• ' " ,____ _____— _ I . . . _——— * LT w REMEMBER Fair and continued cold today with A A A ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ A A. Moderate northwest «S”4—* 1 irtttrtrT WlTtir pearl harbor i , iU 4iUiy WlsXX AND BATAAN WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1944 " FINAL EDITION -st- A? A- --- ’ Germans St/ /fped, American Attack Gaining; Roosevelt Gives Prayer For New Day Of Peace Nation Asked lo Give Help In Ending War President Unable To Say When Final Victory Will Come WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.— (AP) — President Roosevelt in a Christmas broadcast voiced a prayer today that with victory will come “a new day of peace on earth in which all the nations of the earth will join together for all time." -We cannot yet say when our vic tory will come,” he said. “Our enemies still right fanatically. They still have reserves of men and military power. But, they them selves know that they and their evil works are doomed. We may hasten the day s broadcast was made in connection with the annual serein oro of lighting the National Community Christmas tree here. The text of bis address as e leased by the White House: It is not easy to say “Merry Christmas’7 to you, my fellow Am ericar:’ in this time of destructive war. Nor can one lightly say “Mer ry Christmas” tonight to our arm ed forces at their battle stations all over the world — or to our Allies who fight by their side. Here, at home, we will cele'orate this Christmas day in our tradi tional American way — because of its deep spiritual meaning to us; and because we want our youngest generation to grow up knowing of the immortal Prince of Peace and good will. But. in perhaps every home in the United Statees, sad and anxious thoughts will be continual ly with the millions of our loved ones who are suffering hardships and misery, and who are risking their very lives to preserve for us and for all mankind, the fruits of ■nis teachings and the foundations of civilization itself. The Christmas spirit lives to night in the bitter cold of the front kies in Europe and in the heat of ,ae jungles and swamps of Burma and the Pacific Islands. Even the Mar of our bombers and fighters in the air anci the guns of our ships ‘ sea will not drown out the mes Mge of Christmas which come to the hearts of our fighting men. (Continued on Page Five, Col. 8) -V MEMV MILLER, NOTED MCI; BAND LEADER, MISSING IN EUROPE PARIS. Dec. 24. — UP)—Maj. Glenn Miller, director of the U. S. Air Force band and a former or cnestra leader, is missing on a from England to Paris, it *'as announced today. Miller, one of the outstanding Kchestra leaders of the United Kates, left England December 15 es a passenger aboard a plane. No •face of the plane has been found. His Air Force band had been Haying in Paris. No members of ,!le band were with him on the Plane. Miller last led his band in a woadcast December 12. The band, •aheduled to broadcast over BBC tomorrow at 7 P. M. eastern W Time) in the “AEF Christmas Kim', . ■ will be conducted by Sgt. e;'r: Gray, deputy leader. Miller, 39, was commissioned a faptai:, in the Army Specialist c°rPs September 10, 1942, and was Promoted to his majority about six Months ago. A native of Clarinda, Iowa, he i'st gained prominene in the pop ulsr music field as a trombonist, t'ilh various orchestras and then 9s an arranger for many of the ,0P-flight bands. He organized his orchestra in 1933. He married the former Helen a non-professional, in 1928. couple have two adopted chil fl;'e" .Steve, 2. and. Johnnie Dee, “ 8*ri. age four months old. Cflngtmag *■ *• 1944 “flrt Jtt ulljij Bark ^trppts 01]p iEuprlasting iGiglif. GJljp Hupps Attii iflpars (§i All <51jp fpars Arp iKpt 3Jn 01jpp Local Girl Happiest In Town * Over Her ‘GV A Christmas present from the front arrived in the form of a tiny black Cocker Spaniel puppy late yesterday after noon at the home of Miss “Winkie” Rivenbark, 501 South 17th street, and from last reports, the new owner and pup __—--Xmprp ‘‘Hnincr finp ” YANKS CELEBRATE FIRST CHRISTMAS IN FREED FRANCE PARIS, Dec. 24.—(ff)—American soldiers prepared to observe their first Christmas in France today with turkey dinners, packages from home and parties for French children, who are celebrating thejr first liberated Noel. U. S. Quartermasters, have pro mised that every Doughboy, except those actually fighting in the front lines, will have turkey with all the trimmings. Many of the men sta tioned in French cities will have their holiday feasts with Frer.'h families who have managed to sa ■ a few precious bottles of wine, cog- < nac, and larders of meats and vegetables. Extra duties entailed in meeting the German counter-offensive will prevent most soldiers from joining French civilians and friends, ut for some there will be colorful Christmas Eve ceremonies. Thousands ef troops, for example, are planning to participate in their first “Reveillon,” the traditional French manner of celebrating the holiday eve at midnight which eludes midnight mass, a huge din ner at one or two o’clock in the morning, then