Evening Star Newspaper, April 11, 1942, Page 2

Two Extra Pages In This Edition Late news and sports are covered on Pages 1-X and 2-X of this edition of The Star, supplementing the news of the regular home delivered edition. Closing N. Y. Markets—Sales, Page 1 Readers Prefer The Star The Star's afternoon and evening circulation is more than double that of any other Washington newspaper: Its total circulation in Washington far exceeds that of any of its conteme poraries in the morning or on Sunday. S = 90th YEAR. No. 35,77 Heavy Casualties Inflicted on Invaders ; | By the Associated Press. Victory-flushed Japanese ham- | mered at beleaguered Corregidor fortress today while striving for a quick occupation of Cebu, the Philippines’ second largest city. | An invasion force estimated at| 12,000 started landing yesterday on the Island of Cebu, on which the city is situated, the War Depart- ment reported, but met with stub-| born resistance from a small Amer- | ican-Filipino defending force and! suffered heavy casualties. Although supported by fire from warships and dive bombers and by tanks. the invaders at no point were able to advance more than a few miles. ! Tokio broadcast an ageount of vio- ! lent street fighting and said Cebu City was reported “shrouded in smoke as the enemy set fire to ves- sels in the bay, oil tanks and other establishment Communications Severed. | Reporting that communications | between Corregidor and Bataan Peninsula remained severed, Lt. Gen. | Jonathan M. Wainwright failed to shed further light on the fate of his army of\ nearly 37.000 which was crushed on the peninsula. The War Department’s first com- munique in 24 hours thus left un-| answered whether the troops who remained had surrendered, but a Domei dispatch from Tokio said the offer of surrender had been made. ‘However, considering their plight and also in view of President Roose- velt’s authorization to Gen. Wain- wright to act as he saw fit in the circumstances, some credence was placed in reports of a formal sur- render on Bataan. A Japanese dispatch which Tokio said came from Bataan related that two days ago a group of Americans including Maj. Gen. Edward P. King, jr., commander of the forces on Bataan, and Lt. Col. E. P. Wil- liam, his chief of staff, had ap- peared at Limay under a flag of truce. Tokio reported this offer was made to a Japanese commander who “refrained from giving a defi- nite answer.” ‘The army’s communique said Cor- regidor, Gen. Wainwright's head- quarters, and nearby Fort Hughes were subjected both to intensive air attack in the last 24 hours and to intermittent artillery cross-fire from | enemy guns on the peninsula and | from siege batteries on the south | shore of Manila Bay. Casualties were declared to be few, however, and the damage inflicted slight. | The Japanese invasion of Cebu was first reported yesterday in news that American torpedo boats had sank a warship engaged in the Cebu area. With the Stars and Stripes still flying, Corregidor was manned by the 3,500 United States Marines and bluejackets who escaped from Bataan | in the final hours of the bloody peninsula fighting by the regular gar- rison of American and Filipino soldiers. In addition, there was a sprinkling | of nurses and troops, still dazed by the shock of battle. who swam | through shark-infested waters of | the channel between Bataan and Corregidor or rowed in small boats under a hail of bombs and aerial | machine-gun fire. Ordered Withdrawn. The Navy revealed in a com- | munique late yesterday that Gen.| Wainwright had ordered the blue- jackets and the marines in the Ba- | taan battle withdrawn to Corregidor | before the peninsula’s defenses were | overcome. The Navy announced at the same | time that the Bataan forces had | destroyed the submarine tender | Canopus, the minesweeper Bittern, the naval tug Napa and the Dewey floating drydock to keep them out of enemy hands. The Navy made public some de- . tails of the part the bluejackets and | the Marines took in the battle of Bataan. Formed Into Fighting Unit. | These men were originally sta- | tioned at the Cavite and Olongapo naval stations. When those points ~ (See PHILIPPINES, Page A-4) | Unifed Drive on Hifler Urged Now by Litvinoff ol By the Asscciated Press. 1 PHILADELPHIA, April 11.