Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / June 13, 1944, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
forecast * - 4 stftf * rr ^ REMEMBER I I feggg~~ wimtttgfcm Humtttuj mar p£ir | 'yOL. 77.—NO. 123 ~ WILMINGTON, N. C., TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 1944 ~ FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 Allies Control 60plile Beachhead! Allies Chasing Routed Germans Far From Rome Disorganized Forces Nearly 70 Miles North Of Eternal City In Flight June 14.—ytr)—me German 14th army hag been “dispersed to the four winds,” Allied headquarters declared today as Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark’s American and British forces, pursuing the disorganized Germans up the Italian west coast, approached Orbetello, 71 miles northwest ( „ _ X ox numc. As depleted enemy units fell back toward the Florence area with the greater part of their equipment lost, the Nazi high command faced the immediate necessity of sending heavy rein forcements from France or else where in Europe if any real attempt was to be made to hold northern Italy. "It is now quite clear,” the Al lied announcement said, “that the original 14th army has been dis persed to the four winds. All that remains is a few scattered rem nants who mainly are engaged in stealing one another’s transport to get away as fast as possible. Prisoners describe the situation as wholly chaotic.” The German commander, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, not only has been forced to throw all but one of the 24 division he had in Italy into a desperate effort to slow the Allied steamroller, but has brought in three fresh infan try divisions, it was disclosed to day. y»yi . j •_ 1._ il . a 11_T^T_I 1 /MU Wild l iv,xii Ui M1V XI U4ll XUfcXX army, which once struck hammer blows at Allied troops clinging to the Anzio beachhead, appears to have been put on an every*man for-himself basis in the flight to ward Florence. ‘The most striking evidence of the degree of disintegration was provided by the fact that captured stragglers were provided with passes saying the bearer was authorized to proceed either alone or in small groups to an assembly place near Florence,” the Allies announced. Across the breadth of Italy the Allied Fifth and Eighth armies ' pressed grimly forward, meeting organized resistance only where the Nazis badly needed time to extricate their troops. The country | side was littered with abandoned | enemy equipment. Fifth army troops pushed 1 through the important road junc tion of Montefiascone near the shores of Lake Bolsena and fought on toward the town of Bolsena, eight miles beyond. Eighth army colmuns moving up both sides of the Tiber river north of Rome neared Bagno Reggio and Rieti. In the rugged central sector the eighth army overran Avezzano and nearby Lake Fucino, which was drained some years ago and now is a 45.000-acre farm develop ment. In the Adriatic sector all Germans had been cleared from the lower side of the Pescara river. -v Leap-Frog Landings Predicted By Berlin LONDON, June 1.— W) —The Germans admitted loss of Carentan today, and said great Allied drives were impending on both ends of the Normandy front with Possibly leap-frog landings plan ned to hasten the chocking-off of toe port of Cherbourg. Berlin blamed Nazi retreats, chiefly on “the constant hail _ of shells from giant guns of Allied "'arships,’’ and gloomily forecast jtoere would be “an armada of bombers to support Anglo-Ameri can land forces when the fighting moves farther inland.” The enemy broadcasts said the **al weight of Allied power would be felt only after a port like Cherbourg has been captured, for giant Allied supply ships still 8re waiting at sea for capture of a port which would permit land mg of men and material.” British Troops Gain In Indian Fighting SOUTHEAST ASIA COMMAND HEADQUARTERS, Kandy, Cey ]°n, June 1.—(fll—British troops, engaged in clearing the enemy out India, have driven to a point p miles east of Kohima, almost *0 the Burma border, where re newed resistance has been en countered, a communique from admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s headquarters said today. tone Burma border is 30 miles east of Kohima at the nearest Joint.) Reds Launch Major Drive On Helsinki LONDON. June 12. — (ff>) — Russian tanks and picked troops struck through breach es in the rebuilt Mannerheim line today in a drive toward the big Finnish port of Vipuri —less than 45 miles away from advanced spearheads—with the capital of Helsinki itself as the ultimate goal. Churning up the Karelian is thmus ravaged by the 1939-40 Russo-Finnish war, Russian ar tillery, bombs and guns of the Baltic fleet cracked the defens es along a 25-mile front and stunned the Finns with a can nonading which echoed through Leningrad, more than 25 miles away. Dispatches from