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v / _ 1 * W ' rfTt+t' * I REMEMBER £~— tlmuutfim Iflitntutg mar 'rTs8 1°"1 77 ~Na 292^ WILMINGTON, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1944 ""___FINAL EDITION _ American Attack Relieves Bastogne Garrison;; Japanese Can^r Sunk By Yank Submarines;! Greeks Agree % o Regency Under King George Governor Says Army To Sell Davis Shortly Local Camp May Be Used For Other Purposes By U. S. RALEIGH, Dec. 27—'(/P)— Camp Davis, the huge anti aircraft artillery base near Wilmington, will be sold or salvaged as surplus property as soon as the evacuation of troops from it has been com p’eted, Governor Broughton said he was advised today. The Governor said he was advis ed by Brig. Gen. R. L. Fowler, 0f the War Department’s divis’on o: engineering, that the State would have an opportunity to take over the facilities at the base after Federal agencies had been given a like opportunity. Should the base not be utilized by either, the Gover nor said .the War Department will sell it to private interests or sal vage it. Ger.. Fowler ,,a.d that troops now occupying the base were being eva cuated and that the evacuation would be completed soon. The camp, located in an area of swamplands between Wilmington and Jacksonville, was built in 1941 at a cost of more than $40,000,000 f. r use as an anti-aircraft training base. An artillery section later was a''ded The Governor said he had con tacted the various State agencies which “might be interested in the facilities there” and that such agencies would deal directly with the War Department ‘‘should they decide to attempt to procure it.” The complete evacuation of all ground forces and service units from Camp Davis is expected to be ended by December 31, it was announced recently. The announcement by Governor Broughton does not mean that the camn will be sc’d as surplus Im mediately, it was learned here last r^ht from authoritative quarters. The general pro 'edure of the Army n such cases is to offer the facili ties to the Air Forces. Navy, or Veterans’ Administration after troops have been evacuated. In the event that none of the agencies desires to use the camp, the State will have an opportunity t" utilize it. If none of these groups takes it over, it then will be salvag ed It was learned that there was some likelihood of Camp Davis b“:n? put to another Federal use shortly but no announcement could he made last night. COUNCIL DISCUSSES TEWE-SHIFT PLAN FOR POLICE FORCE Suggestions that the Wilming ton police department be placed or three eight-hour shifts, that members be exchanged from day snd night duty every 30 days, and that the ‘‘entire department be put on a seniority basis” were made yesterday by City Councilmen, but no action to create any changes was taken. The Council appeared divided in its upinior on the operation of the nolice staff, after Council Robert R Romeo brought up the subject with the assertion, "I’d like to see the men either swap around bom light and day duty every 30 days or put the entire department or. the seniority basis.” This brought a suggestion from Garland S. Currin that ‘\pvery body be put on three eight-hour shifts. whereupon Edgar L. Yow interposed with "I think this is En administrative duty and not for discussion by the Council, i recommend it be left up to the City Manager and Chief of Police. Romeo exclaimed, “I think they ought to know the wishes of the Council,” Under the present set-up, po 'Icemen are employed on twc shifts, the hours arranged so that =' no time is one-half of the stafl on duty, following up his suggestion for hree shifts, Currin queried City Manager A C. Nichols as to the number of additional men this Id require, and to the answei I ■md on Page Three; Col. 1 Athens Sniper Fires At Winston Churchill Move Expected To Stop Bloodshed And Permit People To Select Government Of Own Choosing In Orderly Manner ATHENS, Dec. 27. — (UP) — Greek representatives seeking to end the three-weeks’ old civil strife in Greece voted unanimously tonight to form a regency under King George immediately in a move expected to bring the blood shed to a halt and permit the Greek people to select their LLOYD GEORGE, 81, PLANS TO RETIRE Famous British Statesman Will Leave Seat In Commons LONDON, Dec. 27.