Evening Star Newspaper, June 2, 1940, Page 1

Weather Forecast Fair today; tomorrow fair and warmer. Temperatures yesterday—Highest, 82, at 1:30 p.m.; lowest, 62, at 2:30 a.m. The Evening and Sunday Star is delivered in the city and suburbs at 75¢ per month. The Night Final Edition and Sunday Morning Star at States Weather Bureau report. Prom the United Full No. 1,837— No. 35,096. Ul Getails on Page A-2. - (#) Means Associated Press. he 5 unday Star WITH DAILY EVENING EDITION WASHINGTON, D. C., JUNE 2, 1940—136 PAGES. . 85¢c per mon! th. TEN CENTS NAZI AIR FURY LOOSED ON SOUTH FRANCE 46 Killed in Rhone Valley Towns; Pl Havoc Is Wrodgh’r in Marseille An_c:l_lngiu strial Germans Claim Three Warships, 8 Transports BULLETIN. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, June 2 (Sun- day).—The British Royal Air Force last night raided the German-occupied harbors of Willemburg and Maassluis and the island of Terschelling, all in the Netherlands, according to a Briiish Broadcasting Corp. broadcast picked up here early today by N. B. C. The broadcast said “many direct hits” were registered. Targets around Nieuport and Ostend, Belgian seaports, also were re- ported bombed during the night and fires started. By the Associated Press. MARSEILLE, France, June 1.— The fury of Germany's air might fell heavily on Southern France today in one of the biggest aerial | forays of the war, leaving a path of death and destruction in a half dozen towns and cities down through the rich industrial Rhone Valley. At least 46 persons were Kkilled, 30 of them here and in the har- bor of this second largest city in France. The wounded num- bered around 100. Latest Paris reports said 56 Ger- | man planes were destroyed or dam- aged by the French air force during the day, with 16 French craft miss- ing. French authorities said only that a “certain number” of the Nazi raiders were brought down in the Rhone Valley. The attackers, in their first raid on the south of France, dropped two heavy bombs in this Mediter- ranean port. A cotton-laden Eng- lish ship in the harbor was sunk. | Armada of 21 to 36 Planes. The heaviest attack was centered in the Lyon industrial region, 180 miles north of here, where 16 per- sons were Kkilled and between 80 and 90 wounded in attacks on five towns. . Reports reaching Bern, Switzer-! land, said that the air armada flew in squadrons of 21 to 36 planes. Foreign observers in Switzerland speculated at once on whether the raids might have been a Hitler gesture to assure Italy, on the verge of taking sides with Germany, that Nazi air power was great enough to Ocean Atlantic ABBEVILLE” Region Q) AMIENS WITZERLAND Mediterranean Sea HITLER STRIKES IN SOUTHERN FRANCE—Hitler sent planes across France (black arrow) to the Mediterranean Sea yesterday to bomb Marseille, Nimes and the industrial areas around Lyon. While Berlin heard hints of a forthcoming attack on Paris from Italy in the south, French troops blocked a new Nazi “on to Paris” drive (white arrow) against the Somme line near Amiens. Black area shows section of France now held by Germans west of the main Maginot Line (dotted strip). An Allied island in this German-held area is Dunkerque, where the Allies were reported now to be strengtheni ng their forces, instead of with- drawing them in the face of heavy bombardment. —A. P. Wirephoto. Exultant Welcome Given Returning B. E. F. by British England, Awaiting Next Nazi Blow, Prepares To Move Children Br the Associated Press. LONDON, June 1—Britain’s vet- erans of the north—the men who helped hold the fields of Flanders until the last and then withdrew in the most spectacular retreat of .nod- ern history--still were coming home tonight to an exultant welcome from a rarely emotional people. The success of the withdrawal— one made across the English Chan- nel in a gale of fire from every. weapon at the Nazis’ comnmand—was Greece Is Bélieved In Pact fo Let lfaly \Occupy Vifal Points ! Crete and Other Islands 1 Involved in Plan to i Avoid “Blitzkrieg’ By the Associated Press. ATHENS, Greece, June 1.—A secret agreement between Greece and Italy designed to keep Greece from be- coming a battlefield if Italy enters the European war was believed in Allied and Yugoslav circles tonight to have been reached by Premier | Gen. John Metaxas and the Italian | government. | To avoid a possible lightning Ital- | ian attack, observers said, the Greek | government is ready to let the Ital- give aid to the Italians despite Ger- | illustrated by estimates from various | ians occupy strategic points of Crete man pre-occupation with the mili- tary campaign in Northern France. Lyon itself was not attacked but at an industrial town 15 miles south- west 15 persons were reported Kkilled. 