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S«l*« ^^ijwkt:; iPfiSSSsfevan s'”"1 Bv.,Lrc'1 Wlr“ *“ -.. __ STAR-NEWS :=&r. -~- ffirME E©!^ <58W ©# P>g?@@Eiigii~'AM[a isiLBAeMBE^ —,M ’"“”*N,W1— - . WILMINGTON, N. C., SUNDAY, APRIL 15, 1945 ~ -FINAL EDITION “ Yanks Push in 85 Miles Of Red Front; Capital Homage To Roosevelt; Soviets ...... * Lines East Of Oder -.. —— 4r —- . ± Von Papen, Former Nazi Envoy, Taken Jeiid In Ruhr Pocket And Itiieved Flown To The United States By BOYD LEWIS united Press War Correspondent PARIS. April 14.— (UP)— Raron Franz von Papen, form er chancellor of Germany, was seized in the Ruhr pocket by American troops this week and is believed to have been flown to the United States. “I wish this war were over,” von Papen told his cap tors, one of whom answered: <lO J i 11 l' /-'l VS OU UU w w* v *■— guys.” The shrewd political fixer for Adolf Hitler in World War II and saboteur evtraordinary for the Kaiser in World War I, was taken by troops of the Lf. S. 177th Air borne Division at the town of Stoskhausen along with his son and jon-in-Iaw on Wednesday. London reported there was no Indication whether Von Papen was on the Allied war criminal list. The listlbeing drawn by the Allied war crimes commission is shroud ed in secrecy and among all the Nazi criminals on it only Adolf Hitler thus far has been identified by name.) The tall, monocled Papen, an overbearing Prussian of 66 years, was seized in a small hunting lodge in the hills near Stockhausen, 30 miles southeast of Hamm, by a first lieutenant and seven glider in. fantrymen. He was flown to Paris from a small airfield 20 miles behind the front lines. It is believed he later was flown to the United States, ac cording to the custom of special treatment of high ranking generals and leading civilian prisoners tak en by Allied forces The men who took the highest ranking Nazi to fall into Allied hands since Rudolph Hess para (Continned on Page Two; Col. 2) 0K1NA ASSAULT repulsed by u. s. Marine* Virtually Com plete Occupation Of Motobu Peninsula GUAM. Sunday, April 15—(.T1)— Ninety-Sixth Division Infantry troops beat off a small Japanese counter-attack in southern Okina wa yesterday while to the north Marines virtually completed their occupation of Motobu peninsula and isthmus'^ ri0rthward l'P Ishikawa Auer two days of desperate, "n?“'al Japanese aerial attacks , • 0 " dle amphibious tasi: forces 8 off Okinawa and against +lan'held airfields °n the is ,i«' ke enemy E™t omy « few terday 8gamst Yank *orces yes Were 8t1°t down, bringing warejft*^ t0“, °f NipponeEe destroyed in and near ic»tttiiiUcd on Page ^ven. Col_ -V WEATHER North c - ,.roKECAST »mt mild rol‘na: Sunday partly cloudy Standard Time • S* ^eath«r Bureau) •Ming 7 3°0np1mdata fOT the 24 •J0 P.m., yesterday, l ift Tpuiperature ,:,!l Pn?61 : 7:30 am- 67: 1:30 P”>. 75; Total <, Pneolpitation •■M Inchesthe 24 hours ending 7:30 pm, •■•S inches^4 t4lc *”* 01 4he month, ITrtm, .. Tiles For Today *. S. joa„e ,^lf'^’abl€s Published by ceart and Geodetic Survey) Nilminjicn High Low 7:06a Masonboro Inle‘ 12;09p 7:13p 1 - l(l:08a 3:56a *unrite 541 e 10:32p 4;06p Leonti*. » Sunset, 6:42 p.m • Cape Fear n m'; Moonset. 10:35 pm *" AM1 atT.,ma.geio,08 KWmed ,a riy.e. Col %) ‘Self Defense’ | Japan entered the war in “self defense,” her people were told by Shigenori Togo, above, new For eign Minister, who declared that Nippon’s wartime diplomacy should be “boldly and vigorously” carried out. WAR LOAN DRIVE QUOTA SET HERE Goal Of Seventh Cam paign, Opening May 1, Totals $5,167,000 The Seventh "War Loan quota for New Hanover county has been set at $5,167,000, with an “E” bond quota of $2,478,000, J. G. Thornton and E. A. Laney, co-chairmen for the New Hanover campaign, an nounced yesterday. The “E” bond quota has been increased $489,000 for the drive, which begins May 1, as compared with the “'E” bond quota of the last campaign, which was $1,989,000. Officials of the campaign point ed out that special emphasis will be placed on the payroll allotment plan during the forthcoming drive more than ever before, with all firms being urged to increase al lotments. Securities to be offered in the Seventh War Loan are E F and G War bonds. Also to be included are U. S. Treasury 7-8 per cent cer tificates due in one year; Treas ury 1 1-2 per cent