—The | time has come, the Russian Am- Bassador declared last night, “to; make Hitler rack his brains and, wonder where his enemies will direct | their next blows” instead of others| guessing where Hitler will strike, next. ° “Isn't it time to compel him to| scatter his forces a little?” asked Maxim M. Litvinoff in an address before the American Academy of Political and Social Science. “That | is what united efforts are needed for, and not united efforts in the abstract, or at some future date. “I mean united efforts now, for the definite purpose of inflicting de- feat on Hitler on the only front where this is now possible. Victory may be long in coming if one state has to exhaust its major forces in today’s military operations, while another harbors’them for possible operations at some indefinite time in the future. Our efforts must be | had planted their flag on the tip | yielded before the pressure of nu- 4. WAS News Agency Tells of ; Purported Surrender Of American Forces By the Associated Press. TOKIO (From Japanese Broad- casts), April 11.—Front-line dis- patches to Domei News Agency from Bataan said today that advance units of Japanese forces of the besieged peninsula. Japanese dispatches yesterday re- ported the occupation of Cabcaben, the last settlement before the out- post of Mariveles on extreme South- ern Bgtaan. The Japanese dispatches, describ- ing action up to late Thursday, said the advancing troops “planted the Rising Sun flag within enemy de- fense lines around Mariveles, stra- tegic city at the tip of the penin- sula.” (This indicated, apparently, that at that time American and Filipino forces were still continu- ing their rear-guard resistance to cover the withdrawal southward.) | Attacks on Corregidor. | Japanese bombing planes and war- | ships combined in “devastating nt-i tacks on American positions at Cor- regidor fortress at the same time that Japanese troops were moving | | | | southward along the eastern coast of Bataan, supplementary dispatches | said. Domei said the air and sea assault | Further Withdrawal | In Fighting in Burma Indicated by British Communique Reports [ Engagement With Japs 58 Miles Above Prome Br the Associated Press. NEW DELHI, April 11.—A fur- ther British withdrawal on the | Irrawaddy River valley front in | Burma was indicated today by a; British communique announcing! that three Japanese vehioles were engaged Wednesday “by | light reconnaissance troops in the vicinity of Nyaungbintha.” Nyaungbintha is 18 miles north of the Thayetmyo defenses and 58 miles above Prome, which was merically superior forces last week. “On the Chinese Tront (the East- ern defense lines above Toungoo) there was Japanese artillery fire yesterday, but no definite infantry action,” the communique said. Second Triumph in 2 Days Is Credited to A. V. G. By the Associated Press CHUNGKING, China, April 11.—| Still supreme in their corner of the | air after the Japanese radio re- peatedly boasted they would be blasted from the sky, the hard-hit- ting “Flying Tigers” of the Amer- ican Volunteer Group were credited today with their second triumph in| as many days over Japan’s air force. The A. V. G., part of the vast sys- tem of men and guns being mar- shaled for the defense of India, re- | ported shooting down 7 Japanese planes for certain and probably 4 more out of a force of 20 which ai- tempted to attack an airdrome in Northern Burma Thursday. I All A. V. G. planes returned to their base without a scratch. | Only the day before the A. V. G.| intercepted 20 raiders and shot| down 10. The Japanese got in a few licks ursday morning, however. At- japan’s flag I;I:mted on Tip Of Bataan, Tokio Reports said: ' Babe R;fl‘ 7Be7fler MAJ. GEN. E. P. KING, Jr. Japs say he surrendered Bataan. —U. §. Army Photo. was an “all-out offensive to exter- minate Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wain- wright's beleaguered Filipino-Amer- ican forces.” “It is learned that large numbers | of boats filled with Filipino and | American troops fleeing from Ba- taan, Corregidor and Caballo and unable to flee elsewhere, are facing annihilation,” Domei reported. Story of Surrender. Demei said it haa received a de- scription of the purported surrender of American forces from its corre- at Limay, coastal towns. (Army repcrts from Washing- ton said resistance in the Bataan area is continuing, particularly at Corregidor to where 3,500 marines had been safely evacuated. American reports have never ac- knowledged a formal surrender of American and Filipino forces on Bataan.) The Domei story of the surrender “An unpretentious, small open car displaying a white flag, speeding along a military highway early on | the morning of April 9 in the direc- tion of the Japanese lines in the vicinity of Limay signaled the sur- render of beleaguered Filipino and American troops in Bataan within six days after the launching of the | 1-out Japanese offensive. “Japanese soldiers who hailed the car to stop found an elderly Ameri- can general, attended by six Ameri- can soldiers, all with somewhat 1 frightened looks. | “On being questioned, the Ameri- | can