The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 1, 1944, Page 1

¥ " the arguments against self-sealing VOL. XL, NO. 9640. “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, MONDAY, MAY 1, 1944 THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CLNT? US. AIR FLEETS KEEP BLASTING NAZLS American Tanks Now in Action in Burma Warren Made GOP Keynoter STILWELL RECAPTURES LOST AREA Commander—M_aking Forc- ed Drive Toward Enemy Base at Mogaung SOUTHEAST ASIA HEADQUAR- TERS, May 1. — Two years after taking a “heil of a beating” in Bur- ma, Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell has recaptured almost half of the Mogaung Valley and sent into ac- tion the first All-American tank unit to fight on the Asiatic contin- ent. The annouicement says medium tanks are spearheading a drive down the valley which increased hope that “Vinegar Joe” could reach the enemy base at Mogaung before the monsoon rains begin in two weeks. Reports have been received the Japs are massing for an all-out as- sault on Imphal, the main Allied base. The Washington Merry - Go- Round S s By msw PEARSON (Lt. Col. Robert 8 Allen now on active service with the Army.) WASHINGTON—Secretary of War Stimson has recelved a letter from Senator Kilgore of West Vir- ginia, hard-hitting member of the Military Affairs Committee and of the Truman Committee, which may help to save lives ‘when it comes to future parachute operations over Europe. After calling attention to the fact| that Allied naval gunners shot down our own paratrooper transport planes over Sicily, Senator Kilgore inquired of Stimson as to what had been done to equip this type of plane with self-sealing gasoline tanks. Kilgore pointed out that the U. S. transport planes carrying paratroopers over Sicily had no self-seal tanks and that, as a result, some of them burst into! flame almost immediately, giving no chance to the paratroopers to bail cut. The West Virginia Senator also asked the Secretary of War what steps had been taken to put armor around the pilot's seat in these transport planes. Kilgore said that he appreciated gasoline tanks and armor—namely, that they may increase the plane’s weight and lessen its range and maneuverability, also that when a plane is shot down at low nlmude, the paratroopers inside have little chance to bail out. However, Kilgore also touched on an amazing situation inside the Army wherein many officers have done their best to improve the safety of troop-carrying muuport.s only to be thwarted. The argument inside the Army| began shortly after the two tmglc\ incidents over Sicily when, on two/ separate nights, U. 8. and British paratroopers were shot down by Allied naval guns. !rnmediatelyl afterward, a committee of inquiry was appointed in North Africa to ascertain the causes of the tragedy. One recommendation inserted in the report was that self-sealing tanks be installed in troop-carrying transports. Since that time, Maj. Gen. P. L. Williams * has recommended self- sealing tanks. So also have Col. Ralph Bagby, chiet of staff for air- ‘borne infantry in the North African theatre, and Brig. Gen. Mike Dunn, who participated in the Sicilian campaign, but has since been trans- ferred. However, nine months have pass- ed and nothing has happened. i ORDER FOR TANKS COUNTERMANDED ifield reports admitted the fall of | jthe historic Hulao Pass, 'NIPPONS FAIL {7th Naval Disfrict Staff R k 5 L Rear cludes Alaska and the Aleutizans. Front row, left to right—Capt. B. H. Mndr € B0V, Conidr. ¥, S, MacKinnon, U. 8. N. 1., Chief of e S. N. R., Legal Officer; Comdr. E. J. Friedlander, U. S. J. H. White, U. 8. N. R, Operal ns Officer, and Lieut. 111:.1 T. M. Felt, Admiral F. E. M. Whiting is the Commander of the newly created 17th Naval In the above official Navy photo the Commander is shown with his staff. 8. N, Public Works Officer; Adm, Whiting, .and row, left tn rl!ht——Ll'lll Jack G. McBrlde, U.