North Carolina Newspapers

££"■. [ ilnttngian anting ^tat* | p£jEr v^77__Na_318-----WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1945 FINAL EDITION Reds Seize Silesian Coal Area, Take Memel; First Army Oflns New Drive Against Nazis; American Troops Within 34 Miles Of Manila Yanks Strike In Blizzard; Surprise Foe 2(000 Allied Bombers Pound Railroads In Runr, Rhineland pARIS. Jan. 28. — (IP) — The 5 first Army opened a new drive on the Germans westwall in a bitter, pre-dawn blizzard today, luoajng two miles east to within jive miles of the Reich along the Belgian route over which the Ger man; sped in their winter counter offensive 44 days ago. Far ahead of the ground forces, tightening pressure on the west 2°j;nsI an enemy reeling under Bu'Sian blows from the east, near I- 2.000 U. S. and British heavy and medum bombers roared through the ciouds. blasting at rail road yards and bridges in the Ruhr and Rhineland. Simultaneously, the U. S. Third Army, rubbing out some of the last rearguards in northern Lux embourg. swung a b uptly four ir.:!es northeast into Belgium hard on the First's south flank. Thus these two veteran Ameri can armies presented a solid 40 mile front within artillery range of the West Wall. An ominous lull settled over most of the remainder of the snow-lock ed Western Front except in south ern Alsace, where Fiench and American forces tightened a damp around Colmar—enemy cit adei—and drove to with four es of the Rhine. Patrols lunged out aggressively along the U. S. Seventh Army front in northern Alsace, and along the Roer on the U. S. Ninth and British Second Army fronts at the gateway to the Ruhr valley, where the British now were drawn up along the Rocr at a number of places. Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges’ Fust Army sprang a surprise at tack at 4 a m. in a blizzard which heaped snowdrifts seven feet high. In the early hours the First over wneimed startled garrisons of three towns northeast of St. Vith. Veteran First Division troops speared the attack, and with for tes from other units charged through waist-deep snow, captur es Berscheid, Valender and Hep pencach in a cluster five to seven lr- es northeast of St. Vith. Hep penbach is four and a half miles from the German frontier. There was no advance artillery preparation. After the first sur Ftse. the German resistance be Sau to stiffen. Snowdrifts and mines were the rh.ef obstacles. AP Correspondent Boyle said the drifts were so “eeP that trail-olazing units had 1° change off every 60 yards—sol exhausted were those plodding | “trough the snowfields. T,he reopening of the First Ar rn.v s drive came 43 days after ■ew Marshal von Hundstedt broke "rough the Ardennes in his De eerrtber offensive. Doughboys assembled shortly af . 1 tmttdnight in the bitter cold, clad snuwcapes for camouflage and ■ewiy-issued Arctic suits which c t designed by the Army for TUS.ln the far north lle- struck out into the storm, •■eatcd barbed wire entangle ' >. and were upon the German *°;‘.lsons as they Slept. Startled . ‘ “tiS said they didn't believe (wonc Would attack in such wea to;-’’:-diilon *° capturing the three o • d ns ,first division cleaned brucn,161 jhels Busch. a heavy j,|i ‘ forest more thpn two bscn^ '"Je nort*least of Heppen St' Vith- the Seventh im„ ‘ tPr-fon dug a half mile mil- nit“ f‘r forest some three the r Il0n' ’oorder. bearding tioiw ?lma,n.s *n their woods posi af’e'r !" 'vhic'n they had retreated ‘■cr losing St. Vith. Third 4’ George S. Patton’s four Jrmy- meanwhile. slashed in a ‘0 northcastward, cutting man frorn the Belgian-Ger of St^ vdCv!' a te'v miles southeast Eel.]-, . ' In ,he advance, the miles " 'T' °f MasPelt- f0L,r overrun heaSl nf St. Vith, was nowhe,?11,0 Vmy in Belgium was from ,,, fa“'lner than two miles Euxemh6 bordei and along the river nn°Ur,g fr“ni was at the Out t n Ule border or r.o more UlUll>uc(l on Page Xwo. Col. 2) Eighth Army Thrown Into Soviet Push Berlin Lies 109 Miles Away Alter 16 Mil* Advance LONDON, Monday, Jan. 29.