The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, August 15, 1944, Page 1

» 4 “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE _— s i VOL. XLIL, NO. 9730. JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1944 MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS PRICE TEN CENTS —_—— ] SOUTHERN FRANCE INVADED BY ALLIES @ Su;pr @ ise Action Cla 4 TRAP CLOSES panzers Slaughtered in Eleventh Hour Attempf To Escape Allied Forces ON GERMANS INNORMANDY Marshal VofiSluge's Sev-| enth Army Pracical- By EDWARD BALL | WITH THE AMERICANS OUT-‘ the pincers from Lemans in col- laboration with Canadians striking from the north. ly Wrecked BULLETIN — WITH The CANADIAN FIRST ARMY IN FRANCE, Aug. 15. — Canadian troops have advanced within one mile of Falaise on the north- ern edge of the Germans’ last escape gap from their Normandy pocket. This advance closed the gap to nine miles. Americans are battling only eight miles |SIDE OF ARGENTAN, Aug. 14—| 1pe German armor waited to es- (Delayed) — Field Marshal Genther!cape until the corridor was less {von Kluges' cornered Panzers mak-'than 20 miles wide, then made the |ing an eleventh hour attempt to|supreme effort, the bull way, ont Ibreak out of the trap, were slaugh- lof the entrapment and apparently tered today by a combined assault from the air and by artillery, the {latter firing at times at point blank | At Mortes 30 odd tanks were de- {range. . istroyed before noon,, eight of themi Vig rifles, dive bombers and big)Tigers which were blown up by| Irifles took over the destruction'their own crews, and 15 or 20 more | |after a 9-day 180 mile pursuit of destroyed in the forest during the the enemy by the Americans who morning and 20 additional knocked tes and Forest d’Ecouves. too late through the town of Mor-| | south of Falaise. The fighting in the Canadian salient has cnanged from a slugging match to one of a highly fluid char- acter. SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLTIED EXPEDITIONARY| FORCE, Aug. 15. — The German Seventh Army trap is tightening into an annihilation battle as Am- erican, British and Canadian Ar- mies crushed in upon Field Mar- shal von Kluge's wreckage at his Falaise escape neck which has been reduced to 19 miles. Hundreds and hundreds of Ger- mans have been captured. At daybreak -today, -von Kiuge tried a costly daylight rush to es- cape and was cut down. Over night the fighting forces were augumented by the invasion forces in the southern part of) France, doubling in scope the great attack and exploding a fourth front | on Hitler. Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, in an official state- ment, said the “Germans on the Normandy front are going to take| a sound beating from us,” but he warned, “we are still a long way from the Rhine.” | CORRESPONDENTIS CAUGHT BY NAZIS LONDON, Aug. 15.—Gault Mac-| Gowan, veteran New York Sun, correspondent, is reported by the| Germans to have been captured | near Chartres on the road to Paris. Apparently MacGowan ventured | beyond the Allied lines once too’ often. The Washington Merry - Go- Round By DREW PEARSON @Lt. Cu.. Ruvery S. Allen now on sctive | service with the Army.) WASHINGTON — The late Gen- eral Wiadislaw Sikorski, Premier of | Poland, who favored cooperation | with Russia, had a faithful aide and secretary, Hieronim Rettinger, who accompanied Sikorski almost everywhere. However, fate ruled | that he was not with the Polish| Premier during the latter’s fatal plane crash. | After Sikorski was killed, Rettin- | ger was not happy over the trend of Polish affairs. Finally, he went to Premier Mikolajezyk, told him| he wanted to leave the Polish Government-in-Exile and return to| Poland to help the underground.! Mikolajezyk was sympathetic but| asked how Rettinger expected ‘o] return. “I can return by parachute,” was| the reply. “But youre too old for that,” argued Mikolajczyk. “That’'s a hazard only for young men.” Rettinger countered that he was‘ 57 and plenty young enough to} take a parachute jump for the sake | of his homeland. Finally, the Polish Premier yield- ed to the point of advising Rettin- ger to go up to Scotland and take two or three practice jumps n order to be ready for the big jump over Poland. But Rettinger re- plied: “No. After the first jump, (Continued on Page Four) SOVIETS WIN spearheaded the southern claw of out in the