officer revealed that he had | been dispatched by American head- quarters to arrange for an inter- view between representatives of the Japanese and American forces in | Bataan. “The matter was immediately re- | ported to headquarters of the Japa- nese forces and & meeting was ar- ranged for 11 a.m. between the com- mander of an undiscloséd Japanese unit and the American general in residence, in front of the Lamao agricultural research station. “On being introduced to the Jap- all | American officer identified himself for the first time as Maj. Gen. E. P King, jr., commander of the Amer- ican forces in Bataan, and intro- duced his aide as Lt. Col. E. P. William, chief of staff, who subse- quently produced a written formal surrender. s “The Japanese commander, how- ever, refrained from giving a defi- cers.” HOLLYWOOD, April 11 (#).—The | condition of Babe Ruth, baseball veteran stricken with pneumonia early this week, was described as “very satisfactory” today bv his nurse. His physician reported yesterday that Ruth apparently had passed ~(See BURMA, Page A-7.) the crisis. -~ spondent with the Japanese forces | one of the occupied | anese unit commander, the elderly | nite answer to the American offi- | HINGTON, D. C., Perch’s Normal Complement Was 50 Men The United States submarlne‘ Perch has been overdue for 4| month and presumably is lcst! in the Western Pacific, the Navy announced today. | The Perch, commissioned six years ago, last was reported operating in | the Java Sea. She was under com- | mand of Lt. Comdr. David Albert Hurt, 38, of Pounding Mill, Va. | She was the fourth submarine | reported lost or missing by the Navy | Department since the war began. | The others were the Shark, reported | overdue in the Western Pacific; the | S-26. which went down after a collision off Panama and the Sea Lion, demolished at Cavite in the Philippines. Loss of the Perch brought to 26 the number of naval vessels an- | nounced as lost since December 7. Normal Complement Was 50. | The announcement said that next of kin of all members of the crew | have been notified, but gave no | estimate of the total personnel. Commissioned in 1936, the Perch had a displacement of 1,330 tons. | Her length was 300 feet 6 inches and | her beam 25 feet. Her draft was 13 feet 10 inches. | _In unofficial Navy publications the | Perch’s surface speed was listed at | 20 knots and its submerged speed at | 9. Chief armament consisted of one 3-inch gun and six 21-inch torpedo | tubes, of which four were in the bow and two in the stern. The Perch was | built by the Electric Boat Co. and was one of 10 P-type underseas boats laid down between 1933 and 1934. The Perch formerly was flagship of | | Squadron 6, Submarine Force, and later was assigned to the Asiatic Fleet. _ Comdr. Hurt was born at Pound- ing Mill, which is in Southwest Vir- ginia, August 4, 1903. He attended the Tazewell High School and Hampden-Sydney College before be- ing appointed to the Naval Academy by Senator Glass in 1921, Assigned to Raleigh. AFollowmg graduation his first as- signment to sea duty was in the | U. 8. S. Raleigh. In October, 1928, | he was transferred to Submarine Division 12 and in December of that | year he reported to the Submarine | School in New London, Conn., for in- | struction. He served aboard Sub- | marine R-14 until 1932 when he re- | ported to the post-graduate school of the Naval Academy. | After completing the post-graduate | course in 1934, Comdr. Hurt served | | aboard the S-3¢4 and in January, | | 1935, was ordered to command the | | S-35. He remained in that duty | | until May, 1937, and was instructor | | in the department of electrical en-| | gineering at the Naval Academy | from June, 1937, to May, 1939, when | he assumed command of the Perch. Family Lives in Annapolis. | The officer is survived by his | | widow, Mrs. Constance Wickham ! Hurt; their two sons, John, 7, and | Thomas W. Hurt, 9, and by a son | by a former marriage, David, jr. | | 16. His family left Manila a year | ago to live in Annapolis. | His parents are dead but his sis- | ter, Miss Louise Hurt, Tazewell, Va,, | | postmistress survives. She first re- ceived a message from the Navy | Department stating that Comdr. ‘Hurt's craft was overdue and this was followed by a message saying he had been lost at sea. |Nazis Grant France |Civil Representation By the Associated Press. VICHY, Unoccupied France, April | | 11.