The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, June 21, 1944, Page 1

v " o “ALL THE NEWS ‘ALL THE TIME” VOL. XLIL, NO. 9684, JUNEAU, ALASKA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1944 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS " THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE — aa—————— ] PRICE TEN CENTS = .} PACIFIC NAVAL FIGHT REPORTED RAGIN Doughboys Are in Suburbs of WHAT WAR BONDS MEAN KEY FORTS NEAR DOCKS UNDER FIRE Germans M;k—ing Last Ditch Stand Within Inner | Defeg Ring | BULLETIN — SUPREME | HEADQUARTERS OP ALLIED | EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, | June 21.—American troops have | smashed to less than one mile of Cherbourg’s waterfront, driv- ing between two fortress bas- tions under cover of air and artillery bombardment, The fall of the great port tonight seems only a matter of hours. The piledriver offensive crashed | through the suburbs along the inland road between Fort du Roule and Fort Octeville, Nazi | strong points which are shud- | dering under bombs and leaflets calling on the trapped Germans l | to surrender as escape is cut off. SUPREME HEADQUARTERS OF THE ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY | FORCES, June 21. — Doughboys, | supported by heavy artillery and air bombardment, assaulted two key | the tools to (Continued on Page Two) - | The Washingtos BERLIN IS Merry - Go- Round DAMAGED IN GIANT RAID May Be First Shuttle Raid from Brifain fo New Russian Bases By DREW PEARSON | (Lt. Col. Robert 8. Allen mow on active service with the Army.) WASHINGTON — Now that the | invasion”is under way, some inside light can be thrown on Gen. Mar- shall's alleged labor-baiting press conference which reverberated all over the country last December. Whether or not you agreed with Gen. Marshall at the time, there| was no question that his statement | was bitterly resented by labor.! Labor chiefs protested at the White! LONDON, June 21—More than House. 1,000 American Fortresses and Lib- However;: what could:pht be ex- erators blasted Berlin and the cap- plained at the time was this. The ital’s outskirts. Chief of Staff had just returned| The German radio indicated that to Washington from the Teheran at least some of the planes flew to Conference, at which it is now, the eastward, possibly iu_ the first known that vitally important de-|Shuttle raid from Britain to the cisions were made for a second NeW American bases in Russia. front. Those decisions meant that,| beginning a few days after Christ-""f around 1,000 fighters, making mas, the Army would begin the|? total .force of some 2,000 planes, movement, several hundred carried the aerial war once more thousand men (the number must iNto the heart of the German still remain secret) to the seaboard homeland. for shipment to England. The| Basdorf on Berlin's outskirts was movement of those troops would |21s0 blasted. German broadcasts put a terrific burden on the rail- | @dmitted damage and casualties, roads. |and threatened to retaliate with Gen. Marshall was one of the| igger and more powerful ex- few men who knew about this,{Plosives” than those used in the Coming back to Washington, he|rocket bomb offensive. The first found the country on the verge Jf Liberator fliers coming back to a railroad strike which might tie the British bases said there was up its entire transportation sys- Plenty of flak over the targets, but tem around January 1, just as the|they did not see a single German big mobement of troops was sched- |fighter, a rare occurrénce in raids nle. to start. on the hub of Germany. hat was why he felt so wrought| up, and why he delivered his press- | conference blast accusing labor of delaying the war. of STOCKHOLM, JUNE 21. — “I'm reeling,” the newspaper Afton- ;madev.'s veteran Berlin correspond- jent telephoned after the raid by 11,000 American bombers. Great |masses of high explosives and in- |cendiaries were hurled into the bat- tered city, causing “severe damage” |and starting many fires, he said. i - e JUDGE VINSON HOLLERS A labor. delegation was calling on Senator “Happy” Chandler of Ken- tucky recently when Happy pick- ed up the telephone to answer a call from Economic Stabilizer Fred Vinson, also from Kentucky. |FIRE THIS MORNING Vinson was asking Sepator! . AT FOSBEE APARTMENTS Chandler to vote with the Admin-“ One apartment was damaged istration against the Bankhead this morning at the Fosbee Apart- amendment to the price