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Served By Leased Wire Of The .... ..7 associated pbess , REMEMBER NEWS AND FEATURES PEARL HARBOR With Complete Coverage Of State And National News' AND BATAAN VOL_49—NO. 61_ ESTABLISHED 1867^ AMERICAN TROOPS NARROW ROMMEL’S ESCAPE ROUTE AS BIG OFFENSIVE LOOMS reach maknassy French Threaten Southern End Of Protective Mareth Line FOE LEAVES GADAMES Italians Reported To Have Evacuated Important Sector (By The Associated Press) LONDON, Jan. 28—Ameri can troops were reported to have narrowed Marshal Er win Rommel’s escape corri dor to 33 miles and a combin ed G i r a u d and de Gaulle French column threatened the southern end of his protec tive Mareth line today as in dications grew that the Al lies were beginning a major offensive in Tunisia. The Algiers radio, as heard by Reuters, said American troops had reached Maknassy, only 33 miles from the Gulf of Gabes in an advance to ward the rear of the Mareth line only 75 miles to the southeast. British Showing Activity Simultaneously, the broadcast said, British troops to the north were showing marked activity in the Medjez-el-Bab and Bou Arada regions facing Tunis and Bizerte, and a French communique an nouncer’ that, the Italian garrison had evacuated Gadames, in Trip olitania, some 195 miles south of the end oi the fortified Mareth line, and that the fort had been occupied by the combined forces of Gen Henri Giraud and Gen. Charles de Gaulle of the Fighting French. The American thrust, obviously aimed at either Sfax or Gabes or at tne c&ast between, put these troops in a position to sever the connection between Rommel to the south and the Axis forces of Col. Gen. Jurgn von Arnim atTunis and Bizerte to the north. The radio broadcast said the enemy troops retreated to the north and a number of them were captured. Maknassy was the scene of an American raid early this week when the Americans answered a German dare to “come out and fight and captured 80 prisoners. At Maknassy the Americans were separated by only about 200 miles from the British in Tripoli tania. The Ankara radio said, mean while. that the Axis was ’evacu ating the port of Zuara, 70 miles west of Tripoli. The Axis, apparently anticipat ing the all-out attack, put out re ports 'hrough the Paris and Vichy radios saying that British-Ameri can forces concentrated in the re gions of Medjez el Bab and Bou Arada already had “begun an of fensive against the Axis forward Positions'’ in Tunisia and that in the southern sector strong Amer ican and French forces were mass ing for a companion offensive. No such present activity was in dicated from Allied North African (Continned on Page Three; Col. 6) Citizens Service Corps Plans Underway In City The Office of Civilian Defense met Thursday afternoon to begin ihe formation of the Citizens Serv ice Corps for this area. ,, oais J. Poisson, chairman of e „*\ew Hanover Defense council e,. J.lded over the meeting and the iive committee of the coun I CllRWas Present. Cameron was named wjth {!)’ °£ the new organization to- a' J' Riley> assistant direc i'1' w°man member will also V* as an assistant director ■t a later date. a,™" ameeting wiU.be held hursday afternoon to com », *“» to% the organization. A the meetmg^Thursday Louis is thA presided and the following romp °f his statement to the Cun,." °° 011 llle Citizens Service '-'H JJS ;il,.,We ,aiv, t'ighting a total war i. .“ tola' war can be won only Vnm uniled effort of every man, homo'i Und clliId in America. The ,, fl'ont must sustain and sup n," .je. battle front. In every com Di..l, y the war has brought new woblems, new tasks and new op-| • unities for service to our ci Whun population. Many agencies of the national! government have been charged with the responsibility for directing specific parts of our national war effort. The effective development of many of these war programs depends upon cooperation between and with governmental and pri vate agencies and organizations, and upon effective use of local citizen participation. “We must organize locally to deal with such matters as salvage and waste prevention, transporta tion problems, labor supply and training, the full development of our agricultural resour' •?, and the sale of war bonds an stamps. “We must likewise organize to deal with the human problems, which must be met if the home front is to be kept secure, and if we as a people are to make the all-out effort which we must make. “We must organize our efforts and our resources to deal with new and intensified problems of health, nutrition, consumer serv ices, housing, education, (Welfare and child care, and recreation for industrial workers and members of the armed forces. “The community services, known as the Citizens Service Corps, (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) ** Massive Allied African Command Appears Near Von Arnim’s Forces Hold About Half Of Tunisian War Sector ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, Jan. 28.—VP)—C'oi.