—(UP)—Dav id Lloyd George, World War I Prime Minister and for 54 years a member of the House of Com mons, disclosed today that he is retiring from Parliament on t h e advice of his physicians. He will be 82 January 17 and for several years his health has been some what impaired. Announcement of his decision to retire was made by E. P. Evans, chairman of the Carnarvon Bor oughs Liberal Association, who said the aged Liberal Party lead er would not seek reelection in the coming general election. Lloyd George has represented the Car narvon (Wales) district in Parlia ment without a break since he was elected in 1890 by a margin of 18 votes, at the age of 27. Since 1929, he has been the “fath er" of the House of Commons, un official title of the member with the longest service in that body. No member of the House ever serv ed so long without a break. The “Welsh Wizard,” as the Brit ish Press called him for a genera tion, will leave his family well rep resented in Parliament, however. His son, Maj. Gwilym Lloyd George, has been member from Pembroke since 1922, except for the period 1924-29, and his daugh ter, Megan Lloyd George, has been member from Anglesey-since 1929. All three are Liberals. Although living in semi-retire ment for a number of years, Lloyd George kept his memory fresh with the public through his war mem (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) ’vnu guvcimiicm xix an uxuci xj way. There was no discussion of a truce pending appointment of a regency, so the fighting continued. Prime Minister Winston Church ill, who called the conference_ nar rowly escaped death or injury this morning for the second time when a sniper’s bullet whizzed past .him on the street and struck a gi. -1. Yesterday a dynamite cache was found beneath the hotel, used by the British as their headquarters. The conference, which had been on the verge of collapsing when representatives rejected settlement terms submitted by the revolting left-wing EAM, agreed unanimous ly on the forming of a regency, though a small minority favored postponing immediate formation. The conference, called by Prime Minister Winston Churchill who flew to Athens in a surprise move to halt the civil war, was adjourn ed by the Arcnbishop of Greece and will not be reconvened until such a meeting again is deemed advisable. Churchill was not perturbed by the shooting and climbed into his armo/ed car witTi Gen. Har Id Alexander, British commander-in chief in the Mediterranean. An am bulance picked up the wounded girl who, it was understood, died later. The Prime Minister held a leng thy press conference in the big red embassy building this after noon while British cannon firing into the eastern ELAS-held sec tion of Athens made the building tremble, but correspondents’ cables were held up temporarily for a check against a censored version of his statements. Throughout the conference, Chur chill wore the overcoat of an air commodore and his voice sound ed as if he were very tired or as if he had a slignt cold. He answered questions freely and frankly on Ihe Greek situation. Correspondents were given only 15 minutes warning before the con ference and were searched : weapons as they entered the em (Continued on Page Three; Col. 8) Nazi Striking Power Believed Underrated SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, Paris, Dec. 27.—(fP)—An outright underestimation of Ger man striking power, coupled with either a failure to learn of, or to appreciate, von Rundstedt s mo bile reserve movements behind the lines, appeared more than ever today to be the major factors be hind this first serious Allied set back since the successful invasion of Europe. That would seem to place the responsibility for the Nazi break through high up in the Allied staff and to suggest that any important shakeup in the command — none has materialized as yet — would amount to finding a scapegoat. However, the forthright Allied battle boss, Gen. Dwight D. Eisen hower, has shown no inclination to Hunt for scapegoats, either here, or previously during his command of the Mediterranean theater. In this respect it can be recalled that the Allied commander displayed square-fisted directness in support ing his generals right down the line from Field Marshal Montgomery on back in the days when slow progress around Caen brought some public criticism of his Brit ish colleague. Obviously, as a result of the Na zi counterattack, certain Allied troop-shifts have been made. When the enemy broke through, his for ces were runningvvild against al most no oppostiion. Now they are meeting a real opponent. German natrols have been probing our lines from the Maas to the Rhine in an effort to find out how the Allied I lines were bolstered. But there is no intention here to hand them such vital information on a platter. It is clear, however, that the Al lied command was caught napping more by the force of von Rund stedt’s blow than by the fact one was delivered. All of which makes tr seem quite certain that someone somewhere made the grievous mili tary mistake of uder^stimating the enemy. Headquarters correspon dents were told before the break through occurred that sometime during the winter the Germans might be expected to try a count