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_ _l "" ~ FORECAST ^ ^ g 1 Umnutlmt itmtng sta t= VOLTTr^-l!^--------WILMINGTON, N. C., FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1945 ' FINAL EDITION Mac Arthurs Trooj^Take Five More Towns, Punch Inland On /To-Mile Luzon Beachhead; Nazis Flee Into Forest Before Third Army Patton Cuts Strong Line By Surprize Entire Luxembourg Front > Threatened; British Open Up - PARIS, Jan. 11.—(AP) — ' The U. S. Third Army threat 1 ened to cave in the Luxem 1 bourg front with a surprise L stroke today that sent thous i ands of Germans fleeing into : the woods and in Belgium the ' enemy began a 23-mile with ; drawal that turned loose Brit ’ ish patrols on a 10-mile east ward sweep. The northwestern enemy anchor ; of La Roche fell along with 15 other towns as German forces were reported evacuating the en tire western apex of their Belgian and Luxembourg conquests Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s troops cut in half powerful box positions southeast of Bastogne from which three enemy divisions had been hammering at his lines from the east. The neck out of the box now was no more than two miles wide. Resistance in the remainder of this area was reported collapsing rapidly as the Germans—caught off guard by the unexpected blow —floundered off into tne snow drifts and woods toward the un certain haven of Wiltz, ten miles east of Bastogne, where other Third Army forces lie in wait. The last road out of the box was cut by capture of Doncols, near its center, and the Germans had no choice but to strike out through the woods to escape annihilation, The bodies of hundreds of enemy lay in the snow. In the first 11 hours of the as sault, which jumped off at 1 a.m, in the numbing cold of near zerc weather, 400 prisoners were taker and a front dispatch from Associat ed Press Correspondent Lewis Hawkins said the final count would be much more. The German High Command ad mitted it was quitting all the Bel gian bulge west of the Ourthe river and front dispatches said the new line was expected to run from Viel salm on the north for 16 miles southwest through Houffalize to near Bastogne. This line would contain only about one-fourth of the territory overrun at the height of the Ger mans’ great offensive. It is 23 miles from Grupont, at the tip of the bulge ns it existed Wednesday, to Houffalize. The closing jaws of the Allied vise were expected to catch few prisoners, for Field Marshal von Rundstedt apparently had cleared out the bulk and the best of hig troops with the help of fog, deep snowdrifts discouraging s\^ft pur suit, and dense mine fields. While the British were coming up on the .west in a general ad vance of three miles, the Ger mans had pulled out so quickly that all contact was lost except for a few snipers. Tommies moved in from the northwest in force and seized the town of Ronchamps, only three miles southwest of Doughboys in newly-captured La Roche. On the north, American gains in the last 24 hours carried them into Vielsalm and across the Salm, and to within about six miles of Houf falize on the north. K - g First Enemy Opposition I s Met By Yanks 48-Hour Advance Has Car ried Americans South Of Swamps GENERAL MacARTHUR’S HEADQUARTERS, LUZON, Friday, Jan. 12.— (AP) —i I American invaders of Luzon, punching seven to nine miles inland from their 25-mile wide Lingayen Gulf beach heads, have seized five more towns and terminals of four main highways and a rail road leading to Manila. They found the first appreciable opposition at their deepest spearhead. Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger’s Sixth Army units have been advancing for two days as far and as fast as reasonable caution and the movement of supplies has permit d ted. i The Yanks now nave taken nine J towns and more than a score of r villages. 1 The 48 - hour advance has car ® ried the Americans well south of the maze of swamp country at the - mouth of the meandering Agno riv er and across the river line along which the Japanese might have been able to make a delaying stand. 1 Only on the extreme left flank, 1 along the Pozorrubio road, have 1 the Americans run into anything more than isolated and quickly eliminated sniper resistance. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s com munique today made the first men tion of “combat contact’’ near Po zorrubio, at the end of the deepest spearhead east of the San Fabian - landing beach. He gave no indica g tion of the severity of the fighting y there. The original 15 - mile beachheads were widened to at least 25 miles with the capture of the mouth of the Agno, which empties into the Lingayen Gulf west of captured Lingayen town. Nine miles represented the dep est point of penetration in the time covered in the communique. Since the communique always lags 24 hours behind operations it was probable patrols had driven deeper since then. Planes from Seventh Fleet ba by flattops provided close cover for the advance, while land-based Army bombers and fighters raked enemy targets all over Luzon. Associated Press Correspondent Spencer Davis reported from th* Seventh Fleet flagship that Navy Wildcats cleaned out a nest of about 70 cleverly—camouflaged barges, small islets in northwestern Lin gayen Gulf since the American landing. The first stiffened resistance wa* at the left flank east of the San Fabian beachhead. There the Sixth Army troops had seized the road (Continued on Page Two; Col. S) -V Two More Big American Invasion Fleets Nearing Luzon, Tokyo Announces WASHINGTON, Jan. 11.