—Jacques Chevalier, former un- | | dersecretary of state for family and | | health, was appointed administra- | | tive director today of the “depart- | ment of French labor in Germany,” | France’s first civilian representation to the Reich since the war. i He will supervise arrangements for | the care and protection of French | workers employed in German fac- | tories, estimated by German official | sources to number approximately 100,000. Japs Paid He Clark Lee, Associated Press correspondent who covered the Battle of Luzon and most of the siege of Bataan before going to Australia, describes step-by-step in the following dispatch the withdrawal of Gen. MacArthur’s fcrces into Bataan and the superb stand there by the insufiiciently- equipped American-Filipino troops. By CLARK LEE, ‘Wide World News. MELBOURNE, Australia, April 11.—Japanese officers spent the lives of their troops prodigally to break the defense of Bataan by sending them down open roads under arti- lery fire. Recklessness and caution were oddly combined in the campaign. Thousands were killed by sHell bursts from defense guns and hun- dreds of other Japanese piled into American barbed wire and died under machine-gun fire. The Japanese might have avoided the entire costly operation if they had pressed their attacks late in December at the right time. They might have smashed the American- Filipino forces before they ever reached the mountainous peninsula. avily for Bataan After Missifig Big Chance for Knockout Late in December ally unmanned, behind Gen. Dou- glas MacArthur’s forces and blocked the approaches: Opportunity Lost. Instead they moved cautiously and lost the opportunity. - Equipment available to the de- fenders proved its worth, but there was not enough of it. The Army seemed to have only one or two pieces of the United States’ most modern equipment—one radio di- rection findér, one fully equipped anti-aircraft battery, one squadron of torpedo boats, one group of mounted 755—— The movement to Bataan was so well screened that the Japanese ap- parently failed to detect it. Otherwise, their spies and agents had proved an important factor in aiding the enemy attacks on Luzon. Beams from concealed radio sets had guided Japanese planes to the Cavite naval base and Clark Field. Numerous Japanese agents were detected and shot during the early days of the war. One was an attrac- tive Japanese girl employed at Cavite, who was caught red-handed. I learned of the movement toward Bataan only through an accidental meeting with a Filipino officer at San Fernando north of Manila on united for simultaneous action.” Early in the invasion they could have landed on Bataan, then virtu- December 12. I knew he had been stationed south of Manila and when told he was moving toward Bataan, I guessed the army was going there and acted accordingly. The movement toward Bataan really began that day, shortly after the Japanese landed at Antimonan and Mauban, in Southeast Luzon. Our forces there, small and inex- perienced, withdrew under orders. Many Units Cut Off. Many defense units were cut off, whereupon the officers disbanded the Filipino troops and buried their rifles. The officers continued the trek toward Manila, destroying bridges behind them. The withdrawal from the north be- gan December 21, the day the Jap- anese landed on the eastern shore of Lingayen Gulf. The enemy ad- vanced quickly despite terrific losses and threatened to turn Gen. Mac- Arthur’s left flank. Some American units were trapped on the mountain road leading to Baguio, the summer capital. Part of these succeeded later in rejoining their units. Others took to the mountains, where they have been fighting in guerrilla style ever since. ‘The Japanese never attempted to land on the southern shore of Lin- SATURDAY, APRIL 11, apanese Hammer at Corregidor: eek Quick Occupation of Cebu; U. S. Sub Lost in Western Pacific L ! ous members of the British war| (See LEE, Page A-4) 1942 THREE CENTS. THEY MADE A GALLANT FIGHT, MR SECRETARY, AND M GLAD TO SEE THESE EXPRESSIONS OF PRAISE X FINEST TRADITIONS YES, THEY'RE WORTHY OF THE OF THE SERVICE, BUT WE CAN BEST SHOW OUR APPRE- CIATION OF THEIR SACRIFICE BY SEEING TO N° IT THAT AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARE NEVER TRAPPED AGAIN WHEN THEY HAVENT THE ' TooLs To FIGHT WITH. RAISE 1=\ AT e R AMN DRFtNgod 2 Marshall Reporrtred' Convinced Russia Is Decisive Battlefield Plans for Heavy Bombing Of Germany Indicated | By Inspections ‘ | ! By the Associated Press LONDON, April 11.