- ■
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nrttttm j&twc '■s&r
k State and National Newt
yffij.p.—NO. 166-^-- ' ___WILMINGTON, N. C., SATURDAY. MAY 12. 1945 ~ ■**>*"- —a ESTABLISHED 18flt
Soviets lut
Enemy Units
In Slovakia
j JOIN YANK FORCES
Ked Army Wrestles With
Nazi Sabotage In
Ruined Berlin
LONDON, Saturday, May 12.—
Russian armies, slicing up
%7zl troops resisting Germany s
unconditional surrender in Czech
oslovakia and northern Austria,
made three junctions with Ameri
can forces yesterday while the Red
"rmy wrestled with Nazi sabotage
in ruined Berlin.
Soviet forces in the German cap
ital battled waves of fires set by
Nazi "werewolves” and extricated
he bodies of hundreds of German
civilians from flooded subways
where they were drowned in last
act Nazi terrorism.
While fighting went on more
than three days after Germany’s
official surrender, the Soviet high
command aimuiuacu
A,, entire former Eastern Front
560 000 enemy prisoners had been
seized Wednesday through Friday.
The nightiy Soviet war bulletin
revealed that the entire Courland
peninsula of Latvia had been oc
cupied following the total surren
der of German forces in the Batl
tic states, while the Vistula river
delta east of the port of Danzig
also was freed of enemy forces.
Forty - five German generals
were among the thousands of Ger
man prisoners captured on all
fronts in the past three days, Mos
cow said.
In Czechoslovakia, Marshal Ivan
S. Konev’s first Ukrainian army
west of liberated Prague linked
with American troops near Roky
cany, nine miles east of Pilsen,
while Marshal Rodion Y. Malin
ovsky’s second Ukrainian arrrfy
also made a linkup below Prague
in the area northwest of Ceske
Budejovice.
Malinovsky’s troops also occu
pied Gmuend and Zwettl in Aus
tria near the Austro - ^lhemian
, frontier 45 miles northeast of Lin?.
The German resistance in
Czechoslovakia was being offered
by Field Marshal Ferdinand
Schoerner's "m i d d le army
groups”, but the Soviet command
threw powerful armored an d
storm forces into the battle to
wipe out the last Nazi pockets.
East of Prague, Gen. Andrei I.
Yeremenko’s Fourth Ukrainian ar
my battle to close an escape cor
ridor for thousands of still-fight
ing German forces north and
northeast of the Czechoslovak cap
ital. Yeremenko’s forces narrowed
the gap to 32 miles by capturing
Kolin, Kutna-Hora and Tabor.
In northern Austria, Malinov
sky’s troops forced the major fiart
of Col. Gen. Woehler’s German
army group, fighting under
Schoerner’s overall command, to
surrender.
In the Czechoslovka capital of
Prague, German resistance had
ceased except for occasional rifle
fire from a "few mad individuals”
which the Prague radio said still
were sniping at civilians and Red
army troops.
All German troops and civilians
were ordered to surrender their
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 6)
-V
1 W ■ MW V nmmm ___ _ __
mnuKtLtASt
2,500 MEN TODAY
fint Of Soldiers To Be Dis
charged After Vic
tory Planned
WASHINGTON, May 11—(A>)_The
irst of 1.300,000 soldiers to be re
eased from tbe Army within a
Jear under the new point rating
row* teave for home tomor
The War Department said today
about 2,500 men-long time
frndranS o£ £he fi8'hting on all
-h ”.S~Wl1 be handed their dis
“arge papers during the day, lit
DnirHP°re- £ban hours after the
]jc ratmg system was made pub
ti^Rnrn 4are among an estimat
CL„6’000, troops -eligible for dis
Stato8.6 WhJ° are now in the United
lor rpctUnder £he station system
ost and recuperation.
BarL°ltho 2’500’ the War De
scoSr fld’ have high point
8ea. a,,, sngth of service, over
A comhat and parenthood.
for discharged °f 85 iS necessary
WWeh i7 separations centers at
are sc=h6 ^en W*H he released
tion. Thltered throughout the na
sible ip J?611 are sent when pos
homes fnm,-6 ,0nes nearest their
al center.,dlSCharg?' Five addition
operation S°°n Wil1 he placed in
reported3!wPartment’' meanwhile
Proxirnately3' 70 3UrVey lhows ap‘
men in N.y 7.° Per cent of the
Work for emnV.™7 probably will
about R mo p oyers after the was;
school onP ar plan to attepp
another r? 3 'u " ‘me basis; arid
self-empinvpPier ticent exPect to be
y d after theirdischarge.
