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For over twenty years the men
tion of "Russia" has stirred emo
tions of . people in '. the United
States. To some it excited feelings
of rapture Russia was working
out , the dream of communism.
These people became violent . de
fenders of the USSR- They l took
their "line direct from Moscow.
, To . others the . name .."Russia
produced an .opposite emotion.
They " became purple with - rage.
Russia was the seat of anti-Christ,
of evil incarnate. They pointed
to the opposite pole whenever Rus-
. sian doings' or ideas were referred
to. s . -'
This - cleavage in emotional at
titude persisted to the outbreak
of the war; and still does. The red
sympathizers In this country were
'anti-war until Hitler attacked
Russia, -r Some of - them (couldn't
.make the. turn when Russia at
tacked Finland; and some others
had cancelled their reservations
on account of the purge - In -1937.
But there were - many : who-took
the Moscow line, the treaty with
Hitler in 1839; the attack on Fin-
- land,' and all. And when - Russia
was attacked by Hitler in, 1941
.they' became the . strongest sup
porters of all-out war. the country
has had. And . from this . element
x has come much of. the local , cla
mor for, a second, front. Russia
asks tor it; .therefore they" should
...have it; '. - . ". .
. On the other hand the Russo
phobes would hold out on fur
nishing Russia with supplies, are
whispering anti-Russian talk and
going to lengths to build up Rus
sia . as a potential enemy of. this
country.. Aiding and abetting this
line are the; frustrated isolation
ists, for whom Pearl Harbor meant
a setback, not conversion.
It isn't easy to keep a clear head
in the midst of all this talk about
Russia. But it is important that
the great body of American pub
lic opinion retain its mental bal
ance and come to conclusions not
In the light of past prejudices but
of present realities. These simple
statements seem to be true:
K First, the political and econo
mic systems of Russia and the
the United States are divergent
But each country (Continued on
Editorial page.)
. ', , 1
Butter Scarce
For aMonili
By J. B. LEWIS
NEW YORK, Sept l-PHBut-ter
will be hard to get outside of
the nation's principal dairy pro
duction centers for : another
months market experts warned
today.
; Hardest hit will be the east and
west coast areas. ... f
" Civilian stocks in some- sections
were completely depleted at the
end of August, and it will . take
some time to fill overdue' deliv
eries, Gordon Urner of the Urner
Barry Corp.,' which publishes the
daily market report "Producers
Price-Current, explained. .
' The , war. .food administration
. reduction from 30 to 20 per cent
the amount producers must set
aside .for ' government purchase in
September, will eventually alle
viate but not . immediately relieve
I the critical shortages, -Urner said.
In seven months, according to
market estimates, the government
has acquired 223,000,000 pounds
of butter in storage, of which 47,
- 000,000 pounds has been turned
over to lend-lease.
' Purchasing agents for the va
. rious armed - services have con
tinued to buy on the open mar
ket and in some, cases have been
able to build Up reserves, the
market reported. ' :
- As a result ' of the operations
the civilian supply has fallen off
: sharply at the end of each month
' recently as large quantities pf
butter were placed in government
reserves, t t ,
8tK Air Force Downs 631
NazV Plartesl in Month
By JUDSON O'QUINN
. .LONDON, September 1 -fp-The
US Eighth air force, pulver
izing German airfields on by one
and wrecking vital war factories,
set a new monthly record for the
destruction ' of nazi aircraft in
- combat In August by shooting 631
"tighter out of, the sky, it was an
nounced today. - "
. Headquarters of the European
theater of the US army disclosed
also that its Thunderbolt fighters
proved by. actual experience that
they could break up enemy light
er attacks' sufficiently to cut down
bomber losses and ' take enough
.pressure off the bombers to give
them a better chance to destroy
their objectives. , '
", Flying Fortresses, Marauders
and Thunderbolts- all figured in
taking the toll of 631 nazi planes.
The previous high 'was 508 Ger
man planes bagged in July. Fort
resses set an Individual record by
destroying 541 planes, five per
cent more than the July total. . - j
The bombers lost by enemy ac
tion la Acust were slightly more
t2-:.n the four jpsr cent announced
U Forts-
Blat:-Pia
Raily ards
Two Battleships
; Bombard Italy's
Western Toe . :
By NOLAND NORGAARD V
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS
IN NORTH AFRICA, September
l-P)Suddenly fswi telling their
hammer assaults - to northern
Italyi US Flyiilg Fortresses de
livered a mighty blow to vital
railroad yards at Pisa of -leaning
towar fame yesterday, while 'Bri
tain's big battleships Nelson and
Rodney led a thunderous shelling
of the western Italian toe. :r
( The Fortresses , on .a 1000-mile
round trip, poured bombs onto: the.
center of freight - yards S at . Pisa
and the electrified system .capable
of handling at least 96 trains daily
between 'Rome.' and Genoa,- -and
also bit the neaby San Guisto air
field, and Piaggio. -aircraft 'fac
tory. - -.. v ; ... ;- - v '
, Pisa lies . 179 miles north efr
Rome. The raid gave; northern .
Italy 'a dose f the concentrated
destruction povred for. days on
rail facilities and airdromes of
- the, southern part of the penin
sula. The famous tower,eom
pleted In 1350, and other his
toric monoments were spared
by the bombers. "
. These latter assaults meanwhile
continued with medium bombers
and fighter-bombers attacking
Salerno, , Cosenza, Catanzaro, Sa
pri ; and Cetraro, and American
Liberators from the middle east
smacking Fescara ' on the eastern
coast opposite Rome.