—Reliable sources today said America's Gen. George C. Marshall and Harry Hopkins, convinced that Russia was the decisive battle- field, were discussing with the British the most effective way to aid the Red Armies against the Axis. This aid, the sources added. is almost certain to include United States airforce reinforcements of the R. A. F. bombing of Germany. The British and United States fleets are so busy convoying supplies for Russia’s own land battles and the shipping situation is so acute that it probably will be some time before there will be transports for continental invasion—a fact which the United States chief of staff and Mr. Hopkins know as well as the British. But the growing establishments which Gen. Marshall is inspecting and the increasing pools of United States planes in Britain are taken as an indication that American as well as British air forces will be bombing Germany in a month or two to retard and divert the Naz offensive against the Soviet Union Invasion Talk Hinted. Today one British newspaper, the Daily Sketch, said the Marshall- Hopkins conferences showed that “our plans have gone beyond the | production stage” and it hinted the discussions covered continental in- vasion. “The contemplated stroke may. for all we know, be of an unexpected character and at an unexpected | place,” the newspaper said. “There | is plenty of room for striking at. Nazi-occupied Europe.” H Gen. Marshall and Mr. Hop- kins, President Roosevelt’s repre- sentative, arranged to continue their | discussions with Prime Minister | Churchill, service chiefs and vari- cabinet during the week end in the | country. Hopkins Sees Bevins. | There was no authoritative indi- | cation of the specific trend of the | discussions beyond the broad out- Lnes of strategy and supply. Observers concluded that man- | power problems came into discus- " (See MARSHALL, Page . 50,000,000 Lankam Bill Is Signed by President The White House announced to- day the President has signed the Lanham bill authorizing a $50,000,- ' 000 expenditure for wartime housing and related public works in the | District. | Necessary funds to put the au- thorization into effect are expected to be attached to the sixth defense appropriation bill which was sent to conference between the House and Senate Tuesday. . No estimate for the appropriation has yet been sent to the Capitol by the Budget Bureau, it was said, but the bureau was understood to be awaiting only the presidential signa- ture to the authorization before act- ing. When the estimate is received at the Capitol, it will be acted on! by the House Deficiency Subcom- mittee of the Appropriations Com- mittee and then probably attached to the defense bill, according to predictions by members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The authorization provides ff $30,000,000 for housing and $20, 000 for community facilities. Japs Reported to Have 4 New Aircraft Carriers By the Associated Press. LONDON, April 11.—The Paris radio broadcast a Domei dispatch from Tokio today that four new aircraft carriers soon would be put into service with the Japanese Navy. The broadcast said they would carry, respectively, 35, 40, 50 and 55 planes. Nazi School Trains Boys To Rule Over Europe Germany s training a selected group of boys to be the bosses of Europe and to act as Nazi agents throughout the world, a Berlin broadcast, recorded by the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service said. It described life at the Adolf Hitler School at Ordensburg. Purpose of the school is “to pro- | vide future political leadership. The boys are taught “Germanistiks,” a Nazified version of history and literature which pictures Germany as the rightful ruler of Europe, and which exalts the German race and teaches that all other races are in- ferior. 3,000 Germans Killed In Bryansk Sector, Moscow Reports Red Star Says Hitler Is Losing Heavily In Counterattacks B 1.+ Associated Press. KUIBYSHEV, Russia, April 11.| —More than 3,000 Germans have been killed in fighting with Red Army troops in the last few days on the Bryansk sector southwest of Moscow, the Soviet Informa- tion Bureau said in a com- munique broadcast today. Bryansk is a German-held rail- way center on the Desna River 220 miles from the capital. The newspaper Red Star said Adolf Hitler's high command was losing thousands of its men in counterattacks aimed at relinking defense bases and relieving encircled Nazi garrisons. The Information Bureau's mid- ‘nlghl communique, broadcast by the Moscow radio, said that “during April 10 there were no significant hanges at the front.” Nazis Report 72 Tanks Destroyed in Crimea BERLIN (From German Broad- casts), April 11 (#) —The Gemman high command announced today that the Russians had lost 72 tanks | and that 29 others were put out of | action in the recent Red Army at- tack on the Kerch Peninsula in the Crimea. The German communique said there had been no important activity after the collapse of the attack of last Thursday “which resulted in heavy losses for the enemy.” On the Black Sea coast, the Ger- mans said, Nazi planes bombed Soviet port installations. and dam- aged two fairly large