FORECAST . _
- ^ . Served By Leased Wire*
JS.,nd cooler today with m“ 1 ft fi&Ttti4 • associated press
Yesterday’s temperatures: III ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ |/ 7/ I Al I and the
„igh. 75-Lew. 4- *4 4 4 44 444 4~V44 UNITED PRESS
— - With Complete Coverage of
—T-7-q State and National News
- --WILMINGTON. N. C, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1945. FINAL EDITION-ESTABLISHED 1MT
Marines Inch forward On lwo; Lose 5,372;
Patton Crosse f Saar River At Two Points;
7,000 ^Allied Planes Hammer Nazi Railheads
Third Ripping
Across Reich;
30 Towns Fall
JVfoselle-Saar Triangle Con
quered In Whirlwind
Offensive
PARIS, Feb. 22.—GT’i—The ram
paging U, S. Third Army broi:e
across the Saar river at two points
65 miles from the Rhine today and
completed a whirlwind conquest of
Germany's 80-square-mile Moselle
Saar triangle as 7,000 Allied war
planes struck simultaneously at
enemy rail lifelines.
A field dispatch said Third Ar
my officers and men were in high
spirits as they ripped across West
ern Germany's ramparts with a
speed reminiscent of their historic
dash in France, seizing the fortress
city of Saarburg and 29 other Reich
towns on a 55-mile front.
Saarburg, once a thriving city of
10,000, was deserted save for 100
aged civilians.
This powerful thrust 18 miles
deep into the Reich collapsed all
enemy resistance in the triangle
and rammed a steel spearhead to
a point five miles from Trier, for
tified city of 88,000 population on
the mountainous route to- the Rhine.
While Trier’s battlements came
under Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's
guns, artillery to the south tore at
the fortified hills into which the
Germans had been chased east of
the Saar river. The attackers were
confident the enemy soon would be
driven from these new positions.
To the fury of the Ailied air at
tack—a new technique under which
swarms of battle planes unload
their cargoes of destruction on com
munications centers—was added
the shock of two other Allied ar
mies hammering at Germany’s
first line of defense.
Forty miles southeast of the
Third Army, the U. S. Seventh Ar
my capturde two-thirds of the
French gateway city of Forbach,
two miles from the Saar basin’s
steel city of Saarbruecken.
The Canadian First Army on the
north end of the front captured
Moyland and fought nearly to the
edge of Calcar, bitterly-defended
highway center two miles south
east and 15 miles from Wesel in
the western Ruhr industrial basin.
Scottish Infantry severed the
Goch-Uedem railway and were
locked in a furious milling struggle
two miles west of the latter town,
which is a vital feeder point for
the enemy on that sector of the
front.
On this spring-like day, the best
flying day in months, five Allied
forces pooled their planes in a
u nique operation designed to par
*l>ze all rail traffic in Germany
and set the stage for the final big
push from the east and west to
«ush Hitler’s Reich.
Enemy territory between the
Eastern and Western fronts was
divided into five sectors. Against
d0 ta>'gets there the great air
JeClS unleashed their bombs as
Jmg artillery. Many targets were
small, hitherto unbombed rail
centers, whose importance have
grown since many major rail points
"ere erased.
It took Lt. Gen. Patton's hard
itmfe veterans just three days to
op-up the triangle with a total of
(r,.m°:'’uS, after breaking through
lion m'"'b ? Siegfded Lme fortifica
an’ d’ lhe southern base. In all
e 70 towns have been
*k„ ,. a11 along the front since
Wim8 attack beSan Tuesday,
to rev c f!vil,lg the Germans time
sault K ,Uon s troops manned as
river b°a, fhan(i crossed the Saar
Saariv,! hm of newly-captured
holds a I* Tbe ^bird Army now
bank it i>mde stretch of the west
its irnlttne Saar southward from
' 0np ftl0n Wlth the Moselle,
rig tulnrCe7ent across near Ser
of and a miles south
ed across th, and the °thers forg‘
half tar*h! slream a mile and a
Rodt. “ Cr soutb near Thaben
53. 7'ik- "f,aS c1l,king all along a
Viciniiv northward to the
Pruerr ard^6 fallen f°rtress of
tnilec d ln Sams up to throe
the German* ?Korab!y squeezing
studded Eifel m th° f.ort>«c®ti°u
of
hammering" a‘;'llad armi? w.ecc
line n?nhiaensyapa^St
Representatives Rankin
And Hook Clash In Fist
Fight On Congress Floor
Mississippi Lawmaker Strides to Opponent
in Exception to Being Called a ‘Dirty Liar’;
Hair Pulling But Few Punches; a Draw
BY HOWARD FGIEGER
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.— <A>> —
Shouts of “Communist” and “liar”
exploded into a fist fight between
two Democratic Congressmen on
the floor of the House of Repre
sentatives today.
