The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 17, 1944, Page 1

THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” VOL. XLL, NO. 9603. JUNEAU, ALASKA, FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1944 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS U. S. Flier, Missing Since December 21 FAIRBANKS, Alaska, March 17. —(By Canadian Press)—First Lt. Leon Crane, 24, of Philadelphia, has reached here after 84 days in the sub-Arctic wilds, and brought the first word of the fate of a United States bomber missing with five men aboard since last Decem- ber 21. The other four still missing are: Second Lt. Harold Hoskins, pilot, of Holton, Maine. First Lt. James Sibert, ian, of Norfolk, Virginia. Master Sergeant Richard Pom- peo, crew chief, of Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania. Staff Sergeant Ralph Wenz, as- sistant crew chief, of Pinedale, Wy- oming. Families of the missing men were rotified of their disappearance soon after the plane failed to re- turn to base. They were all members of the United States Air Transport Com- mand. technic- Crane said he bailed out of the 15,000 feet up. Crane recalls seeing March 17.—America’ Liberator when it went into a spin at an eltitude of between 10,000 and 15,000 feet. He landed safely. Crane said the fi had no food and spent most of the in Sub- Ardic [limo huddling in the folds of his | parachute to keep from freezing. | Eventually Crane followed a frozen tream and reached an unoccupied | cabin, stocked with food. In another cabin, Crane stayed three weeks then started traveling, and after living a solitary existence until March 1, he found a cabin occupied by trapper Albert Ames. Ames guided Crane to Woodchop- per, Alaska mining camp, where he awaited the arrival of the mail plane piloted by Don Rice, who brought him to Fairbanks Immediately upon arrival here, ane talked over the telephone to his parent, the Louis Cranes in Philadelphia. Crane weighs close to normal, 170 pounds, and is pronounced well | physically. Crane says the transport plane |was on a flight making tests, and when about 100 miles east of Fair- | banks, went into a spin. The crew was ordered to bail out when about { one chute on the way down and saw the plane crash in flames. | Crane will now assist efforts to nine days he learn the fate of the four missing Islands. men. FAST MOVE 1S EXECUTED BYDIVISION Invasion Actorhplished in' . Short Time—Forces Near Big Jap Airfield ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC,| s First Cavalry| Division froops landed Wednesday | morning on Manus Island, biggest orl the already invaded Admil‘alty; Within four hours and 35 min-| utes, he First Cavalry Division unilsi had pushed within half a mile of| the Japanese airfield at Lorengau. | Supported by destroyers, bomb-| lers and artillery, the Ca\'alrymenju»oup;' seeking to escape by !who made the original landing on adjacent Los Negros Island Febru- ary 29, went ashore on Manus and suffered only minor easualties. | At last reports the Cavalrymen were advancing, meeting strong opposition on prepared positions made by the artillery firing from an islet occupitd near Los Negros.| The landing was made from barges. Strong forces split into two groups. One pushed inland south- west and thie'secend along the-epast and south communications route for toward the Lorengau airfield. Manus has been the goal of Gen. Douglas MacArthur from the begin- ning. It is the main base of the HITLER'S Wilds,ArrivesinFairbanks; Fate of 4 Others Unknome S Troc REDS BATTER AT DEFENSES i | Attempting fo Flee South Russia BULLETIN — London, March 17. — The Red Army has cap- tured Dubno, Stalin announced tonight in a Special Order of the Day. Dubno is 85 miles land. MOSCOW, March 17.—The Gets man army appeared unable to hold| the mounting Red Army drives 'on Odessa and Nikolaev, and Naai| |and sea have tied up miles of com- !munications in the mud of the | Ukraine. Russian units are about {70 miles northeast of Odessa, big| |Black Sea port, and to the north- east are drawn up in a semi-circle laround Nikolaev and are already battering at its defenses. Northwest of Odessa and Niko-: laev, the Russians are rapidly ex- o. OF NIKOLAEV § Hordes of Germans Now northeast of Lwow in old Pa- § § panding their hold on the Odessa- Lwow trunk rail line, main north | Von Mannstein’s German armies in | |lower Russia. The battle for more miles of this railway has produced the fiercest Bismarck sea group lying athwart fighting on the Ukraine front, but the supply lines from Truk to New only in the Proskurov sector where s Landed on Manus 125 ENEMY PLANES ARE SENT DOWN American Arir Forces Smash Both Air and Ground Installa!ions LONDON, March 17.