bonds due in five and one-half years; Treasury 2 1-4 per cent bonds due after 14 to 17 years; Treasury 2 1-2 per cent bonds due after 22 to 25 years. These bonds will be avail able to individuals from May 14 to June 30, officials said. However, all bond purchases during April, May and June will count against the Seventh War Loan quota. Officials stressed that the com ing War Bond campaign is of no less importance than previous ef forts. They pointed out that war material^ are needed as much as ever before, to carry out the war in the Pacific against Japan, and to bring about a quick victory in Germany to end the last elements of Nazism. War Bonds will be available in Wilmington at all banks, building and loan associations, the post of fice and all theaters. Aim To Reach Reich Capital Before Yanks Reported Only 26 Miles From Berlin In Powerful New Offensive By ROBERT MUSEL United Press War Correspondent LONDON, Sunday, April 15 — (UP) —Germany reported last night that the Red army had opened attacks on a 35 mile front west of the Oder and penetrated German lines only 26 miles from Berlin in the first phase of a general offensive aimed at reaching the capital before the Amer icans. The German news bureau com mentator, Ernst Von Hammer, said the closest thrust to Berlin was made due west of Soviet held Kuestrin on the Oder where the Russians, by enemy accounts, drove to the Seelow area early in April. While not confirming the report ed Berlin attack, the nightly So viet communique reported that' Red Army troops in tbe south had raced 17 miles from last positions west of fallen Vienna and was storming the key road junction of Sankt Poelten after capturing Her gozenburg, five miles northeast of the town, and Boeheimkirchen, five miles east. MnSTn Am llavnillociva Jam Sankt Poelten lies 31 miles due west of Vienna. Unofficial Moscow dispatches said that Marshal Feo dor I. Tolbukhin’s forces had swept on some 50 miles beyond Sankt Poelten to the approaches of Linz, only 75 miles from Adolf Hitler’s “Valhalla” at Berchtes gaden. Berlin admitted a “deep breach” in the Sankt Poelten area and said the Russians were trying to outflank the key defense point to the south in a powerful drive through the Semmering pass. Marshal Rodion Y. Malinovsky’s Second Ukrainian army northeast of Vienna meanwhile thrust six miles deeper into Moravia and captured Moravska Zizkov only 28 miles southeast of the big Czecho slovak arms center of Brno. The same drive sent a spearhead across the Brno-Breclaw (Lunden burg) railroad t'o stary Breclaw, one mile north of Breclaw, leaving the latter 14-way traffic junction and castled fortress virtually iso lated. In the immediate Vienna area, Malinovsky’s forces west of the Morava river captured 11 towns on a 25-mile front including Pfoesting, seven miles north of the fallen Austrian capital. Malinovsky was merging with Tolbukhin for a joint drive*on Prague across the roll ing country northwest of Vienna. All-Out Assault Far in the ■ north, the Soviets opened an all-out assault on Ger man expendables on the Samland peninsula west of Koenigsberg and, capturing 60 towns, carved down the enemy holdings in East Prus sia to 120 square miles. The road (Continued on Page Five; Col. 5) Chief Of Staff Pays Respects -p - Wearing a mourning band on his arm, Chief of Staff George C. Marshall and his wife are shown arriving at the White House soon after getting news of the President’s death. Speaking of the late commander-in-chief, Gen. Marshall said: “His far-seeing wisdom in military counsel has been a constant source of courage to all of us who have worked side by side with him from the dark days of the war's beginnings.’’ (International Soundphoto) Registration For City Vote Climbs To 11,927 - ^ BOOKS CLOSED Fourteen Candidates, In cluding Two Negroes, Seek Council Posts As registration books for the municipal election closed at 7:42 p.m. yesterday, the registration within the city increased from 11, 307 to 11,927, a total of 622 new registrants. The primary will be held April 23, and the general election May 8. Largest increase in registration was recorded in the fifth ward, first precinct, which jumped from 1,079 registrants to 1,264, an in crease of 185. The only decrease was seen in the sixth ward, first precinct, which decreased from 896 to 855. Showing the second largest in crease was the fifth ward, second precinct, which jumped from 1, 479 registrants to 1,659. < Last to file for the City Council race as wiling time closed at 6 p.m. Friday was E. R. Mayhan. 