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VO1^-——:------- , WILMINGTON, N. C., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1944 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867
I I
^_I
ic ★ 'A' it X X. _i_ iii j. — -■■ in— ■«
oviets Cross Into East Prussia
_- v
Great Blow
Also Struck
At Warsaw
RUSSIANS ON MARCH
Powerful New Offensives
Unleashed By Red Units
On Reeling Nazis
LONDON, Tuesday, Sept.
jo_(/p)—Russian troops in
one of the fiercest strugggles
of the war yesterday drove
to within two and one-half
miles of Lomza, gateway to
lower German East Prussia,
and Moscow announced offi
cially today that Red army
patrols had crossed from Li
thuania into that imperilled
Nazi province.
Berlin also announced that the
Russians had penetrated German
lines in a “concentrated assault”
on Warsaw’s eastern suburbs, 75
miles southwest of the Narew riv
er stronghold of Lomza, and said
feat in southern Poland other So
viet troops in a fresh offensive
i.rr.ed at northern Hungary had
raptured the fortress town of
Krosno in the east Beskids chain
ot the Carpathian mountains.
The Soviet midnight communique
telling ol the entry into East Prus.
sia came a few hours after Allied
headquarters had announced that
American troops now were fighting
inside western Germany. It coin
r’-'de with reparts frob both Ber
lin and Moscow that three power
ful Red armies were on the verge
of unleasing new offensives on a
300 - mile front opposite East Prus
sia, extending from northern Pt>
land up to the Baltic sea.
Moscow said that the patrols had
crossed the Sesupe river border be.
tween Lithuania and east Prussia,
"gathered valuable information”
(® German troop dispositions,
and then returned safely.
For several days unofficial’ re- i
ports h a v e told of these patrol i
stabs, made while Gen. Ivan Cher-!
Kakhovsky's third white Russian,
army amassed men and material,
kr a new drive.
in the flaming sector northeast
Warsaw the Russians were
towing in masses of men backed
swarms of tanks and covered
h terrific artillery barrages and
toe bombardments. Berlin said,
to German front reporter was
toed as saying the drive was
hunched ‘‘with such . hellish artil
fire that it was a relief when
«:et infantry and tanks at last
““toed.'' He added: “It cannot
e described in words what Ger
man erenadiers endured here.” .
finfflzj. 20 miles south of Ger
tovs east Prussian border, ap
peared about to fall to the Rus- ;
in 1 hom Moscow said captured
11 localities on three sides of the ‘
!0r- These included Konarzyce,
0 ancl one . half miles to the
“thwest. Gielczyn, three miles
to., Pniewo, seven miles south*
l,as ‘ ail(3 Sulki, seven miles on
“ie west.
3° capture of the Sulki cut the
!”;_'5y between Lomza and Ostro
i',a; and put the Russians only
1 miles south of Nowogrod,
[Ji Lomza, is another im
f‘.ant Narew crossing point on
Continued on Page Two: Col. 7)
Sleeps On Job
Harriet Bergman, above, of New
York, actually sleeps on the job
—and gets paid for it. She tests
sleeping qualities of new-style pa
jamas for designer Harry Berger.
Most of her work is done at home
although she has a cot in the Ber
ger offices. She’s the wife of Sgt.
Mannie Bergman, now overseas
with the Air Corps.
SHARPTON GIVEN
PASSENGER POST
J. B. Sharpton, who now holds the
position of assistant to the vice
president in charge of traffic, R.
J. Doss, has been appointed as
sistant passenger traffic manager
of the Atlantic Coast Line Rail
road company to fill the position
made vacant by the retirement and
recent death of the' late' W. H.
Howard.
The appointment was announced
yesterday by George P. James,
passenger traffic manager, andj
will become effective September
15.
Sharpton has been connected with
the Atlantic Coast Line for the!
past 21 years, all of which time,
has been spent with the traffic de-1
aartment. Since his association with
the executive head of the traffic de
partment for the past several years
tie has given much of his time and
attention to matters . directly con
nected with passenger travel.
Sharpton’s headquarters will con
tinue to be in Wilmington.