merchant ships by direct hits. Several enemy units surrounded on the central sector were reported annihilated and the Germans said the Russians suffered great losses of men in successful Nazi thrusts. Russian attacks supported by tanks on the northern sector were reported repulsed. In fighting on the Lapland front of the far north, the Germans said their mounted troops and Fin- nish units took a well-fortified en- emy strongpoint in a daring thrust, and destroyed 40 posts with their Crews. Off the Norwegian coast, the com- munique said, a Soviet submarine ran into a German mine fleld. Krupp Works Target Of Heavy Air Attack On Ruhr Section British Report 13 Planes Lost, but Do Not View | Cost as Excessive B 1re Associated Press. LONDON, April 11.—With hun- dreds of tons of heavy-caliber bombs and “countless” incendi- aries, British planes spread de- struction again through Ger- many'’s industrial sections in the Ruhr last night, Air Ministry sources announced today. The great Krupp armament works were the principal targets of the raids which were reported to have been “as heavy” as any of the two previous assaults on the Ruhr this week. ‘The British lost 13 planes. but Air Ministry sources, apparently un- perturbed, said that was the cost the R. A. F. expected to pay for a raid “as big as that last night.” (The Berlin radio said 12 | British planes were shot down last night during R. A. F. raids on Northern and Western Ger- many. “Bombs were dropped on residential districts. houses were damaged. and there were casual- ties among the civilian popula- tion,” the radio quoted D.N.B. news agency. Seven British planes also were reported downed over the Channel and Norwegian coast yesterday.) The German-occupied French port at Le Havre was also bombed A communique said there was lit- tle German air activity over Britain, though a lone Nazi raider dropped several bombs on the south coast which were seid to have caused no damage. Mo Gl 12 Shis Sunk Off U. S. Coast »ite Associated Press. BERLIN (From German Broad- casts), April 11.—A special an- nouncement said today that, since a report of April 8. German U-boats had sunk 12 merchant ships, in- cluding four large tankers, off the East Coast of America. An average toll of four ships a day was implied. Adolf Hitler's headquarters announced April 8 | that German submarines had sunk | 16 vessels totaling 104,000 tons in continued attacks on United States ‘and British shipping, 13 off the | American coast and the remainder off Africa. | Philadelphia Teacher Bl . ’ | To Wed ‘Flying Bishop By the Associated Press. | PHILADELPHIA, April 11.—The | Right Rev. Archibald Lang Flem- | ing, the “Flying Bishop of the Arc- tic,” and Miss Elizabeth Nelson Lukens, a school teacher from Phil- adelphia’s Main Line, will be mar- | ried in June, it was disclosed today | by her family. | Bishop Fleming, who is actual | head of the Anglican Church of Canada, is famed for his work among Eskimos and Indians in his top-of-the-world diocese of 1,250,000 square miles from Ungava to the Yukon. \ | He met Miss Lukens, associate | headmistress of the Agnes Irwin School in suburban Wynnewood, | while here on a speaking engage- | ment. Nine on Sinking Airliner éaved After Plunge in (Picture on Page A-7.) Bv the Associated Press. ‘NEW YORK, April 11.—A 21-pas- senger United Airlines transport plane overshot a runway in landing at La Guardia Airport in pre-dawn murk today and plunged into Flush- ing Bay. The three crew members were injured; six passengers were unhurt. Quick action by two crash boats from the nearby Pan-American Air- ways clipper terminal averted fur- ther casualties by rescuing all nine occupants even while the plane was sinking under them. The accident occurred at 5:37 am. as the plane, flight 12 originating in Oakland, Calif., completed the last leg of its trip from Chicago. The injured: Flushing Bay Stewardness Josephine Dargis, 23, injured right arm; taken to Flushing Hospital. Co-Pilot F. F. Butterfield, injured left leg and sprained ankle; taken to a hospital. Capt. Douglas Wilson, slight cut over eye. All three are from Chicago. None of the passengers, among them another United Airlines co- pilot named John Lovett, also from Chicago, received more than a shak- ing up, partly due to Mr. Lovett's ac- tion in helping them out of their safety landing belts. As the bay’s incoming morning tide swept in toward the shore on which the sprawling airport fronts, it overturned the plane, and the craft began to sink nose first, its tail pointing skyward. » Major Parties Reject Cripps Plan for India Proposal Withdrawn And Negotiator Will Return to London (Text of Cripps Statement on Page A-7.) By the Associated Press NEW DELHI, India, April 11.