1910 Castle street, Wilmington grower, who made the 14th candi date, two of which are Negroes. % (Continued on Page Seven; Col. 4) RAF Bombers Raid Potsdam And Berlin LONDON, April 15. — (U.R)— Strong forces of RAF Lancas ters, clearing a path for Al lied armies converging on Berlin, last night heavily at tacked Potsdam, while other bombers blasted the dying Reich capital. Fotsdam, a garrison town and transport center directly in the path of American troops sweeping toward the Nazi capital, is 18 miles west of Berlin. More than 2,000 sorties were flown Saturday by fighters and fighter bombers which hit airfields and communications lines. -V AMERICANS SEIZE ISLES OFF LUZON Quickly Eliminate Japan ese Garrisons On Rapu Rapu And Bataan MANILA, Sunday, April 15.—(U.R) —merican troops have landed on Rapu Rap'd and Batan islands, off the coast, of southern Luzon in - bay Gulf and quickly eliminated the enemy garrisons, Gen. Doug las MacArthur announced today. The landings, on the 39th and 40th islands in the Philippines archipelago invaded thus f a r, were made just off the Legaspi peninsula where a Japanese force has been trapped by American forces converging from north and south. Batan, an island of about 48 square miles, lies 15 miles north east of American-held Legaspi City. Rapu Rapu, 30 square miles in area, is just east of Batan and separated from it by ^ two-mile wide strait. In northern Luzon, ground troops1 closing in on Baguio, Phil ippines summer capital, were sup ported by fighter planes and bombers which dropped 540 tons oi explosives in low level attacks on enemy rear installations. Constant air attacks by bomb ers and fighters were taking their (Continued on Page Two; Col, 1) Victory By Allied Proclamation Not Expected To End Figh ting In Reich By JAMES M. LONG PARIS, April 14 — (£>) -Victory on the European front by Allied proclamation—whenever it comes —probably will not mean an end of fighting on a military scale in Germany or its stolen outposts. The best information here is that if the fighting is not broken down to mere guerrilla warfare by late fall, it might conceivably stretch on through the winter in the pass guarded hideaways of Norway and southern Germany’s “national re doubt”, where snow ana ice would slow the cleanup. In such an event, weeks and months after proclaimed victory American divisions might still bt in the line on European soil. American boys still might b« dying in a war whose end already had been celebrated. There is no reason to suppose that the link-up with the Russians, splitting Germany into two in the middle, would be signal for Gen. Eisenhower in conjunction with Premier Marshal Stalin tp pro claim victory. After the junction with the Rus sians, large German forces still will be in the field in the north oi south or both, and it is believec here that V-E day will be pro claimed only after those forces arc much more greatly broken dowr and boxed in. Already there is no cohensive front nor coherent German com mand in the west. The junction ol the Allies of the east and wes' seems near, but V-E day will come according to best opinion here somewhere between that junctioi and the end of the subsequent fighting. It is hardly that Gen. Eisenhow er would proclaim victory until the eastern front too has collapsed and a proclamation is issued joint ly with Stalin. A fortnight ago Eisenhower pre dicted that the Germans would fight on as best they could for the last inch of Reich soil; that there would be no formal surrender; that victory probably would come by proclamation. Events since have borne out that prediction. Two fighting fronts now are shaping up. One is in the north guarding the great German ports and perhaps Berlin. The other is the “national re (ConUnued on Faye Seven; Col. 1) Simple Rites Conducted At White House 400,000 Stand In Shocked Silence As Body Is Taken To Mansion TRAIN LEAVES WASHINGTON, April 15— (#*)—The train bearing the body of the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt left Washington at 11 p. m. East ern Wartime tonight for Hyde Park, N. Y., where