-V
SOLON SAYS WAKNlNli
GIVEN PEARL HARBOR
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11. — (/P) —
Rep. Harness (R-Ind) declared to
lay "there appears to be an abun
lance of evidence" that 72 hours
lefcre the Pearl Harbor attack of
3ec. 7. 1941, the Australian govern
nent advised Washington a Japan
:se aircraft carrier force was head
id toward Pearl Harbor. He stated
ie was informed the information
vas not relayed to Mhj. Gen. Wal
ler C. Short, then commanding Ar
ny forces in Hawaii.
In a speech in the house, Harness
jharged ‘‘the Commander in chief
las concealed the truth" of the
Pearl Harbor disaster, by denying
i hearing to General Short and
Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel,
the latter Naval commander at
Pearl Harbor at the time of the at
lack:
IWrightsville Beach Gets
$25,000 For Repair Work
’ V "C Fedei'al Works agency
Jjcrday announced approval
■ we President in Washington
ais grant of $25,000 for repairs
.', rehabilitation of streets
B». boardwalks in Wrightsville
f'o!*Ca wd'cd were damaged or
ro-’ed by the tropical
T? on August j
t to resurtace streets and
Mu' boardwalks have been
ci.',eived by Wrightsville offi
).“‘s and contract is scheduled
final* awarded soon, subject to
tm aPPrt>val of the Washing
a central office of the FWA.
Ira 'e;firm to which the con*
u„'„‘s awarded is to remove
l4-r8 cubic yards of sand, lay
,L“a. cubic yards of gravel on
st'c* S' ^ cubic yards on
eiS’ and 200 square yards
— ▼
surface treated patching; and
regrade and repair 30,495
square feet of boardwalks.
The application ot the Town 1
of Carolina Beach for a grant
oi $33,300 to be used in repair
ing storm damages was ap
proved by the FWA on August ^
28.
The money will be used to
repair streets, boardwalks, the
sewer system, and other muni
cipal property damaged by the
storm.
The grant i* considered an
emergency appropriation, and
will not be supplemented by
Carolina Beach funds.
The money will cover only
public property damage, and
cannot be used to repair pri
vate property damage.
t
52 Jap Vessels
Sunk By Planes
Task Force Wipes Out Entire Enemy Convoy
In Strike Against Philippine Islands
U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, Pearl Har
bor, Sept. 11. — (/P) — In a shattering sea-based action
against the Philippines, first of the war by the Allies, a
U. S. carrier task force destroyed an entire enemy convoy
of 52 vessels, blasted five airfields and wiped out 68 Jap
anese planes in widespread raids against Mindanao last
PYiHnv _
The blazing action marked ar
advance of approximately 500 mile:
beyond the westernmost previously
reported positions of carrier-basec
aircraft, and was coupled with nev
heavy attacks on Paramushiro ant
the Volcano islands far to t h <
north.
The overall total of ships sunk
probably sunk, damaged and se
afire as announced in the Navy’:
communique was 90. Many wert
small cargo ships and Sampans
The American force which swep
into the heart of Japan’s southwes1
Pacific holdings was part of the
third U. S. fleet, commanded bj
Adm. William S. Halsey, Jr., anc
its attack on Mindanao was s
crowning blow in wide - spreac
actions which for the last few days
have struck at Yap and Palau is
lands to the east of the Philip
pines.
The Navy’s communique said:
“The airfields at Del Monte. Val
encia, Cagayan, Buayan and Da
vao were bombed and strafed. In
these attacks two enemy aircraft
were encountered near our carriers
five were encountered over Caga
yan, and one over Davao. All Were
shot down. Approximately 60 ene
my aircraft were destroyed on the
ground.
“A convoy was discovered ofi
Hinatuan Bay consisting of 32 load,
ed coastal cargo ships and 20 Sam
pans. This convoy was brought un
der attack by Pacific fleet cruisers,
destroyers and carrier aircraft, and
all of the enemy ships were de
stroyed.’’
Barracks, warehouses and han
gars were hit at the several air
dromes attacked. Enemy water
front installations at Matina, Ca
gayan and Surigao were also bomb
ed, the announcement said.