dancing till dawn— or in paris. until the “Metro” re sumes service at 6 a.m. Part of the Americans’ Christ r- is observance will extend back to the United States by radio from (Continued on Page Six. Col. 6) Some weeks ago, Pvt. Clyde B. Case, Jr., formerly of Wilming ton and nov somewhere on the Western Front, wrote the Star News asking its help in finding a Cocker pup for his “girl” back home. A money order was enclos ed and Calvin Anders, classified advertising manager and Roy J. Cook, circulation manager, got busy. A news item was printed, outlin ing the soldier’s request in detail. Offers began pouring in and a pup py from the kennel of Mrs. B. E. Frady, 206 Nash street, Rocky Mount, wts selected to represent Pvt. Case on this Christmas morning at Miss Rivenbark’s home. The pup was shipped last week and was fed the best of canine ra tions for several days. His tiny sides were bulging when Mr. An ders and Mr. Cook arrived to take him to Miss Rivenbark with ap propriate ceremonies. A big red ribbon around his neck served to accentuate the black of his coat and Miss Rivenbark’s astonish ment was unbounded. “Gee whiz,’’ she exclaimed, Since the pup is to be a year in Wilmington this Christmas.” "this makes me the happiest girl long reminder of her soldier-sweet heart, the only possible name was “GI.” CHRISTMAS CAROLS BROUGHT TO HOMES BY STREET SINGERS Nearly every neighborhood i i the city was visited last night by net of the six groups of Christmas ca rollers assigned to their mus al patrols by Jesse A. Reynolds, city superintendent c.f recreation, and Ralph Richards industrial USO di rector, co-chairmen of the Christ mas Carol Committee. Seeking to utilize the services of the volunteer songsters, whose numbers have grown from Chr'.t mas to Christmas, in such a way as to prevent overlapping and give every residential block a chance to hear carols, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Richards divided the city into six areas late last week and map ped routes for the strolling singers. In the Hemenway school area, Mr. Richards’ industrial USO chor isters held forth, while the com panion clubs from Fifth and Ir (Continued on Page Six Col. 2) Canned Vegetables May Be Back On Ration List After Christmas WASHINGTON, Dec. 24. — (JP) — Canned vegetables may be back on the ration list when stores e open Tuesday after the Christmas holiday. Originally set tor the first of the year, the earlier return to ration ing was considered today at an emergency meeting of Government officials, because of critically short supplies. The sc.oedule for restor ing ration values to nearly all point free meats on December 31 was reported unchanged. ' "ficial annottr cement of both moves had been set for Tuesday evening, but rationing authorities fear a run might develop during that day if original plans rega cl ing canned vegetables were follow ed. Advancement of the effective date w7as said to be more generally favored than a brief “freeze” -' stocks to retailers’ shelves until piont values could be restored as scheduled The impending drastic tighten ing of rationing coincides with a series of home front moves Hat urday, all designed to increase sup p7 rt of the war effort. Stemming from directives by James F. Byrnes, chief of the Of fice of War Mobilization and Re ccnversion_ these included: A War Production Board an nouncement it will withhold prir-i ties and other operation essentials from firms violating war manpow er Commission hiring restrictions. A move to tighten employment cr lings on iess-ecsential firms to force release of additional workers to war jobs. An order banning all horse d dog racing effective January i>. A directive to Selective Serv ce to review the cases of professional athletes rejected for military serv ice or discharged for physical ra sons. Although OPA has been urging (Continued on Page Three; Col. 7)' Air Armada, Greater Than D-Day Concentration, Strik es Germans \ LONDON, Dec. 24.—(tf5)—1The full weight of the mighty Allied aerial strength fell upon the life lines of the German counter offensive to day and channel observers said the swarm of bombers and fighters appeared to exceed the 13,000 put into the air on D-Day. With the weather perfect over the channel and continent a record armada of at least 2,000 American Flying Fortresses and Liberators, escorted by 1,000 Thunderbolts and mustangs, smashed at the Nazi spearheads in Belgium and enemy supply lines in Germany. Returning pilots said at least 50 German Nazi interceptors had been shot down in a series of blazing clashes over western Germany by fighter pilots escorting the big bombers. In addition to the blows struck by Britain-based bombers and fight ers, thousands of rocket-firing Mustangs, Thunderbolts, Typhoons and Spitfires of American and British units based in France, Bel gium and Holland attacked Ger man armored columns. Still more hundreds of American and British medium bombers bas ed on the continent were hurled into the assault on the German columns which have been on the march for more than a week shrouded in fog and