—(UP) —At least two powerful American invasion fleets are in water* off Luzon in addition to t h e mam moth concentration in the Linga yen Gulf, and American reinforce ments are streaming ashore op the gulf toast despite strong Japanese attacks, Tokyo broadcasts said to day. Interpersed with reports of mil itary developments, Tokyo disclos ed that Japanese Premier Sen. Kuniaki Koiso called an extraor dinary meeting of government leaders to discuss “various mat ters.’’ It also reported that poli tical leaders had demanded new measures to gird the country for a finish fight and that a leading newspaper, indicating open alarm over the Luzon invasion , demand ed a completely united home front. A Tokyo broadcast recorded by the United Press in London as serted that one American landing force one Gen. Douglas MacAr thur's left flank had been ousted from its beachhead near Lavop* lx miles north of Sau Fabian. M \ Army Leaders Relieved For Ability Lack Stimson Says Nation Soon To Know Casualties In Europe WASHINGTON, Jan. 11.— (UP)—A “number’’ of U. S Army commanders have beer ousted from their battlefront commands for failure to meet performance standards, it was revealed today by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson who announced simultaneously the Nation probably will be told > next Thursday what the re cent German break-through cost in American lives. He declined to disclose when or where the command shakeups occurred or the rank of officers involved. It was presumed, how ever, that most of the actions in volved the European theatre and possibly resulted from the Ger ; man offensive. It is tne policy oi tne War De partment,” he said, ‘‘to demand the very highest standards of per formance from the Army’s com manders. A number of comman ders have been relieved because of this demand. "However, such removals may 1 mean that the abilities of the of ficers did not suit their particular assignments, and the men may be placed at other duties to which they are better fitted.” His statement was prompted by questions whether any comman ders other than Maj. Gen. Lindsay McDonald Silvester had been re moved from combat commands. Silvester was relieved several months ago of his command of the Seventh Armored Division, re turned here and reverted to his permanent rank of colonel. Stimson announced at his press conference that Army casualties compiled here through December 29, but not including those suffer ed in the German offensive, total 564,351—7,999 more than the figure i announced last week. Navy, Ma li rine and Coast Guard totals as of last night were 82,029. Thus, announced total casualties r?r all U. S. forces since Pearl Harbor now stands at 640,280, in cluding 138.393 killed, 370,647 wounded, 73,594 missing and 63,746 prisoners of war. Stimson said he expected ‘‘to ate next week the figures for ecember which will cover prin cipally tne period of the German .. „,lve' He said in effect that we bar Department was not de ‘ ®rate]y holding back on the cas ualties suffered in the Nazi drive. - o casualty figures have been ”m't ed, he said. “The depart 'd simply has not thought it lse.at time of emergency to require that a special set of cas - hgures be compiled in ad nce of the usual compilation.” -- Cook Upholds Reputation Cf Coast Guard By Saving Child In Cape Fear River J!?ip’E Cook 2-c Walter J. Gar tv, 1 ,proved yesterday afternoon L,„.tpe Unbed States Coast Guard , . los* its peacetime touch at Plucking people from watery graves. Returning from the commissary „*««« at the foot of Princess ' ' ne noticed three children Ly ,on the barge moored to hfi dock astern of the quarter ' wnere be lives. A moment u 1 , S°mg aboard the latter, he "Help'" sp'as*1 and treble cries of ten man who can put two-and Cn, °yptkei’ without a slide-rule, rai)1' /ardeckl vaulted the stern f,01 lbe quarterboat without cll„,,Vd° and plunged into the ]-■ ; Cape Fear river. A moment bev .,!! em^rSed with a dripping aboii* ,°m he described as being h-■ i second-grade age but who Sj not been identified. a"d warmed aboard the Via ®lboat' the youthful victim »u. !