funeral services will be held tomor row morning. WASHINGTON, April 14— (A*)—Family and friends and the. nation’s great, paid the capital’s last homage to Franklin D. Roosevelt today in the sad splendor of a White House funeral. And over the world millions joined in the mourning for the man who symbolized for them the ideals and aspirations of the Unit ed States. Thier high diplomatic representatives stood for them beside the bier in the famed east room of the executive mansion. In a flag-draped casket, the bo dy of the fallen leader arrived from Warm Springs, Ga., at 9:50 a.m., was carried along the once triumphal inaugural route from the Union station to the executive mansion, past between 300,000 and 400,000 capital residents who stood in shocked silence. The black army caisson brought the late President to the door of the mansion at 11:16 a.m. At p.m., President Harry S. Truman joined the widow and close rela tives, associates of many years and represenatives of many for eign governments in the rites of the Epsicopal church. In the flower-decked room, the casket stood on a smaU oriental rug before an altar. The Eight Rev. Angus Dun, Edshop of Washington, officated at the simple, 23-minute ceremony of the faith in which Mr. Roose velt was a lifelong communicant. On one side stood a vacant wheelchair, mute symbol of the (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) -V SUPL iORTS START HUGE TOKYO FIRES GUAM, April 14.—(U.R)—Fires burned throughout a five-square mile “arsenal area” of Tokyo to night, hours after hundreds of American Superfortresses, one of the largest forces yet employed, dropped bombs on the city, and Tokyo broadcasts said Premier Kantaro Suzuki had apologized to the emperor for damage done to Imperial Palace buildings. (A 20th Air Force communique at Washington said that six bomb ers were missing from a “very large task force” which attacked Tokyo. (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) r No Black Market? Declaring most talk about th< black market is “sheer rumor gossip, hoax and without founda tion,” Thomas I. Emerson, deputy price administrator in charge o enforcement, is shown above as h< testified before the Senate Fooc Investigating Committee. MOLOTOV COMING TO ALLIED MEET Selected To Represent Rus sia At San Francisco Conference WASHINGTON, April 14.—(U.R)— The White House announced to night that Soviet Foreign Commis sar V. M. Molotov will attend th< San Francisco conference. The White House revealed tha Soviet Premier Josef V. Stalin de cided to send Molotov after Pres ident Truman had advised Stain that such a move would be wel corned “as an expression of earnes cooperation in carrying forwart plans for formulating the new in ternational organization.’’ President Truman directed Am bassador W. Averill Harriman ii Moscow to deliver the message ti Stalin yesterday, the White Housi said. Mr, Truman stated in tha message that he would also lool forward with pleasure to a visit b; Molotov to Washington. “Today the President was advis ed by Marshal Stalin that Foreigr Secretary Molotov would attern the San Francisco conference,’ the White House announcemen said. The statement was handed to re porters at the White House by th< late President Roosevelt’s pres: Secretary Jonathan Daniels. I came less than eight hours aftei British Foreign Secretary Anthonj Eden arrived here to attend Mr. Roosevelt/s funeral. There had been great disappoint ment over Stalin’s original deci sion not to send Molotov to Sai Francisco. Soviet Ambassador An drei A. Gromyko had been named head of the Russian delegation. Disclosure that Molotov will at (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) City Pauses As Funeral Services Held For F.R. In commemoration of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Wilmington businesses and other institutions paused in brief silence at 4 p. m. yesterday as simple funeral services began in the East Room of the White House. Many residents attended memo rial services in churches through out the city. Services were conducted in all Episcopal churches, as the late President was a member of that denomination. All city, county and federal of fices were closed, with the excep tion of public safety divisions. Almost all other churches held services yesterday afternoon, and others will