control' ments when the Juneau: Fire De- bill, explaining that the nmend-;pnrzmcnt answered the 4-2 alarm :r;lemdin rtlus oplnlolll seriously mu-jat 8:45 o'clock. Cause of the fire lated price control. was “When I was appointed to this T S omiawiy Jjob,” :ald :udge Vix::::. “you came | SANITARY ENGINEER around and you pal me on the| BA ‘ back and you shook hands and you| A. J, Alwrc.xs:fig:ly H&g;::: told me, ‘Now, if you ever want|with the Territorial De, rtme anything from me, just you hol-[Heuuh, has returned rrg::: H:a::m;! ler.’ where he went several days ago tor’ However, the Senator from Ken-|the purpose of settm tucky turned a deaf ear, indicated gncy water swmm‘;nul;“;nlem“t that he would vote against Vinson assisting generally in aidl‘r’xgy ::: fire victims of the village, (Continued on Page Four) The bomber fleet, with an escort "Perfedt Pacific Victories™ _‘Arg Slarled Righl e P— Mopping up becomes easier, as on Kwajalein, when Mnrines have do the job. By LEIF ERICKSON (This’is the fourth of six stories by Assotiated Press correspentd- ents who have seen war at first hand and tell the vital part the equipment bought by war bonds has played in Allied victories and defeats. Erickson has been covering the war in the Paeific since 1942. In March, ‘42, he wrote a story on a typical day in the life of a Flying Fort'’s crew, two weeks later of a convoy cruise o Hawaii, and he’s been covering the stories close to the front ever since.) | PEARL HARBOR - When you ‘H‘cad communiques from the front, ‘iand correspondents’ stories telling | how our Marines and Army dough- | boys storm, capture and shatter a ;death-sunkmg Pacific atoll, you 1folks at home feel hope-lighting lsatlstacuon, don’t you? % You think to yourself: “We've | licked the Japs again. We ought to be able now to keep right on rolling to the China coast, and pretty soon ! start showing the Japs what war is like right at home.” Militarily, the capture of Kwaja- lein, Roi, and Mamur in the Mar- shalls was as nearly perfect as an ;’amphibxous operation can be. | But for individual American hus- |-bands, fathers and sons, the cost of the Kwajalein victory was great. Two hundred and sixty-eight paid with their lives. Hundreds were wounded. Many will remain physic- ally damaged for the rest of their ilive.s. i Lives and“bodies are the weapons of war. If all of you could see a | hospital ship crowded with wound- ed men as they look coming straight from the battle line, you would know | why the primary consideration of | Admiral Nimitz and his team of | Army, Navy and Marine command- ers in their war planning is: The cost in American men must | be as small as humanly possible. {* The more power in ships, guns, tanks, planes, landing craft, bombs | and shells Nimitz and his staff can | muster, the smaller the battle cost |in lives will be. Victory bond dollars buy the | material weapons of war. Dollars | buying those weapons earn in- calculable interest in the lives of | America’s fighting men. 10 PERSONS OUT VIA PAN AMERICAN LINES | Passengers leaving for Fairbanks |today via PAA were Mrs. Belle |Woods, Mrs. Jules Glant, E. K. {Johnasen, and H. R. Smith. Herbert J. Waugh, Edith M. |Fenfroe, and Evelyn M. William were passengers for Whitehorse; while George Danner, Jr, Cecil Hukill, and W. A. Boyd were flown to Seattle | | BIAK ISLAND DROMES IN YANK HANDS 'Total Now at $105,079- Americans Now Have Bas- Beity Nordling Leads | es Within 880 Miles Miss Liberty Contest of Philippines Official tabulations in the Fifth : 8 War Loan drive show that bond| By MURLIN SPENCER purchases now total $105,079, with | Associated Press War Correspondent $61,420 of this being in Series E| { ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD- sales. UARTERS IN NEW GUINEA, Tonight the bond booths will be June 21. — Borokoe and Sorido operated by the Juneau Masons dromes on Biak Island have been and the Order of Eastern Star. captured, completing the conquest SMALL GAIN 'REPORTEDON BOND SALES Last night sales were made by thelof the airstrips in the Schouten Women of the Moose and the|Islands, once Japanese held. Mbose Lodge. | The two strips were taken on Big cvent tomorrow night will be Tuesday, and headquarters an- the Little World Series baseball nounced there was heavy enemy game between the Rotary Club and ‘resistance west of Sorido. Biak’s the Chamber of Commerce, with other drome, Mokmer, was cap- admission being by purchase of a tured carly this month. bond. ! These fields place the Fifth Air The following are the returns on Force within 880 miles of the the Miss Liberty contesti | Philippines. The Americans built a fourth drome on Owi Island, five Betty Nordling 18121 it from Biak. Betty Mill 17,175 The Jap Biak losses are describ- Kathleen McAlister ... 