‘ lven home in a jeep none PvoMoV01' his dup-ng.P Gu-y? hls entry into the Coasl guard 5’apdecki was not a life Vin l. but a furcoat designer ‘ ir on' N. Y., his home town, Ingram Reiterates Robot Warning Bat Clarifies Position WASHINGTON, Jan. 11._(Up) —Adm. Jonas H. Ingram, com mander in chief of the U. S. At lantic Fleet, reiterated tonight that in his opinion an attack by German robot bombs on East Coast cities was “passible and feasible.” He did not, however, repeat his previous warning that robot bomb ing of New York and Washington was “possible and probable” with in the next 30 to 60 days, a warn ing he issued during a press con ference at an- East Coast port. He explained in a radio broad cast (Blue Network) that his re cent caution “was in keeping with my ideas of reasonable precau tionary measures for the defense of our Eastern approaches.” “I entertain no delusions on the subject. In my opinion such an attack is possible and feasible. When I say the threat exists, I mean there is a chance that we may be called upon to stop any attack from enemy seaborne ap paratus—and that is my job and the job of the Atlantic Fleet. I can assure you that the sea and air defenses of all possible points of attack in the Atlantic are ad justed to my satisfaction. We have disposed ships at sea and their operations are closely coordinated with the Army land and air de fenes.” -v WAR POWERS ACT OF N. C. PASSED Joint Appropriations Com mittee begins Work In Assembly RALEIGH, Jan. 11.— (£) —The Joint Appropriations Committee, charged with passing on monetary allocations to State institutions and agencies, began work today after a brief Assembly session, but the Joint Finance Committee, whose re sponsibility is to raise the money, deferred its first deliberations until next Tuesday. Under suspension of the rules, the Senate passed a measure by Senator Gay of Northampton to re instate the emergency war powers of the Governor. Powers granted the chief executive under the 194.1 statute expired with the convening last Wednesday of the Legislature. Gay’s measure would continue them for the duration of the war and six months, giving the Gover nor unusual authority over “the health, welfare, safety and protec tion of the civilian population.” Under the War Powers Bill, the ___rvf + Vl Council of State, could formulate and execute plans for the distribu tion of food, fuel, clothing and other necessities; could direct civilian de fense and its related activities; could direct the activities of fire fighting, police and other c:vil agencies; could lend State equip ment to the armed services; could authorize the temporary transfer of State personnel to the armed services; could control traffic; and could amend other specified laws if the Assembly were not in ses sion. The act originally was intended to allow the Governor and Council of State to cope with emergencies without having to call Lhe Legis lature into special session. Once again the Assembly took cognizance of the experience of veteran Legislator Wsltei (Pete) Murphy of Salisbury and the Sen ate vote to recreate the post of liaison officer for him. He would, in effect, be the “go - between" of the House and Senate. Murphy was lefeated in his race last spring Measures by Senator Wathers of Cleveland would permit the taking of acknowledgements by officers of the rank of ensign or second lieu. tenant; and petition the State’s congressmen “to give careful con sideration to the present method of payment by the Federal Gov ernment on forest lands, TVA prop erties, and other properties owned by the Federal Government, with a "View of providing a more stable form of payment on forest lands and a more equitable payment on TVA properties and other proper ties owned by the Federal Govern ment.” ODT Cancels Resort Railroad Schedules Order Supplements Byrnes’ Directive Tc Conserve Coal; Atlantic Coast Line Will Not Be Affected; Branch Lines Hit WASHINGTON, Jan. 11—(UP) — The Government tonight ordered railroads to cancel all passenger trains, effective March 1, on which 35 per cent of the seats were not occupied during last November and instructed them to discontinue im mediately seasonal service to any resort area. The Office of Defense Transpor tation acted to implement War Mo bilization Director James F. Byrnes’ order last night to curtail non - essential railroad schedules to save coal. The Eymes' order also called for a partial blackout of electric sign displays and other measures, including reduced heat in homes and office buildings—all aimed at coal conservation. The ODT said that since Septem ber 30, 1942, no railroad has beei permitted to operate special or ex cursion trains without ODT appro val. (The service of the Atlantic Coast line will not be affected b; this order, it was learned Thursda; night. All ACL trains have beei operating to capacity for the pas few years, it was said.) “Since that time no excursioi train and very few special train have been approved,” it said. “Thi effect of today’s action is to elimi nate seasonal passenger train ,sche dules to resort areas which wen not discontinued by the freeze or der of September 30, 1942.” Surburban and inter-urban serv ice are not affected by tonight’: order. CHEST TO RUN OWN CAMPAIGN Local Organization Dis penses With Chicago Group's Services Services of the American City Bureau of Chicago, which has con ducted the Wilmington Community War Chest campaign for the past three years, will be discontinued, it was decided at a special meet