eroffensive. And one of the areas where such a Nazi blow was re garded as likely was through the Ardennes forest region into Luxem bourg and Belgium. Despite this, von Rundstedt pulled one army out of. the line, moved at least one and possibly two others up from re serve, and flung them into a gap ing front zone where the Dough boy screen was so thin it obvious ly never was intended for halting anything fn real strength. (Associated Press Correspondent Wes Gallagher with the U. S. for ces in Belgium, reported in a de layed dispatch today that prior to the German breakthrough, news men at the front had been told that the Ardennes forest was not a good spot for a winter offensive and that it was being used as a sort of "rest sector’ by both the Germans and Americans. (American officials, who believ ed the morale of Nazi troops was eytromebr low. +hon<yht -^on Pun't stedt had Dracticajly no strategic reserves left for a major attack (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) «. U. S. Raiders Add 26 Other Ships To Bag Forrestal Announces Name Of American Destroyer Lost WASHINGTON, Dec. 27.— (UP)—American submarines scoring a jackpot hit against Japan’s dwindling naval power, were revealed today to have sunk a large aircraft carrier and 26 other ships during recent strikes in “Far Eastern waters.” The latest bag included a con verted light cruiser, a destroyer, two escort vessels, two destroyer transports, three transports, 13 car go ships, two cargo transport and A few hours later, the Navy re vealed that the U. S. destroyer re cently announced lost off Ormoc, Leyte, was the modern 2,200-t o n Cooper which was commissioned last March, and also announced the loss of the landing craft LSM 20 in same waters. They brought to 11 the number of U. S. vessels sunk or destroyed in the Philip pines campaign to date and to 238 the total of American naval craft lost since Pearl Harbor. Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal said that the submarine haul, which raised to 934 the num ber of Jap vessels sunk by subma rines since Pearl Harbor, has boosted to more than 3,500,000 tons the total of enemy shipping sunk by the undersea raiders. He said he could not reveal now any details about the sinking of the carrier — the first definitely known to have been sunk by Amer ican submarines which previously had chalked up two as probably sunk and two others as damaged. He commented, however, that this was “hitting at one of the most painful spots on the Japanese body at the moment.’ Meanwhile, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, who this week completes his first three years as Command er in Chief of the U. S. Fleet, told Forrestal’s new conference that the Navy’s record in the past three years speaks for itself—and “in the (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) Bonomi Urges Use Of More Italians To Fight Germans ROME, Dec. 27.—(/P)~ Premier Ivanoe Bonomi, declaring the Ger man Western Front offensive clear ly shows increased effort is nec essary for “common victory,” pro Dosed today That more than six Italian divisions be thrown against the Germans in Italy, and that they fight on one sector as a na tional unit. National Income Sets Record Of 159 Billion WASHINGTON, Dec. 27.— (A*) - The national income broke all rec ords again in 1944, stepping up to approximately $159,000,000,000, the Commerce Department announced today. But it added that the Nation now has passed the peak of its war time economic activity. Business hit the top early in the year and- leveled off. Commerce Department experts don’t think 1945 will be as active. Here are the official estimates for 1944—all new records: 1. “National product”: 197 bil lion dollars. This is defined as all income earned by individu Vs through participation in production (wages, salaries, dividends, inter est). Last year it was 147.9 billion. In 1939 it was 70.8 billion. 3. "Income payments to indivi duals”: 155 billion dollars. In some ways this is a better economic yardstick than “national income” because it consists of money ac tually received by individuals. It doesn’t include the retained earn ings of corporations. It does in elude Social Secruity benefits and payments to dependents of service men, which aren’t a part of “na tional income.” Income payments last year were 142.3 billion. In 1939 they happened to be the same as nation income, 70.8 billion. A Commerce Department econo mist broke down the 1944 figure of 197 billion dollars in “national product” this way: * War purchases—85 billion. Consumer spending—96.6 billion (a new record, announced last week). Governmental non-war spending —13 bii-.on. “Private capital formation”—2.6 billion. (Total—197.2 billion.) “Private capital formation” is a technical