mist which had grounded everything except buzz-bombs. Even before the bomber and fighters of the U. S. Eighth Air Force had returned to their bases in England, channel observers re ported hordes of RAF bombers and fighters streaking over the chan nel toward the continent. Today’s all-out aerial smash at the Germans followed a 4,500-plane assault yesterday during which 178 Nazi planes were shot out ot the skies. Headquarters of the U. S. Strate gic Air Forces in Europe announc ed that “the greatest force of heavy bombers ever flown on a single mission by any air force” attack ed communications and supply centers just opposite the bulge driven into the American lines by the Germans. At the same time, formations of the long-range heavy bombers loaded with probably more than 8 000 tons of high explosives and fragmentation bombs landed a sur prise blow at the heart of the re juvenated Luftwaffe, which it was disclosed, is centered around Frankfurt, about 150 miles east of the Belgian battlefields. Bombs from Flying Fortresses straddled runways and hangars on 11 air fields grouped around the city and caught 50 German fighters parked on one. All the time, American fighters kept roaring through the cloudless skies hunting down German fight ers wherever they could be found Manila Airfield Bombed; , U. 5. Drives On Palompon 1 ' GENERAL M’ARTHUR’S HEADQUARTERS, Philip pines, Monday, Dec. 25.— (AP)—Liberator bombers smashed at Manila’s Grace Park airfield on Luzon, while the American 77the Division moved rapidly in on Palompon, ELAS CHALLENGE BRITAIN’S RIGHT TO RESTORE LAW ATHENS, Dec. 24.— UP) —Left Wing ELAS forces today challeng ed the right of the British to ‘‘re store law and order” in Greece and demanded the establishment of a Greek government “of com mon confidence” as a prerequisite tc laying down their arms. The ELAS reply to a British memorandum of December 16 agreed to the cessation of hos tilities and the disarmament of ELAS supporters in the Athens area but only on condition that follower., of other volunteer organ izations be disarmed. British Commander Lt. Gen Ronald Scobie and Harold McMil lan, British resident general of the Middle East, were reported drafting a reply to the ELAS de mands. The British answer will have to receive the approval of Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexan der, Allied commander in chief in the Mediterranean. However, with minor exceptions the ELAS generally stood pat on their first peace offers made De cember 14 and the latest exchange does not appear to bring the civil war closer to a truce, let alona a cessation of hostilities. In northwestern Greece, bitter fighting continued between ELAS forces and Right-Wing troops of Gen. Napoleon Zervas with the Rightests reported suffering heavy losses. After four days of fighting, Gen. Zervas Edes in northern Greece were reported cut from 12,000 to between 4,000 and 6,000. The high proportion of losses for the EDES was believed due to desertions, although the Rightist chieftain in appealing to the British for help said he was suffering heavy cas ualties. Island, a headquarters communi que reported today. And in strange contrast to the bloody battle, transport planes on a peaceful mission dropped Christmas greetings on liberated Filipinos, who waved in holiday spirit to the American airmen. It was the second successive daylight strike by heavy bombers on Manila, and the enemy offered no interception. -Sunday’s com munique reported that the bomb ers had hit Clark Field, big Ma nila airdrome, leaving it in par tial ruins. On Saturday night Navy Hellcat fighters blasted Bulan airdrome below Manila in a daring single attack. Leyte’s ground fighting appear ed fast reaching a conclusion, as Japanese risistance steadly weak ened in the face of aggressive at tacks by the 77th Division. More than 13,000 enemy dead have been counted on Leyte in the last eight days, Gen. Douglas MacArthur said. Much material has been captured, including hun dreds of trucks, quantities of tanks and heavy artillery weapons Although the war’s tempo didn’t slow for Cnristmas Eve Filipino youngsters gathered in front of Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters and sang carols. MacArthur in a statement wished the Filipinos "all the blessings of Christmas and realization of their fervent hopes for the new year.” American air units sank or dam aged 13 more cargo vessels off Mindanao Saturday, the com munique said. In their strike at the Manila ’drome, the Liberators destroyed an estimated 25 enemy planes. Fighters strafed two Luzon fields without opposition. In the earlier blow at Clark Field Gen. MacArthur said that most of 100 grounded aircraft were wrecked or damaged. Huge fires were kindled among the installa tions. REDS CUT NAZI ESCAPE PATHWAY Sudden Drive Around Budapest Imperils En tire Garrison LONDON, Dec. 24.