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5^1 THE SlfflKi^fe^R-NEWS __tfgtNie E’OOT enTV ©F g>la?©®l5|gg8 &M|i) IPlUlgAgMElE>s VOj^ni^lI: -- —., ___ WILMINGTON, N. C., SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1945 FINAL EDITION Reds Within 33 Miles Of Danzig Goal Others Drive To Within Three Miles Of The Heart Of Breslau B} RICHARD KASISCHKE LONDON, Sunday, Feb. 25. __(/P)_Russian shock troops, driving to within three miles of burning Breslau, yesterday hurled the enemy out of 15 more blocks in the Silesian capital, while other Soviet forces pushed to within 33 miles south of Danzig. A front dispatch said that Red Arnty troops also had smashed in growing strength across the Neisse river and were threatening Cottbus, big rail center 47 miles front Berlin, but Moscow officially has not confirmed this important development which threatens to turn the Reich capital's eastern defenses along the stalemated Oder river sector. The raging battle in Breslau's streets was the main event men tioned by Moscow, and in their smash into the southern part of the bombarded city the Russians captured the suburb of Oltaschin, three and a half miles from the heart of Breslau. Brief Communique In one of the briefest communi ques issued since the Russians opened their winter offensive Jan. 12, Moscow announced slight gains in German Pomerania near the Polish frontier and the caputre of nine more localities in the shrink ing Nazi pocket southwest of Ko (Contiuued on Page Four; Col. 5) _\t_ HEARINGS PLANNED ON ELECTION BILLS Will Be Conducted Before House Judicial Com mittee Tuesday A hearing for opponents and pro ponents o£ two bills affecting the election laws of Carolina Beach ha? been set for 10 a.m. Tuesday before the lower chamber’s Judi ciary committee No. 1, Rep. J. 9 ReGrand announced yesterday. The amendments, which “repre sent conflicting views as to the 134,3 ac'.'4 were introduced in the Rouse Friday by Representative LeGrand without prejudcie or rec ommendation on his part. One of Iticm would amend the ‘‘hark.4 of the resort and provide oat is be governed by general ■’ micipal laws of the state, while , sec°nd 'would authorize the •potion of a mayor and a board ' “Mermen in Mav of this vear *nd every year thereafter.' Hanover legislator said lC bills were the result of dis continued on Page Four; Col. 6) ‘Guerrilla Padre’ “Sixty per cent of the Philip pines' population never saw a Jap soldier,” says Rev. J. Edward Hag gerty, pictured above on his recent arrival in New York. Attached to the Cagayan Jesuit College, he served for three years as liaison of ficer between the U. S. Army and the Filipino guerrillas on Mindanao Island. HITLER APPEALS FOR FINAL STAND Threatens Shirkers With Death In Speech To Old Nazi Guard LONDON, Feb. 24.— OP! —Adolf Hitler told the old guard of the Nazi party today that Germany had tapen such a “terrible” beating that now “there is no greater ter ror in store for us,” and he called upon every, man, woman and child in the Reich to fight until the last breath, threatening shirkers with J_ Hitler’s speech to his old party comrades on the twenty-fifth an niversary of the announcement of the national socialist program, read for him by an aide and transmitted to the press by the German DNB news agency, contained hints of fear of an uprising inside Ger many. Anyone who showed himself a coward, refusing to join the Volks strum (home guard) or attempted to sabotage the fanatical defense of the country would be annihilated Hitler warned. Threats against slackers and unbelievers in the Nazi regime was sprinkled through out the speech. Predicting that a turning point in the war would come this year but without saying in whose favor the turn would be, the Fuehrer likened Nazi Germany’s role to that of the central European na tions who centuries ago held off the invasions of Huns and Turks "who threatened to turn our con tinent into a desert." “We shall be weighed in this cen tury, and particularly in our own decade, according to whether we are steadfast enough to encounter an invasion from central Asia such | (Continued on Page Three; Col. X) Cape Fear Improvements Mark River-Harbor Bill Included in the $500,000,000 post-1 War rivers and harbors bill just ser,r0Ved ri'-e House of Repre dI!','e5 are several items of con , aDle interest to the Wilming , ' sect'0R, Major Paul E. Wer localn'H^ district engineer of the yesterday8' Engineer office> said edh,e,tl!;.wEc''!las been approv n, ' e Senate already and which 10 