—The Ameri~ can Air Force chopped another big segment out of Hitler’s defensive air force by downing 125 enemy planes including black painted fighters sent up to ward off the heavy daylight onslaught on Ulm and Fredrickshafen in southern Germany yesterday. The United States communique said that Fortress and Liberator gunners accounted for 48 of the en- emy's single twin engined aircraft which swirled about the American formations, The strategic Air Force announce- ment said that while the fighters downed 177 planes, 12 American fighters were lost and 22 bombers failed to return The smash on southern German targets was followed by a small but heavily freighted bombardment, when fleets of the RAF striick again at Gemman. {ransport systems in France, pounded the Michelin Tite factory at Cler ~Ferrand, 30 miles southwest of Viehy, and the rail yards at Amiens, both mas- ter cogs In Hitler'’s anti-invasion machinary. The RAF unloaded some of s -~ Searchfor Missing Japs on Majuro Atoll e American troops search an abandoned Japanese building on Majuro Atell in the Marshalls. They fail to find a single Jap. The invasion, announced by Admiral Nimitz, Fleet Commander in Washington, found the island cntirely deserted by the Japs who had possession of the former German naval supply and repair base since World War I. (AP Wirephoto from U. 8. Mxrlnc f'flrps} Eniers Yale af Twelve | | | | CO-ED REHEARSAL _Co-eds at Northwestern Uni- versity, Evanston, Ill, rehearse for the musical show, “Lady, You're Gone,” written and produced by students. In the high- stepping line (left to right) are Barbara Bushby and Judy Leich- hardt of Evanston, Arlene Gibson of Altamont, Kas., Pam Bock- hoff of Richmond, Ind.; and Annette Lennon of Joliet, Ill. Navy Experls, Seabees fo Guinea. The Allied Headquarters also re- ported continuation of heavy raids aainst Wewak, New Guinea, and Rabaul, New Britain. Five enemy fighters were destroy- | ed in the raids on Wewak. - - MacARTHUR REITERATES ~ HIS PLEDGE {Says He Wflelurn, Re-| conquer Philippines— Medal fllarded ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN Come North, Reserve, Pt.Barrow Area VIENNA IS RAIDED BY U. 5. BOMBERS | SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, March 17. | —Gen. Douglas MacArthur reiter- ated tonight, the vow made exactly |two years ago, that he will return to the Philippines and “one of the greatest offensives of the war” will be launched for that purpose. The Supreme Commander of the WASHINGTON, March 17. — The gouthwest Pacific forces, made the Navy Department is sending a crew |statement at Canberra, at a dinner of technical experts and Seabees to |in his honor, the occasion being the Alaska to begin exploration of 35,000 second anniversary of his arrival square miles of the Point Barrow |; i . in Australia from the Philippines. Oil Reserve, Representative Norris Not only did Gen. MacArthur re- Poul: W Pouison, Republican of California, | oy the promise to free the Philip- Poulson in describing the Navy’s decision to send crews north said it was the “first step in a definite program for the development of the Point Barrow Reserve.” Explore il pressed absolute confidence in the ability of the Allied Forces to do it, saying: “Nothing is more certain than our ultimate reconquest and pines from the Jap yoke but he ex-| Poulson said geological reports de- | scribed oil in the Point Barrow Re- serve as oozing from the ground. Previously Poulson had informed the House the $130,00,000 Canol Oil Project, criticized by the Truman In- Military Objectives Atfack- ed-Ground Resistance liberation of the enemy from those and adjacent islands.” Gen. MacArthur was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Order of Bath by Governor General, Lord Gourie. Gradually Dies ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NAPLES, March 17—It Is oificmuy‘ announced that military objectives in Vienna were bombed by Fort- resses and Liberators of the United States Mediterranean Air Force. Attacks were made by a strong raiding force that met no German fighters, but the first formations ran into intense anti-aircraft fire. Other formations said the ground resistance was only moderate to- ward the end of the attack, and crewmen said® finally theré was none at all. vestigating Committee as wasteful, would not have been necessary if the Alaskan reserve had been de- “ veloped. In accepting the award, Gen. MacArthur said he regarded the medal as a “symbol of the magnifi- cent valor of the soldiers it is my signal honor to command in the vital Papuan Campaign.” B ALICE DUNCAN HERE — e — | SKAGWAY WOMAN HERE | Here from Skagway, Julia Potoch- Jnick, is a guest at the Baranof. S R . . kS L] . . WEATHER REPORT (U, 8. Burean) Temp Thursday, March 16 Maximum 46; Minimum 38 Rain 15 o o 0 00 . . Alice Duncan is a guest at the Baranof, having registered from Anchorage. —— P AT BARANOF HOTEL At the Baranof E. B. Black and |A. V. Ferry are registered from }Kxnsas City. the Nazis are trying to protect the railway leading westward into | Czechoslovakia are the Germans |apparently able to hold the Red Army tide. The most important stretch of {the Odessa-Lwow line from the | Germans' point of view is the sec- |tion running from Odessa to Slo- bodzeya off which run two esca railways westward to Bessarabia. The Nazis' grave danger is losing the northermost, for Marshal Ko- nev's cavalry, light tanks and in- fantry are already advancing upon Ithe junction. ROOSEVELTS MARRIED 39 YEARSTODAY | WASHINGT! {dent and Mrs. Roosevelt are today observing their 39th wedding an-| niversary. | White House aides said the Presi- | | dent spent the day at his desk and 1 | sent an anniversary message to the | First Lady, currently visiting the armed services’ bases in the Carib- "DEVIL” I (HOKED OUT | OF MOTHER LOS ANGELES, March 17.