14496 |oq 4 heavy. Sorido village, three Ruth Kunnas 10474 loyarters of a mile west of the Joyce Smith 8,658 drome, was also captured. Mary McCormack 8,525 Truk atoll in the Carolines again | Betty Bonnett 8425 [tpok a heavy pounding, headquar- Lila_ Sinclair 6,350 ters announced, when Liberators Lois - Allen:, 83, ‘Lfio;\ped 39 tons of bombs. There Since yesterday there has been Was 1o enemy interception, and a “new deal” in the Miss Liberty antiaircraft fire was encountered | Contest with Betty Nordling, who for the first time in many raids is quite a campaigner, forging to the front. Kathleen McAlister gained over 4,000 more votes, and Ruth Kunnas, who was in_sixth position, is giving her a close race for third and is only 22 votes be- hind. Joyce Smith dropped from fourth to fifth, and Betty Bonnett went from fifth to seventh. Lois . Allen is in the basement, and | Mary McCormack went up to sixth To B R I T I S H‘ Lila Sinclair is still number eight | Kathleen McAlister recorded the largest gain in payroll votes. —_— | The tabulation «commiftee would ey % appreciate 1t it the contestants and (rificism of American Pol- their supporters woyld make a com- T o icy by Britisher Rouses - Secrefary of State | HULL MAKES SHARPREPLY plete turn in each day so that an accurate record of the vote may be published daily in the Empire. GERMAN PRESS WASHINGTON, June 21— Pearl Harbor was following a |“single policy of self defense” Sec-| |retary of State Cordell Hull de-| clared in & sharp rebuttal to what| he termed an entirely erroneous| TREATS ALLIED MOVE llG“TlY;asseruon by Britain’s Production | . By WADE WERNER | The assertion brought a per- Associated Press War Correspondent sonal apology to the Commons LISBON, June 20, (Delayed) — from its author, British Minister Symptoms in the German press Capt. Oliver Lyttleton, who mld‘ suggest that the Nazis are deeply Commons that he had no inten-| disturbed over the reaction' of the tion of saying in his speech Mon- civilian population to the smashing|day that American Lend-Lease aid of the Atlantic wall defenses in|to Britain forced Japan into at- Normandy by the Allies. Appar- |tacking the United States. ently Doctor Goebbels had his Asserting that any such state- propaganda mills geared for an en- ment is “manifestly untrue,” he tirely different kind of situation. added that he is not complaining As a result the German news- about being misquoted, and ac- papers, with the biggest story nf;knowledged thdt “any misunder- the war before them, are giving standing is entirely my fault.” skimpy and erratic coverage to the| Was Misunderstanding main event in the west, while pac-| Lyttleton’s appearance before ding their columns with secondary Commons came after Hull lssued nonmilitary items. Some maps have & statement last night declaring been published but nene even the Minister was “entirely in er- vaguely indicating the areas that ror” in the remarks attributed to the Allied troops are holding. him at a luncheon of the Ameri- Voelkischer Beobachter has a cur- can Chamber of Commerce in Lon- ious story saying that the Germsan don. Lyttleton earlier released his High Command deliberately plan- version of the interpolation, put it ned to let the big Allied force break contained no reference to this quo- through in order to set the stage|tation ascribed to him by American for a decisive German victory {n- reporters at the luncheon, “It is side Prance. Other newspapers try a travesty on history to say Am- to assure the people that the erica was forced into the war.” French population is collaborating| Hull took no cognizance of the loyaily with “the defenders of later release. Today the Minister's Europe.” press officer said it was not in- Significantly the Nazis don't tell tended as a verbatim report of his the same story inside France where remarks, but “what he said, as la splurge of long articles is being nearly as he could remember it, is aimed at convincing the French- certainly what he dntended to say.” men that Americans have no feel-| It had said that Lyttleton ing for French culture and derive scribed the Japs as considering the as much pleasure out of the de- | American policy in the war as pro- struction of the Cathedral City as|voking only because they chose to watching a striptease show. do 80 in their aggressor role . |some four miles north, notwith- America in the months preceding made some roads almost impassable. de-! Russians MovingOn Helsinki Fortress S;p;rt Viipuri Captured by Red Army ~Finns Want Peace - LONDON, June 21.