9
_“When The Lights Go On Again , . _
Like a promise of bright years of peace to come, V-E Day brought light to two symbols of Ameri
can democracy that had been blacked out since shortly after Pearl Harbor. At left, above, a Canadian
WAC and a U. S. Navy officer watch as lights blaze over the Capital dome in Washington. At right, a
powerful battery of floodlights illuminates the Statue of Liberty, as a soldier and his girl friend
look on.
6,000,000 NAZIS
MAY BE PUNISHED
Little Chance For Doenitz
To Escape Fate, Re
port Says
LONDON, May 11.— W) —Penal
ties for Germany’s war atrocities
—concentration camps, slave la
bor, enforced prostitution and
planned starvation — may be im
posed on 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 of
the conquered Reich’s population
in the form of personal punish
ment, it was learned today.
This estimate came from a re
sponsible source close to the war
crimes commission.
He added that Rudolf Hess, one
time No. 2 Nazi had flew to Eng
land in 1941 on a reported peace
mission, fugitive hangman Hein
rich Himmler and Hermann Goer
ing, captured Luftwaffe chief, all
were definitely on the United Na
tions war criminals list.
The course said there was little
chance that Grand Admiral Karl
Doenitz, who succeeded Adolf Hit
ler as German Fuehrer, would es
cape a similar fate. He held the
belief that Doenitz, chief of Nazi
U-boat warfare, would be held ac
countable for the machine-gunning
of open, unarmed boats in vila
tion of the international rules of
war.
Meanwhile it was learned that
the question of setting up a tribu
nal for the actual trial of war
criminals and their organizations
awaited the attention of the for
eign ministers of Britain, France,
Russia and the United Stajes. The
problem originally was rcwrred to
hac lined tumci cuv,c, wets
shunted aside in favor of other
more immediate problems, such
as Poland.
Simultaneously, it was establish
ed that neutral countries would
not be given the opportunity to
sit in judgment upon those accus
ed of war crimes and that the
trials would be held in public to
impress on the Germans the mag
nitude of their crimes.
It was established that the war
crimes commission, which has
headquarters here, regards as
war criminals will those decreed,
directed or participated in policies
which resulted in planned under
nourishment, slave labor, concen
tration camps and enforced pros
titution.
riotsWnorway
CITIES REPORTED
OSLO, May 11.— -VP) —Sporadic
shooting between Nazi die-hards
and Norwegian patriots broke out
in Oslo early today, but by mi
night tonight approximately 401,
000 Nazi troops, comprising the
German occupation force in Nor
way, will have withdrawn from all
cities and towns, it was annoounced.
A sharp duel between home
front forces and a small group of
German SS men and Norwegian
“hirdmen” took place in the down
town area of Oslo, where the Nazi
group had hidden in a building.
Patriots swarmed to the roof from
adjoining buildings and killed an
undetermined number of SS and
hirdmen in a four-hour battle.
British Brigadier General Rich
ard Hilton, chief of the Allied con
trol commission in Norway, an
nounced that the 400,000 Nazi
troops in Norway at the time of
its capitulation were withdrawing
from all towns to concentration
points throughout the country,
where they will await return to
Germany.
MORE COASTWISE
SHIPPING SOUGHT
Aid From Government Is
Sought By South At
lantic Ports
By DAVID BRINKLEY
Wilmington Star-News
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON, May 11—A com
mittee from the South Atlantic
Florida Ports conference today
formally requested the government
to help re-establish coastwise ship
ping, either through temporary
subsidy to ship operators or by
an arrangement like that under
which the nation runs its wartime
shipping overseas.
A resolution to that effect was
drafted after a two-day conference
at which members from North and
South Carolina, Georgia and Flor
ida sought to increase the volume
of shipping moving through their
ports.
J. T. Hiers, of Wilmington, vice
president of the conference, was
a member of the three-man com
mittee which called on the War
Shipping Administration and the
Maritime commission with a reso
lution pointing out that coastwise
shipping is a valuable component
of the war effort, an aid to main
tenance of employment, and a pro
tection for “vast amounts of pub
lic and private investment.”
Hiers said ship operators told
the conference they could not op
erate their coastwise lines with
out government aid because of in
creased costs of labor and mate
rials “even if the ships were giv
en to them.” One operator said
some of his labor costs have in
creased 400 percent since the war
started, making it impossible to
operate with freight rates pegged
where they are.
