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V0L^^£l-------WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1945 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 *
Reds Drive Across Oder On 50-Mile Front;
West Wall Cr^ bling Under Allied Attacks;
Manila Busint- s District Burned By Japanese
First, Third
Annies Gain
Against Foe
Patton Slugs To Within
Three And a Half
Miles Of Pr'im
PARIS. Feb. 6.— (UP) —The U.
J First and Third Armies smash
ed out two-mile gains at three
main paints of attack along a 40
mile front today as the Germans'
fixed west Wall defenses buckled
and crumbled under the steadily
increasing Allied offensive into
Germany.
; Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s
Third Army Doughboys clamped a
strangle-hold on the entire Eifel
mountain range with gains of near
lv two miles along a front extend
ing from Schlausenbach, five miles
northwest of Prum. southwest to
Lutzkampen, nine miles southeast
of St. Vith.
Patton's men at one point have
slugged to within 3 1-2 miles of
Prum. a United Press dispatch
from the Third Army front report
ed. and only a few pillboxes were
left before them in the rear de
fenses of a Siegfried Line belt
which was two miles deep at that
point.
In this area Patton s men sxorm
ed and captured the German Sieg
fried fortress towns of Schlausen
bach, Habscheid, Lutzkampen and
fought off enemy attacks to regain
the vital road hub of Brandscheid,
five miles east of Prum, which
commands an important network
of Siegfried supply roads.
Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges’
First Army tanks and Infantry to
the north also plunged deeper in
to crumbling West Wall defenses
with a two-mile gain northwest of
Steckenborg. Ail along the perime
ter of the Monschau sector, Hod
ges' lorces were reported break
ing through the enemy's fixed con
crete and steel fortifications.
In the eastern tip of the Mon
schau salient, the Americans cap
tured Scheuren, one mile north of
Schlieden, and came within a half
mile of penetrating the West Wall
pillbox belt on the Olef river
guarding both the main fortress
towns of Schleiden and Gemund.
Allied Supreme Headquarters
announced that 6,912 prisoners
were taken in the First and Third
Army drives during the four days
ending February 3, and the crumb
ling Colmar pocket in the south
has yielded another 3,500 prisoners
in the past 48 hours alone.
Northwest of Steckenborg, the
first Army was aiming straight
at the Germans' main Roer river
defenses after having set the stage
for an imminent Allied attack
along a 75-mile front in the north
“5' seizing control of the Roer river
iam system controlling 1,000,000
Ions of pent-up floodwalers.
fire attack against the Roer,
spearheaded by tanks .driving
“trough heavy German minefields,
toted northwest of captured Steck
enoorg t0 within one mile of
c-niidt and within thre miles of
iiMimg up with the U. S. Ninth
•my along the main Roer river
south of Duren.
fhc Germans, finding the Sies
u ueienses unable 10 stop the
' sowed the approaches to
, with l!le most extended
■as of anti-tank and anti-person
l- , ever encountered by
ges First Army forces.
Ai this strategic town, the Ger
laY S/U,e ban8ing grimly to the
ctim-°irle Tji1'5 12ver dam system
n, *° lbe l:°odwaters of the
er. which barred an Allied at
tr* ‘n the north until Hodges’
tpm, 1 "oob'alized the entire sys
re ri,iSei2ing lhe key Urftalsper
dam cast of Ruhrberg.
boxes an,HnttlS the enemy’s Piu‘
to iP-;. ■'•t10n6P°ints have been
Roer ta. 3 rrier 10 forcing the
lensp 'm thc drowned earth” de
couid unVaTh "hercby t h e dams
h fionri e‘ S 1 a cascade of water
late „ ,. sc°!'.es of towns and iso
fiver ’ A.,led force across the
tev ‘ radi° said that the
which a“r otier,sive in the west,
man predicted8" m,ilitary sPokes'
"5-tni]„ < lted would come on a
Nijmegen °uren north to
Isyed.A w‘li not long be de
House Group Passes
City-Extension Bill
Action Follows Debate By Delegations From
Wilmington; Passage In Senate Com
mittee Sighted During Week
By JOHN CONLY
Star-News Staff Writer
RALEiGH, Feb. 6.—Representa
tive J. Q. LeGrand’s City-exten
sion bill today was started1 on its
way to likely passage in the State
House of Representatives with the
double approval of the House Com
mittee on Counties, Cities and
Towns.