—The victor- jous Russian -troops who occupied Finland’s fortress seaport of Viipuri yesterday, today drove on toward Helsinki, where the Germans are reported bringing pressure on the PFinnish government to keep the small ally from suing for peace with Stalin. Russian troops have “advanced three miles beyond Viipuri,” the British radio said in a broadcast. The Finnish radio urges all per- | sons whose presence in Helskini is not essential, to evacuate the city. Helsinki is only 135 airline miles west of Viipuri. The Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter says the Germans are en- deavoring to block formation of a “Finnish peace cabinet,” the Finns are reported to have formed. Finnish officials are reported to have said the loss of the key Kare- lian fortifications have “left us helpless because our whole scheme of defense has been built on the expectation that we would be able to hold there.” A g el oy, EIGHTH ARMY HURLS BACK NAZI FORCES Drive Along Halian Coast, Continues-Enemy Car- rier Is Damaged ROME, June 21. — The Eighth Army veterans have hurled the-last | Nazi defenders out of the ancient! Perugia communications hub, 85 miles north of Rome, and advanced standing heavy rains which have The Allied drive is still in steady motion, although the Germans have thrown elements of seven divisions' against the right flank of the Fifth Army's front in an effort to slow its pace. The Fifth Army fought through four mgre villages, making what Headquarters termed “minor | tactical gains.” The Mediteranean Air Force Headquarters announce that Thunderbolts have severely dam- aged an enemy aircraft carrier in| Genoa harbor. ———.——e—— WHISKEY 10 BE MANUFACTURED ' DURING AUGUST WASHINGTON, June 21.—Tem- porary resumption of domestic whis- orized by the War Production Board and has so notified the National Beverage Distillers. The present supplies of industrial alcohol is now sufficient to permit resumption of making of whiskey during August. This will enable the distillers to manufacture between forty to fifty million gallons of 86 to 90 proof whiskey during August. e —— IDA STEVENS ARRIVES Ida M. Stevens, from Little Rock, | Arkansas, has arrived here to enter | her new position with the Public | Roads Administration, and is reg- istered at the Juneau Hotel D bt IN FROM PELICAN key manufacturing has been auth- | Cherbourg KING SAYS U. S. FLEET ALL READY Strict Radio Silence Pre- vents More Details-600 Jap Planes Bagged WASHINGTON, June 21. — Ad- miral Ernest J. King, expressing appreciation of the “long expected cooperation” of the Jap Navy, which is apparently moving into battle position, expressed confidence in the outcome of the prospective naval engagement in the western Pacific. “The sooner the Jap fleet fights, the better we will be satisfied,” King said. He made the statement after Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal reported that despite strict radio silence in the Pacific, there has been gome indication that American forces “may have succeeded in catching up with all or part of the Jap fleet yesterday.” Forrestal added that there Is, however, “no definite information” as to the prospective engagement, land based his comment on the statement made yesterday by Ad- miral Chester W. Nimitz, who re- ported the Jap fleet was located in the waters east of the Philippines, and indicated that some engage- ments already had been fought. Fleet Bighted Forrestal reported that the Jap fleet ‘was sighted “at.various. times during the past few days milling around:500 to 800 miles westward of Saipan Island” In the Marianas and east of the Philippines. Forrestal said Jap planes attacked American naval units near Saipan on Sunday, and indicated the planes apparently came from carriers. at that time 500 miles to the west- ward. ‘The Jap plan, he continued, seems to have been to launch the aireraft with the idea that after attacking they would be able to land for refueling at Guam or Rota, Jap held bases in the Marianas Navy Ready “We have no other details result- ing from the air battle other than the fact that cur forces were ready for the attack,” he continued, “Our carrier attack with ships and anti- aircraft guns wiped out most of the Jap planes.” 