term for such items as private construction, private pur chases of machinery and other pro ducers' goods, and changes In bus iness inventories and foreign trade balance. The Commerce Department said that net income of farm operators and other unincorporated business showed only small gains over 1943. JUBIC -_~_ * DINAIUPIHAN OLONGAPO -- ~ ^ HERMOSA J y ORANI FSUBIC BAYMI. SANTA ROSA - — [bataan” peninsula ... \ MORON ; : ‘ V; BAIANGA ___ --'^-^’I.IMAY - MT. BATAAN ■v. As American forces consolidate their positions o n Mindoro, the island just below Luzon on which Manila and its approaches are located, the area on the map takes on vital importance. Here it was that American defenders fought a gallant battle against overwhelming Japanese forces at the beginning of the war—and here it is that American planes are po uring tons of destructive bombs on enemy installa tions, ships, barracks, and other targets in the strug gle now being waged to recapture the Philippines. Names familiar at the start of the war once again m ake their appearance in the daily headlines. TOKYO IS ROCKED FOR 90 MINUTES UNDER B-29 RAID 21st BOMBER COMMAND. SAI PAN, Dec. 27.—(A3)—Taking advan tage of the first really clear weath er they have found over Tokyo, a sizable force of Superfortresses bombed the teeming industrial sector of Japan’s largest city for an hour and a half today. One B-29 was lost over the tar get, but the Superforts in turn shot down perhaps the greatest number of enemy planes yet de stroyed over Honshu. Crewmen reported that large fires were started. First photos failed to disclose the extent of this damage. The Japanese employed s new defense technique by setting off smudge pots for a smoke screen, but the fliers described the maneu ver as unsuccessful. The attaching force was similar in size to that making the first Tokyo raid November 24 when. Brig. Gen. Haywood Hansell, Jr., declared, some formations inflict eo' damage ‘which you can easily envisage if something like 150 tons of high explosives hit the water front areas of New York or San Francisco.” (Continued on rage Three; Col. 6) Yanks Sink Six Enemy Warships Off Mindoro GENERAL MacARTHUR’S HEADQUARTERS, Philip pines, Thursday, Dec. 28.—</P)—The battle for the central Philippines flared into action the night of December 26 when a Japanese battle task force steamed in from the China Sea and subjected the 11-day-old American positions on Mindoro Island to what Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s com ill U.IIJ.V4 WG Utov-nuou -, and inaccurate shelling.” American planes, Mitchells and Thunderbolts, and Navy P-T boats drove off the enemy ships. The communique said three of the six enemy destroyers in the shelling force were sunk and a bat tleship and cruiser fled with the remaining three destroyers after being damaged. This belated enemy reaction to the virtually unopposed American occupation of Mindoro December 15 was discovered at dusk Decem ber 26. The American bombers and fighters took off from newly con structed air strips on Mindoro to launch their vicious attack on the enemy warships, steaming in from the direction of the setting sun. Despite the air attacks, the Japa nese force held to its course and early night brought the ships off southwest Mindoro. They then shelled the coast. Until shortly before midnight, the crash of exploding American bombs and the rattle of small guns from the torpedo boats and low level strafers mingled with salvos from the Japanese warships. The planes and PT boats pur sued the enemy in moonlight and saw at least two of the Japanese (Continued on Pa,. Three; Col. 4) NAZIS’ BUDAPEST DEFENSE IS SPLIT BY RUSSIAN DRIVE LONDON, Thursday, Dec. 28. — (UP)—Red Army troops, battling through Budapest’s streets ir house-to-house fighting with cracit Nazi force's who were under orders to make a “Stalingrad” stand, yes terday smashed to within twc miles of the city center and split its fanatical defenders into t-.vc groups. Russian tanks and infantry, pressing the enemy back block bj block through 1he smoke-shroudec and burning city, by last night hac captured roughly eight of the Hung arian capital’s 80 square miles. Moscow’s communiques indicat ed that the Russians, smashing intc the city from the southwest alonj the west bank of the Danube, hac won control of the western end o; the southernmost of six barricadec bridges across the river linkini Buda and Pest. The city also was apparentlj without light and power. Twenty seven miles to the west, Red Ar my forces „to;med into Banhida. site of one of the capital’s mair electric supplv stations. (Continued on Page Three; Col. 5) Joe, A Talkative Fellow, Loses His VoiceFor Once By ROBERT VERMILLION WITH THE FIFTH ARMY IN ITALY, Dec. 27.