-Gen. Jurgen von Arnim’s Axis army holds ap proximately half of Tunisia as Marshal Erwin Rommel’s forces try to squeeze in. The opposing lines are long and straggling, over moun tains and vast plateaus. At many places there are no clearly defined lines where the Germans and the Allies hold strong positions in patrol areas and send out armored units every day to cover the zones. Roughly the German line runs as follows: Beginning at a point 28 miles due west of Bizerte on the coast, the line drops south to Salum, 7 1-2 miles northwest of Mateur. It then runs south west to a point 12 miles south west of Mateur where it swings southeast and passes two miles east of Medjez-el-Bab. Dropping down near Goubel lat, |he line extends due south for almost 30 miles to a point 14 miles southwest of Djebi bina: From there it zigzags through the Ousseltia valley to to a point' 25 miles northwest of Kairouan. It then swings to the southwest slightly and runs south to a point 20 miles due east to Gafsa. After that there are only patrol areas. --V DEFENSE RESTS IN FLYNN CASE End Of Testimony Comes Abruptly After Cross Examinations LOS ANLGLES, Jan. 28—(AO— Errol Flynn’s defense rested its case today, with the stipulation by Attorney Jerry Giesler that he may request a visit by the jury to the luxurious yacht where the prose cution claims the film star seduced one of his two girl accusers. The end of the defense case came abruptly after the state had completed its cross-examination of the actor, charged with statu tory rape of teen aged Peggy la Rue Satterlee and Betty Hansen. Giesler made his announcement after brief re-examination of the actor. The attorney referred to Flynn’s statement on cross-exami nation that he had been worried during a visit paid by Miss Satter lee to the yacht when it was moor ed at Balboa. Asked what had been troubling him, Flynn responded it had been the loss of his pet dog, which had strayed away a few hours earlier. Earlier in the day Flynn was taken once again on a figurative voyage to the Pacific isle of Cata lina, and only once did he give the slightest indication he was getting tired of the quer 'oning. « The tall actor permitted himself (Continued on Page Eight; Col. 5) RESULT OF PARLEY Leaders Of British And American Military Might Confer ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, Jan. 28.—— The formation of one huge Allied Mediterranean theater command, bristling with troops pointed to ward Greece, Italy and France, appeared in sight today as a re sult of a Mediterranean war con ference held here among American and British military chieftains. For 48 hours the military brains of the Allies conferred here at Lieut.-Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhow er’s headquarters close upon the policy-making conference of Pres ident Roosevei* and Prime Min ister Churchili at Casablanca, it was announced. The fact that so many top-flight military leaders of the Allied na tions met on African soil so soon after the decisions reached at Cas ablanca was taken by military ob servers as an almost sure sign that the Allies rate a Mediter ranean offensive as tops in their plans for 1943. Military experts pointed out that there are six Allied armies in this theater now, which form the nu cleus for a vast and powerful strik ing force against Europe. Those are the British Eighth Army in Tripoli, the Ninth and Tenth Armies in the Middle East, and the First in Tunisia, the Amer ican Fifth Army in Tunisia, and the French Army. The welding of these armies into one military force was rapidly be coming a military necessity as the army of Gen. Sir Harold Alex ander and? the Fighting French in Tripolitania rapidly neared a junc tion with Gen. Eisenhower’s forces in Tunisia. For the United States, Genera George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff. Admiral Ernest J. King, commander of the U. S. Fleet, Lieut. Gen. H. H. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces and other (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) -V ARGUMENT RAGES OVER FR’S ENVOY l 1 " 1 ■ Senate Almost Deadlocked In Controversy Over Flynn WASHINGTON, Jan. 28.— <£>) — One of the hottest controversies in years found Senate supporters and opponents of President Roose velt’s nomination of Edward J. Flynn as minister to Australia al most deadlocked tonight on the basis of membership polls. An Associated Press canvass which reached 89 of the 96 mem bers showed 31 Senators publicly committed to vote against confir mation and 30 on record as sup porting the President’s choice. Twenty-eight Senators, including 20 Democrats and 8 Republicans, either had not made up their minds or declined to say publicly how they would vote. Seven Senators were away from Washington. While most Republicans were ex pected to oppose confirmation, at least four Democrats—George of Georgia, Glilette of Iowa, Van Nuys of Indiana and Wheeler of Montana—were on record against sending the former Democratic na (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) -V