E0RECAST \ 4 ^ 4 ^ ^ Served By Leased Wires ,s:;= litlmttijtnn Unrmttn star :-mz _ ■■ -* State and National News rOL^;~~'S^' 10-_____WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1945. ' FINAL EDITION " American Offensive Plunges To Erft River; Soviets Smash 44 Miles Through Pomerania; Marines Gain Slightly Against Foe On I wo New Red Push Sets Trap For PanzigForces 100 German Communities Captured In Russian Baltic Sweep LONDON. Feb. 27.— (he Baltic and Germans were hurling in temm ffSerVes in desPerate at Danzi1 T’ kcep open llle route to was f \ . 6 Ge,'maos said Zhukov cure u-j? l°ward Stettin to se froniai'1 j .fiank f°r an ultimate Glr dnve on Berlin, the s;T’an broadcasters said that sides theWLjvVhite Russians- be" had k, i 8 ,ance m Pomerania, Grud7iaa Pri, irito tbe fortress of Polish r Z' bebind the lines in the °f Dar7;°md0r and 56 mRes south was in Iff and that street fighting St uu progress. BresP u°rn figbting continued for Plan frrit another surrounded Ger Army W’.°nthe First Ukraine That ‘ ln fiesta, nev auari?y’ under Marshal Ko rn.;,- t-°.had mossed the Neisse GermarVsfiASfVeral points> the fense later claimed the de’ sians, had rePusled the Rus said H;f'nan miUtary spokesman that "no fighting where excent ”8 t00k place” any* front B °n the Pomeranian Churchill Says Allies Ready For Nazis ’Fall Commons Promised That Germany Will Be Rendered Impotent to Wage War for ‘Generations’; Poland Gains Land LONDON, Feb. 27.— (.UP) — Prime Minister Churchill told a cheering House of Commons today that Allied plans were complete and ready for the collapse or sur render of Germany, and he prom ised that that country would be rendered impotent to wage w'ar “for generations to come.” He named rich areas of eastern Germany which will be given to Poland and asserted that after the Crimea Conference the Big Three were more closely united than ev er before in both political and mil itary spheres. “Let Germany recognize that it is futile to hope for divisions among the Allies and that nothing can avert her utter defeat,” the Prime Minister daid. “Further re sistance will only be the cause of needless suffering. “The Allies are resolved that Germany shall be totally disarm ed, that Nazism and militarism in Germany shall be destroyed, that war criminals will all be tried justly and quickly punished and that all German industries capable of military production shall be eliminated or controlled and that Germany shall make compensa tion in kind to the utmost of her ability for the damage done to Al lied nations. . . there will be a place one day for the Germans in the community of nations, but on ly when all traces of Nazism and militarism have been effectively and finally extirpated. On the gen eral plan there is complete agree ment.” Churchill defended with the ut most vigor the settlement of the Polish question agreed upon at the Crimea Conference. “In supporting the Russian claim for the Curzon Line. I re pudiate and repulse any sugges tion that we are making a ques tionable compromise or yielding to force or fear, and I assert with the utmost conviction the broad justice of the policy upon which for the first time all the three great Allies have now taken their stand,” he said. ‘Moreover, the three powers have now agreed that Poland (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) Cherry Backs Principles Of Medical Care Program RALEIGH, Feb. 27.—(.Pi—Governor Cherry went personally before the Legislature today and supported the general principles of the hos pital and medical care bill, but reminded that teachers had a priority -*on any surplus. Too, he said, many GEN. WATSON, AIDE TO FDR, IS DEAD White House Secretary Stricken After Crimea Conference AT SEA WITH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, Feb. 20—(Correct) —(UR)—Maj. Gen. Edwin M. Wat con, military aide and secretary to President Roosevelt, died at sea today aboard an American cruiser bearing the Presidential party home from the Crimea Conference. Watson, 61, became ill just as the President and his staff were leaving Russia by ait' to rejoin the cruiser in 1he Mediterranean. He died early today of a cerebral hemorrhage. The general, who had been on the President's stall since 1933, was one of the Chief Executive s closest friends. His sudden death greatly saddened Mr. Roosevelt. ° “I shall miss him almost more than I can express,” the President said. "There was never a cloud between us in all these years. He helped me greatly.” It was expected that Watson would be buried in Arlington Na tional cemetery. Aboard ship, Watson was given every oossible medical attention under the direction of Vice Adm. Ross T. McIntyre, surgeon general of the Navy and Mr. Roosevelt s _rthvsirian. The President said in a state ment that Watson “fortunately, suffered little, if at all.’ “He deserves every tribute that can be given, both as a close friend and as an officer of the United States Army. “He had been on almost every previous trip with me during the last 12 years and, though he had been ill for a short period about a year ago, it was his sense of duty and determination to see the war through that made him insist on taking this trip with me.’’ Watson was ill briefly during the Tehran Conference in 1943. Shortly afterward, because of his physical condition, he went on the Army retired list in order as he explained to friends at the time, not to retard the promotion of men behind him in seniority. Watson's principal White House task was supervising the Pres dent’s appointments. As appoint ment secretary for the past five years, he arranged Mr. Roosevelt’s entire White House schedule. In the dual role of aide and secretary, he accompanied the President on (Continued on Page Three; Col. 2) of the incorporated proposals “must be postponed until some fu ture date.” Pursuing his oft-voiced advocacy of conservative spending and a bal anced budget, the Governor said that “we cannot safely and se curely build and expand our State services on a war-time prosperi ty.” The bill, introduced last night after weeks of discussion outside the Legislative chambers, would appropriate $100,000 for expenses of the North Carolina Medical Care Commission: $1,000,000, if available after payment of the contingency emergency salary to teachers and low-salaried State employes, for assistance of local hospitals car ing for indigent patients: and $50, 000 for loans to medical students who agree to practice in rural areas for a! least four years. Trus tees of the University of North Ca rolina would be empowered to ex pand the universities two-year (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) Yanks Finish Conquest Of Verde Island Mt. Mataba Captured As U. S. Clears Japs From Manila Area MANILA, Wednesday, Feb. 28— l/P)—Twenty-fourth Division Yanks have completed the destruction of the Japanese garrison on little Ver de Island, invaded Sunday, Gen. Douglas MacArthur reported to day The island, between Luzon and Mindoro, is astride the short est supply route from the United States to Manila. Fourteenth corps troops clear ing the Japanese from the Manila watershed east of the liberated capotal captured Mt. Mataba, east of the town of San Miguel. They also secured the south and west slopes of Mt. Pacawuan. South of there, the First Cavalry Division pressed its attack 'on Antipolo, just north of Laguna de Bay, in the face of heavy mortar, artillery and machinegun fire. This opposition reflected reports of gath ering enemy power in the sector. Mopping up of Japanese rem nants continued in the hills flank ing the central Luzon plain and on blasted Corregidor fortress at the mouth of Manila Bay. Borneo was pounded with 100 tons of bombs concentrated on air dromes and port facilities. Many hits on the target areas were re ported, and smoke covered the area. Formosa took a 60-ton bombing. Fires were started in barracks areas. Three coastal ships were damaged in the nearby Pescadores Islands. Two American planes were lost. Heavy damage resulted from a destructive bombing of Camranh Bay on the Fench Indo-China coast. Fighters escorting the attacking Liberators shot down two enemy interceptors and wiped out three on the ground. The Melbourne radio reported, meanwhile, that Australian troops now hold a 150-mile area south of the Genga river on the west coast of Bougainville in the Solomons, and “complete occupation of Bou gainville's west coast is in sight.” Known Japanese casualties on Bougainville since the Americans left w'ere reported at 1,200. Democracy was reborn in the Far East Tuesday as Gen. Doug las MacArthur solemly and tear fully reestablished the Philippine commonwealth government while his forces of liberation expanded their hold on vital territory with in the archipelago. j Ten miles east of Manila, on the Wawa - Antipolo battle line, the (Continued on Page Three; Col. 3) Taft Seeks To Block Cat In Newspaper Employment WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.