The contest- _
ants: smaii,
white - thatch
ed John Rankin
o f Mississippi,
who shouted
“C o m m u n
ist,” and strap
ping Frank E.
Hook, New
Dealer from
Michigan, who
retorted “liar.”
(The official
reporter got
Hook’s remark
as “God damn
ed liar” but in
the press gal
lery above the
fight most re
Dorters heard it
as “dirty liar.” In any event, the
ugly word was stricken from the
record.
There wasn’t one good, solid
blow landed but Rankin managed
to get in several short jabs at
The Principals
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22.—(JP)
Here afe some statistics on
principals in today’s fight in the
House of Representatives:
Rep. John E. Rankin: Age. 63;
weight, about 140; height, about
5 feet 8 inches (he says that’s
with his hair standing up); Dem
ocrat, born in Itawamba coun
ty. Miss.; lawyer by profession.
Rep. Frank E. Hook: Age,
52; weight, 195 (and I’m solid);
height, about 5 feet 10 inches;
Democrat, born in L’Anse
Mich.; former professional
wrestler; lawyer.
Hook’s flushed face before other
startled members separated them.
As soon as the fight was over,
talk of disciplinary action started.
Although leaders hurried the House
into adjournment to ward off fur
t h e r flare-up,
some D e m o
crats spoke o 1
introducing a
resolution to ex
pel Hook when
the House meets
tomorrow.
Reps. Cox (D
Ga) and Smith
(D-Va) told re
porters, howev
er, that the res
olution would
simply ask that
Hook be cen
sured tor his re
mark. They
said there was
much Demo
cratic s e n t i
m +r» •Yrw&l
the Michigan man but that they
would advise against it.
Cox predicted a resolution of
censure aimed at Hook would be
(Continued on Page t, Col. S)
HOUSE APPROVES
HARBOR MEASURE
$500,000,000 Bill Would
Provide Work On
Local Port
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 —(#)— A
$500,000,000 postwar Rivers and
Harbors bill sailed through the
House today in the wake of a fist
fight that smothered an interest in
controversial projects.
Already passed by the Senate,
the measure goes now to Presi
dent Roosevelt who is expected to
approve it promptly. He signed a
$1,000,000,000 postwar flood control
bill last year.
House passage of the rivers bill
came on an apathetic voice vote
that followed a physical encounter
between Reps. Hook (DpMich) and
Rankin (D-Missl.
The fight, exciting climax of an
argument over a subject other
than the legislation, casued Rankin
to change his mind about offering
a controversial amendment.
Previously, he had an amend
ment to add the $66,000,000 Ten
nessee-Tombigbee waterway and
perhaps other projects that held ir
passage of similar legislation last
year.
These projects probably will be
put in a second bill to be con
sidered by committees later in the
year. Among them are the Tennes
I see-Tombigbee, the $38,500,000 Bea
j ver-Mahoning waterway, and the
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 6)
CHUR L TO ASK
CONE CE VOTE
Commons Members Believe
Debate To Be Most
Vital Of War
LONDON, Feb. 22.— (U.R)—Prime
Minister Churchill's government
announced today that it will seek
a direct vote of confidence endors
ing the decisions of the Crimea
Conference at the conclusion of
next week’s Commons debate—
which members said will be the
most important of the war.