—Miss Winifred Fairchild, 64, is being held | on suspicion of murder after she| admitted to police that she had beaten and choked her 87 year old mother to exorcise a devil. Captain LeRoy Sanderson quoted | Miss Fairchild as saying, after she summoned police to her home, that five days ago as she was feeding her mother, Mrs. Lucy “I saw al twinkle in both her eyes, and thought that it was the devil.” Last night, she added, she saw the twinkle again and “the Lord said to fight it” She struck her mother with a shoe, then placed a string about her neck and “pulled and pulled.” PLOUGHS ON ~IN CASSINO Gemans Dbminate Mount Cassino Abbey-Fire on Allies with Arfillery ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NAPLES, March 17.— The Fifth/ Army forces have now fought their |way through demolished Cassino to |the western outskirts of the former' fortress and captured several ? | heights overlooking the ruined | town. The New Zealand troops who | | i new 12,000 pound “factory busters” on the Michelin works in their pre- cision attack. The Air Ministry said that not a plane was lost in this second suc- cessive night operation of the Royal Air Force’s heayy bombers. e .—— STH ARMY ADVANCE, CASSINO Tanks Move on Railroad fplunged into the rubble immed- |lately after Wednesday’s 2500-ton |aerial bombardment, ~encountered ‘}suuug resistance of Germans who! fought back from the ruins. The | Germans were finally driven out | Station as Allies Plan Train Schedules BY LYNN HEINZERLING ON, March 17.—Presi- | { Merrill K. Wolf, who enters Yale as a sophomore at the age of 12, reads over some music wih his mother, Mrs. Morris Wolf, a Cleveland, 0., attorney. The youngest Yale student on record, he wants to major in music. His father also is an attorney. (AP Wirephoto) Liftle Finland Is Big Allied Prize; Couniry |from all points with the exception Associated Press War Correspondent of one corner of the town. That WITH THE FIPTH ARMY AT (is the strategic point to the route, CASSINO, March 17. — 4:15 p.m. | via Casilina, that leads to the Liri tuday—Allied troops clawed their Valley on the road to Rome. !way up Monastery Hill late today | The Germans are still occupying .nd were less than 100 yards from ithe ruins of the ancient Mount the top, while the base of the | Cassino abbey overlooking the town hjll in Cassino’s southwest corner, {and from there are directing ar-|gij)l German held, smoked and tillery and mortar fire on the Al-|shuddered from the assault of the lied positions in the valley. | New Zealanders. On the beachhead below Rome,| ajled tanks " moved again on the American troops beat back German Gagino aiiroad station in the counter-attacks aimed at regaining south and the east’ town station iwo strong points taken two days which has changed hands many |ag0 near Carano, east of Carroceto. oo dm:ins e e | Casualties were inflicted on the . i(nkrmsms and some Nazis were z;ofd‘:mz‘:,:m?;:sn:?":“ ?:: :‘:' |taken prisoners. A ! % R acuaAs i tack and the methodical way it was moving forward seemed to in- dicate that the next trains run from STOCK QUOTATIONS | NEW YORK, March 17.—Closing {quotation of Alaska Juneau mine |stock today is 6%, American Can |86, Anaconda 27, Beech Aircraft Is in Very Tight Spot bad. the station would be on an Allied schedule and not Hitler’s. LOOKS LIKE PUCHEU A frank discussion of what Fin- land was up against, the actions of WASHINGTON, M: ¥ s a considera- intensity with which Washington | tion of what the Nazis were doing diplomatic and military circles have | in Pinland and how Russia felt watched Russo-Finnish peace ne-|ahout it might have ended hostili- gotiations might seem out of all gjes long ago. It has been pretty proportion to its ultimate effect on'mych a static war until Russia re- the defeat of the Nazis, but this cently unleashed those bombing isn’t true, |raids over Helsinki, But it Although the United States never peen a far more important sector followed the lead of its allies in to both ourselves and the Nazis declaring war on Finland, it did than appears on the surface. ban Pinnish “propaganda” in this country in 1942. As a result, Hjal- By JACK STI Despite some 300,000 persons of mar Procope, popular Finnish min- Finnish descent in this country und‘ ister here, has had to keep his ton- gue tied 'publicly. That was too (Continued on l;age ;rwo) has |9, Bethlehem Steel 61, Common- [Wealth and Southern %, Curtiss (Wright 57, International Harvest- er 71%, Kenecott 32's, North Am- erican Aviation 9, New York Cen- - WILL BE EXECUTED ALGIERS, March 17.—The French | Military Appellate Tribunal has de- | nied to Pi mer In- bl 10%, North Pacific 16% | terior Mln;:er iPnuctl::'Prl)":n‘: ‘(;fw‘\)— United States Steel 54, ernment in France, the right to Dow, Jones averages today are appeal, as follows: industrials 14080, rails| Pucheu was convicted of treason 419.32, utilities 23.91. | and sentenced to death DRI e 25 B | The decision removes Pucheu's HERE FROM ANCHORAGE }last hope on life except an appeal | Here from Anchorage, Earl|direct to DeGaulle Fromme is at the Gastineau Hotel. | —_———-— ———————y A. W. WILKINS HERE R. E. Renkert, here from Anchor-| Here from Seattle, Albert W. Wil- age, is a guest at the Baranof. kins is a guest at the Baranof. | |