60 wounded. The famous peacetime health re- gort of Aix-les-Bains near the Swiss | frontier was showered with 11 bombs that destroyed a hotel, killed one person and wounded about 30. In the Lyon area. one of two French planes which went up to fight the attackers was shot down. Throughout the afternoon raid warning sirens shrieked several times in the Rhone region, as well as in places opposite Geneva on the French side of the Swiss frontier. Factory Area Bombed. Reports via Bern said heavy dam- age had resulted in the industrial | gection near Lyon, with bombing | particularly heavy in suburbs where factories were known to be turning | out plane parts and motors. Basel residents saw bombing squadrons leave their German bases shortly after noon and return sev- eral hours later across the Rhine. One of two planes which came over | Bwiss territory was brought down by | a Swiss fighter after failing to heed | warning shots. Marseille is built at the foot of a | hill, around which loftier heights | rise in a semi-circle. It faces directly on the sea. Its foreign commerce is | greater than that of every other port | in France. Forty Allied Aircraft Felled, Germans Say BERLIN, June 1 (A).—Relays of German planes, pouring bombs upon the retreating French and British near Dunkerque, were de- clared officially tonight to have sunk three Allied warships and eight transports and to have brought down 40 Allied aircraft. A high command communique (See MARSEILLE, Page A-5) Dutch Prisoners Freed B the Associated Press. i BERLIN, June 1—Adolf Hitler today decreed freedom for Dutch prisoners of war taken in the Ger- man Army’s five-day sweep across the Netherlands. | The order did not say how many | are held prisoner of the Dutch Army | which was estimated at 400,000 men. Netherlands Foreign Minister EElco N. Van Kleffens said at the time of surrender 100,000 Dutch soldiers had been killed. A sources that of the original British Expeditionary Force of 175,000 men, from 100,000 to 140,000 had been brought safely back. ‘Too, it was stated unofficially that every division, or its remnant, save one, had been disembarked. This British division and two French divisions remained to hold off the attacking Germans. Beneath tHe cheering, tear- drenched reception ran the somber undercurrent of preparations to evacuate school children and spread England’s population outside packed cities. For Britain awaits the next | blow—long-threatened invasion, and hell from the heavens by Nazi dive bombers. Today Britain's own air force re- "7 (See LONDON, Page A-3.) and other islands with only a formal | protest as a token of resistance pro- ‘vided Ttaly spares the remainder of Greece. It is widely believed that Gen. Metaxas, Greece's dictator, has so informed Italy. In recent weeks, the Allies—France | and Britain and, in the event Italy | attacks the Allies in the Mediterra- | nean, Turkey—have, with Yugo- | slavia, strongly urged Gen. Metaxas to take a firmer stand against Italy and to increase his war preparations. Because of the possibility that these powers might reply to Greek vacillation by occupying Greek terri- tory, the government consented to | call additional reserves, strengthen lthe frontier forces along the Italian- “(See ATHENS, Page A-4.) pf Lyon Barricaded Allies Still Defending Es¢ape Port ‘ By the Associated Press. | | PARIS, June 1.—A full German | | force, backed by heavy artillery |and dive bombers, smashed | against the last of the Allies bar- | ricaded in the wreckage of Dun- | I kerque tonight as other Nazi | armies to the south strengthened | their drive along the Somme. | Clearing skies put the German | | dive bombers back into the as- | |'sault at the Allied escape port jon the English Channel and | waves of them blasted at French | | and British defense positions. | Allied fighter planes swarmed upon them to prevent disruption of | the continuing withdrawal of troops. | Even so, bombs thundered onto the port and splashed about the little boats loaded with exhausted soldiers. On the Somme River front the brunt of German attack was shifted from the Abbeville-Amiens sector to points along the