The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, November 26, 1943, Page 1

'THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. XLIL, NO. 9508. JUNEAU, ALASKA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1943 ___MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS ALLIES RAID AREA NEAR JAP HOMELAND PRICE TEN CENTJ rmany in Daylight U.S. Bombers Attack Ge MASSIVE OFFENSIVE (ONTINUES Many Areas Are Under At fack - Berlin Raided for Fourth Night LONDON, Nov. 26. — American heavy bombers struck northwest Germany today, taking up in a day- light massive aerial offensive against the Nazis after the Royal Air Force gave Berlin its fourth straight night | of bombing. Heavily attacked was Frankfurt- On-Main and other targets of the bombers and their fighter escorts are not immediately announced but | the Bremen radio station went off the air suggesting it as an objective of this first operation in a week by heavy formation of the Eighth Air Force in the eighteenth heavy Al- lied attack from Britain since No- vember 9, in addition to Frankfurt- On-Main. A German radio picked up here this afternoon said the bombers hit Offenback-Leath, chemical town, six miles east of Frankfurt. RAF Mosquitos simultaneously struck Berlin. Thirteen British bombers failed to return compared to 44 the last time Prankfurt was hit on October 22. The visit of raiders on Berlin last night meant the Nazi capital was wakened by bombs 20 of the 25 nights in Novem- | ber. In the daylight raid today, the American bombers were supplement- Invasion Forces 46 JAPANESE PLANES SHOT OUT OF AIR Strengh of Nippons in Gil- berts Diminished fo Lero Is Report PEARL HARBOR, Nov. 26. — | Evidence that the Japanese strength lin the Gilbert Islands has dimin- |ished steadily “in planes, material and will to fight” is reported by the spokesman of the Pacific fleet in connection with the communique reporting another aerial victory and mopping up operations. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz an- i nounces downing of 34 enemy fight- ers, nine bombers and three patrol | planes by one carrier division that | suffered a loss of three fighters and |one bomber. Other carrier divisions are not ‘reported in the communique which also states that only a “few Japs remain in the Gilberts.” § e ed by Marauder medium bombers :‘ The w a Shin g ton which made the secod attack in} four days against Pas de Calals, a long narrow French department ex- | tending inland about 80 miles from the English Channel, a promontory | cloest to England. It is the second time Marauders have undertaken | operations against objectives which | have not been specified in northern France. NAZI CAPITAL IS HIT THIRD TIME, 3 DAYS LONDON, Nov. 26—Swift RAF Mosquito bombers set air raid si- rens howling in Berlin for the third successive night Wednesday nigh Capital City as smoke still rose skyward from conflagrations set by British heavy bombers on two pre- vious nights. Only one raider failed to return from the confused and battered city already burned and devastated on a scale hitherto unknown. A thick yellow pall of smoke spread- 300 miles from Berlin as far_as the Swedish east coast. New Bombings Yesterday, medium bombers and Fighter escorts cut through\ the brilliant sunshine toward the con- tinent for further bombing raids. It is said a slight rain lent a welcome helping hand to the fire fighters struggling to overcome the handicap of water shortages caused by broken mains. Goebbel’s Proclamation A proclamation read by Goebbels; Wednesday night and broadcast by short wave by DNB, said: “Our will to win cannot be shaken. It is} true that parts of our city have| been heavily damaged and a num- ber of our fellow citizens killed or injured, but trying times through which we are now passing will soon come to an end.” Hitler Caught In Raid | prt ¢ by stabbing at the German| Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON (Major Robert 8. Allen on active duty.) WASHINGTON —Some out-gtdc | businessmen coming into the war | government have done A-1 jobs; |some have been medium; some lha\‘e been complete washouts. Most | outstanding achievement is prob- ably that of Charles E. Wilson,| President of General Electric and oduction wizard of the War Pro- iduction Board. If any man de- serves credit for the stupendous |airplane miracle of around 100,000 |planes a year, it is Charley Wilson. | Now, he is leaving the govern- {ment. There are several reasons {why. One climaxing reason was | Wilson's recent visit to Dallas, | Texas, to speed up lagging produc- {tion of the North American Avia- |tion bomber plant. g When he arrived, James Kindel- {berger, President of North Ameri- !can, took him up a high elevation | where he could get a bird's-eye view |of the great plant. | “One of the best exhibits of stat- |uary I've ever seen,” said Wilson. | “What do you mean?” asked. | Kindelberger. | “There’s nobody moving,” replied | wilson. “They're statues. No, wait |a minute. There’s someone lifting his hand.” North American had planned to add 9,000 more men by January 1, {but Wilson intruded a flat veto. He said that the plant was wasting | power wasn't using what it had, and gave orders for economies' which would both save labor and| speed up production. He also Look‘ Dallas out of the category of No. 1 war area, which meant that other |industries could come in and com- pete with North American for labor. Then Wilson took a plane back to| Washington. When he got back, the Army went over his head, tele- | phoned Dallas and reversed his in-| structions. Thus North American, instead of saving labor, could get| those 9,000 more men. North American was too smart to accept the Army’s reversal, but this was the crowning climax for Wil- son. Shortly thereafter, he sub- A dispatch received in London from the Swiss border, says Hitler himself was sent scurrying to a raid shelter last Monday night dur- ing the raid but left Berlin the next day. —ellp mitted his resignation. “AIR SECRETARY” WILSON? For months, Wilson had battled the Army on similar matters. Con- stantly the brass hats asked him of U.5. * In Complete Control of Mid-Pacific Isle Group PEARL HARBOR, Nov. 26.—The Ameérican Invasion forces have com- pleted the conquest of the Mid-Pa- cific Gilbedt Islands by the capture of Betio Island and its strategic airfield, killing most of the 4,000 defenders. Tarawa, Makin are firmly in American hands. The landing forces are hunting the few remaining remnants of the Japan- ese forces. With the Gilberts now in Amer- hands, the group provides © ican potential springboard for new am- phibious and aerial attacks® on Japan’s outer island defenses. In the capture of Betio, the Leathernecks forged o¢n to take control of the island in less than six hours. The capture of the island | came on the fourth day of the Central Pacific offensive. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz said it is too early to estimate the cas- ualties on either side but the Jap- anese “losses have been heavy.” On all the islands the Japanese had advantage of artillery and mor- tar positions, machine gun nests and pill boxes. The Americans were forced to . concentrate their fire power against such defenses.as the Marines poured ashore. Fietce fight- ing took place and was often hand to hand bayonet engagements, but the Japanese were pushed back and virtualy annihilated. The conquest for the Gilbert Is- land group was less than 76 hours in comparison to the 17 days it took the Japs to capture Wake is- land ecarly in the war, SUBS SMASH JAP PACIFIC SUPPLY LINE WASHINGTON, Nov. 26.—Ameri- can submarines are hitting hard the Jap supply lines in the Pacific. Nine more enemy ships have been sent down bringing to a total of 505 the number of Jap vessels sunk or probably sunk or damaged. The latest report on sub activities lists seven medium freighters, one medium tanker and one medium sized airplane transport vessel sunk at undisclosed points. The new sinkings boosted to 745 the number of Jap vessels of all types and have been given death blows by American weapons since the war started. Animalsin Berlin Zoo Freed, Shot 26. — Ele- STOCKHOLM, Nov. phants and bears in Berlin’s zoo| were liberated during the recordtintroduced in both Houses of Con- raid of last Monday night, when hunted down and shot by guards of Tiergarten Park with machine guns. This is according to travellers ar- riving here by plane from Berlin. Reports also received by Swedish newspapers say every building of the zoo was destroyed in Monday night’s raid. - . . . . . . e . . . WEATHER REPORT . 