— —The Red Army in a 16-mile ad vance rolled to within 109 miles east of Berlin yesterday, com pletely conquered the rich Dabrowa coal fields and industries of south ern Silesia with the capture of Katowice and Beuthen, and seized the long-surrounded Baltic port of Memel in a new northern offen sive. Premier-Marshal S t a lln an nounced clearance of the enemy from southern German-Polish Si lesia areas that produced one fifth of the German war machine's coal supply, and the activation of an eighth Soviet Army in the north brought the total to perhaps 4000,* 000 Russians now engaged in the gigantic winter offensive. On the 17th day of the big push Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov’s First White Russian Army overran 400 more Western Polish localities be yond encircled Poznan, last big Polish city in German hands, and deployed on an 80-mile arc facing straight toward Berlin. Zhukov’s central columns, threat ening to cross momentarily into Brandenburg, Berlin’s home pro vince, captured Pniewy, on thS Warsaw-Berlin motor road 27 miles west of besieged Poznan and 109 miles due east of Berlin. In the northwest they reached the pre-war German-Polish frontier at a new point by capturing Czarn kow, 126 miles northeast of Berlin and 90 miles southeast of Stettin, German Baltic port. At the south ern end of the arc, the Russians rolled through Lezno, a 10-way highway unction close to the Ger man,. frontier and 130 miles from Berlin. While Zhukov’s troops drove di rectly on Berlin by the shortest route to the Nazi capital, other Sov iet units spread out on the south and to the norh to secure his flanks. In the north, the Russians drcv« 29 miles into the Polish corridor northwest of Bydoszcz, capturing Sepolno, six miles from the Ger man Pomerianian frontier and 10 miles from the Danzig-Berlin trunk railway. At Sepolno the Rus sians were 74 miles southwest of Danzig. ( oeizing ljoozeinca, au miles wesi northwest of Bydgoszcz, another rolled to within three miles of th« Pomeranian frontier and to with in 110 miles east of Stetin. These troops were outflanking on the north the German rail center of Schneidemuhl, 20 miles to the southwest, and Berlin said that Schneidemuhl already was under Soviet assault. Other Russian troops had crossed into the Polish corridor from the east, ferrying the lower reache* of the Vistula river below captur ed Chelmno, 25 miles northeast of Bydgoszcz. In this section Marshal K. K. Rokossovsky’s Second White Russian troops also cleared the east bank of the Vistula on an eight-mile stretch between Chelm no and Grudziadz. Among the places taken was Rudnik, four miles south of Grudziadz, an im portant river crossing town. Northwest of Allenstein, 62 mile* south of Konigsberg, the Russian* for the second straight day repul sed assaults by large German in fantry and tank forces attempting to break through to the west, th* Soviet communique said. Moscow radio said that 250,000 Hermans were trapped in Bast Drussia. and that the enemy had ost a total of 40 other divisions ince the Russians launched theiP vinter offensive. “The material ost would equip an entire army,” he broadcast said. Berlin said that the Russian* lad broken into the outskirts of Conigsberg, and there were re lorts that the Germans already vere dynamiting installations in he city amidst a violent Soviet ar illery barrage. Moscow's bulletin disclosed that he Russians were edging around Conigsberg on the north and south is well as attacking the big city rontally. During the day the Rus ians captured Trutenau, five miles Continued on Page Two: Col. 5) Yanks At Pampanga, Last River Barrier Town of Mexico Taken; Huge Stores of Materiel Captured at Clark Field; Rosario Falls After Hard Fought Battle ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Lu zon, Monday, Jan. 29.—(UP) — Swift-moving U. S. 14th Corps pa trols, gaining as much as ten miles have advanced to within 34 airline miles of Manila and reached the Pampanga river, last major bar rier on the road to the Philip pines capital, it was announced to day. Surging southward from Angel es, captured Saturday, Maj. Gen. Oscar W. Griswold's forces reach ed the town of Mexico, in their closest approach to Manila in the three-week Luzon campaign. Sev en miles to the northeast, they reached the winding Pampanga at Arayat, on the southeastern slopes of 3,687-foot Mt. Arayat. The advance to Mexico repres ented a ten-mile gain from Angeles and it placed the Americans three miles northeast of San Fernando, capital of Pampanga province at the head of a four-mile wide bot tleneck between the Pampanga and Candabas swamps on the shortest route to Manila. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Dally War Bulletin reported that four airfields also were seized at An geles, which was taken by twin columns. One force then veered eastward to Arayat and the other south to Mexico. Some 15 miles behind the advanc ed spearheads, other 14th Corps troops were mopping up an esti mated 5,000 Japanese pinned in the hills around Clark Field after fail ing in an attempt to halt the Am erican march toward Manila. Far to the north, below the Jap anese mountain stronghold of Ba guio, troops of the U. S. 43rd Divi sion captured bitterly-contested Rosario after a tattle lasting al most three weeks and pushed to within one-half mile of the impor tant road junction of Camp One. MacArthur announced that the Japanese 23rd Division and the 58th Independent Mixed Brigade defending the northern sector had been "practically decimated'’ and that the enemy has been forced to move his northern reserves from the Baguio sector to supplement remnants of his forces guarding northern Luzon against the Am erican advances in the Rosario area. Seventeen miles southeast of Ro sario, the Americans were steadily reducing Japanese positions be yond the town of San Manuel and sharp fighting is continuing, Mac Arthur disclosed. MacArthur announced that ele ments of eight Japanese divisions already had been identified in Lu zon—the Second Armored Division and the Eighth, 10th, 12th_ 19th, 23rd. 103rd and 105th Infantry Divi sions. In addition the 58th Inde pendent Brigade has been identi fied along with a number of Ma rine and Naval organizations and many garrison and service units. So far the Americans have de stroyed 71 of the Second Armored Division’s tanks. MacArthur also revealed that capture of Clark Field’s vast air installations last week netted a considerable pile of Japanese boo ty, including 200 new airplane en gines, many radio transmitters and receivers, great quantities of radio and telephone equipment, several months supply of ammuni tion, food and equipment and more than 40 artillery pieces of various caliber. The American aerial campaign meanwhile continued with heavy bomber assaults on the former American naval base at Cavite on the southwestern fringe of Manila, Corregidor and Bataan. Liberator bombers struck two successive days at coastal defenses on Corregidor and Cavite, unload ing 200 tons of bombs. Direct hits were scored on gun positions and large fires were started. Bataan was swept by medium and attack bombers which wrecked enemy de fenses in the Suoic bay area and strafed signal installations and troop bivouac centers. Air patrols destroyed three planes on the ground at Del Car men airfield and again started landslides at the south entrance of the Balete pass leading into the Cagayan valley of northeastern Lu zon. Train Departure Delayed At Col. Roosevelt’s Call CHICAGO, Jan. 28— (AP)— Departure of the Chicago and North Western extra fare City of Los Angeles was de layed for an hour and seven minutes last night at the re quest of Col. James Roosevelt of the Marines who tele grapneu ne was un uigeiu duty status,” a representative of the railroad said today. Col. Roosevelt, accompanied by his wife, asked that the stream liner be held when the train he was riding from Washington dropped six and a half hours behind sched ule because of weather conditions. E. W. Everson, assistant station master of the railroad who receiv ed the request from Col. Roose velt, said the delaying of the train departure was ‘ not common but not unusual.” “It has been done several times in the last year and three or four times in the past six months,” he said. ‘‘If a representative of a big firm on Government business or a Government official must make the connection we consider hold ing the departure. If it had been any other Army. Navy or Marine high officer making the request last night, we would have done the same thing.” Lynne L. White, vice president in charge of operations for the road, said when the request from Col. Roosevelt was received it ap peared the City of Los Angeles’ departure would have to be de layed only a few minutes. - ‘‘But the incoming train from Washington kept getting later and later,” he added. ‘‘It was just one of those things.” White added, however, that the crack train departure had been delayed longer than an hour and seven minutes for ‘‘an important passenger” on at least one prev ious occasion. Everson said he didn’t know of any” passengers besides the Roose ' Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) ------ JAMES ROOSEVELT DENIES REQUEST FOR TRAIN DELAY SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 28.