Foreign Secretary Anthony
Eden, government leader of the
House, said the debate will be on
this government motion: “This
house approves the declaration of
joint policy agreed to by the
three great powers at the Crimea
Conference and in particular wel
comes the determination to main
tain unity of action not only in
achieving final defeat of the com
mon enemy but thereafter in
peace as in war.”
The War Cabinet approved the
motion, which is certain of re
ceiving overwhelming approval
though there will be sharp ex
changes over Poland. After hear
ing the motion, several members
suggested that the debate, sched
uled for Tuesday ar>d Wednesday,
should be extended an extra day.
Eden said he would make a state
ment on that question tomorrow.
Aneurin Bevan. Laborite and
most vocal of the government’s
critics, said the government “ob
viously is entitled to seek a vote
(Continued on Page 5, Col. 1)
Stettinius Says America
Aims A t Freedom For All
MEXICO CITY. Feb. 22 —<-**)—
Secretary of State Edward R. Stet
tinius, Jr., said tonight that Amer
ican foreign policy aims at an At
lantic Charter peace of “freedom
from fear and want” for all men.
That, he told the Inter-American
Conference here, is an essential
facet in a five-point United tates
program which he asserted had
been “greatly advanced” by the
results of the Crimea Conference.
In probably the most important
speech he has yet made as Secre
tary of State, Stettinius reported
that three days after the Crimea
Conference he had reviewed the
work done there with President
Roosevelt and “it is the Presi
dent’s firm conviction that the re
sults of the Crimea Conference
have greatly advanced the basic
objectives of United States for
eign policy.’’
These are the basic objectives
which Stettinius then set forth. Ev
idently basing some of them di
rectly on decisions made by the
President, Prime Minister Church
ill, and Premier Stalin at Yalta:
1. The “earliest possible
defeat of the aggressors.
2. Any steps necessary “to in
sure that neither Germany nor Ja
pan will ever again have the mili
tary or industrial capacity to make
war.”
3. Participation in guarantee
ing to the liberated peoples of Eu
rope their own government and
sovereign rights. In this “the Unit
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 3)
< - 1
Aerial Attack
Held Greatest
InWarHistory
—————— i
Blows Designed To Com
pletely Knock Out
Enemy Transport
LONDON, Friday, Feb, 23.—UP)—
Allied air chiefs hurled an estimat
ed 7,000 bombers and fighters at
approximately 100 Nazi communi
cations hubs yesterday in the
greatest simultaneous air assault
in history—a supreme coordinated
blow to knock out Germany’s rail
way system—and the attack con
tinued into the night.
The Berlin radio’ said 2,000 Rus
sian planes also had battered tar
gets along the Eastern Front,
principally in East Prussia.
Altogether nearly 10,000 sorties
were flown from the west a r_ d
south before dark, but the peak
was reached at around noontime
when through careful planning
and timing explosives cascaded
down at an estimated average of
100 tons a minute.
On D-Day 13,000 sorties were
flown, but these were spread over
a period of 24 hours while in this
historic new assault almost the
maximum power of all Allied air
farces in Europe was concentrat
ed against the enemy within a feW
hours.
Some 30,000 airmen from seven
Allied air commands participated
in tne great obliteration raids, the
intent of which was to break up
the entire network of enemy rail
transportation at one blow.
The "buckshot blitz”—an entire
ly new idea which Allied air chiefs
had mapped and held in readiness
for a break in the weather—was
spearheaded by more than 1.400
Flying Fortresses and Liberators
and 800 fighters of the U. S.
Eighth Air Force.
Two divisions of this gigantic
fleet poured into Germany from
the north and a third attacked
from the south. Over the Reich
they broke up into wolf packs of
up to 100 bombers each and ham
mered at least 24 freight yards
and other rail targets in the heart ;
of Germany during the noon hour.
Eight bombers and 19 fighters
were missing from this phase of
the operation.
In addition the RAF and U. S.
15th Air Forces sent out heavy :
bombers and the attack was swell
ed by four Tactical Air Forces
based on the Continent, including
the U. S. 12th in Italy. More than
4,500 sorties were flown by these
(Continued or. Page 5, Col. Z)
Increased Pension Benefit
For Policemen Is Proposed
A bill prepared by former Rep.