3 (U. 8. Bureau) L4 . — . e Temp. for November 24 e e Maximum 54; Minimum 32 e e Rain .00 . e Temp. for November 25 e e Maximum 55; Minimum 41 e ® Rain 27, o * 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 BUY WAR BONDS | Continued on Page Foun | and Abemama NAZI DEFENSE LINES DENTED, ITALIANFRONT |Bridgehead Established by ; Montgomery's Forces | on Sangro River { A_LL!ED HEADQUARTERS INl |ALGIERS, Nov. 26—Montgomery’s |Eighth Army battered its way across the swollen Sangro River sterday in the face of the tough- est obstacle yet encountered in the march up the Italian Peninsula, "T‘Pl'l'lflc fire was encountered but Hitler's defense Ilne was cracked 9,000 yards wide and 2,000 yards} |deep. This is the first full scale |dent yet made in the German de- fense line. German i prisoners taken said line at all costs The newly won ground is being safely held. Montgomery Talks | Gen. Montgomery, speaking with- in sound of the guns of the Sangro River front, declared the British bridgehead across the river is very |firmly held and “we have finally |got what we wanted after hard fighting, in dreadful weather.”The soldiers have risen to the great heights. The Germans counter-at- |tacked very strongly but we've got |the bridgehead.” Heavy rains caused the river ¢t rise five feet on Thursday washin many men to death. New Force In Action The American 45th Division, once part of the Seventh Army under Lt. Gen. Patton in the action in Sicily has joined the Fifth Army, it is announced, and the Allied units have beaten off enemy coun- ter-attacks along a generally un- changed front. The “Fighting 45th" is one of the most colorful Divisiens of the Am- erican Army and helped roll back the German tide when the Salerno bridgehead appeared likely to be overrun early in the critical period after the first landing. The Division is made up largely of troops from Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico, more than 1,000 southwest Indians and is rated in Army circles as one of the tough- est under the flag. Germans Use Planes The German Air force joined the ground forces in determined attacks yesterday against the British {Eighth Army now securely en- trenched in a bridgehead carved out of the winter defense line across the flooded Sangro River near Italy’s Adriatic shore. On Thanksgiving day, fighting on the Fifth Army Front, western line, was limited to violent 15-minute artillery bombardments against tar- gets behind the enemy's lines, as well as normal patrolling. Service Men and Women Are fo Get ‘No Work Insurance 26.—Bills ol = g WASHINGTON, Nov. gress provide for unemployment insurance from $15 to $25 a week, social security credits as out of ser- vice benefits for America’s service men and women. Earlier, Chairman May of the House Military Committee, promised swift action by the committee on a bill he plans to introduce to pro- vide $300 as mustering out pay to those holding ranks no higher than an Army Captain or Navy Lieuten- ant, senior grade. A duplicate of the May bill win |be introduced in the Senate spon- | make much GOMEL FALLS TORED ARMY MAJOR PUSH lasl Big Town East of Dnieper Is in Russian Hands=Destroyed BULLETIN—Moscow, Nov. 26. —The Red Army has captured Gomel, Stalin announces, and this completes separation of the Nazis' forces of the center and Ukraine thrust which climaxed the encircling drive that has been tightening the noose about i i LAMOIL « FALAW NS Pacific Ocean & o | . Pass N:swm'r. ToL @ @ ©og 2 b, h@b‘_&, R 0P « C3C) OLLAN the communications hub for three weeks. GAPS ARE SMASHED LONDON, Nov. 26. — The Red Army has captured Gomel and they were ordered to hold their the surrounding White Russian Ter- | ritory, completing the separation of the Nazi forces in the center of the Ukraine, according to German broadcasts, as a powerful