afternoon. lgAlvnérican Armor Is Now Demonsirating Ifs Striking Strength BRIDGEHEAD ON BIEBRZA River Dark with Enem Y Blood as Reds Wage Furious Battle MOSCOW, Aug. 15, — Russian forces have started attacking freshly dug German entrenchments in front | of Grajewo, two miles south of the East Prussian border, after crack- ing the steel concrete forts around Osowiec and winning a bridgehead across the Biebrza River. Gen. Zakharov threw the full of- fensive might of his Second White Russian Army group against the Germans’ attempts to reorganize their frontier line just below the Masurian lakes. A thundering bombardment by air supported the Red Army attack. | “The waters of the Biebrza ran dark with enemy blood,” the front line dispatches to the Izvestia said. Zakharov smothered a series of tank counterattacks with his high powered drive which struck directly in the rear of the large enemy forces tied up in the Suwalki triangle which East Prussia annexed in 1939. Not only Grajewo, but Lyck in East Prussia, 12 miles north, are menaced by the two Russian army groups. Should these communica- tion centers fall, the German with- drawal in the northeastern corner of East Prussia will be imperative. The Red Army continued to squeeze defenses in Warsaw and fought bitterly for a larger spring- | board west of the Vistula River, in the area threatening Krakow and Kielce, 100 miles south of the Polish capital. Wide advances in the Baltic States gave evidence of a ¢rackup of enemy divisions in Estonia and Latvia, which are separated from the main German army by the corridor to the Baltic west of Riga. Supreme Zero Hour Has Struck, Says Berlin Radiffl ; LONDON Aug. 15—“The supremel zero hour has struck,” the German radio said tonight, and “it is the| hour when we must throw into the | battle the last little ounce of strength.” e, CARSON IN TOWN H. A. Carson is here from Skag- {then retaken by the Americans. |Klawock and Kake for exclusive| z | | | | : ‘ ALONG THE BURMA 1 | By DON WHITEHEAD MORTAIN, France, Aug. 14—(De- | layed)—There is a strange sense of unreality about the American surge across the beautiful green country- | side here. i American tanks, troops, jeeps and troop transports are swarming over the roads in an unbelievable mass | movement like a tornado cuts a | swath of destruction, then jumps for miles before striking again. There are miles of green fields and rolling ridges untouched by war, then suddenly you come on a | town where the Germans made a stand. Mortain is one of those little towns crucified by the war. It was captured a week ago by the Amer- icans, recaptured by the Germans, Bulldozers are now clearing what | was left of its smouldering ruins from the streets as a few disheart- ened civilians wander aimlessly, staring at the ruins of this once beautiful village that was once the show place of southern Normandy. Once outside of the town though, | sadness gives way to a touch of exhilaration as one watches the | Army driving hard after the with- drawing enemy. | Mile-long convoys roar down the | road where three weeks ago the line was static. Now divisions are mov- ing so fast even MPs at information | centers are unable to keep track of | ship, U.S.S. Comfort, - travel in motor convoy down part of the Burma road in company with American engineers. | READY FOR SERVICE — Army and Navy personnel comprising part of complement of nmewly commissioned hospital stand at attention during a test run off Los Angeles, Calif., where she was built. & on s Vise ¥ AR R O A D—Headed for the Salween River front, Chinese Army troops 3RD ARMY [N ACTION INFRANCE [ United Slaies Now Has| | Greatest Fighing Force Massed Under Flag SUPREME HEADQUARTERS |ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY |FORCES, Aug. 15.