The hard - hitting units of the
third fleet found enemy shipping
in other vulnerable spots, and
opened up. In attacks in*6aragani
Bay, Davao Gulf, near Cagayan
and Surigo, 16 small cargo ships,
one medium cargo vessel, one pa
trol craft and many sampans were
sunk or probably sunk. They set
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 3)
-V
REPUBLICANS LEAD
IN MAINE ELECTION
PORTLAND. Me., Sept. 11—W—
I\vo Democratic congressional can"
didates, endorsed by Maine’s affili
ate of the CIO Political Action
committee, ran far behind their
Republican opponents in today’s
elections as nearly one-third of the
returns were compiled unofficial
ly
A third Republican congression
al candidate likewise held a long
lead over his Democratic oppon
ent.
The GOP candidate for governor,
state Senate president Horace Hil
dreth. held a lead of 18.463 to 4,
>37 over Democrat Paul J. Jullien
n 200 out of the State’s 627 .pre
cints.
-V
Conferees Aoorove
Bankhead Amendment
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11. —(/P)—
louse conferees on the surplus
aroperty disposal bill accepted to
lay a Senate-approved amendment
o raise the government loan rate
m cotton from 92 1-2 to 95 per cent
af parity.
The amendment, sponsored by
senator Bankhead (D-Ala). is one
>f a series of moves by the Ala
sama senator to force the price of
cotton up to parity.
-V
TRAINING FAVORED
NEW YORK, Sept. 11—I#!—Navy
Secretary Forrestal urged today
that a year of compulsory and uni
versal military training for all
American youth over the age of
eighteen be provided “as prompt
ly as legislative schedules will
permit.”
Submarines Sink
9 More Jap Ships
In Pacific Waters
I WASHINGTON, Sept. 11.—UP)
United States submarines have
trimmed nine more ships,
three of them fighting craft,
from Japan’s dwindling ton
nage, the Navy announced to
day.
The new tally brings the to
tal of all types of Japanese
ships sunk by U. S. subma
rines to 732, of Which 61 are
fighting ships and 61 cargo
carriers and miscellaneous
craft.
BLACK WIDOWS
ROUT JAPANESE
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS,
Southwest Pacific, Tuesday, Sept.
12.—<7P)—American Black Widow
night fighters broke up the largest
Japanese aerial effort in this area
for several month—a 10-plane raid
Saturday on American island bas
es off Dutch New Guinea—as Al
lied bombers continued their un
opposed pulverizing blows against
wide-spread targets, headquarters
announced today.
The American fighters downed
two of the Japanese twin-engined
bombers raiding American air
fields on Biak and OWI islands.
Headquarters reported bomb
damage was minor .
The Japanese effort was a strik
ing contrast to the 100-bomber
raids which they were able to de
liver in the New Guinea area last
year. It showed the enemy still is
able to send hit-and-run nigh*
raiders into a sector dominated
by Allied air power, but it also il
lustrated the changing tide of the
war.
Escorted Liberator heavy bomb
ers attacked Japanese bivouc and
defense areas at Mapange* air
drome, near Manado in northern
Celebes, with another blistering
raid Saturday. One hundred fif-^
ty-nine tons of bombs were drop
ped, causing heavy explosions.
The previous day, American
planes dropped a 180-ton load on
Celebes, the heaviest dropped on
that major Nipponese base, west
of New Guinea.
Allied air patrols bombed and
hit two 7,000-*on Japanese freight
ers off Zamboanga Saturday night.
(This second city of Mindanao is
land lies about 230 miles west of
Davao which was one of several
targets on the island’s east coast
struck earlier in the day in an
American carrier task force raid.)
Continuing their steady neutrali
zation raids Liberator heavy bom
bers and fighters swept Halma
hera island, southern stepping
stone to the Philippines, and other
islands in the Moluccas Saturday
and Sunday. There was no air op
position.
Biak island, which the Japanese
attempted to raid, is the largest of
the Schoutens, in Geelvink bay.
The Americans won it last July.