Moscow said the Red Army had seized sev eral large railroad centers be yond the 1938 Russo-Finnish border and that Finnish casual ties, heavy from the start, were increasing. They pictured the Finns as dazed by the suddenness and weight of the attack and as ill prepared for threats of big scale landings behind their lines under cover of the Soviet Baltic fleet. More enemy positions were being rolled up hourly as the Russians under Col- Gen. Leo nid Govorov, liberator of Len ingrad, struck repeatedly in the virtually constant day light of the northern summer. _ IT_ DE GAULLE PUNS VISIT TO FRANCE LONDON, June 12. —{£>)— Gen Charles DeGaulle is expected to visit France in an effort to obtain evidence of popular backing for his national liberation committee before leaving for Washington to continue his fight for full recogni tion, it was reported today. French quarters here said De Gaulle, still dissatisfied with his relations with the British and Am erican governments, was willing tc gamble on a popular demonstra tion and the qualities of his fight ing French troops—if and when USed—to strengthen his hand. One of these men said Allied plans for administering civil af fairs in liberated parts of France were “AMGOT under another name” and took the position il would mean dealing with “a whole series of Darlans” with results dangerous to the military. First U. S. Invasion. Nurses Return To England r ' lHI . Il—II II M—■■■—■■———— Two of the first American nurses to he flown ta the lone of operations in France to help evacuate wounded are shown on their return to England. Thew are Lt. Suella Bernard of Waynesville, O., (left) and Lt. Mary Jane Brown (center) of Columbus, O. Congratulating them is Head Nurse Lt. Foster. Holding poppies they picked in France, the nurses landed on an improvised airstrip on the Cherbourg peninsula' and aided in sending back the first three plane loads of wounded. U. S. Signal Corps photo. hitth Vr ar Loan Campaign Gets Off To Good Start . • • 7 7 "' ' - BOARD ASKS CAB FOR EQUIPMENT Decision to write the Civil Ae ronautics Board in Washington requesting that equipment be made available to Natiorial Airlines so that work on the proposed air line through Wilmington can get underway goon was made by the Board of 'County Commissioners yesterday. A letter also will be written to Senators Josiah W. Bailey and Robert R. Reynolds and Congress man J. Bayard Clark. It also was decided that a statement concerning the status of the James Walker Memorial hospital, defined at the joint meet ing of the commissioners, the city council and the board of mana gers of the hospital, be included in the minutes for future refer ence and record. Discussion was held to deter mine ways of making the county jail more comfortable and it was recommended that bids be asked for the reconstruction of the sky light and the installation of three 36” electric fans. Beer licenses were granted to the following: Annie Ruth Ashley, Seabreeze; E. C. Boldie, Castle Haynes; Thomas Solomon, 2010 Princess Street Road; J. B. Scott, Summer Hill; J. D. Lockamy, Sea Gate, and Mrs. H. L. Pope, Roose velt Gardens. A petition signed by residents of South Washington street, Sunset Park, asking that the street in front of their residences be fixed, was given to a committee for further study. 18 More Jap Ships Sunk By U. S. Subs In Pacific Ocean WASHINGTON, June 12.—<*>) —The toll of Japanese ships sunk by American submarines rose today to 607 with a Navy announcement that 18 more en emy vessels had been sent to the bottom in the Pacific and far east. All the ships reported in to day’s communique were car go vessels or merchantmen needed by the enemy in sup plying outlying posts. TT POLITICAL FIGHT FLARES IN TEXAS By The Associated Press A court battle over the fourth term issue was shaping up today as a result of an intraparty split among Texas Democrats. The Texas Democratic executive committee, meeting yesterday at Dallas, voted 37 to 6 against cer tifying a slate of pro-Roosevelt presidential electors for printing on the July primary ballot. The slate was advanced by a faction that broke away from the party’s state convention after be ing twice outvoted by anti-admin istration elements. The convention then went ahead and named its own group of 23 electors and instructed them not to support the party’s presidential nominee unless the two-thirds nominating rule is restored at the national convention and other con ditions are met. F.D.R. Sees Early Win Over Japs WASHINGTON, June 12.