After according it unanimous fa
vor, the committee expressed
through its chairman, Rep. W. E.
Horner of Sanford, the hope that
they would prove to have done
“the best thing for the future of
Greater Wilmington".
This action followed a stormy
hour-and-a-half hearinv of the
bill’s pro’s and con’s from City
Planning Board delegates and a
representation of anti-extentionist
suburban residents, climaxed by
a ringing declaration from City
Attorney W. B. Campbell that com
plete extension of City services
to the suburbs was feasible and
that the people of Wilmington
stood “seriously ready” to carry
it out “adequately, fairly, sincere
ly.”
Mr. Campbell’s impromptu ad
dress, which appeared to clinch
the case for extension, followed
H. A. Marks’ drawing of an analo
gy between the growing but con
stricted City and a vest-sprung
bay-window bearer, in need only
of a properly fitting suit of clothes
to change his appearance from
disreputable to prosperous.
While disclaiming any status as
a representative of the Commun
ity Council, of which he is pres
ident, or the Chamber of Com
merce, Mr. Marks pointed out that
12 of the 15 directors of the latter
body, men of distinction in their
callings, are residents of the ex
tra-city suburbs marked for annex
ation and hence unavailable at
present for positions of official
City leadership. He was backed
in this stand by Dr. J. T. Hog
gard and Robert Dannenbaum.
The case for extension was
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 3)
War Department Official
Pleads For Labor Draft
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6.—<.T)—Undersecretary of War Robert P.
Patterson pleaded urgently today for passage of a manpower control
bill, telling senators "no one is entitled to a free ride in this war.’’
_w v.
WALLACE’S CHANCES
BETTER AFTER OKAY
ON GEORGE MEASURE
WASHINGTON. Feb. 6.— UP) —
Henry Wallace's prospect of be
coming Secretary of Commerce
was brightened today by the House
Banking Committee’s unanimous
approval of the Senate - passed
George bill.
The measure, which divorces the
Reconstruction Finance Corpora
tion and subsidiary sending agen
cies from the Commerce Depart
ment. received favorable action af
ter Democrats beat down a Re
publican attempt to repeal part of
the President’s war powers.
The banking committee’s action
transferred to the House floor the
battle on the Republican proposal
to fence in the former Vice Presi
dent further by repealing President
Roosevelt’s wartime authority to
reshuffle Federal agencies. This
probably will begin, next week.
Committee Democrats held their
lines solid to defeat the proposal,
15 to 11. Rep. Wolcott (R-Mich),
ranking minority member, an
nounced immediately he would car
ry the fight to the floor.
House Republican Leader Mar
tin, of Massachusetts, contended
that without the amendment t li e
President could “give Wallace 2o
or 30 Federal agencies other than
the RFC.
The Senate nas aeiaycu
on Mr Roosevelt’s nomination <n
Wallace as Secretary of Com
merce, pending final disposi ion of
the bill by Senator George (D-Ga),
which lifts control of the RFC and
other Federal loan agencies from
the Commerce Department.
Some leaders of the anti-Wallace
forces hoped a coalition of Repub
licans and Southern Democrats
could force amendments into the
bill that would prompt a Presiden
tial veto and thus bring about out
right Senate rejection of Wallace.
But the Southerners apparently
were shying away from such a co
alition following the admonition of
Senator George, chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, that
“my bill goes far enough.”
Before reporting the George bill
to the House, Democrats in the
Banking committee defeated two
other Republican amendments:
1. To pull from under the Sec
retary of Commerce the seat on
the export-import bank. The voie
was 14 to 12 with one Democrat
joining the Republicans.