R. M. Kermon for introduction in
the State Legislature would alter
the present laws relating to the
pension benefits of policemen and
firemen of the City of Wilmington,
it was announced last night.
The measure would provide Wil
mington police and firemen, who
have served 20 or more years with
the City, an extra dollar for each
year above the 20 year retirement
minimum which would be in addi
tion to the 50 per cent of salary
retirement benefit now in effect,
it was explained by Chief of Police
Charles H. Casteen.
Former Rep. R. M. Kermon,
who originated the bill, forwarded
it to Chief Casteen and City At
torney W. B. Campbell last night
for inspection before submission
to Rep. J. Q. LeGrand in the low
er House. If the measure meets
with their approval, Mr L.eGrand
is expected to introduce it during
next week’s session.
Chief Casteen pointed out that
the present pension plan provides
for an extra $5 payment for each
five years worked over the 20 year
minimum but that any interim
benefits are not included. “In oth
er words,” he said, “under the
new bill a man will receive two
dollars if he works two years over
the 20 without having to wait until
five years are reached.”
The bill also would provide for
the voluntary retirment of a police
officer without 50 per cent disabil
ity as the present plan stipulates.
After 25 years service under the
proposed plan, an officer could, on
his own volition, request the pen
sion board to retire him and his
name would be placed upon the
pension list. This also would ap
ply to any policewomen in the ser
vice, Chief Casteen explained.
Also included in the new bill is
a plan to provide retirement bene
fits for all policemen who have
worked a minimum of ten years
and who are disabled. Under the
present plan, 20 years, service is
required despite disability.
The complete bill follows:
A bill to be entitled an act to
amend cnapter so oi t n e private
laws of 1915 entitled “an act to
provide for the raising and man
aging of pension funds for the po
lice department of the City of Wil
mington” as amended by chapter
228 of the private laws of 1923
and chapter 268 of the private
laws of 1939.
The general assembly of North
Carolina do enact:
Section 1. That subsection 3 of
Section 12 of Chapter 55 of the
Private Laws of 1915, as amend
ed by Chapter 228 of the Private
Laws of 1923, be amended by
striking out all words of the said
section after the word “follows”
at the end of the first paragraph
down to and including the word
“retirement in line twenty-one
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 4)
Where Over 600,000 Japs‘Wither on the Vine* j
~1!
hoUio
Pacific Octon
. « ifyMARCUS
#FORMOSA* gg '
"yj,^ BONIN ISLANDS' W ■•
:, < IMARIANASI
5000
^luzon MARIANAS IS> MARSH AIL IS.^, ^
w^Manil>S^ SAIPAN,,* MARSHALL AND| * '(Sb.
M,NOOR»_pH^«| ®UAM'»•* Hag* *L«.T,“,
» X ^Cr.-.'.. . “”1 r v "y.fww«
PAUU;~“ "*■•*_.
, ,* * IN. IRELAND! I
MOROTAIJ^R 10,000
suineaIW w,moINI \ l-ou^ia'i
{ Y?g. AMROIHA^jV-, .^*1M<Mfaayf
■' I_* GUADALCANAL^'
-•-• /' :.. ^
Moresby 'W0H |$.
Map above shows areas in the Pacific war theater where more than 600,000 Jap troops have been
by-passed by island-hopping Americans and left to “wither on the vine.” In some places, the Japs are
well-equipped, in others they are badly off physically and get no supplies. Most of the enemy forces in
the Philippines are in the big southern island of Mindanao.
STALIN SEES END
OF REICH N RING
Russians Claim 1,500,000
German Casualties In
Winter Push
LONDON. Friday, Feb. 23-(U.R)
Marshal Joseph Stalin, declaring
that “full victory over the Ger
mans is near,” announced last
light while Soviet forces were rip
ping into the Cottbus-Guben-Forst
iefense triangle southeast of Ber
in that the Red Army’s winter of
iensive already had cost the Ger
mans more than 1,150,000 men.