- . R., of Seaille, kntelligencer Officer; Comdr. MacARTHUR - WON'TRUN, | PRESIDENT General Will Not Accept‘ {'* Nomination-Clubs | ; Will Disband ! | 'WASHINGTON, May 1—The Re- peblican Presidential field was n‘rrowe(l perceptibly over the week- |end by Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s !unaqunocnl statement he will not District which in- U N., Personnel Officer. HULAO PASS |Bus Jams, Slums, Back 1S CAPTURED BY JAPANESE Fall of Strafegic Bastion, ' His Group All Aces Guarding Loyang Is | Blow fo Chinese CHUNGKING, May 1. — Chinese ancient | battleground guarding the way to] 2 Loyang in Honan Province. This is a distinct blow to the Chinese, and was preceded by an eight day battle near the Yellow River north of the Lunghai Raiiway from which the Chinese had removed the tracks. The invaders are reported to have begun immediate fortification of the pass, rushing preparations for a possible drive on Loyang. It was disciosed by United States| Army headquarters that American planes are aiding the Chinese troops battling the invaders in the| offensive in the Chenghsien.area. MEET Col. Hubert Zemke, 30, of | Missoula, Mont., who leads a fight~ er group of 28 aces known in the | European theatre as the American Zemke group. They have shot" down 397 of the Luftwaffe’s front line fighters in a year, Zemke, who holds the Distinguished Flying Cross, has 11 Nazi planes to his TO RESPOND 10 " BOMBING RAIDS, Boomlown on Pofomac credit. Capt. Robert Johnson of | Only Meagi; Anfiaircraft Fire - Planes Keep Lawton Okla., who has destroyed | 25 planes, also is a member’ of the Zemke group. (lutmflmm) Out of Way WASHINGTON, May 1. The | Navy Department reports that the latest long series of attacks on| Japanese bases in Truk atoll pro- o duced only “meagre” anti-aircratt 9uotation of Alaska Juneau mine fire and that enemy planes also|stock today is 5%, American Can kept eut of the way of the at- 5% Anaconda 26%, Beech Ailr- P‘oitr;-one tons “ of bombs were {eraft 8%, Bethlehem ' Btefl: 0%, dropped on Truk atoll Friday and Curtiss Wright 5%, Internauonal Ponape was bombed the same day. }arvester 70, Kennecott 30%, North e ——— American Aviation 8%, New York LEGION AUXILIARY |Gentral 17%, Northern Pacific 15%, MEETS TUESDAY EVE United States Steel 51%, STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, May 1. — Closing Finally, a member of the Du Pont family, Lt. Col. Felix Du Pont, as- sisted by Lt. Col. David Laux, had (Continued On' Pags~Foir), The American Legion Auxflial'}"s 04. will hold their regular business |Dow, Jones averages today. are meeting tomorrow, Tuesday night, ad follows: industrials 137.06, rails w8 g'clock at the Dugout. 3918, utilities 22,60, 5 s . \ A .| b Pound| Seat Rumor Make Up accept the nomination and the tmovement to draft him has thus {been knocked in the head. | The Chicago headquarters of MacArthur for President Club an- nounced disbandment immediately. { The Democrats this month will iname delegates representing 476 |convention votes and the Republi- Clh‘ 351 in 26 states. e, —— RAIDS MADE FROMBASES, = " HOLLANDIA & Gov. Earl Warren of California (left) has been selected as Temporary Chairman for the upcoming Nationa! Republican -Presidential Nom- A'flacks Increasmg on Jap Airfields from Dufch inating Convention in Chicago as publican nomination. he walks with Ohio’s Gov. John W. Bricker who is seeking the Re- THOUSAND PLANES MAKE " RAID TODAY German Ammunltion | Dump Near Paris Bombed LONDON, May 1.—One thousand |American Bombers and Fighters smashed German installations in |the northern France powerhouse in a send off on the seventeenth |straight day of the pre-invasion of- {fensive sustaining the campaign jovernight by the Royal Air Force. | Heavy bombers blasted the great |German ammunition dump at Maintenon, 37 miles southeast of |Paris and two more rail targets in horthern France. ‘The blows today followed up blasting by 3,000 planes that deliv- ered hits yesterday on pre-invasion targets. American bombers, for the third straight night, blasted the big port |of Genoa and a fleet of more than 500 planes rained explosives on Mi- ‘lan rail yards and othef targets in .nurthem Ttaiy. | e PRE-INVASION BROADCAST LONDON, May 1.—The Allies pre- invasion nerve war received a fresh .