment of tremendous import ance and possibly a turning point in the war. ino Lewjown oi «iu He did say that it should cause no let-down in British and Ameri can efforts against Hitler but on the contrary should intensify these. A neutrality proclamation by ; President Roosevelt recognizing the existence of a state of war between Germany and Russia was expected soon, though perhaps not for a day or two. No change in the present Euro pean combat zones banned to American shipping is expected. These already include the Russian Arctic ports as well as other areas affected by the eastward spread of the war. The Siberian port of Vladivostok was expected to remain outside the prescribed combat zones for the present but a Presidential neutral ity proclamation on the Russian German war would then forbid American ships to take arms or munitions to Russia by Vladivo (Continued on Page Ten; . Col. 61. __Classmate Of The Ill-Fated 0-9 1 The United States submarine 0-7. classmate of the 0- 9. is shown at ton, above, when it was in trouble, having run aground on a rock shoal off Virginia a f ew years ago. The 0-9, one of the few World war type submersibles still used by the U. S. Navy, sank late last week in 440 feet of water off Portsmouth, Maine. Navy divers found the denth too great to attempt a rescue. Bits of debris washing to the surface indicated to rescue workers that the 0-9 was erushe d by the terrific pressure. Thirty-one men and two ifficers were aboard. The officers were, in lower ph oto, Lieut. Howard J. Abbott, left, of Osceola, la., :ommander; Mark P. Wangsness, center, second in command. Rear Admiral ,T. D. Wainwright, command int of the Portsmouth navy yard, right, directed the futile rescue efforts. Funeral services for the victims were conducted yesterday afternoon with Secretary o f the Navy Frank Knox participating. Taps Sounded In Farewell For Men Entombed In 0-9 -:-+ - v MERCHANTS MEET AT HIGH POINT Jovernor Is Among Speakers Listed For 39th An nual Session HIGH POINT, June 22.—(£■>—The tnnual convention of the North Carolina Merchants association 7ill open here tomorrow with a wo-day program. Speakers will include Governor Jroughton; Rep. Harold D. Cooley if North Carolina: Paul C. Kelly, 'ice-president of the American Re ail federation; R. G. Trosper, of he Associated Credit Bureaus of he Southeast; J. H. Early, presi lent of the association, and George V. Dowdy, Charlotte merchant. President Early will deliver his iddress tomorrow on “Facing Our ’resent Needs As Merchants.” Villard L. Dowell, executive sec etary of the association; T. C. linkle, treasurer, and R. B. Tom inson, field secretary, will make heir reports at the initial session. Trosper, Greensboro merchant tnd president of the Southeastern Iredit Bureaus, Inc., will speak omorrow afternoon. Governor Jroughton will speak at a ban [uet tomorrow night. Tuesday afternoon will be de 'oted to the awarding of loving :ups, selection of the 1942 conven ion city, and an open forum per od. WEATHER FORECAST: North Carolina—Considerable cloudi less Monday and Tuesday with occa donal scattered showers mostly in iouth and west portions. (Meteorological data for the 24 hours aiding 7:30 p. m. yesterday): (By C. S. Weather Bureau) Temperature: 1:30 a. m. 73; 7:30 a. m. 78; 1:30 p. m. re; 7:30 p. m. 76; maximum 83; min mum 70; mean 78: normal 78. Humidity: 1-30 a. m. 93; 7:30 a. m. 80; 1:30 p. m. !9; 7:30 p. m. 83. Precipitation: Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 ) m. 0.14 inches: total since the first )f the month. 2.33 inches. Tides For Today: (From Tide Tables published by U. S. ^oast and' Geodetic Survey): High low Wilmington _ 8:46a. 3:52a. 9:14p. 3:54p. tfasonboro Inlet_ 6:32a. 12:37a. 6 :53p. 12:37p. Sunrise 5:01a.; . sunset 7:27p.; moon rise 4:16a.; moonset 6:25p. Cape Fear river stage at Fayette ville at 8 a. m. June 22, 9:25 feet. (Continued on Pa^ge Ten; Col. 3) NAVAL SALUTE FIRED High Officers in Gold Braid, Men in Denim, Join In Tribute PORTSMOUTH, N, H„ June 22. —(jT)—On the gently rolling after deck of the submarine Triton, the Navy Secretary, officers and com mon seamen joined late today in solemn services for the 33 men who lay deep beneath the ocean waters iu the sunken old underseas boat 0-9 beyond reach of human effort. The final tribute came only a few hours after two naval divers reached the side, of the crumpled craft in the “deepest working dives ever made in the world,” and the Navy officially abandoned at tempts to salvage the ship. Announcement of the abandon ment was made by Rear Admiral Richard S. Edwards, who said it was impossible for divers to work at the depth of 440 feet—the tomb of the 0-9. Wreaths were dropped upon the sea—“for the nation,” for the Navy and for the families of the victims as guns roared out the Navy’s greatest tribute and bugles seftly sounded taps. The services