upper Somme east of Amiens. | “Sustained” action generally along the front was reported by the French high command. A communi- que said, “Two strong Germany surprise attacks were repulsed.” The German drive was supported by armored divisions apparently | pulled from the ebbing battle in | Flanders. ‘ ! Break Through to Dunkerque. | | Meanwhile, scattered units of the ‘bll?le"lpli'/ French rearguard under | Gen. Rene Jacques Adolphe Prioux (whose capture was claimed by the Germans) continued to break through to their comrades in | Dunkerque'’s ruins. With them were | ‘\mme Belgians who scorned orders to surrender. Fate of the rest of the French rearguard, including mechanized units reported trying to fight their way through German lines, was not known in Paris. Military circles | made no secret that each hour in- | creased the desperation of their | plight. | These last divisions were cut off by strong Nazi units which the | French said had moved up heavy artillery and found the range of the | | defense positions and the docks from { Which the Allies are embarking. The position of Gen. Prioux and | his men is roughly about 15 miles | from the sea in a hilly area at the | edge of the Flanders plain. Reports from Dunkerque said the city had been in great measure | | destroyed. Approximately 250 acres of docks have been bombed so | | steadily they are largely useless. The | Allies consequently have been using | | lighters to take off troops. It is the | (See PARIS, Page A-5.) Salvation Arfi;y Loses ‘ {17 Centers in France |‘ | Bs the Associated Press. NEW YORK, June 1.—Seventeen Salvation Army centers in France | have been destroyed by bombs and shells, officials at American head- | cable from London. France remained safe, continued, adding: the cable $200,000.” ported. No casualties were re- | North France a Flaming Torch Seen From Air, Reporter Finds on Trip With Bomber Squadron By H. TAYLOR HENRY, Associated Press War Corrgspondent. WITH THE FRENCH BOMBER COMMAND ON THE NORTHERN FRONT, June 1.—Seen from the air from a French plane at night, the entire northern front of France looks like a flaming torch. I have just made a long night reconnaissance flight over the northern battlefields. The red glow from the flaming cities and towns gave the low-hang- ing night clouds the appearance of & late summer sunset. Far below along the battlelines on the Somme and Aisne Rivers, flashes of artillery fire looked like matches flaring. To the north and east there was an almost continuous line of burn- ing towns—Cambrai, St. Quentin, Arras, Peronne, Valenciennes— linked by smoldering fires in the little villages between. Most of these were fired by in- cendiary bombs and torch-bearing | parachutists days ago, but still the flames rise. Given Order at Nightfall. It was just at nightfall that the night bombing squadron, of which I was a guest, received its orders: “Attack in force against Cambrai airport and the crossroads south of Abbeville where important German troops concentrations have been ob- served.” ‘When I read the orders I caught my breath. Only two weeks ago, a3 T had left Cambrai, squadrons of 2 'H. TAYLOR HENRY. German planes were bombing that same airport on the outskirts of this town, which was then being evacu- ated by the French. The night was dark and moonless, and only an occasional star peeped in and out of the late spring rain- clouds, hanging low over the zone. The. commander of the squadron, who, only two days before had bombed his native village in the Ardennes, now German-occupied, lent me flying gear; three suits ot‘ heavy coveralls, one heated by elec- tricity; fur-lined * boots, a crash helmet and thick gloves. } ‘When we reached the almost com- pletely darkened airport the plane already was ready. After a quick handshake around, the five of us took our places. A thin line of red lights flickered on the field to mark our runway. The fisst pilot—I was listed as a supernumerary second pilot—gave the huge plane the gun and we lifted gracefully into the air, closely cir- cled the fleld and then headed toward the battle zone. Fire Marks Front. Below us stretched the peaceful French countryside. Heavy dark masses marked the forests, while the rivers and highways appeared as black ribbons. Some 10 minutes before the front was reached it was outlined by flashes of artillery fire. Because of the clouds we were flying low over French-held terri- tory, but as we neared the battle zone the plane rose to escape the fire of anti-aircraft guns. The French pilots have nick- named the German 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns ‘“poum-poums,” and that is exactly the sound they ::n as the shells explode in the The heaviest anti-aircraft fire was concentrated by the Germans T (Bee HEENRY, Fage A-0) ) < I;our Die in MysI:y Crash of Plane Built For Anacostia Stafion Boy, 12, Fatally Stricken While Watching Dive; Three Inquiries Start By the Associated Press. n When Will He Drop I? Soldier Escapes Flanders Only to Be Killed by Auto By the Associated Press, LONDON, June 1.