| impetus’ “the " néw United States broadcasting station in Bri- |tain, launched operations Sunday by it,elllng the people of occupled Eur- well as the keynote speaker. Here New Guinea ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD- QUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, May 1.—Allied sea and air forces have directed steadily mounting attacks on Japanese air /bases to the west of conquered By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, May 1—What is wartime Washington today? It's like this: It's Boomtown on the Potomac. It's the $83,000,000 Pentagon build- ing, and it's slums so disgraceful that Congress had to stop prosecu- ting the war to “investigate.” It’s needle-in-the-hay hunting for artments, houses and rooms. It's jammed buses and street cars. I 1t's taxi drivers who will pass you anything from the time of day to' the latest back-seat chat of Clare Boothe Luce. | It's the tomb of the unknown ‘soldk-r. where Army and Navy guards walk night and day, rain, snow or shine. It's Arlington Na- \biunal Cemetery where the funeral yparddas these days are almost end- less. It's government bigwigs paus-| ing in the midst of war to go to a| {little church around the corner from | Connecticut Avenue to pay final tribute to Joseph B. Eastman, the| great transportation expert, who| served his government nmhtully\ and well for 25 years. It's the President cancelling a i press conference because the White ' House elevator has broken down| and can’t be repaired immediately | —because of the war. It's the oc- casional visits of Mrs. Roosevelt. It's a bench in Lafayette park seem- | ing strangely empty because Ber-' nard M. Baruch is ill. It's silver-haired Secretary of! State Cordell Hull working a little| | political ;shenanagan by “consult-| |ing” Republican members of Con-| gress on international affairs. It's the closely-guarded barrier | that blockades the only civilian; entrance to the Commerce building, | where there are very few war! secrets, and it's the wide open doors| iof the Department of Justice build- ing, where the FBI guards mnny‘ war secrets. 1t’s the guards at the doors to the Capitol who paw through papers 1n! brief cases and big envelopes and hold all visible cameras until you exit, but never bother to look under your coat or in your pockets. It's Howard University, one of (Continued on Page Two) iSchouten Islands just north of Big Hollandia with emphasis on the Geelvink Bay, General MacArthur, reported today. | Making the longest raid from New ——— |Guinea bases, Liberators jumped Mokmer airstrip on Biak Island, only 120 miles east of the enemy'a stronghold ' at Manokwari. A doze) Japanese planes tried to head on the attack and lost three and prob- Sensational Report from Seattle Reported by Vancouver Paper ably five of their craft. The Liberators sent 77 tons or bombs hurtling into fuel dumps and | parked aircraft, wrecking at least 15. Several of the attacking bombers were damaged but all returned to; their base. | On Saturday night five and six inch guns of Allied warships pound- ed apanese Installations at Wakde with 75 tons of explosives after heavy bombers nad poured 51 tons intg the coastar positions in that area, Coastal guns were silenced, buildings shaitered, and large fires were started in the area. ‘VVATIC?UVER' th.ay 1. 7‘”;‘ o e { Vancouver Sun, in a newspaper story, says “early seizure of the en-, tire west coast American halibut' fleet by the United States Navy is reportedly under consideration by OPA officials in order to break the U. §. VESSEL SENT DOWN; ing to reports from Seattle.” SFATTLE, May 1.