North Carolina Newspapers

FORECAST ^ ^ ^ ^ Served By Leased Wires umumtmt nrntnn mtxr isir _ * State and National News vo11L-„ - ~ wilmingtonTn. c., Thursday, march 8,1945. established 1867 Foe Staggers In Chaos As Defense Lags Third Army Covers 65 Miles In 58 Hours For Fastest Offensive PARIS, Thursday, March 8—(JP)— Tanks of the American Third Ar my stormed up to the west bank of the Rhine northwest of Coblenz last night, having plunged more than 50 miles inside Germany in a whirlwind advance that sent the enemy reeling in chaotic defeat. The German collapse on the Third Army front, started by the Fourth Armored Division’s break through at Bitburg three days ago, soon developed into a rout with other units of the Third Army plun ging eastward and the First Army swinging southward after the cap ture of Cologne. It was the Ardennes break through in reverse. The Germans obviously had nothing with which to prevent the American sweep from enveloping Coblenz and Bonn. Dispatches said there actually was no semblance of a front in the Third Army sector. Virtually all resistance had been overwhelmed and the German troops appeared concerned only with retreating to safety or sur rendering as quickly as possible. Masses of Nazi equipment were de troyed and supply dumps were cap tured so rapidly that the loot had not been evaluated. The Fourth Armored Division reached the river just northwest of Coblenz in a drive which carried 29 miles in 12 hours. In its greatest surge since Normandy, the Third Army had covered 65 miles in 58 hours, making the Western Allies’ retreat and offered but little re sistance as Lt. Gen. George S. Pat ton’s men rolled through town af ter town and streaked past thou sands of prisoners, captured in such numbers they all could not be chaperoned to the rear To the north, the U. S. First Army struck southward along the Rhine’s west bank from captured Cologne to a point only two rmles from Bonn, the First and Third Ar mies together having formed in the past week the greatest Allied breakthrough since St. Lo. The Allied prisoner bag on the Western Front soared past the one (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) Germans Say All Out Push Is Under Way Seven Soviet Armies Re ported Moving Toward - Reich Capital , LONDON, Thursday, March 8 —(if!—The Russians hurled seven armies yesterday into an all-out frontal offensive towards Berlin from bridgeheads on the Oder riv er 30 to 40 miles to the east, the Germans announced. Moscow was officially silent, as is customary at the start of a ma jor ‘ operation, but unofficial dis patches from the Soviet capital hinted guardedly that the German accounts might be substantially correct. German broadcasts said the at tackers, Marshal G. K. Zhukov’s First White Russian Army group, jumped off after a gigantic 24-hour artillery barrage and punched into the outer defenses of Kuestrin, west bank Oder river fortress which was under attack from the north, east and south. Two tank armies were among Zhukov’s forces, these alarmed announcers said. A dispatch late last night from Associated Press Correspondent Eddy Gilmore in Moscow said “many signs pointed tonight to early launching of the all-out of fensive on Berlin,” and continued, “the logical place for the first at front “Large-scale scouting operations have been under way for several days out of Zhukov’s bridgeheads. “These operations, plus the mag nificant victories in Pomerania, in which the Russians hurled the Na zis to the Baltic and dropped them off the Oder flank, indicated that Zhukov may be ready to com mence activities.” The Germans said Zhukov’s ac tivities already had commenced with a roaring offensive that ex tended along about 100 miles of the Oder front but was concentrated mainiy almost directly east of Ber lin. The Russians officially dealt with other sectors in their regular com munique and in three orders of the day by Premier Stalin. One order announced that Zhu kov’s right wing, which only Tues day had thrust to the Oder’s Bal tic Sea outlet, had captured Ste pentz, Gollnow and Massow, 15 and 20 miles northeast and east of Stettin. The communique listed oth er towns captured in that zone along the Oder’s east bank and the Stettiner Haff (lagoon) from 13 miles northeast of Stettin north ward to the sea. a distance of 33 miles. Stettin, Berlin’s outlet to the Bal tic, thus was placed in increasing ly grave danger and had lost much of its importance as an outer cita del for the capital. Another Stalin order announced that the Second White Russian Ar my had captured Starogard, 25 (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) •-—V CHINESE TAKE LASHIO Indian Troops Are 4 1-2 Miles From Mandalay WITH BRITISH 14TH ARMY IN CENTRAL BURMA, March 7—(U.R) —The 19th Indian Division today swept to within 4 1-2 miles north of Mandalay against lessening op position while troops of the Chinese First Army captured the ancient