“Full victory over the Germans
s near,” he said, but warned that
‘victory never comes of itself; it
las to be won in hard battles.”
As Stalin issued an order of the
lay marking the 27th anniversary
>f the Red Army, his troops reach
id the Neisse river, the last nat
jral barrier before Berlin, and
aid seige to the capital’s outer
iortress towns of Guben and Forst.
Closing in on industrial Guben,
>1 miles southeast of Berlin, Mar
shal Konev's First Ukrainina Ar
my drove to within two miles of it
( Continued on Rage 5, Col. 1)
Yanks Invade Capul Isle;
Secure Manila-U, S. Route
MANILA, Friday, Feb. 23.—(A1)—Veteran Yanks of the Americal
Division invaded tiny Capul Island in the San Bernardino Straits just
off Luzon’s long southern tip Wednesday in a move to clear the Japa
U. S. CASUALTIES
BEYOND 800,000
Average Of 1.8 Men Lost
every Minute Of Past
Week
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22—-OB—Re
ported American casualties of
World War 11 climbed past 800,
100 today.
The compilations by the Army
and Navy came out along with
aints of impending big-scale action
which indicated little if any dimin
ution in the rate of losses.
Representing a rise of approxi
mately 100,COO in the past month,
and up 18,182 for the week, the
casualty figures were rising at a
rate which would raise the total
aast 1,000,000 within two months.
(This figure of 18,182 casualties
'or one week represents an aver
age of 1.8- men lost to combat
jvery minute of the period. )
The Army’s total of dead, woun
led, missing and prisoners since
Pearl Harbor stood at 711,497, and
the Navy’s at 89,665, for an ag
gregate of 801,162.
Secretary of War Stimson said
:he Army’s figures covered indi
vidual names compiled here up to
February 14.
The land force report came out
it the Secretary’s news confer
:nce in which he spoke of the Eu
-opean battle situation in terms
aken as a hint of impending of
’ensives on a big scale. Pacific I
iction, too, has been rising in fury.
from the United States to Manila.
Opposition was light.
The small oval island, five miles
long and two wide at the middle,
commands the strait through
which the Japanese sent a war
fleet to harass the American in
vastion of Leyte last October.
It lies directly between the ex
tensive southeastern tip of Luzon
and the northern end of Samar Is
land, which Is practically in Amer
ican hands. It is 260 airline miles
southeast of Manila and about 325
by sea.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur, an
nouncing the invasion in a com
munique today, said “this island
is the key to the straits, through
which passes the main navigation
route to Manila Bay from the
United States.”
The landing was made by the
veteran Americal Division of the
Tenth Corps of the Eighth Army.
MacArthur announced also that
steady reduction of the remaining
Japanese pocket in south Manila
was continuing and said 11th Air
borne Divison Yanks advancing
along the west coast of Laguna de
Bay, southeast of Manila, reached
the town of Muntinulpa.
MacArthur announced that in
the 14th Corps sector of Luzon
in the northern and central part
of the great central Luzon plain—
the Americans had captured vast
quantities of enemy materiel and
supplies.
He said 712 artillery pieces of all
calibers and 705 machinegurj had
been seized or destroyed there.
In the southern Caraballo moun- i
tains north of Manila, Yanks of i
the First Corps secured high i
(Continued on Page 2, Col. 1) 1
Admiral Says Yanks* Hold
On Iwo Once Seemed Gone
ADMIRAL NIMITZ’ HEAD
QUARTERS, Guam, Feb. 22.—<U.R)
—Terming Iwo Jima the “toughest
beachhead we’ve encountered in
the Pacific,’’ Vice Adm. John H.
Hoover revealed today.that the
American position there appeared
doomed at one fateful hour on D
Day.
Hoover, who is commander of
forward areas in the Central Pa
cific, has just returned from wit
nessing the Tokyo carrier raids
and the Iwo invasion. He reported
in a broadcast that the Marines
encountered little fire going ashore
because the Japanese thought the
landing on the southeast beach
was a feint..
Three hours later, however, they
swung mortars and howitzers into
place and shells began knocking
•
out U. S. tanks and causing cas
ualties among the troops.