—Lt. Gen. Omar| Bradley discloses that the over-all| Commander of the whole American |fighting forces in Frances, which |besides the original First Army in-| |cludes the new Third Army, which | |the German radio asserted is in the field, is under the command lof Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. | The All'ed announcement made ino mention of the Commander of the Third Army but the first an- !nouncement was that it was in the field and had effected the cutoff on Brest Peninsula and then made | a spectacular sweep northward| |from Lemans closing the trap on |the German Seventh Army. Ship has 700 beds.” them. For the first time since the Am- erican Army went into action, the armor has been able to break into the open maneuverable country and exploit its strength fully. The armor has never been able to do this in| North Africa, nor in Sicily or Italy, where infantry did most of the slog- ging through the mountains, but now tanks are having their day and making the most of it. | WHATOFIT? LONDON, Aug. 15—Reports are published in London today that Lt. Gen. Jacob Devers, U. S. A, is com- manding the forces that landed in southern France. Eisenhower’s headquarters declin- ed to make any comment other than that Devers was a deputy to Gen. Wilson. INDIAN HEARINGS DATES ANNOUNCED SEATTLE, Aug. 15—Hearings on| Ward P. Warner, petitions of Indians of Hydaburg,ifl“fly of aviation i CONGRESSMEN HERE ON TOUR OF TERRITORY Eight Congressmen, members of the Aviation Subcommittee on tour of Alaska, arrived here late yester- day afternoon by plane from An- ! chorage, and are now guests at the | Baranof Hotel. A fishing trip was the schedule for today, to be followed by dinner |at the Governor's House this eve- | ning. ” | The committee, headed by Dr. Ed- intends to make a facilities in Juneau as they have in Nome, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. —— e — MARGARET CASE BACK use of hunting and ,fishing lands; in their part of Alaska has been set by the Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice as follows: At Hydaburg September 15, Kla- wock September 20 and Kake Sep- tember 25. Hearings will be held in the Fed- Mrs. Margaret Case has returned to Juneau after spending some time in Eastern Washington, visit- ing friends and relatives. She will resume her duties as teacher in way and staying at the Gastineau. eral school houses. September. Changes in (abinet Possibility if F.D.R. Army have already covered 600 e e e erm miles, One column wheeled 96 (miles in 24 hours and another| —| The two full armies give the |United States the greatest fighting force ever massed under the Am- levican flag. | Since the Third Army has been !in the fighting there has been |taken 31,000 prisoners taken 38,000 |wounded and 9,000 killed. | Some of the tanks of the Third| |wheeled 100 miles in 12 bours, By JACK STINNETT d WASHINGTON, Aug. 15. — Add Washington's oddest The “lampists” in the Pentagon build- ing, a slightly varymg staff of 18 g L | | | i | | | | or so, whose sole responsibility is| lEA D E R OF to see that the lights keep burning. {Day and night, they pound along, THIRD AR Y ’1 | | | |the corridors of the Pentagon,| jobs: | | carrying ladders, a long pole and| 'a vacuum’ cup on the end to| |change bulbs, and a packet of new; e e et oeca wost 250, Heads Drive in Normandy 000 burned out bulbs. Cost for new | and Bri"any-Promo'ed fo Major General | | bulbs alone: About $88,000. Now that President Roosevelt is lon his way toward campaigning |for a fourth term, the old rumor |his cabinet considerably. Latest MANDY, Aug. 15.—General Dwight | story is that all of the Cabinet|D. Eisenhower has announced that | | members are being asked to have Lieut. General George S. Patton, |their resignations on his desk be-|“0ld Blood and Guts” is leading| llore Election Day, so speculation the American Third Army which| over new faces and new blood can has driven over the Germans in offset the Republican argument lower Normandy and Brittany. The lfihgt if F.D.R. is reelected the French Division of Armor is under| |“tired old men (and Secretary of Brigadier General Jacques Leclerc,| {is commanding the southern invas- Nazi Forces THREEBIG |GREATBLOW - FORCES IN NEW MOVE { American, Bfifish, French { Storm Ashore Before Dawn Today PARATROOPERS DROP BEHIND NAZI LINES Tremendous SIJppOfl Giv- en to Landing Units by Navy, Air Fleets BULLETIN ROME, Aug. 15. — American, British and French assault troops stormed ashore in Southern France to- day, according to initial dis- patches from correspondents which said the first objectives were reached in less than one hour against minimum resist- ance and in less than two hours seven waves of infantry were ashore at several points, Strong combined naval and air support was given as the paratroopers dropped a few miles inshore before dawn and seaborn forces were ashore soon after. SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, Aug. 15, — Clamping