— —President Roosevelt said to night we can force the Japa nese to unconditional surren der or to national suicide much more rapidly than has been thought possible.” The President, speaking on a national radio program open ing the $16 000,000,000 Fifth War Loan drive, said our original strategy of eliminating Ger many first and then turning our full strength on the Pacific can hasten the day of our vic tory on all fronts. Germany, he said, is “first on the list for destruction,” and added: “Germany has her hack against the wall—in fact three walls at once “On the south — we have broken the German held en central Italy. On the east — our gallant Soviet allies have driven the enemy back from the lands which were invaded three years ago and great So viet armies are now initiating crushing new blows. “Over head—vast Allied air fleets of bombers and fighters have been waging a bitter air war over Germany and western Europe. They have had two main objectives: to destroy German war industries which maintain the German armies and air forces; and to shoot the German Luftwaffe out of the air. As a result German pro duction force now has only a fraction of its former power* “This great air campaign, strategic and tactical, will continue with increasing pow er. “On the west—the hammer blow which struck the coast of France last Tuesday morn ing was the culmination of many months of careful plan ning and strenuous prepara tion." The President said “we still have a long way to Tokyo.” but he reviewed the relentless Pacific smashes which have taken the initiative away from the Japanese. 1 “Today we are on the offen sive all over the world—bring ing the attack to our enemies." Declaring we have deprived the Japanese of any power to check the momentum of our forces, Mr. Roosevelt said we have reduced Japanese ship ping by more than 3>000,000 tons and have cut off from their homelands tens of thou sands of Japanese troops who now face starvation or sur render.” The President recalled the dark, early days of the war and reminded his listeners that he was called “crazy” when he first suggested United States plane production of 50, 000 airplanes a year “Today,” he said, “we are building airplanes at the rate of 100,000 a year.” Mr. Roosevelt- speaking from Washington, joined in an hour-long radio program open- - ing the big bond drive. Most of the radio show, in which Secretary Morgentha'u. ' irtovle ' stars and others took part- orig inated in Texarkana on the Texas-Arkansas border. Offi cials explained Texarkana was chosen because of its posi tion on the line between two states TENTH OF QUOTA SOLD FIRST DAY More than $500,000 worth oi bonds were sold yesterday toward the city-county goal of $5,707,000 in the Fifth War Loan drive tc spring-board the “Civilian D-Day” attack, J. G. Thornton, city war bond chairman, announced Iasi night. A gala parade high-lighted the first day of the campaign yester day afternoon at 6:45 p. m. as three companies of Wacs, the 142nd Army Ground Force band, the 517th AA battalion, and a detach ment of the 679th AA Ordnance company, all from the Anti-Air craft Artillery Training center at Camp Davis; and the Marine Post Band from Camp Lejeune, follow ed by Army equipment, marched through the downtown streets oi the city as enthusiastic citizens thronged the sidewalks. Retreat, the daily evening sa lute to the Stars and Stripes, was carried out by a group of troops at City Hall after the parade. Many citizens viewed the Army equipment displayed in front of Thalian Hall which had its worth in $25 war bonds painted on the side. The largest antiaircraft ar tillery piece in the Allied armies, the new 120 mm. “stratosphere” gun, which was seen by a large group of civilians for the, firsl time, was valued at 5,760 twenty five dollar bonds. A half-tracl mounting four 50 calibre machine guns -was valued at 862 twenty-five dollar bonds. Other equipment dis played included an amphibious jeep, 90 mm. and 40 mm. antiair craft guns, two of the 800,000,000 candle power anti-aircraft search lights and a fighting jeep armed with 50 calibre anti-aircraft ma chine guns. ajla tci uic pninuc, mauj yvaa' mingtonians, with admissior through tickets received from the purchase of a Series E war bond saw the show ‘‘Furlough Fun” a1 Thalian Hall, which featured Pvt. Arnie Sultan, the “Sad Sack,” Pvt. Jack Wheelan, Pvt. Mertin Marx, Pvt. Patricia Norris, Pvt. Walter Fuller, T-4 John Nooney, 12 Wacs in a chorus, and the 143rd AGF band. Prior to stage show performance Lieut. Col. Philip H. Brewster, di rector of supply at Camp Davis, who was introduced by' master ol ceremonies Pvt. Jack Wheelan, made a brief address in which he urged the citizens of Wilming ton and New Hanover county tc ‘‘buy more bonds”. “You are nol asked to give, but to lend your money to your government on in terest for your protection so that ’your freedom might live forever”. Colonel Brewster detlared. The first large subscriber in the Fifth War Loan drive was the Virginia-Carolina Chemical com pany. which sent a check to War (Continued on Page Three; Col. 3) Carentan Captured As Allied Advance Sweeps Nazis Back ___—---M. ALLIES KEEP UP AERIAL ATTACKS Cologne Reported Bombed As Sequel To R a i d s Over France SUPREME HEADQUAR TERS ALLIED EXPEDI TIONARY FORCE, Tuesday, June 13.