President Roosevelt lor VrPr0Va!’ contains a provision of thf r vrdening and deepening .ningL fo reai' river from Wfl* den h 0 lne ocean to 32 feet feet u - i mean *ow water and 400 ?i,463,ooo' -rLan estimated cost ot ‘ ine present dimensions are 30 feet deep and 300 feet wide. The improvement of the river is covered in two Congressional documents, viz. House Document No. 131, 76th Congress, first ses sion and Senate Document No. 83, 76th Congress. The former provides for an increased width of the pres ently authorized 30 foot channel from 300 to 400 feet, with increas ed widths at bends; increased width of the '"authorized turning basin from 600 to 800 feet with suitably lengthened approaches; and for a channel 12 feet deep and 100 feet wide from the inland waterway. Snows Cut, entrance (Continued on Page Four; CoJ. 1) K • Take Several Towns In Push Across Plain Eisenhower Demands An nihilation Of G e r m an Forces Defending Rhine By JACK FLEISCHER United Press War Correspondent PARIS, Sunday, Feb. 25.— (UP) — The American Ninth and First armies, seized 13 more fortified towns and bat tled to within 16 miles of Cologne last night as they drove nearly five miles across the Cologne plain in their two day-old offensive. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower spur red his armies forward with a de mand for complete annihilation of Nazi forces defending the Rhine, and his men responded gallantly by bringing their two-day total of captured towns to 23. One anchor of tne formidable Roer river line toppled when the last Germans were driven from Juelich, leaving the city a ruined shambles comparable to St. Lo, and the second wavered as infantry battled halfway through Dueren. Pinned Against Roer Only at Dueren was the 22-mile wide "American bridgehead pinned against the Roer. Elsewhere the plunging tank and infantry teams were two to five miles inside the river line and rolling on for the Rhine. The offensive front was widened to 31 miles during the day when the Ninth army’s northern wing swept up against the west bank of the Roer on a nine-mile stretch to cover the flank of the assault. The (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) tr INGALLS SHIPYARD EMPLOYES STRIKE WLB Declares Action Is ‘Direct Interference With The War’ PASCAGOULA. Miss., Feb. 24. —(JP)— Approximately 10,000 snip yard workers of the Ingalls Ship building Corporation were on strike today and from Washington The War Labor Board termed their ac tion ‘‘a direct interference with the war.” E. L. Mancil, president of the local metal trades council (AFU, said the strike W’as voted at the regular meeting of the union last night. Company officials said ap proximately 6.000 day-shift workers filed away from their jobs and night shift workers failed to show up. At Washington the War Labor Board ordered the workers back to their jobs and said processing of their labor disputes scheduled (continued on rage mree; coj. x) l Leather FORECAST North Carolina: Sunday increasing cloudiness and mild. (Eastern Standard Tim-.) (By U. S. Weather Bureau) Meteorological data for *.he 24 hours ending 7:30 p.m., v,is:ciday. Temperature 1:30 am, 46; 7:39 am 44; 1:30 pm, 58.5; 7:30 pm, 52. Maximum 64.1; Minimum 40.0; Mean 49; Normal 49. H imid iy 1:30 am. 86; 7:30 am, 63; 1:30 pm, 25; 7:30 pm, 81. Precipitation Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 pm, 0.00 inches. Total since the first of the month, 0.00 inches. Tid.es For Today (From the Tide Table.* published by U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) High Low Wilmington - 8:52a 2:21a 9:12p 3:55p Masonboro Inlet- 7:12p l:03p Sunrise, 6:46 a.m.; Sunset, 6:05 p.m.; Moonrise, 4:51 p.m.; Moonset, 6:11 a.m. A " _ f -- * Manila’s Liberation Completed As Last Jap Force Destroyed By C. YATES McDANIEL MANILA, Sunday, Feb. 25— (A3)—Manila, strewn with the bodies of more than 12,000 Jap anese, was completely liberated Saturday — three weeks to a day after Yanks first entered it. The death gasp of the ene my’s fanatical garrison was emitted within the centuries old walls of the Intramurls where 3,000 frightened and tor tured civilians were rescued— a day after the dramatic be hind-the-lines liberation of 2, 146 civilians southeat of the city at Los Banos. The triumph was reported in a communique which pointed out that Japanese losses on Lu zon and Leyte, far exceeded 200,000 were so disproportion ate that early liberation of all the Philippines is in prospect. The communique also listed more than 2,000 on Corregidor in Manila Bay with other thou sands dead underground. Grim-faced Yanks of Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler’s 37th (Buckeye) and Maj. Gen. Verne D. Mudge’s First Cavalry Di visions, the first to enter Mani la, slaughtered the last rem nants of an enemy garrison once estimated at 20,000. Many more enemy dead re (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) Egyptian Premier Killed After Nation Enters War READS DECLARATION Assassin Shoots Ahmed Maher As He Leaves Deputies Chamber By RELMAN MORIN CAIRO,, Feb. 24.