were held amid a cluster of a dozen service craft on sunlit and almost flat seas —24 miles off this port where the sub marine sank Friday morning. Tears were close to Navy Secre tary Frank Knox’ eyes as he stood solemnly at the Triton’s port rail to say softly to the 0-9’s men far below: Good bye. We thank you. God bless you.” There were admirals with bril liant braid, sailors in dress blues and seamen and divers in denim work clothes—1,000 in all—w ho lined the rails of a dozen navy vessels at strict attention. Earlier, from Washington Ad miral Harold R. Stark, chief of naval operations, approved the or der to give up efforts to salvage the 0-9, declaring: “Under present circumstances, the decision must be to accept the situation as loss of naval person nel at sea who can best be honor ed as men still at their station of duty. Not one of them would ex pect or wish another naval man to risk his life to provide another final resting place.” Admiral E d w a rds said both divers were “right down beside the submarine,” although neither touched the hull. The divers were R. M. Metzger, 27, of Philadelphis, and Chief gun ner’s mate Claude Conger,33. - (Continued on Page Five) — fcui.liik .. •■**-**-' ■» UNION RATIFIES FORD CONTRACT Majority of 12,000 Workers Accept Agreement At Mass Meeting DETROIT, June 22— (/P) —The CIO-United Automobile Workers to day ratified the union’s history making contract with the Ford Motor company. The agreement, most far-reaching ever written in the automotive in dustry, was accepted by an over whelming majority of 12,000 work ers at a mass meeting at the state fairgrounds after three hours of speech-making, discussion, cheering and booing. The Ford company, long regarded as the last major stronghold of non unionism, reached the agreement with the UAW last Friday in Wash ington. It provided, among other things, for a union shop and dues checkoff. Philip Murray, CIO president, de scribed the agreement last week as one which “sets a pattern that might very well be followed by other leading industrialists in the United States of America.” The CIO now has formal agree ments covering wages and working conditions with all the “big three” of the automobile industry. Russian Air Forces Bomb Aaland Isles BERN, Switzerland, June 22.— UP>— Small Rusian air squadrons bombed the Aaland Islands and attacked two warships in Turku harbor, western Finland, during the day, information reaching here from Helsinki said tonight. The Russians were said to have missed the warships and the bomb ings caused no damage on the islands, between Finland and Sweden. Throughout the day there were intensive Russian reconnaissance flights along the Finnish border. Fishing Boat Rescues 26 From Torpedoed Ship LISBON, Portugal, June 22.—(TP) —The fishing boat Fafe today brought in 26 survivors of the 6, 670-ton Portuguese freighter Ganda, who said an unidentified submarine torpedoed the vessel May 20 two days out of Lisbon. The Ganda carried a crew of 50 and 21 passengers. Fate of the missing 45 was not known. Several shryivors were wbunded^^^jgJ ! German, Russian Armies Fight On 1000-Mile F ront; Nazis Smash Through Air DESTROY AIRPORTS Nazi Forces Employ Iden tical Tactics They Used Against Poland BATTLEFIELD RADIOED German Broadcasters Are Traveling With Advance Units; Tell Captures By The Associated Press BERLIN, Monday, June 23. Smashing air assaults on the Russian Black, sea base of Se vastopol and destruction of at least 40 Soviet bombers try ing counter-attacks against German positions were claimed by Germany today as notable first thrusts of the great new war Adolf Hitler declared at dawn Sunday against Russia. Bolstered by vengeful Finland and Rumania, the might of the German army was loosed against the Soviet Union on a 2,000-mile front ranging from the tepid waters of the Black sea to the waters of the Arctic north — a battle zone which the Germans said at the out set was the most extensive contin uous line in the history of warfare. First official news, delivered by DNB, official German news agency, dealt almost entirely with war in the air, however. In less than 24 hours, DNB said, the Luftwaffe smashed hard at Se vastopol, which was occupied by German troops May 1, 1918, near the close of the World war; de stroyed numerous Russian airports, hangars and barracks all along the lines; destroyed unnumbered Rus sian planes on the ground; and smashed columns of Red army tanks, railroads and munitions stores with bombs of all calibres. Russian Raids Repulsed The Russians tried at least twice to raid the Germans, DNB said. The first attempt, directed against East Prussia, cost them seven out of nine attacking bombers, while the second, in the general govern ment area of former Poland, saw 33 of 35 Soviet bombers destroyed, DNB claimed. The full Soviet losses are not yet determined, it