—Sapper A. Rutherford was one of the British soldiers who got safely out of Flanders through the rain of bombs and machine gun bullets. But last night he was struck by an automobile while cross- ing a blacked-out street. He died today. LOS ANGELES, June 1-—Crash of a great, new Douglas DC-5 air transport while on a test flight for | the Navy killed four employes of the aircraft firm today and sent investigators scurrying for evidence of possible sabotage. Douglas officials said. however, they found no such indications in their first checks. The dead: Harry E. (Bud) Bogen, 29, West Los Angeles, pilot; William Benson, Santa Monica, flight engineer: Wal- ter M. Mulvaney, 38, Burbank, crew chief, and James Jewart, Ingle- wood, inspector. Benson’s father is Philip A. Ben- ! son, a Brooklyn (N. Y.) bank pres- ident. Boy Dies Watching Crash. An indirect casualty was John |of engineers and technicians in the | convicted today of using the mails | Robert McClary, 12, who died of a |construction field, were disclosed |to defraud the State of $31,000 and | heart attack as he watched the } yesterday as being put on an emer- | faced a maximum sentence of 15| great ship dive to the ground. His parents said he long had suffered from a weak heart. Inquiries started quickly from three directions—the Navy, Civil Aeronautics Authority and Douglas. Wreckage of the great DC-5 was still flaming when police threw a guard about it pending a probe into possible sabotage. Douglas offi- cials declared in a statement: “Until the C. A. A, the Navy and our own engineers and experts have completéd their investigations we cannot state the cause of thi: regrettable accident. Preliminary An experienced pilot who watched it appeared the controls had jammed. Had Just Taken Off. The plane, a twin-engined, high- wing type, with capacity for 16 pa: sengers, fell out of control shor after taking off from the Los An- geles airport. ‘Witnesses said the ship was trav- eling at high speed as the pilot ap- parently attempted to “gun” it out of a sideslip. It smashed through a 5-foot picket fencé into a flower bed, bounced, skidded and ploughed its way nearly a quarter of a mile, strewing wreckage all the way. Bodies of two victims were tossed from the wreckage. All four still had parachutes strapped to their backs. Watchers reported the craft at no time appeared to have Drive for Defense PutsF.W.A. Engineers On Emergency Basis Office Crowding Here In Case of Emergency | Is One Major Problem By NELSON M. SHEPHARD. | _The resources of the huge Federal | Works Agency, employing thousands gency basis for co-operation with President Roosevelt's national | defense progrem in whatever man- | ner its services might be utilized. | Administrator John M. Carmody has directed that specially trained | personnel in the various agencies | under his control hold themselves ‘in readiness for any call issued by the national defense co-ordinators. | Officials said he also has directed that the project records of seven years of New Deal emergency con- struction, as well as the enormous | lists of trained specialists formerly | employed on these projects, be made u: dvi t | investigation fails to produce any : uvailablg to the Army, Navy and in- | Sl | evidence or indication that would | dustrialists. Twenty centers in the south of | €Xplain the reason for the crash.” | The major independent agencies | merged a year ago into the Federal “Our losses in | the tragedy told naval authorities | Works Agency include the Public equipment to date are estimated at|that from the craft’'s maneuvering Works Administration, the Work | Projects Administration, the United | States Housing Authority, the | former Procurement Division of the | Treasury, the Public Buildings Ad- ministration, the Office of Govern- ment Space Control and the