2. To provide rigid audits of all
corporations controlled by the Gov
ernment. The bill now provides the
amendment by Senator Byrd (D
Va) calling for an audit of RrG.
This vote was 15 to 10.
the way to bring about uncondi
tional surrender at minimum cost
in lives,” he told the Senate Mili
tary Affairs Committe which be
gan belated hearings today on the
House-approved work-or-jail bill.
"The fighting men are doing the
hard part. They should be given
all-out support at home.”
Patterson’s testimony was given
behind closed doors, as was that
of his chief, Secretary of War
Stimson, but later was made pub
lic by Chairman Thomas (D-Utah).
The undersecretary contended
passage o f the limited National
Service law would speed the prose
cution of the war in these ways:
‘‘First, it will enable us to re
inforce the Army and Navy with
the men they need, and at the
same time to step up the output
of munitions for the fighting
forces.
“Second, it will hearten the men
on the fighting fronts—the men in
Europe who are leaving their froz
en fox-holes to carry the assault
against the ‘Master Race', — the
men in the steaming.jungles of the
Pacific who are fighting the ‘Sons
of Heaven’ to a finish. It will
give them the assurance that their
supplies for those battles will be
abundant.
“Third, it will serve notice on
the Axis that they have no chance
(Continued on Page Three, Col. 2)
Battle Rages
In Houses Of
Burning City
Water Mains Empty As
Huge Explosions Rip
At Capital
MANILA, WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7.
—OP)—Liberated Manila’s business
district was ablaze Monday from
Japanese torches, Gen. Douglas
MacArthur announced today, but
three Ameriican columns still were
liquidating the desperate enemy in
a tightening three-way trap.
(CBS radio correspondent Wil
liam Dunn reported today the fires
had been burning 36 hours.
(Arthur Feldman of the Blue
Network said earth-shaking explo
sions were followed by sheets of
flame Monday at sundown, and the
business area soon was a raging
inferno.
(He quoted a disappointed Ameri
can Doughboy as saying, “well,
there goes our good time in
Manila'”)
House to house fighting was in
progress in some sectors as the
Yanks of the First Cavalry, 37th
Infantry and 11th Airborne Di
visions closed in for the final mop
up.
"The trapped and frustrated Jap
anese garrison has wantonly set
fire to the downtown business dis
trict along the Escolta and is
practicing general sabotage de
struction which has no relation to
the military operations,” Mac
Arthur announced.
Flames soared from building, to
building in the business section and
spread toward ancient Bilibid
prison, from which 800 prisoners of
war and 500 civilian internees were
freed by American troops Sunday.
Water mains were empty and the
Manila fire department was help
less. The enemy blew up water
pumping stations several days ago.
American forces who have sealed
off all roads leading into the Ba
taan peninsula are probing south
ward along the coast, the communi
que reported.
Softening up Manila bay de
fenses. army liberators dumped a
record load of 180 tons on Corre
gidor fortress, where Japanese
are reported to have fled from
the Manila area.
Airdromes still in Japanese hands
also were pounded in widespread
air activity which reached again
across the China Sea to hit For
mosa.
In ground actions on northwes
tern Luzon, Yank forces repulsed
a Japanese night counterattack
northeast of Rosario, south of the
Philippine summer capital at Ba
guio, inflicting heavy casualties.
San Jose, important highway
town on the enemy's last road
lifeline of the central Luzon plain,
was captured by the Americans,
who also seized most of the town
of Iupao, to the south. Progress
was made throughout the northern
sector.
AFL Council Begins Work
To Defeat Manpower Draft
MIAMI, Fla., Feb. 6.— (UP) —
The American Federation of Labor
executive council, charging that
manpower difficulties were caused
by poor planning by military lead
ers, marshalled its forces tdoay to
defeat the May "work or jail’’ bill
in the Senate.
Solution of the manpower prob
lem, the council asserted, lies in
utilizing all labor already avail
able.