—UP) “I didn't ask to have the train held ” Col. James Roosevelt an swered a reporter's question a few minutes after the City of Los Angeles arrived here tonight. The colonel, who with his attrac tive wife, boarded the Union Pa cific streamliner in Chicago after the train was held one hour and seven minutes, added: -It must have been the conduc tor of the Manhattan limited that asked for it to be held. We were seven hours late getting into Chi cago.” , ., Asked if he had iniormed the conductor .on the Pennsylvania Railroad train that he and his wife had reservations on the City ot Los Angeles, Roosevelt replied that he had. “ But I didn’t ask him to hold the train.” If there were any other passen gers on the Manhattan Limited that were making connections on the streamliner. Colonel Roosevelt was unaware of it. JAPAN APPROVES BUDGET By the Associated Press Japan’s biggest military budget in the nation’s history, providing for the expenditure of 85,000000, 000 yen during the 1945-46 fiscal year won final legislative approval yesterday with unanimous accept ance by the House of Peers. One Thousand Miles Of Doom For Germany | pERMANYl«& -„.T=as-—-r r-uSsrvS .. e . _ '% ippIlftP.V. I'' WARSAW |itj OffeiwiY. Sk>M S | Jg. T IMS U.S.S. R. N b»^CZECHfe\ _ ,11^_i' \ &W J®]| Map shows how Red Army, through 1942, ’43 and ’44 gradually beat back the German Wermacht to the point where 1945 brought the start of Russia’s ‘‘Win the War” offensive, which now is threatening Berlin. WALLACE PLANS FIGHT FOR JOB Rebuffed Cabinet Aspirant Will Take Case To WASHINGTON, Jan. 28.—(UP) — Former Vice President Henry A. Wallace is prepared to place the “issues” before the people if the Senate refuses to confirm his nom ination to be Secretary of Com merce, it was disclosed tonight. A highly reliable source said that, despite apparently over whelming opposition, he does not plan to withdraw his name to save himself and President Roosevelt further embarrassment for what the Chief Executive called a polit ical “reward” appointment. Instead, the one-time Iowa farm boy will "stay in and pitch” until the Senate has decided whether or not he is competent to fill the post. The United Press informant por tiayed Wallace as feeling that, even if the Senate rebuffs him, he will have an air-tight case to lay before the thousands of peo ple who have supported him in the past and consequently that his stature as a national political figure will increase rather than diminish. He is said to feel that the main issue—the “common man” versus ’capitalism”—between him and his arch enemy, ousted Secretary of Commerce Jesse Jones, has been nicely drawn and will give him a strong talking point by ra dio and through the newspapers. Confirmation appears to hang, ironically, on the ability of pro Wallace and Administration forces to win passage of a bill by Sen. Walter F. George, (D-Ga.) to keep Federal loan operations from Wal lace’s jurisdiction. Rejection of the nomination seems almost certain if his op ponents are able to force a vote cn confirmation before the bill is considered. An informal poll conducted by the United Press shows that of 70 senators questioned, 38 will vote against confirmation and 21 for. Six said they were open-minded on both the nomination and the (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) House Anticipates Fight On National Service Bill WASHINGTON, Jan. 28.— (UP)—A streamlined work or-jail bill to force every man between 18 and 45 into the war effort goes to the House floor tomorrow, but indica tions tonight were that by the end of the week, it will be _----4-r» ^staggering unaer a ioaa ut controversial amendments. Approved by the House Military Affairs Committee and given a green light by the Rules Commit tee, the measure would fine or im prison a man who refuses his draft board’s injunction to take a war job. It will have a stormy recep tion. Conceding this, Chairman An drew J. May (D.-Ky.) of the Mili tary Affairs Committee, neverthe less predicted that the bill he spon sored for President Roosevelt will become law. “This legislation is desperately needed,” he said tonight, “and in my opinion it will be passed. The committee has trimmed it of all controversial provisions and has made compromises so that it will be passed.” As soon as amendments are in order, however, they will come pouring in. Two southern Democrats, Reps. Eugene E. Cox, Ga., and Howard W. Smith, Va.