WEATHER FORECAST: North Carolina Slightly warmer Friday. (Eastern Standard Time) (By U. S. Weather Bureau) Meteorological data for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m., yesterday. Temperature 1:30 a. m., 45.2; 7:30 a. m., 46.8; 1:30 p. m., 41.1; 7:30 p. m., 39. Maximum 47; Minimum 39; Mean 43; Normal 46. Humidity 1-30 a. m., 100; 7:30 a. m„ 95; 1:30 p. m., 98; 7:30 p. m„ 96. Frecipitation Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m., 1.04 inches. „ , „„ Total since the first of the month, 4.69 inches. _ . Tides For Today High Low Wilmington - 3:29a 10:51a 3:45p )':14p Masonboro Inlet - 12:56a (:26a 1 ;09p 7:41p Moore's Inlet - 1:01a 1:31p l:14p 7:41p New Topsail Inlet- 1:06a 736a Elmore’s i - l:19p 7:51p' (Ail times Eastern Standard) Sunrise, 7:11 a. m.; Sunset, 5:39 p. m.; Moonrise, 12:33a; Moonset, 11:59a. (Continued on Page Eight; Col. 4) j RAF Pay? nn»(r»lilnr{ Blazing Of Bo d _4 K. Dues a heavy RAF bomb schedule of offensive on It was 51st raid on the | great industrial center. The Air Ministry, terming the attack “Duesseldorf*s quickest blitz,” said most of the thousands of bombs carried were dropped within 10 minutes of the 30 minute raid. Only six bombers were lost out of a force officially designated as “heavy” indicating several hundred planes were in action. In the last raid on Duesseldorf, on October 9. 1943, the British lost 31 planes, hut the disparity in losses probably was due to differences in weather condi tions rather than to enemy ac tion. Last night was so black that the RAF pilots saw only a few enemy fighters. -v AFRICA MAY GET DECAL E ENVOY Gen. Catroux Mentioned As Representative Jo Giraud * ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, Jan. 28.—Mi Gen. Georges Catroux, Fighting French high commissioner in Syria, may soon take his place in the government of Gen. Henri Giraud as Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s representative in North Africa, it was reliably reported today. Catroux, it was stated, would have the dual role as a member at the same time as representa tive of de Gaulle. It is expected that Gen. Giraud will have a similar representative in the de Gaulle National com mittee in London, it was said. (In London, it was reported that Ca troux may be sent instead to Wash ington to head Gen. de Gaulle’s delegation there.) Catroux is one of the Fighting French leaders who enjoys some popularity among officers of the French African army. Some sources have predicted that he would replace Gov-Gen. Auguste Nogues of Morocco, whose regime is under heavy fire from several sources. He has been criticised for failure to repeal anti-Jewish and anti-Free Mason laws which were enacted under German influence, and for continued operation of the Fascist “groupement” systems of trade control. Under the clothing rationing sys tem still in force in Morocco an applicant for clothing must state on his questionnaire whether he is Jewish, a Free Mason or a member of the pro-Fascist Vet erans Legion. If he is Jewish or a Free Mason, his request for a ration coupon may be delayed for weeks or months, according to lib eral elements who complain of the system. Most heavily criticised is t h e “groupement” system, a sort of Fascist-distorted farmers’ cooper ative. Under this system dealers in all essential commodities in Morocco, such as wheat, barley, salt, fish and eggs, were organized in groupements. The groupement buys up the entire crop and sells it for high prices. Some leaders in these groups are reported to have made from 15,000,000 to 20, 000,000 francs during the past two years selling foodstuffs for trans shipment to Germany. The groupement rules provide for numerous restrictions as to membership, which usually are aimed at Jews, Free Masons and de Gaullists. The anti-Free Mason feeling in the French army dates back to the Dreyfus case but has reached a new height under the Vichy re gime, prodded by the Axis. As a result of the mass selling by these groupements, persons trading outside them are seldom able to compete. Even the American Army has been buying from the groupements (Continued on Page Three; Col. 5) Taxi Driver Found Guilty Of Violating OPA Gas Ban Of eight cases considered at the War Price and Ration board hear ings Thursday afternoon on per sons cited by OPA investigators as possible violaters of pleasure regulations, only one motorist was found guilty, three drivers were dismissed as “not guilty”, and four cases were continued until more information can be gathered. The individual found guilty is a taxi-driver; the penalty he will pay for alleged pleasure driving will be a loss of gasoline ration permits. Two taxi-drivers are among the j four persons whom the Piling board has not yet passed judge ment. One of the individuals declared not guilty by the ration board of ficials is a man who, en route from the shipyards to his home stopped at a drive-in food place. The driver’s car remained in front of the eating establishment for two