conduct memorial serv ices this morning. Burial services t are scheduled to begin at 10 a. m. at the Hyde Park estate. Mayor W. Ronald Lane requested yesterday that all businesses tha1 remain open Sunday, close for 30 minutes at the hour of the late President’s burial service. Wilmington telephone facilities were affected momentarily at 4 p. m. yesterday, as a brief pause was observed throughout the nation. W. B. Bryan, of the telephone company, pointed out that insofar as he knows, this is the first time telephone facilities ever have been affected by any occasion. Memorial services will be held at Camp Davis this morning, with the post’s personnel attending. Yesterday, five minutes of si (Continued on Page Five; Col. I) i First, Third Armies Drive Pass Leipzig Germans Open Up With Artillery On Yanks 45 Miles From Berlin PARIS, Sunday, April 15— (ff>) — U. S. First and Third Arm> tanks drove deep be yond besieged Leipzig and within 85 miles of the Rus sian lines yesterday while the Germans opened up with ar tillery against the Ninth Army front less than 45 miles west of Berlin. a uerman radio commentator to day described the Third Army drive, which had reached within seven miles of Chemnitz, as “sig i nificant,” and predicted its speedy exploitation f r a link-up with ; Marshal Ivan S. Konev’s First Ukrainian army in Silesia. The same commentator declar 1 ed Berlin now was “a front-line city” and “may well reckon with defense simultaneously against the western Allies and the Soviets.” The Americans west of Berlin moved up to the twice-breached Elbe river on a 90-mile-wide front while some 750 RAF heavy bomb ers subjected Berlin and the sub urban garrison town of Potsdam to a heavy night bombing. Entry Imminent (The American broadcasting sta tion in Europe told the German people that the entry into Berlin ' i was “imminent” and asserted a “state of tension” existc' in the • capital, now menaced by American . forces 45 miles away and Russian , troops 30 miles away.) As American armored columns roared 10 miles or more eastward ■ under a partial news blackout in the center of Germany, one infan try unit was only 18 miles from 1 the Czech frontier. The First’s Ninth Armored Di« - vision and the Third’s Fourth and Sixth Armored Divisions had struck so deep into the enemy’s rear that the Germans now must turn for a back-to-back death 1 stand or be cut off from retreat ’ into the southern mountain*. Already this mountain fortress ' of Bavaria and Austria had been ; penetrated on the north by yt an other Third Army column the Eleventh Armored Division—which roared into the Wagnerian city of . Bayreuth, 124 miles north of Mun ich and 173 miles from Hitler’* retreat at Berchtesgaden. XJdUlC I Ul The battle for refugee-packed ; Leipzig, 75 miles southwest of Ber lin, thundered into its second day. The Ninth Armored Division quit the Leipzig siege and joined the i powerful eastward push. North of Leipzig, the First Ar my’s Third Armored Division broke loose on a 30-mile gallop that reached a point three miles south of Dessau, six miles from the Elbe river, and 55 miles south west of Berlin itself. The U. S. Ninth Army forced a second crossing of the Elbe river at an undisclosed point on its looping front bulging within 45 miles of Berlin, and was batter ing against the capital’s leveled antiaircraft guns as it strove to build up the bridgehead. The Germans on this front also were being forced to fight back to back with the Russian lines 90 miles away, but there was as yet no indication that any forces had been disengaged from the eastern front to attempt to save the ruin ed capital. Berlin in fact reported the Rus sians were about to launch a mighty offensive along the Oder and Neisse rivers east of the Reich capital. Far behind this front, two big German cities fell — Brunswick, aircraft manufacturing center with a population of 201,000, and the Ruhr’s Dortmund, with a popula tion of 537,000. % In Final Stage The battle to liquidate the Ruhr pocket was in its final phase. It had shrunk to one-fifth its original size and 114,000 of the estimated | (Continued on Page Two; Col. %
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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April 15, 1945, edition 1
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