AFL President William Green,
summarizing discussions at the
council’s session today, said that
“better, more scientific” distribu
tion of manpower could be gain
ed by cancellation of as many
‘‘cost plus fixed lee” contracts as
possible, and placing of contracts
in less critical labor areas.
Cost plus fixed fee contracts, he
declared, were responsible for a
great deal of labor hoarding by
employers who feared profits
would drop if their payrolls de
creased.
The council again asserted that
there is no actual manpower short
age, and that such shortages as
do exist are due to ‘‘poor plan
ning and lack of foresight” by mil
itary authorities. It called on all
affiliated unions, all state federa
tions and central councils, to noti
fy senators of their opposition to
the May bill, and urge passage of
the Tatt substitute.
A statement rea dby Green de
clared that the Army ordered cut
backs and conversion of rectories
making munitions and other war
goods a year ago, then doubled or
tripled production schedules with
out advance warning, when the
war situation worsened.
“At the same time,’’ the state
ment said “an attempt was made
to convince the public that lack
of manpower was at the root of
production difficulties and that the
only solution was compulsory na
tional service. The executive coun
cil submits that no law short of
a magic want could keep war pro
duction in pace with schedules ar
rived at on such a basis.”
Green said the substitute man
power bill offered by Sen. Robert
A. Taft, (R-Ohio) and narrowly de
feated in the House, had some
compulsory features but was vast
ly preferable to the May bill on
which closed committee sessions
have begun.
.. ■ I ■■ ■ ■ — .1
Women Wash Hair In Santo Tomas Internment Camp
Using an old fashioned tub as .a sink, three women wash their hair on the grounds of the Santo Tomas
internment camp in Manila, P. I. This photo, taken by a Japanese serviceman, was found in a Jap
barracks after the seizure of Tacloban, Leyte, by American forces. (AP Wirephoto from U. S. Navy.)
British Union Head Says
Big Three Now In Session
LONDON, Feb. 6.—OP)—It was disclosed definitely today that the
Big Three actually are in conference, and the expectation was ex
pressed in informed quarters in London that President Roosevelt,
AMERICAS URGED
TO BLOCK NAZISM
IN WESTERN WORLD
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6.—(UP) —
The forthcoming inter-American
conference on war and postwar
problems should “clearly and
bravely” investigate the danger
that the Nazis, defeated in Europe,
may try to establish bases in the
Western Hemisphere for a future
aggression, Jose Antonio Arze,
exiled leftist Bolivian leader, said
tonight.
The Mexico City meeting is
scheduled to start February 21 and
end March 5, with attendance of
delegates from all American re
publics except Argentina and el
Salvador. By common conent,
one of the main problems to be dis
cussed will be the “Argentine ques
tion.”
■ “The time has now arrived,”
Arze said in an interview, “to ana
lyze in a clear and valiant manner,
not only the case of the Argentine
government, but of all those who,
for one or another reason, consti
tute a denial of democracy in the
countries where they exercise their
tyranny. They constitute a po
tential danger of Fifth Columnism.
"Hitler’s days in Europe are
counted, but there is the danger
that his Quislings wil' help the
Nazis lo prepare for a new long
range aggression, wnicn mignt nna
in this hemisphere an adequate
terrain to ‘dig in'.
“The anti-Fascists of Bolivia, the
same as those of Argentina, do not
identify the Bolivian people with
their present government. The
democratic forces inside the coun
try and we exiles believe that the
Bolivian delegation which will go
to Mexico City is not qualified
to discuss problems which re
fer to the organization of the
struggle against Nazi-Facism and
the necessity for planning a demo
cratic reconstruction in the post
war period.”
Arze recalled that when the Bo
livian military group overthrew
the government of President En
rique Penaranda December 20,
1043, recognition was withheld un
til certain elements, which were re
gard as pro-Nazi, had been elimi
nated from the new cabinet.
“These are all back in the gov
ernment, and some of them will
re at Mexico City,” he said.
Arze-, who still carries a bullet
n his body from an attempt to as
sassinate him in La Paz, said that
he “various murders, executions
and other acts of violence in Bo
ivia in the past few months have
ireated the strongest opposition in
he country that any government
nas ever had.