added. At sea, in "Russian waters,” DNB said German speedboats sank a 4,000-ton Russian freighter and a fishing boat. The first military communique was issue from the German-Ruma nian front in the south, stating that these! allies had joined battle with the Russians from the mountains of Bucovina to the shores of the Black sea. (This indicates a 250-mile battle front in that region alone. (Information received by military circles in Vichy, France, indicated the main German thrust probably was being made in that area, direct ed towards Kharkov, about 500 miles distant in the center of the Ukraine wheat fields. (Other Vichy reports said another German attack was started some where in the Baltic area, as part of a giant pincers movement aimed at Moscow). Describe Advance Of land action, the principal early reports were in German radio ac counts direct from the unidentified fronts by army reporters with microphones. One of these men de scribed in excited tones an infantry advance across the border into a small Russian village, the capture of the Russian barracks and the seiz ure of prisoners. Steady Luftwaffe raids on tne Russians also were given dircet from-the-scene treatment. It appeared certain from the first reports released by the high com mand that, as before, Marshal Goer ing’s air force was playing a con spicuous role.' In former campaigns its mission has been to disrupt the opponent’s roads, railways and air fields, deep within his country, so that when German land forces come up they meet a foe already confused by de struction of transport and com munications. The war also encompassed new expanses of sea. Most of the Black sea and extensive regions of the Arc tic were declared war zones by Ger many. A reference to danger from mines indicated that from the start German sea forces were closely co ordinated with land and air units. A few hours after Adolf Hitler, in a spirited appeal, once more placed “the fate and future of the German Reich and our people In the hands of our soldiers.” The Reich’s Axis partner, Italy, announced that she, too, regards herself in a state of war with Russia. But the Ger mans obviously were receiving more active support from their new Allies. INTERNATIONAL SITUATION (By The Associated Press) Germany’s dawn-sprung on slaught on a 2,000-mile eastern front from the northern Baltic through the Balkans forced the massive Red army back in the first day’s fighting, but the Rus sians declared today the gains were small and costly. The Red army’s first commun ique of the war declared the Nazis were stopped in their tracks with heavy losses during the first half-day of attacks, but by nightfall they had made ad vances of about 10-miles into Soviet territory. The Russians said Hitler’s forces were attacking along the entire front, but the principal Nazi gains the Russians men tioned apparently were part of a drive northeast from East Prus sia into Lithuania, now Soviet guarded, and east into Soviet occupied Eastern Poland. The Russians said the Ger mans moved into the villages of Kalvaria, Stoyanuv and Tselc manovets and were pushing to ward Grodno and Kristinopol. The communiquie indicated that the Red army—expected to give some ground in order to fight from a firmer defense line deeper in its own territory— still was determined to take a fighitng toll of the Nazi advance. Claim 65 Nazi Planes Russia’s warplanes, were in the fight, too, and the Moscow com munique claimed 65 German air craft shot down during the first day of aerial combat. Germany claimed quick and destructive success by air. The 2,0 0 0-mile battlefront, from the Arctic to the Black sea, was lined with 5,000,000 fighting men—the might of Red Russia arrayed against that of Germany and of Germany’s little new allies, Finland and Rumania. Britain’s Prime Minister Wins ton Churchill quickly offered Russia all technical and econo mic aid that Britain could give and suggested that the United States might' do the same. (Continued on Page Five) BRITISH CLAIM SYRIAN CAINS Middle East Command An nounces Full Capture Of Damascus BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON, June 22.