—of the rules com mittee-served notice that they will move to reinstate the anti closed shop provision under which a man drafted for war work could not be forced into a labor union against his will. This will be countered by con gressmen friendly to labor with an amendment to give statutory recognition to the Fair Employ ment Practices Committee. Rep. Paul Stewart, (D.-Okla.) who reportedly voted against the May bill in committee, will offer an amendment to vest drafting power in the War Manpower Com mission, taking it away from the local Selective Service Boards. Stewart also will seek to have embodied in the bill recognition of the Tydings amendment to the Se lective Service Act. That amend ment provides for the deferment of youthful farmers whose jobs are essential. Rep. Jerry Voorhis, (D.-Calif.) said he would attempt to have his bill substituted for the May bill. Under his measure, WMC would retain control of manpower and employment ceilings. It would pun ish both employer and worker who violated United States Employment Service regulations on hiring or quitting. It also would make viola tions a misdemeanor punished by one year in jail or up to $10,000 fine. As the House fight brewed, pow erful support and opposition de veloped outside Congress. The < American Legion came all out for (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) WLB SEES POWER CHALLENGED BY WARD DECISION WASHINGTON. Jan. 28.—(UP) — The War Labor Board, alarmed by potentialities of the Chicago Fed eral Court decision in the Mont gomery Ward and Co. seizure, look ed to Congress tonight to clothe President Roosevelt with authority to enforce peaceful settlement of all labor disputes and hoped mean while that labor will “keep its feet pn the ground." The decision invalidated Govern ment seizure of Ward properties on grounds that they are not war plants and raised the prospect that thousands of non-war businesses dealing with labor through WLB directives will challenge the poard’s authority. One WLB source said if that oc :urs labor might be provoked into work stoppages that would serious ly impair war production. WLB Chairman William H. Da vis was represented as feeling that It has now become the duty of Congress to underwrite the Pres ident's war-time right to take over any property—whether or not it is a war plant—to stave off a pro spective national crisis. He also feels that Congress must define the board’s powers by sta tute. the issue being whether the agency will settle all disputes or pnly those in war plants while the others are fought to a finish on a strike or lockout basis. Some board members are por trayed as not optimistic that At torney General Francis Biddle will win a reversal of the Chicago edict. Biddle charted his course today in conferences with his assistants. The United Press was informed that he probably will seek a writ of certiorari in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago this week so the case can be taken di rect to the Supreme Court for decision. Solons Protest Shipment . Of Newsprint To France WASHINGTON, Jan. 28.—W>1—A protest against sending any Am erican newsprint to France was 1 made to the State Department to nigh by members of a House Committee which investigated the paper shortage in this country. Chairman Boren (D-Okla.) and Rep. Brown (R-Ohio), of the com mittee, wrote Secretary of State Stettinius, calling attention to pub lished reports that 5,000 tons of U. S. newsprint will be shipped to France “within the month.” “Why should France appeal to us—three thousand miles away— for pulp and paper when the world’s greatest glut of pulp and paper capacity is right next door in Sweden, Finland and Russia?” they asked. State Department authorities said they had not received the pro test as yet. They commented though that in talks with newspap er publishers in the past they ex plained that the Skagerrak route from Scandinavia is not opepn, that Russia also does not have an excess of newsprint and the ship ping problem would be difficult it it did have. Boren and Browm quoted a Com merce Department report estimat ing a (J. S. paper shortage of "al most 4,000,000 tons of paper the first year after victory in Europe,” and said newsprint here is “in critically short supply.” “Russia snould be able to ship out of Archangel and Petsamo to the north and from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean to the south and satisfy these European demands,” they‘said. Shipments to France from the I United States not only would dip into this country's short supply of papers, the two wrote, but would tie up shipping futilities needed lo supply the war. "As the battlefronts now stand,” they concluded, “Russia is the key to this problem and we respect fully suggest that you bring this situation to the attention of the Russian government.” The congressmen also told Stet tinius: “The fact that paper require ments are put so high on the pri ority list by the French is of pe culiar interest, since in the years just prior to the war, France was becoming more and more self sufficient in meeting her own pa per requirements by expanding her pulp and paper industry. “The victory of American armies in France was so sudden and so (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) CHIANG HONORS GEN. STILWELL New Ledc Road To China Named For American Army Officer CHUNGKING, Jan. 28.—(UP) — Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek said today that completion of the Burma-Ledo road had broken the siege of China and that it now be comes the main artery of bases from which new blows against Japan soon will be delivered. Chiang officially named the 620 mile highway the “Stilwell Road’’ in honor of Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell who planned the artery and almost saw it completed before differences with Chiang led to his recall. Chiang said the new road would “have the effect of a powerful contic on the spirit of our army and our people.” He spoke on a broadcast (Mut ual) to the United States with Maj. Gen. A. C. Wedemeyer, Stil well’s successor in China, and U. S. Ambassador Maj. Gen. Patrick Hurley who said there was a grow ing btiief the final defeat of Japan would take place on Chinese soil. To the militarists of Japan. Chiang said, the Stilwell Road will be an omen of defeat, while of all those who gave their lives for this immortal deed. Every Chi nese will be as grateful as I am . . . “ We shall nevei forget the hardships, the suffering and the sacrifices made so far from their homes in Burma, in savage hins and fever-infested jungles to break the blockade of our country and to throw our arrogant enemy back on his haunches . . . “Our people in the enemy-oc cupied areas will hear of this and they will hear of the mounting losses which the United States forces are heaping upon just over the horizon and they will know the hour of their deliverance is at hand.” “Let them fight with the firm determination and fortitude that they have shown the past 14 months in Burma and Yunan. In conclus ion let us name this road after Gen. Joseph Stilwell in memory of his distinctive contribution and of the signal part which the Allied and Chinese forces under his di rection played in the Burma cam paign and in the building of the road.” Wedemeyer pointed out that the strongest proponent of a land route to China was Stilwell who con ceived the plan and fought it through. He also paid tribute to Lt Gen. Daniel I. Sultan who fought to open the router Completion of the road in addi tion to being a tremendous engi neering feat will be a strong factor Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) Local Flier’s Homecoming To Unit Told By Witness (Editor’s Note* Lt. Morris was reported missing in ac tion shortly after Christmas and a few days later, his par ents were notified that he was safe. This story tells of his return to his unit.) — From a Red Cross field director das come a story of a local flier, First Lt. Cliff C. Morris, Jr., of 311 North Fourth street, depicting the fine performance in action of servicemen from Wilmington and elsewhere in the United States. It was near Christmas, some where in Italy, and in a dimly ighted operations office, staff men bent over reports and maps and ' discussed plans for the next mis- , sion. j Near the center of the hut stood a small pine tree. On it were hung a little tin foil, some red paper | cut into strips, and at the top a J tail light from a wrecked bomber. 1 In the center a roughly cut paper star burned brightly. Some of the 1 men had driven 30 miles through * cold and rain to get that little tree, but there it stood, reminding the men a little of the holidays they 1 left behind. i After a while, there was a com- f motion at the door, and ten tired, s (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) i