— (IP) — Senator Taft (R-Ohio) introduced an amendment to the manpower control bill today to prevent any sharp slash in the number of workers employed by newspapers. Taft proposed to modify the au thority of the War Manpower Com mission chairman to set employ ment ceilings by forbidding him to establish any which would re duce the number of employes of any regular daily, weekly of monthly publication or newsgather ing organization below the level prevailing in such establishments in any month of last year. The employment ceiling clause, together with a parallel provision giving the WMC chairman power to forbid employers to hire new workers, is the key section of the bill worked out byt'he Senate Mil itary Affairs Committee as a sub stitute for the work-or-jail meas ure approved by the house Febru ary 1. To back up the grant of power, the Senate bill provides stiff jail and fine penalties for employers who disregard the ceiling and hir ing destrictions, and for deferred farm workers who leave the farm without their draft board's permis sion. Senator Burton (R-Ohio) hardly had resumed discussion of the manpower bill after a three-hour delay occasioned by an insurance measure when Senator McKellar (D-Tenn) took issue with his pre ■ diction that ths Nation will face a war crisis in the next , three, four or five months. “I disagree with the Senator’s statement that we are approach ing a crisis in the war,” the Ten nesseean said. “In my mind we have passed the crisis. The rest of it is just mopping up.” McKeliar explained that was merely his own conclusion based on the trend of the fighting, and he conceded he might be in error. However, he added, citing Americans war production record: ‘‘I can’t see why we should dis card our own system which has operated so marvelously, ana take over another system which hasn’t worked so well in other coun tries.” Burton argued that passage of the bill would be a great spur to the soldiers’ morale “because it will show them we are putting our manpower to the best possible use.” Senator Chandler (D-Ky-, an op ponent of any manpower control legislation at this point, contend ed “the workers don’t want this bill, and the employers don’t want it either, especially with that pen alty clause.’’ Burton told his colleagues the House bill would affect only about one-third of the U. S. labor force, since it w'ould apply only to ci vilian men of 18 to 45, w'hile the Senate bill would take in all work ers regardless f sex or age. Japanese Resistance High Despite Losses Enemy Still Clings To 0 n e Tip Of Central Airfield; Yank Artillery Breaks Up Tank Led Counterattack During Night U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD QUARTERS, GUAM, Wednesday, Feb. 28.— (f) —Two of the three Marine divisions battling side by side toward the high north part of Iwo gnawed out small gains Tuesday through thickly-studded Japanese defenses but enemy re sistance remains high and still in cludes tanks after nine days of ceaseless hammering. The Nipponese grimly clung to one tip of the central airfield af ter a week of flaming action con centrated on and around that two ruway fighter base. Adm. Chester Nimitz announced in a communique today that the Marines resumed a power-packed push from the south half of Iwo Tuesday morning after artillery broke up a tank-led counterattack Monday night. Enemy infiltra tion attempts were repulsed. The gains were registered in the center by Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine’s Third Division, which holds virtually all of the central airfield, and on the east shore by Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates’ Fourth Division. No mention was made of any gain on the west by Maj. Gen. Kel ler E. Rockey’s Fifth Division. The fiercely resisted advance 'was supported by Marine artil lery, carrier-based planes and warships of the Fifth Fleet. Mortar units blew up two Jap anese ammunition dumps to fur ther lessen the fighting power of a garrison which is receiving no reinforcements, no naval support and little support from the aTr. The Third Division has counted 800 enemy pillboxes in its zone of action, indicating the tough type of battle which must be waged. Land-based Army Liberators, (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) 233 Jap Planes, 31 Ships Destroyed By Navy Fliers U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, Guam, Feb. 27.—— Airmen of a mighty U. S. carrier task force smashed vital Japanese aircraft plants and chased the enemy air force to cover in Sunday VE-DAY TO START YANKS HOMEWARD America Can Expect About 200,000 Veterans Each Month WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.— UP! — American families can expect a lot of their servicemen to start pouring home—200,000 to 250,000 a month—once Hitler is out of the way. About half of them are likely to be disabled, to small or large extent. This was the big news today in a $2,453,177,125 supply bill turned over to the House by its Appropria tions Committee. The money is to round out various agencies’ expen ses for ibe fiscal year ending June 30. Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, head of the Veterans Administration, is authority for the Army-returnees estimafes. He quoted the War De partment. Hines also told the committee the present rate of discharges is around 90,000 monthly. (That’s 10, 000 above current Army draft calls.) The Veterans Administration is down for $246,775,000 in the bill. Most of this item is for increas ink pension costs. There is also $5,567,400 for the War Manpower Commission, the bulk of it to fi nance worK of finding jobs for vet erans. l^asi oepiemoer, me war de partment set up a point system to decide which men will get home first when there is no one left to fight but Japan. This allows credit for length of Army service, overseas duty, com bat awards and parenthood. The value of the various point credits is to be announced only after the war in Europe is over. More than two-thirds of the money in the catch-all bill is for the still building Navy. It is al loted $1,914,120,488, which, with contractural authority for $114, 300,000, raises Navy funds for the current fiscal year to approximate ly $30,000,000,000. Testimony on the measure was released today. Among the items covered: A prediction by Chairman Can non (D-Mo) that the end of the war will “drop on the American farmer the greatest surplus of food and fibers ever known.” A proposal (not acted upon) by Rep. Johnson (D-Okla) that Japa nese aliens in U. S. segregation camps should be sterilized and thus be made unable to breed. An estimate by Price Adminis trator Bowles that 13 per cent of food sold at retail is sold above ceiling prices. pcinvi im/uuo y i uiuo vu x u.ij u cxiivx Hachijo island, 175 miles south of the capital. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz reported today. In their second attack on Tokyo and vicinity in 10 days, the Yank fliers from warcraft skirting Ja pan’s coast battled wind-driven snow and sleet, and pierced heavy antiaircraft fire. Incomplete re ports indicated they destroyed or damaged 233 enemy planes and sank or damaged 31 small vessels, Nimitz said. Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher, commander of the daring task force, said his fliers left the Ota aircraft assembly plant, 47 miles norhwest of Tokyo, a smouldering ruin. The Keisumi plant, where a sub stantial portion of Japanese com bat planes were assembled, was virtually in ruins, Mitscher told Bob Geiger, Associated Press cor respondent with the fleet. The Ota plant, only three mi-les from the Keisumi factory and 12 from the Japanese emperor’s pal ace, was blasted further Sunday when Superfortresses from Mari anas bases pounded the Tokyo area in the biggest B-29 attack of the war, staged by more than 200 of the huge aircraft. The number of American carrier planes making the bold strikes was not mentioned by either Nimitz or Mitscher, but Tokyo radio during the raid days made frantic estimates of from 600 to 1,200. Nimitz said nine Navy fighter planes were lost in combat, with five pilots saved. Task force ships received no enemy-dealt damage while the American fliers were blasting their targets, but two Fleet units suffered minor dam age during retirement, the com munique said. ----.* Back from Iwo Jima ' —■' Lieutenant Commander John W. McClain of Marion, O., a former re porter, is the first man back from the invasion of Iwo Jima. He de scribed the island as “the most im pregnable objective that could be built.’’ (International Soundphoto). LIEPZIG BLASTED IN AERIAL DRIVE Huge Allied Assault Con tinues; Berlin Swept By Fires LONDON, Feb. 27—(UP)—Allied bombers carried the greatest non stop aerial offensive of the war into its third week today, striking a powerful blow at Leipzig, fifth city of Germany, while neutral sources reported that Eerlin was still swept by great fires from yes terday’s history-making American assault. American and British warplanes from English bases and heavies of the 15th Air Force in Italy—an estimated 3,500 planes in all—rang ed over southern, western and cen tral Germany to strike new blows at enemy communications and at the Reich’s dwindling oil reserves. More than 1,100 Fortresses and Liberators of the U. S. Eighth Air Force, escorted by more than 700 fighters, blasted railyards at the eight-way junction of Leipzig and the city of Halle, 23 miles to the northwest. Some 750 Fortresses attacked Le ipzig, dropping their explosives through clouds on the city, chief in dustrial center of Saxony and sec ond only to Berlin and Hamburg in commercial importance. Rail lines from Leipzig, which had a pre-war population of more than 700,000, fan out to all parts of the Reich. They had not been bombed in the past two week’s unprece dented assault on German com munications. The attack on Halle, a six-way rail hub. also was aimed at crowd ed freight yards. (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) MEXICO CITY, Feb. 27. —(JPI - The United States managed to postpone for 24 hours today a sur prise move to commit all the American nations to guarantee the frontiers and political independ ence of the countries in this hem isphere with their armed might. Senator Warren Austin (R-Vt), member of the Foreign Relations Committee, intervened just as a commission of the inter-American conference here was about to pass