(
rrime Minister unurcnm ana pre
mier Stalin already might have
tackled the thorny problem of halt
ing future aggression.
Sir Walter Citrine. British trade
union leader, explaining why
Prime Minister Churchill was not
present to address today’s open
ing of the Trades Union Congress,
announced that the British, Ameri
can and Russian leaders were
meeting "at this very moment.”
Citrine did not hint as to the
location. The German radio said
the meeting was being held either
aboard a warship in the Black Sea
or at a Black Sea port, while the
French telegraph agency said it
was being held at Sochi, on the
Black Sea’s eastern shore at the
foot of the Caucasus mountains.
With indications that the confer
ence had been in progress for some
days, it seemed that the more
urgent problems of defeating Ger
many and controlling that nation
might have been settled.
This would clear the ground for
discussion of a future world organi
zation and the unanswered ques
tion of Dumbarton Oaks, whether
a majority or unanimity would be
required to determine an aggres
sor.
The Big Three probably will dis
cuss this, since the future of Ger
many is only a part of the larger
issue of international security,
A difference of opinion rose at
the Dumbarton Oaks conference
between Russia and the United
States on voting arrangements of
a proposed security council, the
Russians favoring unanimity while
the Americans preferred decisions
by a majority vote.
Informed sources expressed be
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 6)
GERMAN SUPPLY
LINES BLASTED
Over 3,000 Tons Of Bombs
Hit Industrial, Rail
Centers
LONDON, Feb. 6.—(UP)—Heavy
bombers of the U. S. Eighth Air
Force, hitting Germany after RAF
Mosquitos attacked Berlin, dropped
more than 3,000 tons of bombs to
day on rail and industrial targets
in the areas of Chemnitz and Leip
zig, through which enemy supplies
move toward the flaming Eastern
Front, and on Magdeburg, trans
port center behind the Western
Front.
More than 2,150 American war
planes—over 1,300 Fortresses and
Liberators and 850 Mustang and
Thunderbolt fighters — braved
cloud, rain, and headwinds of up
to 100 miles an hour to carry out
their first strategic missions since
Saturday’s great blow at Berlin.
Chemnitz, fartherest east of t h e
targets, represents a round trip of
nearly 1,000 miles from bases in
Britain.
First reports showed no combat
in the air, although at least one
enemy plane was knocked down,
on a Ruhr airfield by the diving
Mustang of First Lt. James Wood.
Jr., Richmond. Va., and other
Mustangs dipped down to shoot up
planes heading east.
A more sturdy foe was the
weather: harrassing the attackers
with cloud and rain. Some return
ing bomber crewmen said the
headwinds cut their speed drasti
cally and forced them to use ex
cessive amounts of gasoline. Some
had barely enough fuel to get
horn e.
Hitler Reported Planning
Last-Ditch War At Mun ich
BERN, Feb. 6.—(A1)—New arriv
als from Germany reported today
;hat tremendous new stocks of sup
plies were being poured into moun
tain strongholds in the Munich
area, where Adolf Hitler is pre
paring a last-ditch defense when
Berlin and northern Germany are
conquered.
Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler,
these sources said, will join Hitler
in his mountain-top stronghold at
Berchtesgaden after he conducts
;he defense of Berlin He will aid
n the command of thousands of
fanatical Nazis expected to fight
;o the last to defend the Fuehrer.
These travelers from Berlin and
Dther parts of the Reich, who bring
a fantastic array of rumors, re
;hat some leading Nazis were ex
ports, facts and half-truths, said
pected to flee or bargain for tneir
freedom, but that preparation for
;he last stand was going forward
at top speed. Civilian transport
around Munich has practically
ceased and the normal food sup- :
ply is disrupted, these sources '
said.