—UR—One Red Army swept 25 miles around Buda pest’s western side today, cutting the enemy’s main escape route 14 miles from the Hungarian cap ial and virtually trapping the be sieged German-Hungarian garri son, as another army slashed 17 miles inside western Slovakia to within 98 miles of Vienna, capital of Austria. Only a 17-mile gap remains to be closed before Budapest is en tirely encircled, and the two pow erful Russian armies were sweep ing on toward Austria on both sides of the big Danube bend Moscow announced. Toppling the major strongholds of Szekesferehvar and Bicske, 32 miles southwest and 14 miles west of Budapest, Marshall Feodor I. Tolbukhin’s third Ukraine army drove within 68 miles of the Aus trian frontier, and also cut to within seven miles southwest of Budapest’s city limits after break ing through German lines on a 55-mile front in a three-day of fensive between Lake Balaton and the capital. Simultaneously Marshall Rodion Y. Malinovsky’s Second Ukranian Army, racing westward above the Danube at a point 50 miles north west of Budapest, captured the rail junction of Leva (Levice), only 65 miles east of Bratislava, Slo vak capital, and 98 miles from Vienna. In this area the Russians were swarming ahead in two direc tions, northwestward and west ward toward Bratislava and Vi enna, and northward into the Slo vak mountains in an effort to trap scores of thousands of Ger mans fighting far to the east in the exposed Losonc-Kassa sec tors. At captured Leva, on the north (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) -V Superforts Bombard Iwo Jima And Heavy Explosions Reported WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.—GRI—A force of perhaps a half-hundred Superfortresses set off ‘‘heavy ex plosions in military installations” in the latest strike at Iwo Jima. enemy island midway between Japan and Saipan, the 20th Air Force announced today. All of the B-29’s returned to their aase in the Marianas after en countering only light and inaccurate anti-air-craft fire and no fighter plane opposition, a communique said. This latter reference sugges eil that more than two weeks of air attacks on the island is reduc ing its defenses to the point where no serious opposition can be turned cn Army and Navy planes visiting Iwo Jima. Luxembourg’s Capital Saved By Yank Drive Nazis Fail To Advance More Than Mile At Any Point PARIS, Dec. 24.—(/P) — The Genian offensive had been held virtually to a stand still for 48 hours up to late Saturday, Allied Supreme Headquarters disclosed to night, and American counter attacks against the enemy’s southern flank gained ground in four sectors. A front dispatch covering fight ing up to late Saturday morning declared American forces storm ing Field Marshal von Rundstedt’s southern flank had gouged out gains along a 20-mile front in northern Luxembourg, lifting .e menace to that tiny Duchy’s capi tal. The mightiest air force ever as sembled lashed the enemy’s front and communications with a hurri cane of destruction for the *y;cogd successive day and the skie*< »\j^re filled with battling plane*. The German wedges in Belgium and Luxembourg appeared to be contained, at least for the moment, with the Germans yesterday ad^ vancing no more than a mile at any point. A front dispatch reported that up to late yesterday morning, Am erican attacks from the south had driven the Germans almost across the border 17 miles northeast of the city of Luxembourg, and had clean ed half of Marfelange, 21 mfles northwest of the capital, where the Germans cut (he vital Bastogne Arlon highway. Heavy fighting raged near Ra- • brouch, five mdet east of Mar erating in the area of Mers'h, sev en miles south of Grosbous.) Other gains were announced to an area five miels west and north west of Diekircb or about 18 to IS miles north of Luxembourg. Yet another force hammered on east of Diekircb, apparently around Berdorf, 17 miles northeast i Luxembourg and less than a mile and a half from the German bor der. The greatest German gain re ported up to noon yesterday was about a mile. The situation was de scribed officially as definitely im proved as Allied countermeasures began to influence the course ' f the swirling sanguinary battle. Since then, however von Rund stedt may have thrown his second (Continued on Page Six, Col. 1) BERLIN ADMITS ADVANCES MADE BY YANK TROOPS LONDON, Dec 24. —WP)— The Berlin radio tonight admitted that advances had been carved into German lines by American force* on the southern flank. An International Information Bureau broadcast from Berlin de clared the Germans had held rn attack “by numerically superior forces” op the northern dank, but conceded that "the situation of the greater winter battle in the Arden nes had not changed decisively dur ing the past 24 hours.” Berlin said American as well a* s German reinforcements were be ing fed continuously into the bat tle. “Eisenhower’s plan to launch a strong attack from the north and south and so.cut off the German* from their rear is beginning to taue clearer shape,” said the broadcast. But it declared the German sit uation on both sides of the Ourthe, at the western tip of the offen sive bulge, was still favorable and that German bridgeheads on he west side of the river were enlarg ed and widened by fresh forces ferried across.