hours, during which time OP A in vestigators found it. Hearings on the other cases, of OPA officials declare there are more than 100, will be continued Monday afternoon at 3 p. rn. in (Continued on Page Five; Col. 2) SOVIET ARMY FAST WELDING BAND OF STEEL AROUND TWO IMPORTANT MIL WA Y POINTS Russian Victories Reopen Three Strategic Rail Lines Russian armies, claiming to have smashed all except two small groups of Nazi troops (indicated by swastika) near Stalingrad, have thereby reopened thr'ee rail lines which will be juseful in sending supplies and reinforcements to the front, London sources have heard. These lines feed from Stalingrad north (1) toward Povorina; (2) west toward Tatsinskaya, and (8) southwest toward Salsk. Arrows show where Rus sian pressure is greatest against the Germans. Broken line is the front line as it existed Nov. 19 when the current Russian drive began. Army Airmen Establish 4-1 Advantage Over Foe — — --- WASHINGTON, Jan. 28-^(A>)—The Army’s air power, in ‘brilliantly successfully” operations around the globe, has established a four-to-one combat superiority over the aerial strength of the Axis, Secretary of War Stimson re ported today. In a review of the war’s progress on all fronts, Stim son presented at his press conference a box score on the work of the Army Air Forces in the last eleven months of U. S. HUS JAPS IN TEN PLACES MacArthur’s Air Arm Busy Pounding Foe In Many Quarters ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN AUSTRALIA. Friday, Jan. 29.—® —General Douglas MacArthur’s ever busy air arm has struck the Japs in 10 places, the noon com munique reported today. Long range fighters heavily strafed the Fuiloro airdrome on Portuguese Timor. In Binnen Bay, an Allied heavy bomber at tacked a Jap merchant ship and shot down one of five Jap planes which attempted to intercept. In the Aroe island area, long range fighters strafed enemy float planes on the water off Dobo. One was destroyed. Japs ships in Open bay. New Britain, were strafed by an Al lied heavy bomber. In New Britain’s wide bay, an Allied heavy bomber scored near bits from a low altitude on a Jap cargo vessel and capsized a near by boat. It also strafed a coastal village. At Gasmata, New Britain, a medium bomber raided the air drome. The arfield at Cape Glou cester was attacked by a heavy bomber. >1942—a total of 1,349 enemy air craft shot down or probably de stroyed in aerial combat, against losses of only 309 American planes. Nearly a third of these enemy losses were inflicted by Army fliers in December, when Stimson said, air operations increased considerably due to the North African campaign. In that month, 419 Axis aircraft were definitely or probably destroy ed with a loss of only 98 Army planes. “Probables" are claimed by the air forces, Stimson explained, only when the enemy planes are seen falling out of control or in flames, but the actual crash—or abandon ment of the stricken ship by a para chuting pilot—ig not observed. The score of enemy losses, said the secretary, was confined to the bag of aerial combat — no enemy planes brought down by anti-air craft fire were included. However, the Army losses of aircraft in his report included those destroyed bv enemy anti-aircraft guns. Stimson also disclosed at the press conference that American casualties to date in Tunisia have totaled 1,258 dead, wounded and missing. As to other developments of the war Stimson suggested that Presi dent Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill “undoubtedly were heart ened" during their conference at Casablanca by these reports from the battle fronts. 1. In recent days German officials have begun to tell the German pub lic for the first time of Nazi mili tary disaster in Russia. 2. Marshall Pommels’ forces, in full flight toward Tunisia, aban doned the Libyan capital of Tripoli without a fight, pausing only for an unsuccessful effort to destroy har bor facilities and air fields. 3. French and American troops in Tunisia threw back a German thrust designed to widen Rommel's cor ridor of escape along the coast. 4. General MacArthur’s Australian and American troops have cleaned (Continued on Page Eight; Col. 4) * NOTICE! If your carrier fails to leave your copy of the Wil mington Morning Star, Phone 331? before 9:00 a. m. and one will be sent to you by special messenger. GERMANY BEGINS DRAFT OF LABOR Drastic New Decree Insti tutes Compulsory Work For People (By The Associated Press) LONDON, Jan. 28 — A drastic new decree instituting compulsory labor for all German men from 16 to 65 and all women from 17 to 45 was announced by the German ra dio today with strong hints that the death penalty will be applied to slackers. The announcement was made after days of intense propaganda barrage in the German press and radio warning that Adolf Hitler’s Reich is at a crisis in the war be cause of continued reverses on the Eastern Front. In their discussions of the grow ing seriousness of the situation Berlin radio commentators have, been dwelling