One story is that last week worn- 1
en formed a line across a highway :
at Munich, stopped an Army truck
and seized the food it contained. 1
The mountain defense ring is be
ing prepared both for a final siand 1
against Allied troops and for the J
eventuality that food riots, already i
reported in Berlin, should flare in- <
to revolt or chaos, it was said. <
Much of last year's harvest m 1
Poland, large stocks of coal and
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 1)
Nazis Report
Other Breaks
in River Line
Berlin Places Soviets Less
Than 30 Miles
Away
LONDON, Wednesday, Feb. 7.—
CT)—The Red Army has stormed
across the Oder southeast of Bres
lau and penetrated 12 1-2 miles
beyond its west bank on a 50-mile
front, Moscov, announced last
night, while German reports said
the water barrier protecting Ber
lin and the heart of the Reich had
been crossed by the Russians in
two other sectors as well.
Broadcasts from Berlin, again
reporting Soviet successes long be
fore their confirmation by Moscow,
placed Red Army units west of
the Oder northeast of Berlin, per
haps less than 30 miles from the
battered capital, and northwest of
Breslau in the area ot Steinau, a
Silesian city which the Germans
said they had evacuated.
The announcement of the Silesi
an crossing, made first in an order
of the day by Marshal Stalin and
repeated in the nightly communi
que broadcast from Moscow, broke
the silence that had blanketed
operations of Marshal Konev’s
First Ukraine Army for several
days.
But as the spotlight returned to
Konev’s forces, Moscow fell silent
regarding Marshal Zhukov’s First
White Russian Army deployed
along the river farther north.
The communique’s only refer
ence to this army was a state
ment that it had captured a Lt.
Gen. Luebbe, commander of the
433rd German Infantry.
Aside fro m reporting minor
gains in East Prussia and Buda
pest, the Moscow bulletin ignored
ail the Eastern Front except the
Silesian sector.
Konev’s drive across the Oder,
it said, captured Brieg, 24 miles
southeast of Breslau: Ohlau, nine
miles northwest of Brieg and on
the Oder's west bank; Grottkau
south of Brieg and 10 miles west
of the Oder, and Thomaskirch,
southwest of Ohlau and seven and
one-half miles southwest of the riv
The announcement described all
these points as ‘‘important com
munications junctions and power
ful strongpoints of German de
fenses on the west bank of the
Oder.”
Also taken were Loewen and
Schurgast. both approximately
nine miles southeast of Brieg.
Konev’s front west of the Oder
thus extended from captured Op
peln. capital of Upper (southern)
Silesia, northwest to Breslau.
His offensive had been reported
earlier by Berlin commentators,
who said it might indicate a drive
on Dresden, 160 miles to the west,
as well as a move to outflank Bres
lau. *
But German accounts stated this
was not the only sect in which
the Red army had crossed the
Oder.
Broadcasts from Berlin said the
river had been forced at six or
more places in the Kustrin-Frank
furt sector, northeast and directly
east of Berlin. Moscow yet has not
announced any bridgeheads in that
sector, but a Soviet broadcast de
clared:
“Kustrin and Frankfort are be
ng outflanked. No miracle can
save Berlin. Its fall can be delayed
)nly for a few weeks at the most.”
Furious struggles on the west
sank of the Oder northwest of
“Custrin, reported from Berlin,
rrobably have brought the Soviet
’orces within 30 miles, perhaps
ess, of the Nazi capital. Official
mnouncements from Moscow place
Marshal Zhukov’s army 32 miles
!rom Berlin at Zellin, on the Oder’s
:ast bank.
jnic ucuacui ± x ctu&uceciii agency
‘aid the newest Russian bridge
leads were at Furstenberg, 14
niles south of Frankfurt and at a
>oint a little more than three miles
;outh of that city. It said another
‘temporary” crossing was made
lorth of Frankfurt.
Zhukov’ has broken into the outer
lefenses of Frankfurt itself, said
A. Col. Alfred von Olberg, German
nilitary comment ator, but he
daimed that Russian efforts to
'Stablish a bridgehead in the city
tad been repulsed.
“The Oder has become a stream.
Continued on Page Three; CoL it