—The British claimed gains over wide areas to day in Syria, cast in a new im portance by the outbreak of Ger man-Russian war. Operations apparently centered chiefly around Damascus, from which the French had withdrawn. The Syrian capital wTas heavily de fended and the British believe its capitulation may prove the turning point in the two-week-old campaign. The Middle East command said Damascus had been occupied by Free French forces and summarized other fighting with the statement that action was continuing on all fronts "with local gains everywhere to our credit.” The French explained their with drawal from Damascus as the re sult of insufficient strength to de fend the ancient city effectively and said its defenders had been shifted to new lines in the mountains along the road to Beirut, the capital and chief port of Lebanon. Vichy’s communique also reported a setback to the British in the desert on the Syrian-Iraq frontier. French forces, it said, retook Abou Kemal, near the oil pipeline to Lebanon, after motorized British units had passed through, heading toward the important air station at Palmyra. The German invasion of Russia was seen in some British military quarters in the Middle East as the explanation for a recent lack of Nazi initiative throughout the Mid dle East. RAF Continues Raiding Nazi French Positions LONDON, June 22— UP)—Giving the German invasion bases in Prance no letup, the RAF destroyed 30 German planes over the English channel and France today at the loss of only two British fighters, it was announced officially. The pilot of one of these is safe. Revised reports from RAF head quarters said 29 German planes were shot down by fighters and one by a Blenheim bomber after it was damaged fighters, . SOVIETS WITHDRAW Red Jroops Claim Nazi Forces Repulsed With Heavy Losses Sunday KIEV IS BOMBED 200 Reported Killed And Wounded by Smashing Luftwaffe Raids MOSCOW, Monday, June 23.—(/P)—Russian troops re pulsed the German forces with heavy losses yesterday, but the Nazis have succeeded in advancing toward Grodno and Kristinopol, the Red army high command announced to day in the first communique of the new war. German troops, occupied the villages of Kalvaria, Sto yanov and Tsekmanovets in Russian territory — an ad vance of about 10 miles. Russian anti-aircraft artil lery and fighter planes shot down 65 German planes, the high command communique said. By The Associated Press MOSCOW, June 22. — Germany struck at Russia by land arid' by air in a dawn invasion today and the Soviet government immedi ately accepted the challenge hurl ing the might of its Red army against the Nazis with orders to • repulse this predatory assault” which Moscow spokesmen said was started ‘‘under pretexts which are lies and provocations without any foundation.” Foreign Commissar VyacheslafI Molotov, broadcasting on behalf of Premier Joseph V. Stalin six hours after the invasion started, expressed confidence that ‘‘the he roic forces of the U.' S. S. R. will deal a crushing blow” to Russia’s short-lived non-aggression pact partner. Forces On Move In this first word to the Soviet Republic that Russia was at war with Germany, Molotov announc ed that the Red army, fleet and air force already had-been order ed on the move against Hitler’s forces. He declared the Germans attack ed at several points by land and that the Nazi Luftwaffe had killed and wounded more than 200 per sons in air raids on Kiev, capital of the Ukraine; ZhitQnjir, also in the Ukraine; Kaunas, capital of Sovetized Lithuanaia; Sevastopol, Black Sea naval base, and other Soviet towns. Other artillery and air attacks were made from Fin nish and Rumanian territory, he said. The German invasion, Molotov asserted, was started without de claration of war and without any claims having been made. “This unheard of attack’ upon our country is perfidity unparallel led in the history of civilized na tions,” Molotov cried. “The attack was perpetrated despite the fact that the treaty of noh-aggression had been signed beween the U. S. S. R. and Germany and that the Soviet government hioSt faithful ly abided by all provisions of this treaty.” During the entire life of the Ger man-Russian pact, the foreign com. missar told the people, “the Ger man government could not find grounds for a single complaint against the U. S. S. R. as regards observance of this treaty.” “The entire responsibility . for this predatory attack upon the Soviet Union,” he went on, “falls fully and completely upon the.Ger man Fascist rulers.” Not until 5:15 a. m.—after the invasion had been launched—did German Ambassador Count Fred erich Warner Von Der Schulen berg advise the Kremlin of the German decision to make war as a result of the concentration of Red army units near the German eastern 'frontier, Molotov said. Blames Germans “In reply to this,” he declared, “I stated on behalf of the Soviet go-ernment that, until the very last moment, the German govern ment had not presented any claims to the Soviet government, that Germany attacked the U. S. S. R. despite the peaceable position of the Soviet Union, and that for this reason Fascist Germany is the aggressor. “On instruction of the govern ment of the Soviet Union I also state that at no point had our troops or our air force committed a violation of the frontier and therefore the statement made this morning by the Rumanian radio - (Continued on Page ~
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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June 23, 1941, edition 1
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