—Officials of [the Thirteenth Naval headquarters ‘bmd they have not heard any such * |report. | Vessel Sunk in Mediter- ranean But Meagre Defails Announced 10sS HEAVY U. . PLANES, BERLIN RAID was recent. LONDON, Mny lL—American The announcement does not state heavy bombers and escort of U, S whuflh‘- the American ship was|and RAF fighters met fierce enemy sunk by a submarine or by air-|opposition last Saturday on the craft. The vessel sank swiftly. raid on Berlin. Sixty-three bomb- The next of kin have been noti-|ers and 14 fighters failed to return. fied. This is the most costly raid ever S, made. J. L. Holn end R. R. Duggan,! Eighty-eight Nazi planes were guests at the Baranof, arrived here knocked down or destroyed on the yes y from Anchorage, ground. WASHINGTON, May 1. — The smkln. of an American ship with ja loss of 493 military personnel in the Mediterranean is announced by \the War Department. Canol Projed Relmery AtWhitehorse Dedicated By Officials on Sunday present fishing boat tieup, m:r-nrd-j ieskingiatsions |ope that grea! Alliled armies are {coming to theiv ald ere long from “west and south.” The twin blow will be struck in |cooperation with the Russian forces |attacking from the east to show the |Germans “what an overwhelming |force can be to end forever the shameful chapter of Nazi tyranny.” Robert Sherwood, Director of OWI overseas operations delivered the initial message. The station is to be known as “ABSIE” and the broadcast urged ‘underground workers in Europe to WHITEHORSE, Y, T, May 1.— t The Canol ofl project, the farthest, N0ld themselves in readiness. north oil field in the world, & ven- | Only one thing is certain about the ture ranking even the 1500-mile great venture and that Alaska Highway, one of the great ' te date was decid- engineering feats in Canada during ¢4 long ‘ago and the timetable was the war, was opened to the North-| worked out to the minute, even sec- west and the world on Sunday and becifme a reality before mlmnryi Records covering a number of and government officials of the|Yyears show wedther over the | United States and Canada on the | channel in as having less fog !uul\knls of this historic Klondike and fewer lflll gold rush town. Ernest Devin, British Labor Min- The refinery, linked with 595 l;cer, sald he knows the date but miles of 4-inch above-ground pipe- he s not telling the Germans so line from the source at Fort Nor-|they are m up their -wild :man Northwest Territory, was Df-‘gmg ticially opened with a mid-~ amzrnoon ! ceremony. | The Canol project was under!ak&n‘ EAST wEST a5 an “emergency measure of ene- my action which threatened the| ‘Stalin Announces His Tri- umphant May ‘Day lines of supply on the United States forces in Alaska.” Prime Minister of Canada Muc- kenzie King, and Brig. Gen. L. D.! Worsham, Commanding the North- west Service Command, responsible for the construction of the Canol 'project and refinery, declared that |all of the work by the United States | Army in Northwest Canada and Alaska had “been designed for the| £ole reason we are at war with a| very powerful foe, and Canol is one| |of the many developments design-| ted to defeal this enemy, therefore the refinery is dedicatd to the utter| drhnl of the Japanese Empire.” ! , ‘The refinery will furnish aviation' Order in Broadcast LONDON, May 1.—Premier Josed fuel for planes using the serfes of ' Stalin, in a triumphant May Day |airfields from Edmonton to Fair-|order broadcast from Moscow, ac- banks, gasoline for trucks and other ' knowledged the “considerable con- Army equipmient rolliny along zhef tribution” from America and Britain Alacka Highway, diesel fuel for has helped the Russian victories but trucks and similar equipment. | he further declared there “can be Geologists estimate the potential| no doubt that only a combined at- possibilities of the field as between|tack can crush Hitlerite Germany 50,000 and 100,000 barrels. | completely and deliver the Poles, The United States will retain| C2echs and others, described as ownership of the pipeline until the brothers, froni bondage.” end of the war when it will be of-| Stalin also said joint blows must fered for sale, the Canadian Gov-|be dealt from the east and west. crnment given the first right zo; Mo v o ot purchase. WASHINGTON, May 1. — The >+ House Nava: Committee has ap- FROM GUSTAVUS proved without dissent the measure Mrs. Max Ware and Mrs. Berf ®uthorizing the construction of an Miller have arrived here from Gus- |2dditional $1,800,000,000 worth of tavus and are registered at the|landing craft for key invasion op- Baranof erations, e— seczaiper B B [ { 4