Public Roads Administration. These are | agencies which have directed in the |past the major emergency and | regular construction work in the ‘Govemment in co-operation with States and municipalities. Space at Premium Now. In event another great army of Government employes crowds Wash- ington for special national defense duties, it was pointed out, the Office of Government Space Control would be in a position to render invaluable service. Trained in the school of experience during seven years of (See PLANE, Page A-2) Norwegian Ship Carrying 100 Planes to France By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, June 1—The 4,140- ton freighter Gran, flying the Nor- wegian flag, sailed tonight with 100 bombing and pursuit planes con- signed to the French government. This was said on the water front to be the largest plane shipment to the Allies since the war began. More than 150 additional planes were ready for shipment tonight, and other ships were expected to be available tomorrow or Monday. About 75 of the planes shipped ‘were bombers, it was said. More War Pictures! A full page of additional war_pictures will be found on Page A-7. (See FEDERAL WORK, Page A-4.) By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, June 1.—A Nation- wide “listeners’ boycott” against three major network broadcasts to- morrow of the Communist party’s national convention proceedings was urged today as more than a score of individual radio stations declined to carry the broadcasts. Thomas Walsh, national com- mander of the Catholic War Veter- ans, Inc, called for the “listeners’ boycott” in a statement declaring the appeal was a part of the veter- ans’ Americanism program. His appeal was directed princi- pally against scheduled speeches of Earl Browder, general secretary of Faces Maximum of 15 Years in Prison Former Louisiana Governor Found Guilty Of Using Mails to Defraud BACKGROUND— 1 After Huey P. Long was as- ‘ sassinated in 1935, his Louisiana 1 | lieutenants warred among them- selves until they chose Richard | W. Leche as a “compromise” can- didate for Governor to perpetuate machine. He was elected with one of greatest majorities in | State’s history. When erpose of the grain speculations of Presi- dent James M. Smith of Louisi- | ana State University blasted the | Long machine, Gov. Leche re- | signed barely before indictment | by a Federal grand jury. | By the Associated Press. ! ALEXANDRIA, La., June 1— Richard W. Leche, 42, Louisiana’s Governor from 1936 until he re-| signed under fire last June 26, was | years in prison. The Government charged he | pocketed the money through a deal involving the purchase of highway trucks. | Sentence was deferred until June |11 to permit arguments on motion | fpr a new trial. The maximum pen- | alty is five years in prison and $1,000 | fine on each of the three counts on | which he was convicted. | Simultaneously with the convic- |tion, O. John Rogge, Assistant | (See LECHE, Page A-5) Britain’s Belgian Envoy i Reported Missing By the Associated Press. lot Oliphant, veteran British diplo- mat who was Ambassador to Bel- | glum, is missing, the British radio reported in a broadcast picked up here tonight by Columbia Broad- casting System. The announcement said Sir Launcelot and a British military attache left Brugge for Dunkerque by automobile a few days before King Leopold’s surrender and have not been heard from. Sir Launcelot, 59, was named Ambassador to Belgium and Minis- ter to Luxemburg in 1939. On November 6, 1939, he married Christine Viscountess Churchill in London. She was the widow of first Viscount Churchill, who died in 1934. Her subsequent marriage to Ralph Heyward Isham, New York financier, was dissolved at Reno in 1938. Listeners’ Boycott of Browder Radio Speeches Is Urged Cincinnati, New Orleans, Nashville, Atlanta, Syracuse, Rochester, Lin- coln, Nebr.; Milwaukee, Indianapolis and Wichita, Kans, were among those announcing they would net carry the Communist broadcasts. Some stations explained they had previous commitments, others said they had canceled the broadcasts. “Communists are just as much a menace to the country as Nazis,” said Leon Levy, president of Station WCAU (C. B. S) in Philadelphia, which canceled. Luther Hill, msnager of the Towa Broadcasting Co., Des Moines, said the broadcasts would not be carried by his company because they would “have no local interest” and “would L NEW YORK, June 1.