section of the Burma road town of Lashio and its adjacent airfield. The 19th Division, moving south along the Irrawaddy toward Bur ma’s second city where 30,000 Jap anese combat troops have been cut off, advanced 14 miles through hilly country to get into artillery range. Another British force was advancing on Mandalay from the west and was believed less than 20 miles away. Capture by the Chinese of Lashio, chief city of the northern Shan states, cuts the last escape route for the Mandalay Japanese forces —which comprise the bulk of the lapanese left in Burma. It also >pens up the old Burma Road as !ar south as that city to facilitate early establishment of a second and route to China, supplementing ;he Stilwell Road. , House Passes Bill To Draft Single Nurses Measure Would Offer Com missions Before Induc tion Into Service WASHINGTON, March 7.—(U.R)— The House, grimly determined that sick and wounded servicemen will ' not b wanting for medical atten tion, today passed legislation auth orizing the draft of unmarried nur ses 20 through 44. To forestall “marriage epidem ics" to escape the draft, it stip ulated that a graduate nurse would be considered “married’’ only if she was wed before March 15, 1945. Passed by a 347-42 vote and re ferred to the Senate, the bill was the House's answer to President Koosevelt’s rquest for means to conscript 20,000 nurses immediate ly to offset a shortage in the arm ed services. The measure was thoroughly re written during two days of debate. In its present form, Selective Ser vice boards will have the final say on which nurses should be taken for military service and in what order. A last minute amendment assur ed drafted graduate nurses a(i op portunity to receive, before induc tion, commissions of Ensign in the Navy or second lieutenant in the Army. If they refused, they could be drafted as Navy seamen or Army privates. Another last-rrunute change auth orized commissions for accredited male nurses, including those al ready in service. An attempt to give the volun tary recruitment method one last chance failed when the House de feated, 139 to 133, an amendment which would have postponed in ductions for 30 days while the arm ed forces intensified their recruit ing drives. Passage followed a flurry of or atory over a proposal to include married nurses in the draft. It was rejected amid charges that it would "wreck the American home.'1 Debate ended with adopteon of an amendment requiring all nurs es 20 to 44 to register for the draft, but exempting three categories: Tnose married before March 15 of this year. 2 Those with dependent chil dren. 2. Those having children under lb years of age. The chamber adopted an amend (tontlnued on Page Five; Col. 4) FATAL PLANE CRASH fishier Falls In Surf At Wrightsville Beach An Army Air Forces P-47 fighter plane crashed on Wrightsville Beach at 3:12 p.m. yesterday, -•tally injuring its pilot, Second Lieutenam Sidney V. Aliev, of Hick ory. Li. Alley, son 0f jjr. and Mrs. Korn V, Alley, of 372 Fifteenth *reet' Hickory, was on a routine 1 ■ • Hom his unit’s base at Sey „ "umiauti nenj. UtOiasDoro. row,, clear of the plane when a crashed, he was taken to Bleu .ep|ha! Bield Army Air Base hos ‘ “ . where lie died an hour later. • I p,aren'lS were notified at once, Th*0rCeS 0tf'cers Said. ; e cause of the crash is under es igation by a board of Air Voices officers. -^witnesses said that the plane ‘ 0lie of three which had been iriinuteVsenTw °Ver the area *or te" tha- Jileir accounts agreed the °n.a low’ banking turn over Wave'Vater 8 wingtip snagged «a Du°unc,mg through the surf, the a, m sr‘ed ‘ts wings and part of to th °,°r' The fuselage drove on cock n't)eac!l’ broke in two at the th„ Pnb hurled its occupant on cludinKl 'd of beach residents, in Cer, e„.a, ouniber of Army offi E'lupihn ^ired immediately. A cer vnl.n !*a *'e)ti Air Base offi tnobUc '.ntecred the use of his auto to th„ , (Larry the injured man lhc Air Ease hospital. Yanks Gain 500 Yards AgainstEnemy On I wo Japs Show No Sign of Cracking As Marines Drive Ahead in Hand-to-Hand Com bat; Advances Termed Spotty U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEAD QUARTERS, Guam, Thursday, March 8—UP)—In hand to hand com bat, United States Marines drove two 500-yard salients Wednesday into the rocky, intricately fortified north end of Iwo but the Japanese still showed no signs of cracking on the 17th day of the invasion. All three Marine divisions, on the second day of a renewed of fensive to end the bloody operation, registered gains but they were spot ty and officers were not inclined to regard them as significant. Enemy resistance continued heavy. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announ ced the progress in a communi que today. The Nipponese resistance was fire.” There was no reference to mortar and artillery opposition. The big gain Wednesday was re gistered on the west side by Maj. Gen. Keller E. Rockney’s Fifth Marine Division. Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine’s Third Marine Division also punch ed ahead in the center where the Leathernecks are getting into po sition to cut the Nipponese gar rison in two. Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates’ Fourth Marine Division scored gains up to 200 yards. Reports received at headquarters were vague as to the specific lo cations of the new gains. The progress was stepped up over that of Tuesday when the allout offensive to crush the last Japanese organized resistance was opened. Tuesday’ s gains were measured in meager yards. Carrier planes continued to neu tralize Japanese bases in the Bo nins north of Iwo, hitting Chichi and Haha with rockets and bombs. (Continued on Page Two; Col. S) END IS SIGHTED IN FLOOD THREAT Colder Weather Puts End To Heavy Rains; Crest Rising CINCINNATI, O., March 7—<P>— Flood waters of Midwestern rivers —principally the historically men acing Ohio—grew deeper tonight, but the end of the valley’s great est wartime flood threat was in sight. The Ohio apparently reached a crest of 69.2 feet here tonight, 17.2 feet above flood stage and the Weather Bureau said no further rise was to be expected barring further rain although no fall was indicated for at least 24 hours. Forecasters predicted crests of from 13 to 20 feet above flood stage would be reached tomorrow all along the river and its tributaries as colder weather put an end to heavy rains. • The crest here was approximate ly 10 feet below the record level in 1937 when there was more than a half billion dollars worth of damage. Thousands of families along a 1.000-mile stretch of lowlands scu. ried to higher ground and war pio duction staggered under reduced operations. At least 8 lives were lost ana the property loss was believed to be in the millions. Western Pennsylvania had its worst flood in eight years as the Monongahela and Allegheny spew ed muddy ilood waters out of banks and forced hundreds of families from their homes. The crest at the confluence of the two rivers in Pittsburgh where the Ohio comes to life—was expected to be 33 to 34 feet to night or tomorrow. The river town of Porlsmoutry Ohio had the Ohio hanging on its neck’ like the Sword of Damocles— with only a thin thread o£ con crete and sar.dbags keeping water from the business district. A 62 (Continued on Page Five; Col. D WLB HEAD NAMED TO TON’S JOB Davis Thinks U. S. Should Control Wage Drop When Situation Relaxes WASHINGTON, March 7 —W— President Roosevelt today made William H. Davis his chief deputy in the war against inflation and he assigned to George W. Taylor the wage front Davis had headed nearly four years. On a title basis, the 65-year old Davis, a patent lawyer by profes sion, a physicist by hobby and a labor meditator by practice, be comes Economic Stabilization Di rector. He succeeds Fred Vinson, new Federal loan chief. Taylor, 43-year-old professor of industry at the University of Penn sylvania and likewise an old hand at trouble shooting in labor dis putes, gets Davis’ old job as chair man of (he War Labor Board. He has been vice chairman. Both are in hot spots, no strange experience for either. Davis promptly made clear that he thinks the Government should control wage decreases when man power shortages are no more, just as it now controls wage increases in a labor-hungry market. And. he told the Senate Banking Committee in a discussion of con tinued wage controls, those regu lations thus far have allowed main tenance of “the standard of living of the working man.” Generally, he expressed his phil osophy on the link between wages and living costs thus: ‘‘It doesn’t do any good to increase dollar wages if prices also go up.” What is important, Davis said, is .the “take-home groceries.” Great pressux-e faces both Davis and Taylor, brought by the CIO and AFL, to relax wage controls. Labor spokesmen say these con trols, as exemplified by the Taylor written and Davis-endorsed Little Steel wage formula, are grossly unfair. Congressional comment on the (Continued on Page Two: Col. 6) LeGrand Introduces Bill For State Port Authority RALEIGH, March 7.—UP)—A bill to create a State Ports Authority to have charge ot present port facilities and to promote the ex pansion of traffic by water, was in ti Juced in the House late today by Rep. LeGrand of New Hanover. The authority would be composed of seven members to be appointed by the Governor. One member would come from Carteret county, another from New Hanover, and one from Brunswick. The other four would be named from other counties at Random. Members would serve staggered terms, with the first three being named for six years, two of the latter group for four years and two for three. Members would serve without pay, but a secretary would be paid a salary set by the authority. Principal office of the authority would be located at a place select ed by the group