600 Nips Downed At Pearl Harbor, Admiral Nimitz reported the Japs lost a total of 600 planes since the action began in the Marianas. Admiral King disclosed that plans which have long been under consid- eration have been reviewed again, with close cooperation between the British and American forces in the war against Japan, and when pos- sible, the strength will be swung to the Pacific, away from Europe. e — JAPS CLAIM " SEA BATILE UNDERWAY Radio Broadcasts from Tokyo Tell of Some- ; thing Doing NEW YORK, June 21. — A Jap broadcast picked up here says a | “fierce naval battle” is raging in the | Central Pacific, off the Marianas. | The Brjtish radio said: “The Jap | spokesman is quoted as saying that |this battle will have far-reaching effects on the Pacific’' war situa- tion.” ‘The Canadian Broadcasting Sys- {tem recorded the London report of |the Jap broadcast from Tokyo, which said that the Privy Council | heard a report sent home by Min- ister Kichisaburo Ano “in connec- tion with damages suffered in the recent air raid on northern Kyu- 8. A. Sholin is in from Pelican City and has registered at the Juneau Hotel, shu.” The Jap mainland area was hit last week by American Super- forts, BIG FLEETS ENGAGED IN BATTLE NOW Admiral Nim—ilz Hints Jap Armada May Have Come Out for Showdown BULLETIN — UNITED STATES FLEET HEADQUART- ERS IN PEARL TWARBOR, June 21.—American carrier-bas- ed planes attacked a strong Jap fleet, including aircraft carriers and battleships, midway between Luzon and Saipan before dusk Monday in the first day action that may develop into a decisive naval battle in the Pacific, an official communique says tersely. “With night fall, the American aerial attack on the enemy ves- sels was presumably broken off. Additional details will be made as soon as they become avail- able.” By LIEF ERICKSON Associated Press War Correspondént in the Pacific UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, PEARL HARBOR, June 20. — (Delayed)— The Japanese Naval Armada—pos- sibly the entire Japanese Fleet— has moved out between the Phil- ippines and the invaded Marianas, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz an- nounces, hintitig dramatically that a history” making Battle with the’ American Fifth Fleet may be under- way and damage has possibly been inflicted on the Japanese warships. There is a possibility a major naval engagement might result. The Tokyo radio told the Japa- nese people that a huge naval bat- tle is taking shape and promised a decisive victory. “I cannot control the Japanese fleet movements and if I did there will be definitely a naval engage- ment,” said Admiral Nimitz. Significant Hint Admiral Nimitz made the signi- ficant hint that possible damage has already been inflicted on the enemy surface units and these blows could have fallen either from naval forces or carrier planes and might mark the first stages of a great battle. 4 Three hundred Japanese planes, believed carrier-based, signalled the presence of the enemy warships in the area and they were shot down attacking the American Task Force, spid Admiral Nimitz. The Admiral said that since the start of the Marlanas operations, the enemy losses in planes approach Admiral Nimitz declared “we have taken the Marianas and control the sea at least 100 miles from there. No major American combatant unit has been lost in the Marianas strike.” FIGHT ON SAIPAN WASHINGTON, June 21.—Inch- ing forward against heavy artillery, the Americans have taken the southern half of Saipan, the largest island in the western Pacific Mar- ianas group, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz reports. The forward lines now extend from the shore of Magicienna Bay on the southwest side to the out- skirts of Garapan, principal Saipan town. The Army and Marine units are said to have moved up the artillery and biasted at the enemy’s big guns. American bombers are also straf- ing the area in front of the Am- erican units while off-shore ships are pouring shells into the enemy positions. EMMONS IS TRANSFERRED SAN FRANCISCO, June 21.—The Western Defense Command an- nounces Lt. Gen. Delos Emmons, its General, will be transferred “to an unannounced but important command.” The transfer was made effective yesterday. The name of Emmons’ successor was not made public,