The conquest of all the Schoutens
was completed by a landing,
against no opposition, on Soepiori
island, northwest of Biak. This
was announced last Sunday.,
Churchill,
F.D.R. Map
War Plans
JAP DOOM IMPENDING
Premier Stalin Absents
Self Due To Pressure
Of Guiding Armies
QUEBEC, Sept. 11.—(/P)
— Within the weathered
stone ramparts of Quebec’s
ancient citadel, President
Roosevelt and Prime Minis
ter Churchill of Britain be
gan forging tonight the stra
tegy for the final victory
over Japan.
Absent from their deliberations
was that third leader of the Unit
ed Nations triumvirate, Premier
Joseph Stalin of Russia—whose ar
mies are not at war with Japan.
He had been invited to a con
ference which apparently had to
concern itself primarily with the
battle of the Pacific. But the fact
that he sent back word that he
was too busy directing offensives
on multiple fronts to leave “the di
rection of the army for the short
est period” offered no great as
surances to Japan.
Stalin did not close the door to
future participation in the Pacific
war. A conference spokesman re
ported the President and Prime
Minister “thoroughly understood”
the premier’s message and that
he was “absent on the field of du
ty”.
The transmission through strin
gent Soviet political censorship of
an Associated Press dispatch from
Moscow, saying foreign observers
there foresaw continued military
cooperation “elsewhere” after the
defeat of Germany, contributed to
a generally genial atmosphere
here, despite the absence of So
viet representatives.
The Soviet official news agency,
Tass, was represented here by one
correspondent, Nikcnai Zhivayno^,
and it was understood the Soviet
government was being advised of
at least part of the deliberations
through diplomatic channels.
The Russians, while becoming in
creasingly critical of the Japanese
in their press, have remained
strictly correct in * carrying out
their 1941 neutrality pact.
Churchill and Roosevelt, with
out jeopardizing any chances of a
future turn by the Soviet Union
against Japan, went to work on a
plan to bring down Japan, based
on the present situation and the
forces already available, without
taking Russia into their estimates.
Not since they concluded signi
ficant discussions last December,
at Caro and Teheran, had Roose
velt and Churchill met for one of
their periodic war councils. Then,
when Stalin’S counsel, they had
seated the plans for the powerful
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 6)
-V
5,300 WORKERS IDLE
IN WAGE SCALE ROW
NEW ORLEANS,-Sept. 11. —{if)
—Work stoppages occurred today
in 14 New Qrleans Marine and in
dustrial plants, after a protest by
machinists of the proposed hourly
wage under a new contract.
Charles F. Elchinger, president
of the Marine and Industrial Re
pairers and Manufacturers asso
ciation of New Orleans, said 1,500
machinists had failed to report for
work today and about 3.800 work
ers in other lines were thereby forc
ed into temporary idleness.
Elchinger said the machinists
were opposing the new contract on
the 'ground that it might reduce
their per hour pay from $1.25 to
$1.20.
-j
European War Flashback
_» ’ _
By The Associated Press
Sep*. 12, 1918—In the first all-American offensive after 16 months
of wa*, doughboys in the St. Mihiel sector broke the enemy’s resist
ance and advanced at some points to a depth of five miles and took
8,000 prisoners. British troops took three towns and 1,800 prisoners in
their advance toward Cambrai. Washington said the German peace
offensive was in full swing.
Sept. 12, 1940 — Believing German invasion attempt imminent,
Britain established some 2,000.000 soldiers at strategic points around
her coasts. Italian forces began a drive toward Egypt along the Med
iterranean coast.
— 1 ' ■ .11 I I I
Failed, Died
nw ;mk iww
Baron Manfred von Killinger
(above), the late German ambas
sador to Romania, killed himself
after a dramatic interview with
King Mihai, according to an in
side story of the Bucharest palace
coup reported by Associated Press
Corespondent Joseph Morton.
NAZI AIR FORCE
ROUNDLY BEATEN
LONDON, Tuesday. Sept. 12
—Iff)—U. S. Eighth Air Force fight
ers and heavy bombers trapped
and beat the German air force
yesterday, destroying 175 Nazi
planes in one of the fiercest air
battles ever fought over Europe.