—(UP) -Sgt. Joe McAleer blinked his eyes, yawned and squinted into the beam of my flashlight. I was shaking his shoul der and yelling at him. “Huh?” he finally muttered. “Wake up, Joe, and congratula tions. You’re the father of a baby girl, born last Wednesday,” I told him. And Joe, the most loquacious guy in his outfit, couldn’t think of a thing to say. It was Christmas Eve, the first time I saw Joe, up here atop Monte Belmonte, and he confided that his wife, who lives in Brook lyn, N. Y., was expecting a baby on Christmas Day. She had writ ten that it might be twins, be cause her physician had detected a double heart beat. Joe was a little anxious and upset. When the story reached New York, a check was made and Mrs McAleer was found to have be come the mother of a healthy babv daughter a week ago today. The news was flashed back and to night I climbed back up the moun tain to tell him about his daugh ter. Joe sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah?” he asked, a little dazedly Then—and you could almost see it trickling into his mind—he real (Continued on Page Three; Col. 6) Yanks Seize. Initiative In' Furious Drive j 1 i p Base Of German Corridor » Narrowed To Under l 20 Miles LONDON, Thursday, Dee, 28—(JP)—American troops in t a tremendous comeback of- t fensive against both sides of the German salient in Bel- i gium have narrowed the nech ■ of the enemy position to less j than 20 miles in width and re- 3 lieved the gallant beleaguered i garrison of Bastogne, it wai disclosed late last night in a > flurry of Allied and enemy / announcements. i Apprently getting into high gear •' for the first time since the daring *, Nazi counteroffensive caught them * by surprise December 16, the in- • furiated Americans had robbed the * enemy of the initiative and gained ' as much as five miles in a day, i these dispatches indicated. j These were the highspots: ’ Supreme Headquarters in Paris confirmed Brussels and Luxem- ' bourg radio flashes that the Amer- ' ican garrison of the Belgian town of Bastogne, which had been en circled and under attack since De cember 20, had been relived and the siege raised. American tanks, which were five miles south of Bastogne 24 hours previously, burst deep into the Ger man bulge and linked up with the besieged force which had spurned German demands for surrender and had knocked out 27 enemy tanks in its week of isolated bat tle. A dispatch from Supreme Headquarters said the relieving for ces were of considerable size. The Allied - controlled Luxem bourg radio said the base of the German corridor had been narrow ed to less than 20 miles, and this was almost exactly the mileage from Bastogne northward' to last reported Allied positions on the northern side near Lierneux. A late night field dispatch told of continued clear weather that gave American planes and artillery full scope against the German lines in both Belgium and Luxembourg, with the 19th Tactical Air Com mand alone reporting at least 24 enemy tanks and 116 motor ve American artillery, aided by ex cellent observation, was extremely active and completely outweighed the German gunfire, said this dis patch from Associated Press Cor respondent Lewis Hawkins. He said the Germans who took St. Hubert, 15 miles due west of Bastogne, were seen mining roads, blowing bridges and setting up road blocks. This is a usual defensive action, not the tactics of an army that expects to continue advancing. Another front dispatch during the night said the American Dough boys and tanks had given the Nazi (Continued on Page Three; Col. 'i) __ GERMAN RAILHEADS POUNDED BY 2,500 ALLIED WARPLANES LONDON, Thursday, Dec. 28. — (UP)— Nearly 2,500 Allied war. planes, spearneaded by 600 U. S. heavy bombers, hit seven rail tar gets, shot down 68 German planes and knocked out 146 enemy tank* yesterday in the fifth straight day of attacks against the Nazi counter offensive. The unceasing assaults were 'M rected mainly 'at Euskirchen, Kai serslautern, Aderach, Homburg and Gerolstein, all immediately behind the battle front, and at Fulda 54 miles southeast of Kas sel, which were blasted by the American heaw bomber force at tacking rail bridges, freight yard* and junctions. Escorted RA,F Lan casters joined -he daylight assault by blasting Rheydt, major Ger man transport center in the Ruhr. More than 400 American fight t planes escorting the bombers shot 'V>v7n 29 enemy fighters in a blaz ing battle with 300 German inter ceptors southwest of Bonn in the Eighth’s only major aerial engage ment. None of the bomber forces ••as molested by German planes and they encountered only meager to moderate anti-aircraft fire. :■ f
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Dec. 28, 1944, edition 1
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