—(/P)— Cologne was reported by DNB today to have been bombed just before midnight in an after-dark se quel to daylight invasion at tacks Monday in which Allied air fleets flew up to 10,000 sorties against German hold ings in France. Many Nazi-controlled radio sta tions in France and Germany shut down, suggesting widespread ac tivity by the RAF. A record 1,400 U. S. heavy bom bers participated in the daylight attacks, which met rising German air force resistance. Sixteen ene my airfields and six bridges were among the targets. The heavyweights, in the great est farce ever sent on a single mission, lost seven planes to flak while their fighter escort shot 17 of the enemy from the sky at a cost of 14 fighters. The supreme command threw every class of bomber and fight er into close support of th^ ex panding Normandy beachheau, and the Germans, putting up their stif fest opposition since the Channel crossing, were unable to check this whirlwind of Allied aerial might. U. o. rui ucooco axxv4 xjiuvi c* scourged air fields from St. Na zaire to Lyon, to which the Ger mans had been shuttling their lean air force, and one pilot declared that “every airfield within a ra dius of 50 miles of our target seemed to be under attack.” Other heavyweights planted ex plosives on six bridges and other installations, while clouds of light er bombers, fighter-bombers and fighters filled the skies over north ern France, some engaging in dog fights with «as many as 20 enemy planes. Air fields pounded were at Lille-Nord, Montdidier, Evereux Fauville, Dreux, Vitry-en-Artois and Bauvais-Tille, all landing fields the Germans need for any sort of serious defense against the Allies. •-- ' Yanks Smash At Japs In Biak Isle Bunkers ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD QUARTERS, New Guinea, Tues day, June 13—UP—Japanese are being cleaned from their strong positions on Biak island west of Mokmer airstrip, headquarters announced today. American infantry troops were advancing westward from cap tured Mokmer drome Sunday against enemy machinegun fire coming from bunkers. Headquarters also disclosed that Palau and Truk again were bomb ed Saturday night. Palau’s air strip was hit and installations on Truk were attacked by planes from southwest Pacific bases. Churchill, Eisenhower Visit Front SUPREME H E A D Q UAR TERS ALLIED EXPEDITION ARY FORCE, June 12— Iff) — Prime Minister Churchill set foot on French soil for the first time since 1940 today and Gen, Dwight D. Eisenhower, com mander in chief of the Allied invasion forces, led a party of top U. S. military and naval commanders ton a tour of the American-held section of the Normandy battlefront. Britain’s prime minister was accompanied by Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, premier of South Africa, tand Gen. Sir Alan Brooke, chief of the im perial general staff. In General Eisenhower’s party 'were Gen. George C. Marshal, U. S. Army chief of staff; Gen. Henry H. Arnold, American air chief; Admiral Ernest King, commander in chief of the U. B. Fleet; Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, com mander of American ground forces in France;. ;and Rear Admirals Alan G- Kirk and John Leslie Hall, command ers of naval task forces in the invasion. ROOSEVELT HITS AT PERSECUTIONS WASHINGTON, June 12.—(A1)— President Roosevelt said today the Nazis, facing defeat, are carrying on a “fiendish extermination cam paign against the oppressed peo ples of Europe and added that this government is determined to punish ‘‘all participants in these icts of savagery.” “This nation is appalled by the systematic persecution of helpless minority groups,’’ the President said in a report to Congress. “As the hour of the final defeat if the Hitlerite forces draws clos ;r, the fury of their insane desire ;o wipe out the Jewish race in Eu rope continues undiminished. This is but one example: Many Chris tian groups also are being mur dered.” “Knowing that they have lost the war, the Nazis are determin ed to complete their program of mass extermination. This program is but one manifestation of Hit er’s aim to salvage from military lefeat victory for Nazi principles —the very principles which this var must destroy unless we shall lave fought in vain.” -V Yugoslavs Partisans Launch New Offensive LONDON. June 12.—(IP)—Marshal rito’s Yugoslav partisans have aunched an offensive in Serbia and caused more than 400 German casualties in stiff fighting on oth er fronts, the Free Yugoslav com munique said tonight. The Germans, in a broadcast, acknowledged the Partisan drive cn the Croat-Serbian frontier, but declared it had been halted. Both sides reported violent fight ing in eastern Bosnia with Parti sans claiming that Nazi bases at Majevica and Semberija in peril. Japanese Invader Troops Pound Besieged Changsha ■ " -— UHUflutuivu, June iz.