It was the heaviest Luftwaffe loss
in more than a year and one. which
dug deeply into the air reserves
which the enemy has been careful
ly holding back until now for the
final battle of Germany.
Of the Germans destroyed,
American fighters shot down 116.
the greatest number ever shot
down by fighters alone in a single
day, while the heavy bombers
knocked down another 17, and 42
were destroyed on their airdromes.
Indicating the extent of the op
positon, 48 of the American heavy
bombers and 29 fighters failed to
return. The bomber losses were the
heaviest since April 29 when 63
failed to come home from a raid
on Berlin.
Early today the German radio
said “enemy” planes were again
over vast sections of the Reich,
indicating that the non-stip Allied
air offensive was continuing in its
fifth day.
Tired returning fliers described
yesterday’s German aerial opposi
tion as probably the heaviest offer
ed in years.
En route to their targets at
Merseburg, Litzkendorf and Mis
burg they saw few German planes.
But just before they reached cen
tral Germany the enemy sprang
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
-V
ROOSEVELT FLAYED
IN DEWEY ADDRESS
DES MOINES, Sept. 11— UP) —
Thomas E. Dewey lashed out at
what he called the Roosevelt ad
minstration’s “incompetent”
preparations for war and peace to
day in the most caustic campaign
attack he has $aade thus far on
his fourth term seeking opponent.
The Republican presidential
nominee, arriving in the corn belt
for a series of conferences with
farm and political leaders, de
clared the present administration
has failed to. show itself able to
cope with agricultur- and indus
trial reconversion problems.
He also accused the new deal
of having done "absolutely noth
ing” to prepare this country for
war.
-V
Germans Preparing
To Leave Aegeans
ANKARA, Sept. 11. — (JP)— Tur
kish newspapers said today that
Germans are blowing up ammuni
tion depots and fuel dumps in the
Aegean islands preparatory to eva
cuation.
A dispatch from Izmir (Smyrna)
said Greek motor boats have been
coming and going between the is
land of Samos and the Turkish
mainland unhindered.
--V
. STORMS KILL 100
MEXICO CITY, Sept. 11—im
probably 100 dead, thousands
homeless, and millions of dollars
of property damage is the toll of
storms in three widely separated
sections of Mexico where rescue
crews worked today.
Troops Make'
Deep Thrust
1st Army Crashes Across Border Five Miles
In Frontal Attack On Siegfried Line
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDI
TIONARY FORCE, Tuesday, Sept. 12.—(/P)—The ram
paging First U. S. army burst into Hitler’s inner fortress
of Germany yesterday and plowed ahead for five miles in
to the Reich, meeting the enemy on his home soil north of
the frontier town of Trier — 55 miles from the Rhine and
the great industrial city of Coblenz.
Invaders
Converge
Near Gap
ROME, Sept. 11.—LR)—The U.
5. Third and Seventh armies com
pleted a junction today in east
ern France, sealing off German
troops in the central region, in
cluding possibly 20,000 in the Di
jon area.
Vanguards of the two armies
met at a point described official
ly here as “an undesignated spot”
28 days after Lt. Gen. Alexander
M. Patch’s Seventh army invaded
southern France.
(A field dispatch from Lt. Gen.
George S. Patton’s third army
said the junction was made in the
vicinity of Sombernon, 15 miles
west of Dijon.)
While units of the two American
armies were joining hands French
forces occupied the important
highway center of Dijon and other
American troops pushed within 15
miles of the vital Belfort gap, the
gateway to southern Germany.
The meeting of the southern
and northern armies came dra
matically with an officer from
each unit coming forward '.o shake
hands. This formality culminated
the thrust begun by the Seventh
army in landings on the Riviera
coast Aug. 15 and the Normandy
invasion from the north on June
6.
French troops seized Dijon af
ter a fierce 24-hour battle in the
city's outskirts, sealing off a great
network of roads that had been
serving the Nazi retreat from all
southern and western France.
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
ATLANTIC STORM
STAYSJTATIONARY
MIAMI, -Fla., Sept. 11—(IP)—Pois
ed 650 miles off the Atlantic coast
due east of Miami, a severe At
lantic hurricane was apparently
hesitating between a course which
would either endanger the United
States coast or keep it out to sea.