—Sir Launce- | nes, Artillery Smash at Dunkerque Pepper Visions U. §. Allied Aid Checking Italy Floridian Defends National Guard Plan While Others Assail It By J. A. O'LEARY. Action by this Government to make available to the Allies planes | or other military equipment that | could be spared would turn the tide | of battle and might discourage Italy from entering the war, Senator Pep- per, Democrat, of Florida asserted last night, as Congress faced an- other week of intense activity on national defense plans. Although the Senate Foreign Re- lations Committee turned down his original proposal to give the Presi- dent discretionary authority to sell the Allies some of the aircraft of the Army and Navy, the Florida Senator expressed hope the com- mittee would consider the question again Wednesday, on his new reso- lution, which includes other military equipment, Another development yesterday was the statement of Gen. George C. Marshall, Army chief of staff, describing as “essential” the Presi- dent’s request for congressional authority to call out the National Guard if the need should arise. Gen. Marshall's statement brought conflicting responses from Capitol Hill, where there already had been indications on Friday that this phase of the defense program would encounter opposition. Wheeler Hits Statement. Senator Wheeler, Democrat, of Montana sharply criticized the statement. while Senator Pepper defended it. | Gen Marshall said the War De- partment is opposed to ordering the | National Guard out for active duty. He pointed out, however, that under | existing laws it would be impos- sible “to send any units of the | National Guard to assist a regular division in any one of the possible situations which might arise in this hemisphere.” | The chief of staff voiced hope | that the proposed enlargement of the Regular Army by enlistments would make it unnecessary to mobilize the National Guard, but at- the same time emphasized that “time is the esential factor” in mak- ing preparation for possible emer- gencies. Occupation of Possessions. | Before Gen. Marshall issued his statement Senator Minton of In- diana, Democratic whip. suggested the President may have had in mind the possible necessity of oc- cupying British, French and Dutch possessions in this hemisphere, if the Allies were defeated. Senator Minton pointed out that if this became necessary Regular troops probably would be used and the Na- tional Guard called out to replace them in the continentai United States. Senator Pepper called on Presi- dent Roosevelt yesterday, but de- clined to say what subjects were discussed. Later in the day the | Senator issued a statement, how- ever, predicting that Congress will act favorably on his resolution to aid the Allies “as soon as it really understands what the sentiment of the country is.” Senators George, Democrat, of . Georgia and Austin, Republican, of Vermont, both supporters of the President’s foreign policy, joined Senators forecasting that Congress might remain in session continuous- ly as a result of the request for au- thority to summon the National Guard to active duty. Called Unwarranted. Calling the request “apparently unwarranted,” Senator George told reporters: “If the President seriously insists }on this request, I think Congress | will say: ‘Mr. President, if there |is an emergency of this nature in | the offing, of which the country now knows nothing, we will stay here | to meet it."” | Senator Austin, the assistant Re- | publican leader, declared: | “I think we will be here all sum- | mer before we grant that power. ‘There will have to be some justifi- cation that ddesn't appear now (See DEFENSE, Page A-12) President on Cruise; Given Exira Guard By the Associated Press. President Roosevelt embarked on the yacht Potomac at the Navy Yard late yesterday for an overnight cruise and rest from the extra labors occasioned by the war in Europe. Unusual precautions were taken to guard him on the short route from the White House to the Navy res- ervation. Departing from custom, motorcycle poliee not only rode ahead, but on both sides of his car, which was closed despite the bright summer day. Two Secret Service cars were immediately behind. Guests of the Chief Executive on the cruise were Senator Byrnes, Democrat, South Carolina, and Mrs. Byrnes, Secretary of Commerce Hop- kins and Miss Marguerite Le Hand, the President’s personal secretary. Rodfi Programs, Page F-5 Complete Index, Page A-2