They said the only way adequate
service can be maintained now is
by government subsidy or by hav
ing the government tetain them
as its operating agents as it does,
with lines carrying war supplies
overseas.
All such government aid, it was
emphasized, will be temporary.
After the war, presumably, the
(Continued on Page Two; Col, 2)
Eisenhower Puts Limit
On U. S. Transfer Plan
’ \
PARIS, Saturday, May 12.—(£>)—Gen. Eisenhower has ordered
that American combat soldier! who have fought in both Europe and
North Africa are not to be sent to the Pacific war zone, supreme head
quarters revealed last night.
In a letter to generals of his oommand, Eisenhower said yes
teraay. tyc must uc auic mat. nv»
soldier is sent to the Pacific who
has fought in both North1' Africa
and Europe. It may be that some
soldiers in this category will not
have sufficient points to be eligible
for discharge.
“However, these men should be
retained to-the European theater
for occupation as they should not
be required to fight another cam
paign.”
Meanwhile, America’s war ef
fort in the European theater slip
ped into reverse today when the
Army put into effect its vast re
deployment plan to switch the
bulk of fighting men in this thea
ter to the Pacific.
Already some American service
troops were moving toward French
ports, beginning the long trip
which will carry them to the Pa
cific. Combat troops will begin
moving in about six months.
“For the first time in history,”
said a supreme headquarters
statement, “victory does not mean
demobilization of the temporary
citizen army.
“With another war still to be
fought, many units which saw ac
tion here are preparing to fight
again half way around the world.”
“R” Day will make the begin
ning of tabulation of individual ad
justed rating cards, which will de
termine who shall fight and who
shall go home. Soldiers who have
done enough toward conquering
Germany to rate 85 points on their
cards will just about have a ticket
come, and units will immediately
begin training men to replace
them.
Gen. Eisenhower sent a letter to
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 1)
YUGOSLAV PARTISANS
TAKE AUSTRIAN TOWN
WITH THE BRITISH EIGHTH
ARMY IN AUSTRIALIA, May 11.
— (P> —Yugoslav partisans moviiw
into Southern Carinthia and Styrm
in an apparent effort to claim
parts of the two Austrian prov
inces for Marshal Tito set1 up a
clock on a main road yesterday,
forcing the Eighth Army to re
route traffic temporarily as it
sought speedy occupation of, its
rone.
In Voelkermarkt itself the par
tisans gave Hhe town administra
tion 30 miniates to leave and an
lounced they would administer
:he municipality.
DOUGHBOYS OPEN STRONGEST
DRIVE TO CAPTURE OKINA WA;
SMASHING AERIAL BLOW SEEN
DOOLITTLE CITES
GIANT AIR RAIDS
«**
OVER 2,000 PLANES
Mass B-29 Attacks Plan
ned To Blast Enemy
In Pacific
LONDON, May 11.—<U.R)—Hor
rific air smashes at Japan involv
ing more than 2,000 mammoth
Superfortress bombers were fore
seen today.
Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle, who
led the first raid on Tokyo three
years ago and whose Eighth U. S.
Air Force helped blast Germany
‘into submission, and his deputy
commander, Maj. Gen. Orvil A.
Anderson, discussed the Pacific
war at a press conference.
Anderson said he could envisage
attacks by more than 2,000 B-29’s,
if necessary, to crush Japan. He
said after the conference, however,
he thought it would be unnecessary
because he believed that the en
emy would collapse before the
air offensive reached that size.
The biggest raid on Japan so
was yesterday’s 400-superfort at
tack.
Doolittle said he thought the
Pacific war would follow the pat
tern of the European war, with
steady weakening of Japan by
air power, followed by an over
powering land invasion.
“My feeling is that we will con
tinue to increase the size of our
air attacks against Japan as we
can get airfields and crews,” he
said.
Redeployment of the IJjghth Air
Force, he explained, be in
three directions. One part will re
main in Europe as an “air army
of occupation;” part will be sent
to the United States to be recon
verted to reserve status, and the
rest will-go directly to the Pacific*
as fast as they can be absorbed.
The big Flying Fortresses that
mad rubble out of many German
district would have to play the role
of “medium” bombers in the
Pacific where the much larger
superfortresses have been shatter
ing Japan, it was noted.
Augmented by planes from the
Eighth Air Force, the air offensive
against Japan might be able to
exceed that in Europe which some
times involved more than 2,000
bombers.