itself. Under terms of the proposed bill the authority and its work would be self-supporting, initial funds to come from self-liquidating revenue bonds in which the State could, in its discretion, invest surplus funds. The authority would be charged with the duty of expanding present port facilities, particularly those at Wilmington, Morehead City, and Southport, and develop others yet to be projected. It also would have the power to construct railroads and highways leading to principal ports, improve existing waterways (Continued on Page 12; Col. 1) i U. S. Seizes Two Towns In H South Luzon Drive To Clear Entire Is land Believed Coming Shortly MANILA, Thursday, March 8— (U.R)—Troops of the 11th Airborne Division and the 158th Infantry Regiment have driven south from Manila to capture the towns of Calatagan and Balayan at Bala yan Bay, across the Verde island passage from Mindoro, Gen. Doug las MacArthur announced today. Amid signs that a powerful American offensive to clear the entire island was about to begin, MacArthur announced that demo lition teams of the First Cavalry and Sixth Divisions had sealed 19 enemy cave strongpoints along the bitterly - defended AntipoJo - Wawa line some 10 miles northeast of Manila. He said counterbattery fire, had noticeably reduced enemy artillery and rocket fire In that area. I The 38th and 43rd Divisions are completing the combing of the Zambalea range of mountains stretching north from Bataan, seek ing out scattered Japanese rem nants, while other troops are push ing toward the Japanese moun tain stronghold of Baugio In north ern Luzon. Dispatches said the men of the 33rd, fighting through the rugged Benguet mountains, were approach ing the city limits of Baguio, which is atop mountains more than 4,500 feet high. The city area measures approximately 20 square miles and the Japanese commander, Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, was report ed to have his headquarters amid the luxurious surroundings of the city, which was the former sum mer capital of the Philippines. Elsewhere on the Luzon front elements of seven other divisions were reported regrouping for the final push to crush the estimated 80,000 Japanese still on the island. The main group of about 50,000 was around Baguio. Some 15,000 were in the Serra Madre moun tains east of Manila and smaller groups were in the Zambales moun tains north of Bataan and in south ern Luzon. British Sea Lord Renews Pledge To Strike Nippon LONDON, March 7—<3>)—Britain is determined to range her navy alongside U. S. naval forces in the Pacific to play “a full and worthy part in the speedy overthrow of the Japanese empire,” A. V. Alexan der, First Lord of the Admiralty, said in the House of Commons to ay. He said that this would be done in spite of a renewed threat of a German U - boat offensive that, might require strong British naval action in Atlantic waters. His declaration came as London naval circles denied reports that British war vessels were likely t« prove a minor factor in Pacific naval operations. Without referring to the reports, Alexander told Com mons that ‘‘we have been steadily massing forces for the Far East, with the great fleet train of sup ply, accommodation, repair and amenity ships which they will re quire to sustain them.” ‘‘Operations already conducted,” he said, ‘‘are but the beginning of the tasks of the British Pacific fleet and the East Indies fleet, which will continue to be reinforc ed and supplied so that they may play an ever-growing part in the defeat of Japan.'1 Asserting that ‘‘experiences gain ed in supporting landings (in the European theater) will stand us in good stead in our united opera tions against Japan,” the First Lord stated: “A large share of the task of defeating Japan will fall upon the men of the Royal and Merchant Navies.” Alexander mentioned the power ful battleships Queen Eliazbeth and Valiant and the battle cruiser Re nown, as being “among other ves sels” ready for action in the Far East. In London, naval men counter ed reports that the British fleet was likely to prove an impotent factor in the Pacific because of lack of speed with the assertion that the Royal Navy has both bat tleships and carriers in those wa ters capable of matching Ameri can warships. Regarding the threat in the At lantic, Alexander said the Germans were “making great efforts to re new U-boat warfare on a big scale” which he contended shows that they still consider it to be their “best hope of averting defeat against a nation which lives by seaborne supplies.” These efforts, he cautioned, prob ably will result in the appearance of new types of German subma rines. And with improved equip ment, he said, “We may be sure they will develop new tactics.” Meanwhile, "Alexander declared, the'number of U-boats being sunk “continues to increase satisfactori ly.” In the House of Lords, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Chatfield urged a special government investigation at the “earliest practicable mo ment” of the organization and ad ministration of imperial defense “to safeguard the empire against future unreadiness for war.” "You must not think that be cause you have Dumbarton Oaks ar San Francisco behind you that you are all right,’’ he cautioned. “We have to have a defense policy that takes into account not only international agreements but our physical dangers.” 