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" ,____ _____—
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Fair and continued cold today with A A A ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ A A.
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, 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 <f that doom if we
here at home continue to do our
full share."
Ml. Hoosevel>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<e
lange.
Sixteen miles due north of the
city of Luxembourg, America#
lines were advanced one to two
miles north oi Grosbous, (This
would indicate a possible nina
mile advance. Since the day be*
fore the Americans had been oj>
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.