Doolittle revealed that the
Eighth’s maximum operational
strength was 2,400 heavy bombers
and 1,200 fighters scattered over
60 airfields, about 200,000 men and
women served with the air force.
Anderson said air bases on Oki
nawa, 300 miles from southern Ja
pan would when ready bring libera
tor and Flying Fortress bombers
and Mustang and Thunderbolt
fighters within range of 70 per
cent of Japan’s war potential. Bas
ing Stfperforts on Okinawa will
permitfa one and one-half ton in
(Continued on Page Five Col. 3)
Allies Told To Sink
All Enemy Submarines
Who Fail To Surrender
WASHINGTON, May 11.— (U.R)—
Although all German submarines
have been ordered to give them
selves up under the terms of un
conditional surrender, some of
them may try to reach Japan.
A Naval spokesman disclosed
tonight that some German U-boats
already have surfaced and reveal
ed their position and others have
contacted Allied escorts sent to
meet them. As yet, no underseas
craft has come into an American
port.
The terms of surrender require
submarines to surface, fly a black
flag above their 'ensign and report
their position to the Allies.
In response to a question, the
spokesman told newsmen that if
any submarine does not carry out
the terms of surrender or shows
any hostile action, it undoubtedly
will be sunk by the Allies.
_ i
Eisenhower To Head
Army Of Occupation
WASHINGTON, May 11.—KJ5P)—
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and
Lt. Gen. Lucius D. Clay were nam
ed today to head the American
part of a “stern” military govern
ment in Germany.
Eisenhower will he top man in
the setup and Clay, officially de
scribed as “tough-minded,” will be
chief deputy handling actual op
erations. Among other things Clay
will supervise “the entire de
Nazification program” and the
“ruthless” suppression of under
ground activity.
In an outline of organizational
plans for the occupation, the
Army announced that Eisenhower
will be American member of the
over-all control council on which
Russia, Britain and France will
be represented. He will also be
military commander of the Amer
ican occupation zone, which is yet
to be officially delineated. General
Clay will be his deputy in both
capacities.
The Army announcement said
Clay was “hand picked by Presi
dent Roosevelt for the direction
of the occupation of Germany.” It
described him as “a tough minded
soldier with thorough understand
ing and experience in the balance
between military necessity and
civilian requirements.”
A former director of materiel
for the Army Service Forces, Claiy
was director for war programs jn
the Office of War Mobilization and
reconversion before he went to
Europe in April. In Washington he
was generally credited with spon
sorship of several of the tougher
civilian crack-down orders which
emanated from the office of War
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 4)
FOURDMSKS
ENTER CAMPAIGN
JAPS COUNTERATTACK
More Than 40 Enemy
Planes Shot Down,
Nimitz Reports
GUAM, Saturday, May 12.—HV;
Four divisions of the 10th U. S.
Army launched the strongest at*
tack of the 41-day old Okinawa
campaign shortly after dawn yes
terday despite numerous Japanese
counterattacks by land and alt
throughout the preceding night.
A series of enemy aerial attacks
on American shore installations
and ships lying off Okinawa dam
aged three small naval units, Fleet
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said iq
today’s communique.
More than 40 attacking planes
were shot down.
On land, practically all of the
attacking Japanese were killed,'*
Nimitz reported. The enemy made
several night assaults on American
front lines and a number of at
tempts at infiltration. All were
frustrated.
Maj. Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd,
Jr.’s Sixth Marine Division, which
the previous day bridged the Asa
river estuary, paced the ground
offensive, advancing 800 yards to
within 1,000 yards of Naha, Oki
nawa’s bomb and shell-shattered
capital
In the center, these Leathernecks
and 77th Division Army troops
gained heights dominating Shuri,
medieval fortress city called the
key to the Japanese defense sys
tem.
All four of the assaulting divi
sions—the First and Sixth Marine
and 77th and 96th Army—wera
fairly fresh outfits. The 96th had
about a week’s rest and the other
three moved into the lines about
a week ago.
Maj. Gen. Archibald V. Arnold’s
7th | Army Division presumably
had? been relieved from the east
coast by the 96th Division after 40
days of tough fighting in the line.
Tactically, the most important
gains were made in the center by
tank-led troops of the First Ma
rine and 77th Army divisions. They
fought the Japanese hand to hand
in rough, high ground before Shu
ri. Maj. Gen Pedro A. Del Valle’s
First Division Leathernecks oc
cupied the village of Dakeshi near
Naha.
Nimitz also reported 612 Japa
nese were killed Thursday, in
creasing enemy dead on Okinawa
to 39,469.