— ».P) —Prime Minister Ahmed Maher of Egypt was shot and killed in the Chamber of Deputies tonight shortly after he had read a royal decree declaring war on the Axis. The premier minister had just completed his reading of the decree by King Farouk and was leaving the chamber when three shots were fired at him from close range. Witnesses said the assailant was a 22-year-old member of the ex tremist party and some identif'd him as a young lawyer. His name was not announced, although he was arrested immediately. All three bullets struck Ahmed Maher in his stomach and he died half an hour later. The king .notified of the attack on the prime minister, hurried to the parliamentary building at once. Expected To Enter Egypt and other nations of the Middle East had been expected to enter the war against Germany and Japan since Turkey's declara tion yesterday. Government sources said the de cision to join the Allies was the consequence of recent conferences conducted with Middle Eastern leaders near here by President Roosevelt and Prime Minis1 'r Churchill. It was after these meetings that Ahmed Maher began emergency councils with other officials of the government, culminating in the decision to enter the war. The chamber of deputies was convened in secret session tonight to hear the royal decree declaring war. Ahmed Maher was head of the Saddist party which swept the polls in the Egyptian elections last month. He subsequently formed a coalition government. (Continued on Page Four; Col. 3) PENALTIES DRAWN FOR CURFEW CODE Strong Enough To Put The Night Spot Violators Out Of Business WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.— (fP) — The government decided today on a series of penalties that can put a night spot out of business if it violates the midnight curfew which goes into effect Monday. The policy was announced by the War Manpower Commission as the prime enforcer of the curfew ordered by War Mobilization Di rector James F. Byrnes to con serve electricity, fuel, manpower and transportation facilites. The announcement listed these stern measures: 1— Placing of a “zero” employ ment ceiling on an establishment, which means the proprietor may not hire anyone except maintain ance employes such as a janitor. 2— Withdrawal of power and fuel by the War Production board. 3— Withholding of rationed food and other commodities by the Of fice of Price Administration. 4— A ban on deliveries by the Of- i fice of Defense Transportation. The midnight shutdown order i supplies to all public and private ! places providing entertainment, ] serving liquor, wine and beer. The only exceptions are entertain ments “sponsored bjr responsible agencies” for military personnel (that would include the USO. for instance), and restaurants custo marily ouen all night. These res taurants, however, may serve on ly food and must not dispense drinks. Coming within the curfew regu lations are night clubs, sports arenas, theaters, dance halls, road houses, saloons, bars, shooting galleries, bowling, billiard and pool parlors, amusement parks, carnivals, circuses, coin-operated amusement device parlors, skat (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) Greater Drafting Of Men 30-33 Years Old Ordered WASHINGTON, Feb. 24.— OB — | Selective service tonight ordered ] increased drafting of men 301 through 33 years old, by permit ting their deferment only if they are “necessary to” an essential in dustry. Heretofore men of that age on ly had to be “engaged in” such an industry. The new instructions to draft boards mean that a larger num ber of the approximately 1.500.000 men in that age bracket holding occupational deferments will enter military service this year, a selec tive service spokesman said. While unable to estimate h o w many of the 30-33's will be need ed to fill the Army’s mounting manpower demand, the spokes man called attention to testimony of Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, £raft director, last week that men over 30 would make up 30 per cent of the entire draft call by the end of this year. “If ali other factors are equal, a father should be given greater consideration for occupational de ferment than a non-father in this age group.’’ Hershey's memoran dum to draft boards directed. The local boards were instruct ed that the 30-33 registrants, to be j eligible for deferment, must be; “necessary to and regularly en- [ gaged in an activity in war pro- j (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) rf -*. Reach Hearth Of Island’s Main Airport ! Tank-led Troops Advance As Much As 600 Yards; Casualties Heavy By FRANK TREMAINE United Press War Correspondent U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, GUAM, Sunday, Feb. 25. — (UP) — Tank-led shock troops of three Marine divisions, advancing as much GOO yards in a general offensive, have swept to the heart of Iwo’s central airfield and captured approximately half of the embattled doorstep island to Japan, it was dis rtl aoai-1 f Arlotr Driving forward on a 2 1-2 mile front extending across the center of the island under cover of a land, air and sea bombardment, the Ma rines expanded their east coast beachhead about 600 yards, drove 300 to 500 yards through the center of the strong Japanese defense lines and expanded their grip on the east coast by several hundred yards. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz’ war bul letin covering fighting through t p.m. Saturday, sixth day of the fierce struggle, reported that Jap anese dead has now risen to 2, 799. The last report on American casualties listed 5,372 as of 6 p. m., Wednesday, of whom 644 were dead. “Substantial’’ Advances The latest advances which Nin called “substantial'’ increased the American grip on Iwo’s coast tc five miles—three on the east and two on the west—and left the Jap anese in about seven miles of the coast. They also gave the Amer icans possession of about four of Iwo’s eight square miles and plac ed them well atop the 340-foot cen tral plateau from which the Japa nese had been pouring withering f re into the ranks of the advanc ing Devil Dogs. Although the Marines, of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions were slashing forward and scoring their greatest gains of a campaign that had been marked by yard by yard advances, Nimitz said: “In every zone of fighting, the (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) T7 EISENHOWER SEES BITTER STRUGGLE Says Will Not End Until Americans Meet Rus sians In Germany Bv EDWARD KENNEDY SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, Paris, Feb. 24. — (/P) — Gen. Eisenhower declared today that the new Allied offensive was aimed at reaching the Rhine and that it was progressing satisfac torily in coordination with Red Army operations on the eastern front. The Allied leader made it clear, however, that he had no hope of an imminent German collapse and anticipated a hard fight wnich j would end only when Allied arm es meet the Russians “in the center of Germany.” Even after organized resistance is crushed guerrilla fighting from the mountains may be looked for, Gen. Eisenhower said, and even after that is ended the Germans may persist in underground bat tles and continue the struggle by assassination and plotting. Gen. Eisenhower addressed war correspondents on arrival from the front area and came with in formation of the progress of fcatvle up to 20 minutes before his ap (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) Held Captive Veteran skipper of the Grace Line Santa Rita when it was sunk by a Nazi U-Boat, Capt. Henry Stephenson of New Rochelle, N. Y., was the first officer of a torpedoed U. S. vessel to be held captive by the Germans. Here he is being greeted by his wife when he ar rived on the Exchange Liner Grip sholm with some 1,209 repatriates from German prison camps. (In ternational). MORE PRISONERS OF JAPS FREED 2,000 Liberated During Daring Raid On Camp In Philippines By C. YATES MCDANIEL AND DEAN SCHEDLER LOS BANOS, Philippines, Feb. 24.