1 * ---* Churchill Sees Ruins of Juelich Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain, puffing a cigar, walks with Lt. Gen. William H. Simpson (right), commanding the U. S. Ninth Army, as he tours the ruins of the German city of Juelich. (AP Wirephoto via Signal Corps Radio). Yank Says Patton Swam Icy River To Lead Men BALTIMORE, March 7.—(2P)—The story of how Lieut. Gen. George S. Patton twice swam the 150-foot Sure river in Germany in January under heavy machine gun and artillery fire, inspiring “thousands of troops to follow him,’’ was told today by one of the men who did. Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Defibaugh of Cumberland, Md„ one of the soldiers wno toiiowea Hatton across the Sure, said “there was a^out a foot of snow on the ground when we got to the Sure river somewhere near the meeting place of the Lux embourg, German and Belgian oorders. “We learned that we had to take the town of Bettendorf on the op posite side and do it quickly,” said Defibaugh, a member of the Fourth Infantry division which helped relieve the pressure on Americans trapped at Bastogne by the German counter-offensive last December. “The Germans began firing ma chine guns and artillery at us as we came up to the river bank,” continued Deifbaugh, now touring war plants in the Baltimore area with other heroes of Bastogne. “Just before dawn we started go ing across- in three-man boats. The river was very swift and cold and had pieces of ice floating in it. “After a while though, General Patton called the boats back and ordered the men to swim across with rifles, bazookas, and every thing they could carry because they were ‘sitting pigeons’ for the Germans in the boats, sitting two or three feet out of the water. “He figured the men would have a better chance swimming since they would then present only the tops of their heads as targets to the enemy gunners. “To show us it could be done and to inspire the troops, General Pat ton jumped into the water and swam across to the opposite bank, then swam back. Thousands of troops followed him.’’ BONOMI ACCORDED CONFIDENCE VOTE Long Cabinet Session Is Guarded By Soldiers And Two Tanks ROME, March 7—(lP)—Premier Ivanoe Bonomi weathered his sec ond political crisis in three months tonight as the cabinet in an ex traordinary session convoked aft er the riot at the Royal Palace yesterday, reaffirmed confidence in the premier who promised a swift Fascist purge. The expression of confidence came after a long session in the Viminale Palace while rifle-bear ing policemen, supported by two tanks commanding the driveways sloping up to the palace, guarded the ministers. A Cabinet announcement, issued as opposition press clamored for overthrow of the Bonomi regime, said the four-party coalition gov ernment “has agreed there is no reason for breaking up the coalition which first planned and already has begun vast action for inten sifying the war and bettering Italy’s position in the world.” The decision threatened a Wide split in Communist ranks and was expected to provide more fuel for a fire which Socialists, Actionists (Continued on Page Three; Col. 5) End Of Nazi Resistance Held Hinging On Rhine By EDWARD H. HIGGS WASHINGTON. March 7.—(iP)— Once Allied armies leap the Rhine, the Germans won't be able to stop them, military men said today. Moreover, one authority said that once a bridgehead ha"s been firmly established and Allied forces have driven 50 or so miles beyond the Rhine’s east bank, it will be possible to fix a date for the end of organized German resistance. At th'at - point in Germany, the Allies would be well on the way to ward splitting the Western Front in two and would be fanning out to pocket anv German forces showing fight. This optimistic view was based principally on estimates that the harassed Germaps can place no f more than 30 or 32 divisions on that stretch of the Rhine which the Allies already have reached—or are nearing—between Coblenz and the Rhine’s junction with the Maas. These divisions, many of them at one-fourth to one-half normal di visional strength of 15,000, prob ably would not represent more than 200,000 men. Many of the divisions likely have been stitched together from the remnants of units badly mauled west of t he Rhine and therefore relatively ineffective. Such a force is too impotent, in the belief of military authorities, to mount any sizeable counter-blow against Allied armies that cross the Rhine. (Continued on Page 12; Col. 1)