He disclosed Navy casualties
from start of the Ryukyus cam
paign March 18 through Wednes
day totaled 6,853. These were 1,
283 officers and men killed, 3,498
wounded and 2,072 missing.
His last report on Navy casual
ties, May 2, listed 5,551 total cas
ualties, including 1,131 killed.
Navy bombers sank two small
cargo ships and one coastal car
go vessel, fired four small cargo
ships and a coastal vessel and
damaged several fishing craft and
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 4);
-v_
MORE DOUGHBOYS !
REACH MINDANAO
" —~ ■ - »
New Move Is Underway To
Entrap Japs In
Philippines
MANILA, Saturday, May U.— M
—Strong elements of the U. S.
40th Division have made a land
ing on the north coast of -Minda
nao island in a new move to en
trap the principal Japanese force
remaining in the southern Philip
pines.
This was the third landing on
Mindanao to be made by Ameri
can forces. In announcing the op
eration, Gen. Douglas MacArthur
said today it had landed in the
rear of an enemy force and caught
it out of position.
This enemy force, in the Inter
ior province of Bukidnon, has been
threatened by the second Yank
landing contingent which had been
moving northward from its beach
heads on the southwestern coastal
area.
Besides being surprised by the
40th Division attack, the Japanese
elements had their local defenses
disrupted by Guerrillas. The new
move, MacArthur reported, left
them “incapable of serious resist
ance.”
This puts the Bukidnon enemy
between two converging Yank
forces, one moving up from the
souih and the other down from the
north. The new landing force
quickly consolidated its beach po
sitions and drove four miles In
land.
B-29’S HAMMER
JAP HOMELAND
Vital Seaplane Factory,
Airfields Are Re
ported Hit
GUAM, Saturday, May 12.—(TP)—
American Superforts are sowing
Japan’s harbors and inland sea with
mines in a gigantic operation to
disorganize Nippon’s shipping
while fleets of B-29s hammer the
enemy’s homeland factories and
airfields.
The big bombers spanned the sea
from their Marianas islands bases
yesterday in three attacks on the
empire islands, hitting a vital sea
plant factory in the Kobe area on
Honshu island and airfields on
Kyushu.
Maj. Gen. Curtis E. Lemay, com
mander of the 21st Bomber Com
mand, said the Superforts started
on March 27th the first attempt
in military history to lock a mari
time nation in a complete aerial
mine blockade.
The B-29s, each carrying around
10 tons of mines, in nearly a dozen
missions have planted the explo
sives in the inland sea and the
harbors of Tokyo, Nagoya and oth
er major Japanese cities.
Operations to plant the mines
and maintain a close reconnais
sance, to replace explosives swept
up by the Japanese, are directed
by Brig. Gen. John H. Davies of
Piedmont, Calif., with the coopera
tion of the Navy which supplies
the mines.
Aside from attempting to lock
Japanese Naval units in their bas
es, the mining missions also are
aimed at Hamstringing commercial
craft. American officials estimated
that 75 per cent of all Nippon’s
transportation is waterborne.
Nearly 150 Superforts yesterday
blasted the Kawanishi seaplane
plant near Kobe only a few hours
after 400 B-29s had devastated Ja
pan’s oil reserves and fuel plants
at Tokuyama and Otake, on Hon
shu, and at Oshima.
A smaller fleet of the giant bom
bers also attacked the Oita and
Eaeki airfields on Kyushu island,
and late ranother force of around
50 B-29s bombed the Kyushu in-'
dustrial cities of Miyakanojo and
Nittigahara, and the oft-hit Miyas
aki airfield.
In Washington, the 20th Airforce
headquarters said yesterday’s at
tack on the Kawanishi plane plant
was by visual means as well as
instrument, and that results were
"good.” All planes from both this
mission and from the attack by
the smaller fleet on airfields oh
Kyushu island returned safely,
headquarters said. There was little
opposition from enemy aircraft al
though considerable anti-aircraft
fire was reported.
JAP DRIVE ON U. S.
AIRBASE SMASHED
* #
Counterattacks Along
Hunan Province
Termed 'Prelude’
CHUNGKING, May 11 —<*— The
smashing of the Japanese drive on
the U. S. airbase at Chihkiang and
counterattacks along the entire Hu
nan province front are but pre
ludes “to a general Chinese coun
ter offensive,"’ an Army spokesman
declared tonight.
Already, the high command de
clared, Chinese troops are six miles
northwest of Poaching, the big Hu
nan province base 125 miles east
of Chihkiang from which the Jap
anese mounted their ill-fated drive.