with increasing fre-| quency on the date of January 30,1 the 10th anniversary of Hitler's coming to power, and there were numerous suggestions that he might use the occasion Saturday to dis cuss full implications of the dras tic measure. Although there was no official an nouncement of a forthcoming Hit ler speech, the German Fuehrer (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) ACL Revenues For 1942 Highest In Road History Revenues realized by the Atlantic Coast Line railroad during 1942 were the highest in the history of the firm—$115,108,820—it was re vealed Thursday, when a state ment of revenues and expenses was released by company officials. The operating revenues repre sented an increase over 1941 of $47, 704,568 and #surpassed 1940 figures by $65,020,836. Operating expenses for the firm were listed at $62,947,631, as com pared with $46,859,449 in 1941, The i-eport showed that taxes in the amount of $27,900,000 were paid —$20,250,000 more than 1941 — by the railroad. The operating income was said to be $2,261,189; the net railway oper ating income $21,195,567. For rent of equipment and joint facilities, the ACL spent $3,065,622 during the < year. It was also reported by ACL offi cials that December 1942, was the : best December in the history of the railroad, as revenues reached $12, 730,132 — an increase of $6,277,758 i over the final month of 1941. Operating expenses for December were quoted as being $3,974,052; net operating revenues, $6,756,080; the i amount required for taxes, $4,345,* 000; operating income $2,411,080; net amount paid for rent of equipment and joint facilities $356,676; and net railway operating income, $2,054, 404. Despite the unusual load of busi ness handled by ACL in both freight and passenger service dur ing the final month of the year, firm officials declared that the cars and manpower were entirely ade quate to the task, and that no de lay was experienced in taking car# of either phase of the transporta tion work. ACL, as all other railroad com panies, could well use additional oars for its service, it has been pointed out but the government has rreatly restricted manufacture anu listrlbution of such vehicles. In February of 1942, the Coast Line placed an order for 2,000 new height train cars and a portion ol he order has been filled. In addition to its purchases of new iquipment, the company carried on, in its own shops, a program of re building and repairing old equip ment to fit it for use during the current transportation emergency, * MAIKOP MENACED - ) Kastornoye, 75 Miles Fron# Big Base Of Kursk, Captured REDS CLOSE ON ENEMY Russian Troops Rapidly Overruning Area Near Oil Fields (Bjr The Associated Press) LONDON, Jan. 28 — TSt* Russians were fast encircling the two key Caucasian rail way junctions at Tikhoretsk and Kropotkin, and also the oil fields at Maikop tonight, while on the Voronezh front the Red army seized the im portant junction of Kastro noye, 75 miles from the big Nazi base of Kursk. These developments were reported here by the Soviet radio monitor. With the seizure of Kalni bolotskaya in the Caucasus, the Russians were only 18 miles northeast of Tikhoretsk. The occupation of Gulkevichi put the Red army only eight miles southeast of Kropotkin. Prisoners and Materials Taken A special communique an nounced the capture of Kastornoye, intersection of the Voronezh-Kursk and Valuiki-Yelets railways. “War material? and prisoners were tak en,” it added. The regular midnight bulletin then announced the capture of Kal nibolotskaya and Gulkevichi In the Caucasus, and these other devel opments of the day The Red army seized Novopo krovskaya, only 27 miles east of Tikhoretsk where the Rostov-Baku line connects with the Stalingrad Novorossisk railway. Only 28 miles to the southeast the Russians oc cupied Ilyinskaya as they closed in on Tikhoretsk. Thirty-five miles below Tikhor etsk the Red army began also to encircle Kropotkin, which is the junction for the Rostov-Baku line and another east-west railway run ning from Novorossisk on the Black Sea to the Kalmyck steppes. Here the Red army took Otrada* Kubanskaya, 16 miles southeast of Kropotkin on the main railway line. They also seized Petropav lovskoye and Mikhailovskoye, 27 and 30 miles south of Kropotkin. Other Russian units are about 25 miles to the east of the junction. With the occupation of Petropav lovskoye and Mikhailovskoye the Russians disclosed their troops now are rapidly overrunning the . area north and south of the Maikop I oil fields. The former is 37 miles I northeast of Maikop, and Moscow announced the capture yesterday of Apsheronskaya, 19 miles south west of Maikop in a drive appar ently launched by Red army units pushing from Tuapse on the Black Sea coast. The Soviet units pushing west • from Armavir to join the Tuapse • forces captured Kurgannaya, 3Q (Continued on Page Three; Col. 2)
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Jan. 29, 1943, edition 1
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