new So- viet offensive smashed gaps in the enemy lines north and south of the fallen rail center. The German broadcast said that Gomel was destroyed before it was evacuated. “Pive reflways radiate from - the city of 145,000 people, the last im- portant German stronghold east of the Dnieper River. Two of the lines lead to Poland, one in the direction of Brest Litovsk, and the other through Minsk to Vilna and| Lithuania. Other lines connect Gomel with Moscow, Odessa and Leningrad. In the crucial defense battle west of Kiev, Moscow dispatches said, the Ukrainian army of Gen. Vatu- tin is standing firm under the 13- day old German drive which ap- peared to be weakening. New Nazi attacks, however, were launched near Korosten, 45 miles north of Zhitomir. The Russians, as is their cystom, did not immediately con- firm the capture of Gomel. In later Moscow dispatches the Red Star said the new Soviet of- fensive has. reached the Dnieper and cut the Gomel-Mog- ilev Highway, the most important German lateral communication in White Russia, and a major Red Army maneuver appeared under way in the frozen terrain north of the Pripet marshes. The Germans took Gomel in mid August of 1941, It is on the lofty west bank of the Sozh River, 35 miles north of its confluence With|yeprisal, the officer said, for the y.q o Thanksgiving Day spread. the Dnieper. Foreign military opinion is that if the Germans were unable to headway with such strong forces which they have con- centrated on the attack in the Dnieper bulge, the chances are that further major offensives from the Germans is extremely slight. DEATH AND PANIC - STRIKES BERLIN'S RAID SHELTERS STOCKHOLM, Nov. 26.—Scenes|of a shell-shocked private by Lt 'and of this number, Secretary of of death and panic in Berlin air raid shelters were described today by reliable eyewitnesses, who say vast expanses of the sprawling nerve center were destroyed by air raids. One witness said half ters were hit. A PFinnish diplomat, Sweden said only three his shelter escuped death. STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, Nov. 26—Closing of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 5%, American Can 81'%, Anacon- da 25, Bethlehem Steel 55%, Cur- the shel- reaching of 31 in JAPAN'S | | |- Turkey o fll_—:l;as s, % b-’o'? Coral Reesp, | TRUK ISLANDS gy ‘PEARL HARBOR’—_Closcup map of the Truk Islands in the Pacific, vital Japanese naval base.® American Doughboys on - Halian Front Gef Treat of - PORT CITY IS ATTACKED: ONFORMOSA Tokyo Broadcast Gives Re- port of Latest Assault on Japan NEW YORK, Nov. 26.—Allied planes struck within 650 miles | of the Japanese homeland yes- terday when approximately 20 planes raided Shinchiku, port & | city on the northwest coast of po*’ (Sga\GIXKV Sy, Formosa. KuopP ISLANDS NORTHEAST 1s. PARAM This is according to a broad- cast from the Tokyo radio sta- tion and picked up here. Tokyo said the attack was presumably launched from Al- lied bases within China. The broadcast also claimed three of the 20 raiders were downed by Japanese naval Fighters. Formosa was wrested from the Chinese in 1895 and lies within 80 miles off the east comst of China, some 200 miles morth of sthe Philippines and only a little more than 650 mifes southwest of Kyushu, southermost island of the Jap- et Ll 7 SR 4 JAPANESE DESTROYERS i | i | | | | | | | | n Thanksgiving | | NAPLES, Nov. 26—Up there in the | | bleak, foggy windswept mountain positions of the tarthest American advances on the Italian front, | doughboys yesterday ate turkey and! lall the trimmings with one hand| swhile they cradled rifles with the ! other. | The Army Quartermaster said| the American soldiers were going| lto have a Thanksgiving dinner if |they didn’t have anything else to| 54 ITALIANS MASSACRED BYGERMANS SENT DOWN U. S. Light Force Infercepts Enemy Units in Solo- mons Off Rabaul upper | insurance benefits, sored there by Senate Majority|tiss Wright 6%, International Har- leader Barkley, benefits continuing|vester 67, Kennecott 30%, New York up to 52 weeks if the serviceman|Central 15, Northern Pacific 13%, remains unemployed that’long after|United States Steel 50, Pound $4.04. discharge and weould supplemen® Dow, Jones averages today are the existing State Upemployment|as follows: industrials 13131 rails 32.08, utilities 20.77, Are Shot Down for Pre- venting Kidnaping of Young Girl ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN |ALGIERS, Nov. 26.