ing of the board of directors at large was ordered increased from 10 to 15, according to an announce ment last night by the Rev. Wal ter B. Fi<eed, chairman. It was explained that the dis continuance of the services of the private agency would save consid erably on the expenses of the drive, although the bureau charg ed a fixed fee which would have been less than two per cent if fixed an a percentage basis. The change yesterday came about following a survey made by a special committee appointed at the December 14 meeting of the board of directors, who were or dered to study other campaigns of this type conducted throughout North Carolina as well as other states. It was emphasized that no chan ges were ordered in the number of institutional directors, those re presenting agencies benefited by the Community War Chest. Directors at large are elected by the membership of the group, it was said, and the place for the annual meeting yet is to be named. The Rev. Freed announced a nom inating committee yesterday to prepare a slate of directors at large to be offered at the elec tion meeting. Those appointed to the committee are Mrs. Albert F. Perry, E. A. Laney, James S. Webb and L. D. Latta. The board yesterday elected James E. L. Wade to represent the New Hanover group in the United War Fund of North Caro lina. LAWMAKER FOUND MURDERED IN CAR Principal Witness In Mich igan Graft Case Is Slain 1" ■> LANSING, Mich., Jan. 11.—(£■) •State Senator Warren G. Hooper, Albion, Mich., Republican, was found shot to death tonight in his automobile four miles north oi Springpot, Mich., and special Prosecutor Kim Sigler ordered the Carr Grand Jury investigators tc investigate his death at once. Police said Hooper's automobile was on fire when the body was discovered. The body, police said, was on the right side of the fronl seat of the car and no gun was found at the scene. There was a bullet hole through a rear right window of >fte car. Sigler said “Hooper w«s a prin cipal witness in the Grand Jury’s case against Frank D. McKay, of Grand Rapids, Mich., former Re publican national committeeman for Michigan; Floyd-Fitzsimmons, Benton Harbor, Mich., sports pro moter, and William Green of Hill man, Mich., former State repre sentative, all arrested by the Grand Jury on a charge of con spiracy to bribe State legislators in connection with a pari-mutuel betting bill. Sigier said Hooper was “of val ue” as a witness against William J. Burns, secretary of the Michi gan State Medical Society, who was accused by the Grand Jury of offering a bribe on medical so ciety legislation. Neither of the two warrants have gone to trial. He said Hooper had given a “complete confession to the Grand Jury and had been granted im munity from prosecution to testi fy concerning all the facts” in the McKay-Fitzsimmons-Green case. France Will Have Army Of 1,200,000 In Spring PARIS, Jan. 11.—(/P)—War Min ister Andre Dithelm declared to day after a tour of the Alsatian battlefront that by the end of spring France would nave an army of 1,200,000 men equipped and powerfully armed with the latest American materiel. France’s increased contribution to the Allied war effort is to be a direct result of recent conversa tions among Prime Minister Churchill, General Eisenhower and General de Gaulle, in which the Allies agreed to send larger amounts of equipment to the French. Mobilization of three classes— 1943, 1944 and 1945—will double France's present strength and in reality increase her contribution four-fold, Dithelm said, explain ing that half of the current armed strength of 600.000 men still was in training or in the process of formation. Pointing out that the class of 1943 was being called to the color* at the end of January, Dithelm said “we expect early in Febru ary heavy armament which al ready has been embarked from American ports.” The minister asserted that the military situation in Alsace “nev er had been alarming—contrary to some reports,” but at the same time indicated the Allied High Command at one time may have considered a retreat from Alsace. “Ever since the Allied command finally came around to our point of view, there lias not been any question of abandoning an inch of Alsation territory,” he said. “Our forces there now are sufficient to turn back any serious push.” The French viewpoint is under stood to have been that, given equipment, French troops could hold the Alsation front. The Al lies are understood to have agreed to supply the armament because, among other factors, loss of Al sace would have been regarded as a grave political blow to the de Gaulle regime. Lingayen Gulf, a hundred miles north of Manila on Luzon Island in the Philippines, is revealed by Gen. Douglas MacArthur as the area where U. S. Sixth Army forces have seized four initial beachheads and begun the final campaign to destroy Jap power in the Philippines. Oui landing losses have been insignificant, MacArthur states. The General himself is reported to have gone ashore with his troops and to be commanding in person from headquarters on one of the beaches. (In' ternational). _ BRITISH GENERAL KILLED BY BOMB Officer May Have Died While Standing By MacArthur LONDON. Jan. 11.