The dangerous storm has re
mained nearly stationary during
the past six to 12 hours, the
weather bureau said in a 10:15 p.
m. advisory.
“It is attended by winds of full
hurricane force near the center,
with gales extending outward at
least 150 miles.
“Continued slight movement is
indicated in next six to 12 hours.
“Caution should be continued
against high seas and increasing
winds in the outer Bahamas and
extreme caution is advised all
shipping over the Atlantic north
ward to 35 degrees during the
next 48 hours.”
^ Ail ai LiArci j uaiiagc xuob tut tt*
ed up the German positions and
then in “reasonable strength" —
that was’the official language —
the doughboys crossed over to
strike the blow for which the Unit
ed Nations long had waited.
The Americans probably were
penetrating well into the Siegfried
line defense system at this point.
(The exact location of the Sieg
fried line, also known as the West
wall, never has been disclosed of
ficially.)
It was a black day for German
arms, for the Third U. S. army
seized a great part of the old
French Maginot line intact, and
was breaking the last German
line of defense on French soil—
the Moselle river positions.
The British Second army broke
across the frontier of Holland
and was bound for the weakest
link in the 400 mile* of the west
wall — the thin line of pillboxes,
tank traps and forts stretching
south from the German city of
Kleve across the shoritsj route to
Berlin.
Other elements of the First ar
my already were fighting through
the minefields of he Siegfried
line south of the key city of Aach
en, little more than eight miles
from Germany’* frontier, and
were blasting fortifications inside
the Reich with heavy artillery.
Not since the days of Napoleon
has Germany been entered in
strength and the doughboys who
accomplished this modern feat
had fougbt clear across the little
duchy of Luxembourg in one day,
freeing its capital of the same
name en route.
Since this was no mere patrol
entry into Germany, such as the
tentative thrusts of the French in
1939 and the American raid of
last week, it may well be the
opening wedge in a series £f full
scale attacks against Hitler’s last
prepared line of defense.
The doughboys were overlook
ing the valley of the Moselle riv
er where it flows northeast to the
Rhine at Koblenz.
The Third army, driving over
Lorraine’s hills, captured with
guns intact the fortress of Au
metz, the first city incorporated
into the Reich by Hitler’s decree
to be liberated. Aumetz is 22 miles
northwest of Metz. ’
There was heavy fighting ten
miles east of Liege and south of
Aachen, where the First army
consolidated its assault positions
by occupying the town of Herve,
northwest of Limbourg where the
Americans are shelling positions
in Germany which protect Aach
en.
The fate of the last German
stand in northern. France was be
ing decided by a blazing battle
six miles south of Nancy, where
the Third army captured the an
cient Fort Pont St. Vincent and
then hammered across the Mo
selle river on a front of several
miles.
The pressure was on, waves of
bombers were blowing up stub
(Continued on Page Three; Col. »
Austria Asked To Break
With German Conquerors
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11.—VP)
—Secretary of State Hull today
warned Austria to strike with
out delay against the Nazi con
querors who have held the na
tion as a part of the German
Reich for six years.
The warning, linking Aus
tria's action now to her post
war future and promised inde
pendence, is one of a long ser
ies by which American diplo
macy has sought to make trou
ble for Hitler in preparation for
Allied military forces advanc
ing across the enslaved coun
tries of Europe.
Hull made no specific threat
of what Austria would lose if
she did not revolt now but em
phasized that in the Moscow
declaration by which this coun
try, Britain and Russia pledged
Austrian independence, it was
also stated that “in the final
settlement account will inevit
ably be taken of her own con
tributions to her liberation.”
In response to a newsman’s
inquiry today Hull said that
the time for Austria to mak«
that contribution is almost up.
There has been no evidence
to date of any resistance m
Austria, other than occasional
sabotage reports, or of any for
ces organized to conduct resis
tance. However, the war la
sweeping toward Austria from
several directions. It is ap
proaching from the south as
All'ed armies advance in Italy
and from the southeast as Yu
goslav partisan forces drive
toward Germany. Outbreaks of
resistance also are reported In
Czechoslovakia.