— | Dominant Hindu and Moslem parties today rejected Britain's offer of dominion status after the war and Sir Stafford Cripps. special emissary of the British war cabinet, announced that the proposal he brought to India had been withdrawn | The historic mission of Sir Staf- | ford failed when the All-Incia Con- | gress Party, potent voice of the Hindu majority, and the Moslem “League, strongest spokesman for the | 77,000,000 minority Moslems, de- | clared London’s terms unacceptable. r With the Japanese threat to India increasing daily, the British offer | envisioned post-war dominion status and greater autonomy for India in return for full and immediate sup- port of the British war effort At a press conference, the British emissary said that although Britain | and India had failed in their nego- tiations there was a “large and very important area of agreement as to the future freedom of India.” Reveris to Former Status. In announcing that the plan which he had brought to India was withdrawn, Sir Stafford said that the status of India reverted to what it was before he came here (Informed quarters in London said the breakdown of the nego- tiations meant that the existing British government in India would continue to administer the country and its war effort (They pointed out that the plan Sir Stafford took to India was an emergency measure brought on by the critical state of the war in the East. Long be- fore this trip, in 1940, the British declared they would welcome India within the British com- monwealth of nations. as “an equal partner.” That promise never has been withdrawn.) Perhaps intimating that another chapter in the negotiations might be written at a later date, Sir Staf- ford said without elaboration: “I may come back to India. In what capacity that will be the Lord only knows.” Makes Farewell Broadcast. In a farewell broadcast to the peo- ple of India tonight, Sir Stafford said: “I am sad that this great op- portunity for rallving India for her defense and her freedom has been missed.’ “In the past,” he said, “British | governments have been accused of | using vague terms to cloak lack of purpose; and when they stated that it must be left to the Indian com- munities to agree among themselves it has been said that this was the only device by which Great Britain | might indefinitely retain its contro! over India. “But the Congress since the out- | break of the war has repeatedly de- manded two essentials as a basis for its support of the allied effort in the | war—first, a declaration of Indian independence and second, a constit- uent assembly to frame a new and free constitution for India “Both of these demands find their place in the draft declaration. It was In the light of the demands and the criticism of Indian leaders that the war cabinet drafted their dec- laration with the object of convinc- ing the Indian peoples and world public opinion of the sincerity of their gesire to offer freedom to India at the earliest practicable moment, Concise Plan Offered. “To avoid complaints that had been made in the past, they put out a clear and precise plan which should avoid all possibility of Indian self-government being held up by the views of some large section or community. But they left it open for the Indian leaders to agree upon an alternative method if they wished.” Sir Stafford is to leave New Delhi tomorrow for his return journey to Britain. In a statement earlier he pointed out that India is gravely threatened. “Discussions are over,” he said, “* * * but the present and the fu- ture press upon us and must be faced.” Negotiations Lasted Month. He called on all who loved India | to bring their energies to her imme- | diate help. “Great Britain will do her ut- most,” he said “America is doing all she can and now India must devote herself wholeheartedly with special effort in every field of activity in defending her soil and protecting her women and children from those ghastly horrors that have befallen her Chi- nese friends and neighbors.” In that connection, Maulana Abul Kalan Azad, president of the Con- gress party, in a letter to Sir Staf- (See INDIA, Page A-3.) Gl Tells Soldier ‘Yes," |But General Doesn’t ‘ B tre Associated Press. BELFAST, Northern Ireland, April 11.—The girl said “yes,” but the gen- eral didn't. so Pvt. Herbert W. Cooke, 20, of Cleveland, and Thelma Smith, 18, Belfast waitress, didn't get married today as planned. Miss Smith said the final decision on permission for the A. E. F. pri- .vate to marry rested with his com- mander, Maj. Gen. Russell P. Hartle, who has not yet given consent. “But I'm not worrying.” she said. “I'd rather wait until May or June anyway.”