"It was a serious moment and
for a while our position on the in
vasion beach appeared doomed,”
the admiral said. "But later that
same day we discovered an area
far to the south where we could
penetrate through to the southern
airfield out of range of their heavi
est gunfire.
“We kept feeding our men
through this region and it saved
the day. But I can testify it was
touch and go for awhile.”
Calling Saipan “easy” by com
parison, Hoover declared that Iwo,
besides being the "heaviest forti
fied island we have yet encounter
ed in the Pacific, possesses tre
(Contlnued on Page 5, Col. S)
Japanese Hurl
Counterattack
And Hit Fleet
Nimitz Says Navy Guns
Appear To Have Brok
en Enemy Drive j
U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD.
QUARTERS, Guam, Friday, Feb.
23.—CP)—The bloody cost of the
battle for Iwo mounted to 5,372
Marines killed, wounded and miss
ing by 6 p. m. Wednesday, the Navy
announced today while reporting
only minor advances through
Thursday against fierce Japanese
opposition.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz disclos
ed that 644 Marines had been killed,
4,168 wounded and 560 were miss
ing at the end of the first 58 hours
of the operation.
In the same period of time 1,223
dead Japanese had been counted.
No invasion of the Pacific war
for a comparative period has cost
so many American casualties. At
Tarawa, previously considered the
bloodiest fight of the war. Marine
casualties for its entire 72 hours
slightly exceeded 3.000.
Nimitz in his last previous com
munique covering the casualty
count up to 5:45 p.m. Wednesday
reported 385 killed and 4,168 wound
ed. The later count left the wound
ed at the same figure, increased
the dead by 276 and added the 560
missing.
Today’s communique reports
more of the same type of bitter
fighting which has built up the
casualty totals.
It reported gains Thursday after
noon too slight to affect the virtual
stalemate which developed Wed
nesday.
The three Marine divisions, the
Third, Fourth and Fifth, inched
forward slightly on the north to
ward the enemy fighter base in
the center of the island and con
stricted their lines around vol
canic Mt. Suribachi on the south
tip.
The Japanese launched two pow
erful counterattacks on the flanks
of the forces attacking the air
field. Significantly, Nimitz did not
specifically claim either had been
completely blunted.
Nimitz said that artillery and the
supporting guns of U. S. Fifth
Fleet warships “appeared to have
repulsed the assault on the left.”
u.-__
“No reports were available on
the action on the right.”
On the extreme south tip of the
island, other Marines surrounded
Mt. Suribachi “and strong patrols
were moving up the cliffs under at.
tack by the enemy, who was using
hand grenades and demolition
charges,” the communique said.
Heavy rains hampered the flgnt
ing.
Japanese planes, earlier acknowl.
edged to have inflicted some dam*
age on units of the Fifth Fleet,
continued their attacks Thursday.
The raids were unsuccessful, the
Mavy said.
Fighters and anti-aircraft gun*
shot down six enemy planes.
“There was little change in the
iosition of the front lines,” said
he grim Thursday night commu.
tique of Adm. Chester W. Nimitz.
t covered action up to Thursday
toon.
borne damage to fleet units’*
was announced by Nimitz in re
porting the first successful at
tack by the Japanese air force
on American warships supporting
the invasion. Seven of the enemy
aircraft were destroyed by air
patrols and anti-aircraft fire.
Although Iwo Jima is only ^50
miles from Tokyo, and about 100
south of the enemy’s bases on
Chichi and Haha islands in the
Bonins, the Japanese had been
unable at sunset Wednesday to
penetrate the air screen thrown
about the fleet as it pounded Iwo’i
defenses. The enemy attack
doubtless was aided by the heavy
rains drenching Iwo and hamper
ing the ground invasion.
Landing Wednesday of the rein
forcing Third Marine Division, the
mounting casualties, bitter resist
ance and almost negligible gains
all indicated the Marines were up
against their toughest assignment
of the Pacifiic war. The latest cas
ualty report showed a rate of
about 90 an hour.
Announcement that elements of
the Third Marine Division, com
(Continued on Page 5, Col. 3)