The north and south pincers of
a broad Chinese movement closed
on the main highway about 40
miles west of Paoching, trapping
large numbers of the enemy, the
spokesman declared.
The Japanese threw in reserves
in an attempt to hilt this counter
drive, trying to salvage something
from the wreckage of their Chih
kiang campaign. Chihking is 250
miles southeast of Chungking.
The Chinese estimated that one
third of the 80,000 enemy soldiers
who began the march on Chih
kiang April 9 ifad been killed or
wounded, much higher figures than
those from the front by Associated
Press Correspondents Clyde Farns
worth.
Simulteaneously, it was disclosed
that Chinese troops who long have
been standing watch on communist
controlled territory in Shensi prov
ince had gone into action against
the Japanese.
These troops, the spokesman
said, were attacking from three
sides in an attempt to retake the
Hupeh province air base city of
Laohokow, 350 miles northeast of
Chungking.
These forces are under the com
mand of Gen. Hu Tsung-Nan, one
of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek’s
most trusted lieutenants.
Severe fighting was in progress
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 5)
GOERING SAYS ENEMY
WANTS NO THIRD WAR
AUGSBURG, Germany, May 11.
— (JP) -Shifty-eyed and perspiring,
Hermann Goering, who faces the
prospect of answering war crimes
charges, declared today that for
the Germans “there will be no
third war in this century—every
one wants peace.”
His puffy cheeks reddening
under a hot sun Goering uneasily
faced a battery of war correspon
dents and gave his version, at
least, of what had occurred in the
Nazi heirarchy during the war
/ears.
The Japanese attack on the
American fleet at Pearl Harbor
came a3 a complete surprise to
;he German high command, the
captured Reichsmarshal said.
Declaring that he was satisfied
that Adolf Hitler was dead, Goer
ing claimed that Martin Bormann,
deputy Nazi party leader^ named
3rand Admiral Karl Doenitz as
Hitler’s successor and * added:
“Hitler did not leave a thing in
writing saying that Doenitz was to
ake his place!”
The man who for years had
seen the No. 2 Nazi blamed all
he dissension in the party on Bor
nann. With a note of jealousy
3oering said that Bormann had
•very chance to influence Hitler
since “he was with him night and
day.”
Possible Meeting Of Big Three Seen
SAN FRANCISCO, May 11—(U.R)
—A Meeting of President Truman
Prime Minister Churchill and Mar
shal Stalin, possibly in London, was
seen as increasingly likely at an
early date by World Security con
ferees tonight.
The Big Three gathering was re
garded as essential to dealing with
a host of pressing post-war issues
including several rising from se
curity deliberations here.
It was believed that arrange
ments for the meeting already
were in the preliminary stage but
no date had yet been fixed nor
any final decision made as to the
place.
Churchill was believed to .be the
prime mover in attempting to ar
range the consultation, but both
Mr. Truman and, possibly to a
lesser extent, Stalin were under
stood to be eager for a face-to
face threshing out of problems.
It was thought likely that plans
for the meeting will be crystallized
within the next week or 10 days.
Russian Foreign Commissar V. M.
Molotov was expected to reach
Moscow early next week to report
to Stalin on the San Francisco
meeting.
Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden
is leaving this week end for Lon
don. He will pause briefly in Wash
ington to consult with Mr. Tru
man who has already had a fill-in
on the Polish situation from W.
Averell Harriman and Sir Archi
bal’ Clark Kerr, the American
and British ambassadors to Mos
cow.
Harriman and Clark Kerr expect
to consult with Churchill in London
and also, probably, with former
Polish Premier Stanislaw Mikola
jczyk before reaching Moscow.
It was reported that Secretary of
State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.,
was considering a hasty trip back
to Washington to consult with Pres
ident Truman but there was no
indication that he planned to ac
company Eden on the British sec
retary’s flight east.
While a large proportion of the
I if
world’s top diplomatic personnel is
tied up at the San Francisco con
ference, this was not seen 'as a
bar to Big Three discussions. If
the Truman-Churchill-Stalin con
ference should be held while San
Francisco deliberations are contin
uing, it was thought Stettinius
might remain here to handle con
ference discussions while other dip
lomatic aides were called upon to
accompany Mr. Truman.
There was strong British pressure
to hold the Big Three meeting in
London or on some British site.
None has yet been held on Brit
ish soil and Churchill has traveled
(Continued en Page Two; CoL *)