—(A*)—Lt. Gen. Herbert Lumsden, Prime Minister Churchill’s personal representative to Gen. MacArthur, was killed by a Japanese air attack January 6 aboard an American warshin in the Pacific, the War Office announced today amid indications he may have died while standing alongside the American commander in chief. Whether Gen. Lumsden was kill ed by a bomb hit on the bridge of an American warship pr by a Japanese suicide plane, the two most likely causes, was not dis closed. Since he was Churchill’s personal representative, however, Gen. Lumsden should have been on the fleet flagship and perhaps near MacArthur. January 6 was the day on which the Japanese said the American fleet invading Luzon steamed into Lingayen Gulf. The actual landing on Luzon came January 9. The War Office announcement said that Gen. Lumsden was “kill ed by enemy air action January 6 while on the bridge of one of the U. S. warships engaged in the Pa cific,” and the announcement quot ed a message from Gen. MacAr thur mentioning “the complete courage which this officer so fre quently displayed in my immediate presence during operations in this theatre during the last year. SUPERFORTS HIT SINGAPORE BASE Tokyo Vexed With Fire Bombs In New Air Attacks WASHINGTON, Jan. 11.— (JP) - Superforts, again demonstrating their seven - league boots, todaj scourged the great naval base oi Singapore and vexed Tokyo with a few fire bombs. A “medium force.’ an expression indicating about 40 B-29s, roare / in from India to plaster the tip of the Malay Peninsula with “good results,’ the War Department an nounced. Tokyo radio, devoting much of its time these days to the B-29 subject, said three Saipan - based Superfortresses made nuisance raids over the Japanese caiptal. They are not to be discounted, the Japanese well know, for several big smashes at the home island of Honshu have followed these one, two and three - plane expeditions. The Singapore strike, in earlj daylight, was made by the 20th Bomber Command headquartered in India. Superforts first hit Singa pore dry dock facilities Novembei 5. The round trip of more than 3,500 miles is the record for day light flights by military planes oi: a mission. In spite of bad weather over the target, the pilots said they saw bombs hit the drydocks and naval installations of the mighty base stolen from Britain in Japan’s on rushing March of 1942. None of the B-29s was lost de spite fighter opposition. One fought off 20 Zeros. The raid seemed to be a seg ment in the master plan for lib eration of the Philippines. Some of Ihe Japanese ships crippled in the big engagement that preceded the Leyte invasion probably crawled to Singapore for repairs. It is a big staging base also for fleet units that might try to come to the res cue of the enemy garrisons on Lu zon. The War Department communi que indicated that the Japanese may have been caught off guard by the first wave of Superfortress es. It said only meagre and inac ;urate ack-ack was thrown up. our enemy fighter planes were shot iown, one was listed as a probable ;nd 12 damaged. Cloud cover prevented close ob servation of the damage inflicted. it may have been considrable for he bombers also massaged t h e Georgetown harbor on Penang Is and off the west coast of the penin sula. This base long has been used ts a submarine haven. The Japanese still were smarting neanwhile from Tuesday’s B-29 smash against central Honshu. Tok 'o radio said 29 of the 60 attacking (Janes were brought down or dam ped. i Peter Refuses Regency; Balkans Again Snarled LONDON, Jan. 11.— Of) —Young King Peter of Yugoslavia handed Allied diplomats a new Balkan po litical snarl tonight when he sud denly reversed his course and came out in formal opposition to a re gency plan drawn up by Marshal Tito and his own prime minister, Ivan Subasic. The exiled monarch, who had promised a statement on the re gency at noon and then withheld it without explanation, declared late tonight that he approved the “ba sic proposals of the Tito-Subasic agreement, whereby the future government of Yugoslavia would be ‘“determined solely by a free decision of its peoples. He objected, however, to “the suggested form of regency and to t "the provisions by which (Titos) anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation would wield unrestrict ed legislative power until a con stituent assembly had completed its work. Although the door was not en tirely closed, observers here could find little hope for any revision of the Tito-approved agreement solution. London diplomatic observers gen- ' erally have expressed the view that rejection of a regency by Peter might result in his loss of the throne. The granting of the legislative ' power to Titos council "suggests 1 the transfer of power in Yugoslavia ■ (CoqMque^ gp Page Two; Col. » i
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Jan. 12, 1945, edition 1
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