the plan by acclamation. Entitled “The Declaration of Chapultepec,” the resolution com bines proposals put forward by Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil. The surprise came in the deter mination of the other countries here to forge links of steel among the American republics immedi ately, without waiting for estab lishment of a world security or ganization at San Francisco. The “Declaration of Chapulte pec” goes beyond the Dumbarton Oaks plan in one important point: The signatory nations would be obliged to use force when aggres sion or a “sure threat” of aggres sion developed on this continent. Austin managed to get the vote put off until tomorrow on two grounds. The resolution was in Spanish, and he said he did not have an English copy. Also, since he said it would commit the arm ed forces of the United States, he wanted to wait to consult Senator Tom Connally (D-Tex), chairman of the Foreign Relations Commit tee, due later today. If approved by the commission, (Continued on Page Three; Col. 6) U. S. Postpones Decision On Armed Peace Proposal Ruhr Valley Menaced By Yank Drive Prisoners And Towns Scooped Up By Racing Doughboys PARIS, Feb. 27.—UP)—American infantry and armor smashed across the flatlands of western Germany today in advances of ten miles or more, plunging all the way to the Erft river and within 8 1-2 miles of Cologne in a great drive that threatened the whole industrial Ruhr. German prisoners were scoop ed up by the hundreds and town alter town fell to the waves of troops racing forward by truck and afoot. German resistance was so feeble and apparently demoralized that a complete news blackout tonight was clamped on all opera tions of Ninth Army divisions which have broken through in this area. It was thought the Germans themselves might not know the full extent of the American break through. With the Ninth Army already at the Erft, last natural barrier be fore the Rhine river, 13 miles away, the U. S. First Army surged toward Cologne, capturing the cross-roads village of Sinzdorf, 8 1-2 miles southwest. At the same time the Canadian First Army lashed out in an in tensified attack against the Ger mans’ northern flank, rolling back the weakened Nazi defenses two to four miles between the Maas and the Rhine, and driving with in 30 miles of a wing of the Ninth Army probing northward beyond Muenchen-Gladbach. U. S. Third Army troops to the south fought into the important road hub of Bitburg and streamed across the Bitburg-Trier highway in several places in a general two mile advance all along their sec tor of the sprawling battle front. Gen. Eisenhower’s whole mighty offensive swept irresistibly toward the Rhine through German forces officially described as being in “ex treme confusion.” Several German divisions were counted as com pletely destroyed since the First and Ninth U. S. Armies slammed across the Roer river last Friday. At the center of the assault, the 30th Division powered up to the Erft river midway between Duesseldorf and Cologne, captur ing the river village of Morken on that last natural barrier before the Rhine. East of Dueren armored spearheads of the First Army blasted to within nine miles of blackened Cologne and almost to the banks of the Erft, beating down desperate Nazi counterattacks on the day. The Germans brought tanks across the Erft and met the on rushing American Shermans in tank-in-tank slugging matches, but failed to check Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges’ powerful drive across the Cologne plain. Today’s .flanking .drive past Muenchen-Gladbach revealed what previously had been a military secret, AP Correspondent Wes Gal lapher asserted—“that Gen. Eisen hower’s winter drive is aimed at bigger stakes than just reaching the Rhine. It is part of the blow at the heart of the Nazis—the Ruhr.” To the south, LI. Gen. George S. Patton's American Third Army troops stormed into Bitburg, the German “Bastogne”, after throw ing armored claws about the town. The town was lightly held, but its Nazi garrison put up determined resistance as Patton’s foot soldiers and tanks moved in for the final assault. The suddenness of Patton’a sreakthrough in this area yeeter lay forced the Germans to with draw most of their forces from Bitburg, despite its great strategic importance as a main highway center between the Third Army and :he Rhine at Coblenz. With three great American arm es ripping through the vitals of :he enemy’s Rhineland defenses, field Marshal Montgomery’s Bru sh and Canadian forces on the torth pierced the Nazis’ last de lenses in the Hochwald Forest and smashed on through crumbling en ;my resistance. Field dispatches said hundreds )f tanks had broken the backbone )f the Germans in that sector and hat the Allied advance was assum ng the proportions of a break Continned on Page Three; Col. 4)j