—The story is given out here, as related by a | British observor officer, of the mas- sacre of 54 men and boys at Bel- |lona, Naples Province, by Germans on October 7. The massacre was in {Kkilling of a German soldier and the | wounding of another, as the two |Nazis attempted to carry off a |young TItalian girl. - 'FULL REPORT OF PATTON SLAPPING INCIDENT IS ASKED WASHINGTON, Nov. 26. -~ The | Senate Military Committee has ask- {ed for a full report of the slapping Gen. George S. Patton and in the | meantime clamped an informal hold on promotions of 14 high ranking | Army officials, including Lt. Gen. | Somervell who heads the Army | Supply Service. | In a conference with the news- men, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson said responsibility in dis- ciplining Patton for striking an en- listed man in a fit of anger is placed squarely on Gen. Dwight Eisen- hower, Stimson said Patton's extra- ordinary leadership and aggressive fighting qualities have been demon- strated in two wars but most par- ticularly in his victorious campaigns at Casablanca, Tunsia, and Sicily. B R ). S " PILOTS HERE Guests at the Baranof Hotel last night were W. L. Lavery and L. Currie, pilots of the Alaska Air- mark the day. ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN For weeks past, the Quartermas- THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Nov. |ter's - Department dressed turkeys 62. — American light. myul‘!o that have been coming to Naples by | sank four Japanese destroyers ships and planes. k Army cooks prepared the turkeys‘1 sealed them in special heat retain- | ling = kits, along with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Army trucks took the fare into the mountains as far as the roads were passable, then pack mules| |carried on. In many cases soldiers themselves lugged the boxes the| {rest of the way so all on the front| first hours of Thanksgiving Day in a naval action fought for “the first * time so'close to the enemy’s navab - fortress at Rabaul. A sixth destroyer escaped the tor{’ pedoes and guns. LR & ‘The American forces emerged uns scathed. sty The battle occurred shortly after Wednesday midnight, or early ‘Thanksgiving Day morning, when American boats intercepted enemy units . off the northwest coast of fnvaded Bougainville, The Japanese destroyers were virs , tually eliminated after a long but : thrilling battle. e | ‘The American units, in. & most . |daring action, pursued the enemy (asuali asuatiles, Italy Dri a y "ve’ | within easy range of Japanese aix | cover. ~ Made Public 1 009 japs age SLAUGHTERED BY INVASION UNITS BougainviII;Beachhead Is Now Six Miles Long- Aussies in Action ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOTHWEST PACIFIC, Nov. 26.—The slaughter of more than 1,000 Japs since the invasion of Bougainville on November 1 and the possible killing of 1,000 others, is reported by the spokesman for Admiral Willlam Halsey. Simultaneously Gen. MacArthur announced that Japanese counter- attacks were repulsed against the Bougainville beachhead and Sattel- berg, New Guinea, where the Au- stralians are moving from three sides. The beachhead on Bougainville is now six miles with the recent Lexuension of two miles, - WASHINGTON, Nov. 26.—Casual- | ties suffered by the American Fifth | Army since the landing in Italy on! September 9 to date totals 10,659 | War Henry L. Stimson reports, 1,613 were killed, 6,361 wounded and 2,- 685 are missing. | Stimson also said foul weather is greatly restricting operations in thc1 Italian theatre. Charge Japs | Using Poison | Gas in China CHUNGKING, Nov. 26. than 5,000 Japs were wiped out in a battle for Chagteh, gateway to Changsha, in the enemy’s offensive against the nation’s rice bowl. The Chinese again charge the Japs with using poison gas. I — More ¢ by damaged a fifth destroyer in the &