— —Invader troops are pounding incessantly at all sides of be sieged Changsha against heroic Chinese resistance and the battle around the outer defens es has reached its “fiercest proportions.’’ a Chinese com munique said tonight, indicat ing virtual encirclement of the Canton-Hankow rail city. Far to the west, however, near the Burma border. Chin ese troops were scoring furth er successes and were mop ping up enemy remnants in the outer areas of Lungling, im portant Yunnan province base whose fall was announced yes terday. The Japanese still held strongly-fortified positions on tnree mils omsiae me town, and attempted an unsuccessful flank from the south, a com munique declared. While American bombers and fighters blasted enemy troops, river craft and installations over a wide area of the Hunan front, the Chinese still were holding in the area 15 miles northwest of Changsha, while directly north of the city the Japanese were fought to a standstill, the high command said. The Japanese also were driv ing on Changsha from the east only six miles away, and fierce fighting was reported in all these sectors, with casual ties heavy on both gjdes. AMERICANS TAKE I CER1SY FOREST! 250,000 German Troops Thrown In Battle 9 By Rommel 9 SUPREME HEADt/U A K TERS ALLIED EXPEDI TIONARY FORCE, Tuesday June 13. — (A3) — America! tanks and infantry smashec through the center of th» German line in Norm^ndj yesterday, capturing the Ce risy Forest 18 miles inlaw from the sea, toppling th< stronghold of Careptan after a bitter fight, and battling Nazi forces only 14 miles from the prize port of Cher bourg. Headquarters said that Fiel( Marshal Gen. Erwin Romme lyas using from 14 to 15 divisions 250,000 German troops, agains the Aliied forces, but communiqm No. 14 declared: ‘‘The fusion of our beachhead! is now complete and a coastal strij some 60 miles long is firmly i! our hands. Its depth is being in creased steadily. A later official statement als said: ‘‘The enemy has been un able to build up his attacking for ces as rapidly a? anticipated. Carentan’s fall put the Ameri cans a third of the way across th« Cherbourg peninsula at its nar rowest point. (Berlin radio, in a broaacas recorded by NBC, said two new Allied divisions had landed north' east of Cherbourg, presumably it the 15-mile area between the por and Pointe de Barfleur at th* northeast tip of the peninsula German broadcasts earlier hat predicted Allied “leap frog” land ings close to Cherbourg. At the end of the first week o! invasion fighting the Allies havt taken more than 10.000 prisoners a statement said. Gen. Sir Ber nard L. Montgomery, Allied grount commander, said some regula Japanese soldiers were among tht captives and the Axis slain, bu did not explain their presence oi the front. The seizure of Cerisy Forest put American troops near the mid Normandy communications hub ol St. Lo, and v’as the deepest inland penetration yet scored by the A1 lies. Slight advances were made east of Caen on the British-Canadian sector on the American left flank, headquarters said, and “American troops in the Cherbourg peninsu la have made further progress';!* the north and west” in their effort to seal off an 800-square-mile are* including the port of Cherbourg. Fierce fighting between British and enemy armored units continu ed hetween Tilly-Sur-Seulles an* Caen, east of the Cerisy forest now occupied by the Americans, the bulletin said. flan nu.i'rtU* n Tr:_1_ _ -— ■■ »Y tx I OUJJ' reme Allied invasion commander, made a five-hour inspection tour of the American sector yesterday, accompanied by Gen. George C. Marshall- chief of the U. S. Army staff, Admiral Ernest J- King, commander in chief of the U. S. Fleet, and Gen. Henry H- Arnold, head of the U. S. Air forces. Besides the American "Big Four,” Prime Minister Churchill of Britain also visited the Norman dy front 100 mile* across the Eng lish channel. With him were Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts. South African premier, and Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, chief of the British imperial staff. The greatest daylight heavy bom* ber fleet ever dispatched from Britain; more than 1,400 Flying Fortresses and Liberators, sup ported the invasion during the day by striking at a broad belt of IS airfields and six rail bridges in France. In the overall situation Rommel’s Axis forces were showing signs of weakness, an official statement said. But the .Germans were pour* ing reinforcements into the west ern coastal areas of the Cherbourg peninsula and putting up stiffer resistance against the American (Continued on Page Three; CoL it
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 13, 1944, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75