a giant vise upon France, the Allies invaded the Toulon area of the Mediterranean under tremendous naval and air support and quickly seized initial objectives. The greatest fleet ever to sail the Mediterranean carried the Am- erican, British and French troops to the landing places and after the ! forces had gone ashore they began rolling through the southern French wall. Thousands of parachutists leaped behind the Nazi defenders, catching them by complete surprise and trapping them. From north and south the Allied landing force be- gan closing in on the Nazi de- fenders who seemed bewildered by the sudden action. Gen. Sir Henry Maitland Wilson ion force. The landings were made between Marseille and Nice and sent the French army coming home and fighting again on its own soil, a vengeance against Hitler’'s con- querors of four years ago. 3 KURILE ISLES ARE ATTACKED Paramushiro, Shumushu and Araido Raided on TwoDays, Navy Says WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—Pound- ing of the North Pacific Kuriles on | two consecutive days by American | bombers that blasted shipping, air- | fields and other installations in-| cluding defense positions on Para- | mushiro, Shumushu and Araidol islands on Friday and Saturday is 4 4 IS STRUCK AT HITLER Fourth Majo_r—Front Estab- lished by Landing of Allied Forces BATTLE FOR FRANCE RAGING IN EARNEST Greatest of Airborne Com- bat Forces Successfully Hit French Area BULLETIN—ROME Aug. 15.— Allied troops invading southern France are several miles inland late this afternoon says a broad- cast from the beachhead made by Eric Sevareid, CBS, repre- senting all American networks. Sevareid gave his location as on a ‘“pine covered hill several miles inland from the French south coast.” He said only a few lives were lost in the landings and “it is now quiet here. Where the Ger- mans are, T cannot tell but we may find out suddenly. They have so far done very little damage on this famous hoflday coast.” Spain’s national radio said 15,000 Allied troops landed in France by 1 o’clock this after- noon, five hours after the first assault unit of 2,000 men landed from seven invasion ships. ROME, Aug. 15—The Army of France, a great force of battle- hardened Americans and British, to- day struck Hitler on the fourth major front invading southern France successfully and completing all landings along a broad section of the Mediterranean beach around ‘Toulon. A special communique said that a few hours after the blow was struck the beaches along a considerable length of the Riviera were seized and by mid-morning, according to schedule, scarcely any ground op- position was met and there was Ho air opposition. . Great Airborne Force One of the greatest airborne com- bat forces ever assembled paved the way for the assault, likewise carried out operations successfully far in- land in the great stab under the belly of Europe, bringing the Battle for France in full fury. Backed by more than 800 ships, one of the biggest fleets ever to (Continued on Page Three' NELSON LIFTS BAN:PRIORITY GRANTEDNOW One Hundred Civilian Arfi- cles May Be Manu- factured by Order WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—Dondqld Nelson has issued the long awaited War Production Board order lifting the ban on 100 civilian articles announced by the Navy today. | Shipping was struck near Para-| mushiro and Araido, northwest ol! first reported attack on Jap posi-| tions there. | Between 15 and 20 enemy fighter planes attempted to halt the Elev- enth Army Air Force Liberators from carrying out the attack on Fri- | day but succeeded in inflicting only minor damage on'two big bombers. Three enemy planes were shot down, five were probably downed (Continued on kPnge Two) (Continued on Page Three) and two damaged. where local surpluses and labor machinery will permit. ? The order was effective at mid- | Paramushiro both days. One patrol | | ¥ night August 14 and provides pri- is about that he’s going to change| ALLIED COMMAND IN NOR-|boat was strafed near Araido in the oty aid for plants to produce scarce and badly needed items in- cluding vacuum cleaners, electric ranges, washtubs, oil burners and some scores of other items. p Nelson warned there will how- ever be no great increase in civil- ian production to be expected im- mediately as plants must be changed and men suitable for the jobs secured,