— '-I’)—More than 2,000 civilian prisoners of the Japanese-—most of them Americans—were free today, liberated by Yank soldiers and Fil ipino guerrillas in another of the Pacific war's daring and dramatic rescues. The liberating force struck yes terday from the sky, over land and across water, far behind the Japa nese lines, to free 2.146 men, wom en and children and wipe out the entire Japanese garrison at t h e Los Banos internment camp, about 45 miles southeast of war-battered Manila. The internees, pinched by hun ger and showing signs of more than three years internment, quickly were carried to safety. Some of them, including the aged, were brought out on litters. American casualties in the sen sational operation totaled six—two soldiers killed, two wounded and two internees slightly injured. Gen. Douglas MacArthu’% who ordered the rescue, said providence was certainly with the doughboys and the guerrillas. He declared: "Nothing could be more satisfying to a soldier’s heart than this res cue. I ami deeply grateful." Among the rescued were 11 Unit ed States Navy nurses. They were captured at the Canacao Naval hospital, near Caite, in January, (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) Force Strikes i For 3rd Time j Within Week Naval, Military And Air Installations Raked By Heavy Fire By FRANK TREMAINE United Press War Correspondent U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, GUAM, Sunday, Feb. 25.— (UP) —A great force of American car rier-based aircraft are again attacking Tokyo and its sur rounding military and naval installations for the third time within a week, it was an nounced today. Fleet Adm. Chester W. NimiU disclosed in a brief special com munique at 7:15 p. m. (PWT) that the Fifth Fleet carrier task force ! commanded by Vice Adm. Marc A. | Mitscher had returned to strikd again at the heart of the Japanese homeland. There were no details of the ac tion. The strike followed two days of punishing blows dealt by Mitsch er’s Navy and Marine airmen last Friday and Saturday when 809 Japanese planes were destroyed or damaged. Accomplish • immpossiDie ' The Fifth Fleet, under the overall command of Adm. R. A. Spruance, had again accomplished the “im possible.” After steaming to within 300 miles of the Japanese main island. o£ Honshu last weekend without meet ing any enemy surface or air at tack, they turned southward to support the Iwo Jima landing two days later. Now, in less than a week, they had returned to scourge Tokyo again. More than 1,200 American war planes roared over Tokyo for two consecutive days in the first great Navval-air strike against the en emy’s capital and it was believed that a force equally as large was again battering the important in stallations ringing the city. Naval, military and air installa tions were being raked by tli» avenging carrier airmen. Radio Silence The brief communique released by Nimitz merely said that the attack was going on. As in the previous raid, Mitscher’s task force was maintaining radio silence while in enemy waters. Text of the communique: “Carrier aircraft of the Fifth Fleet are attacking military, naval and air installations in and around Tokyo. “Adm. R. A. Spruance is in com mand of the Fifth Fleet. Vice Adm Marc A. Mitscher is in tactical command of the fast carrier task force making the attacks." Tokyo radio reported the at tacks before Nimitz’ special an nouncement was made. Japanese broadcasts said that U. S. carrier-based planes had raided the Tokyo-Yokohama area Sunday morning. The broadcast, recorded by FCC, said the planes “are now carrying (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) Bombers Blast Nazi Oil Factories And Sub Yards LONDON, Feb. 24. — (UP) — Heavy bombers from Britain blast ed oil refineries and U-Boat yards in northwest Germany today ai*t tactical planes lashed railroads and front objectives as Allied air men flew more than 6,500 sorties in the 12th consecutive day of the non-stop aerial offensive. The British second and American Ninth tactical airforces put almost 4.000 medium and fighter-bombers into the area, pounding German rail communications from the front lines deep into the Reich. They also blasted enemy troops and supplies moving up to rein force the fronts in the face of the Allied ground offensive, striking with particular fury at enemy ob-j jectives opposite the Canadian 1st and American 9th Armies driving toward Cologne. Approximately 500 bombers and fighters from Italy carried on the unprecedented attacks on enemy rail communications in northern Italy and Austria. Tonight the German radio rdfcort ed a fast bomber formation over the home province of Berlin, hit for the past four nights. The non stop aerial attacks had seen, more than 60,000 tons of bombs dropped on the Reich by British based bombers, alone, since February 13. The heaviest blow of the day wa« struck by more than 1,100 Fort (Continued on Page Four; Col.
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