' Leading the cruiser Orion and
nine - destroyers, the Nelson and
Rodney boldly steamed into the
southern end of the Messina
strait and bombarded Italian
C0atI ; def ens" batteries with
their 4 i6-ich ' one-ton 4 Shells,
meeting only feeble shore resist
ance. The warships also shelled
the area I near Reggio Calabria
and near Cape Pellaro. They
knocked out at least one big
enemy coastal gun. '
;The shift in strategy for the
Fortresses appeared highly ef
fective. The unescorted heavy
bombers met only ' 25 enemy
fifbtera, and quickly shot down -
six of them.
Repair, shops with a capacity of
'(Turn to Prge 2 Story G)
United Nations
Council Here
Said Useful
; - . - . - . .
Establishment of at United Na
tions council in Salem, which oc
curred in conjunction with the
staging of the United Nations fes
tival .this summer, may be con
sidered an important step forward
in : educating the public as to its
share in war relief work, Betty
Gordon, San Francisco, Pacific
coast representative of Russian
War Relief, Inc, said Wednesday
in Sailem. ' .
Such councils have been put in
to operation in the larger cities
of, the nation and an effort is now
under way to oragnize them in
other cities and towns. Miss Gor
don said, pointing out that 'Salem
may nave a unique distinction as
the first city of less than 100,000
residents In which such a council
"just naturally sprang into being. "
for July. One hundred Fortresses,
less, than five per cent of the num
ber dispatched, failed to return
during August, headquarters said.
A , total of 16 US fighter planes
were lost. -
The air-sea service saved 96
crewmen from Flyina Fortresses.
including. ,40 picked . -up in the
Mediterranean folio win g the
bombing of Regensburg., One of
toe downed fighter pilots was res
cued. .'
Operational days for the Fort
resses in August were 20 per cent
fewer in July, but the tonnage of
bombs dropped only 3.8 per cent
under the July figure.
' High spot of the month's activ
ities was the twin raid Aug. 17
when Flying Fortresses hit Sche
winfurt and Regensburg.-The Re
gensburg raiders proceeded on to
North Africa: to complete the first
leg of the initial American shut
tle bombing.
lost of the Eighth air force's
August' raids were directed
against objectives In France and
the low, countries.-
10 PAGES
Still Leans
-
Vw-
Ataswerinr everyone's, first ques
tion -J- the : Leaning Tower,
r, "that-way" since. 1356 AD, was
. spared when American' Flying
i Fortresses lombed Pisa. -
Danish Envoy :
Wants Exile
Government
STOCKHOLM, September 1 ()
The Danish minister to - Sweden,
Johan C. W. Kruse, severed dip
lomatic ties with his homeland to
night, declaring that a constitutional-
government had ceased to
exist there with the advent of a
German military dictatorship..
Kruse's announcement was con
sidered significant '.by Panes hop
ing to form an exiled government
affiliated with the United States
because the 62-year-old minister
is a personal envoy - of the in
terned King Christian X. .
The Kruse announcement said
that the king,' as a prisoner of the
Germans, was unable to perform
his constitutional functions.
Asked by the Danish free press
in Stockholm whether the move
meant the minister . was joining
the free Danish government, ' the
minister said: "I can add nothing
to this at the moment." f
The major political development
came as the revolting Danes, in
spired in their resistance by. en
couraging words from King Chris
tian during a brief trip" from his
castle under German guardcoor
tinued passive resistance -and, ap
parently, sabotage. : "
- Refugees reaching Sweden said
an' 8000-ton barracks ship in Co
penhagen harbor was blasted by
a magnetic mine today. - I
The German-controlled Danish
radio said Gen. : Hermann von
Hannecken, the nazi commandant,
relaxed martial law restrictions
slightly.
Industrial slow-downs were' re
ported in factories in Copenhagen,
Aalborg, Aarhus, . Ringsted and
Roskilde as limited telephone and
mail service was resumed within
the country.
. The radio ' announcement ' said
the curfew which ha4 been in ef
fect at 9 o'clock nightly since mar
tial law was imposed August - 29,
would be effective at 11 "p. m. in
the future. : , ' r r .
Churchill-FDR'
Talks Resume
By DOUGLAS B. CORNELL
- WASHINGTON, Sept
War discussions which President
Roosevelt and Winston- Churchill
adjourned in Quebec eight days
ago were resumed here tonight
with the emphasis, apparently, on
greater collaboration with Russia.
- The British prime minister, ac
companied by Mrs. r Churchill,
reached Washington late- in the
day- on a fourth wartime visit ;
Official silence prevailed on the
channels into which; he, and Mr.
Roosevelt - were directing , their
conversations but there was much
evidence that they would . center
much of their attention 1 ion the
means of attaining closer military
and political relations with - the
soviet union.
White House officials said the
prime minister's visit would not
be entirely on business and that
the president hoped It could be
partly social, a. " , ' .-.
. ' It started with a social ' angle
tonight at a small. Informal fam
ily dinner at - the White; House
In the absence of Mrs. Roose
velt, who is in New Zealand, the
president's hostess was Mrs. EI
(Turn to Page 2 Story Bf) ,
WW 1
Scdam. Oroyon.
3'5,000
Taganrp;
Nazis Die
Reds Take 5100
Prisoners in
Liquidating City
By JAMES M. LONG f
, LONDON, Thursday, Septi 2
(JPhThe Red army advancing in
the Donets basin has wiped out
the German Taganrog ' army,
killing or capturing more than
41,000 enemy troops and rout
ing or mauling eight divisions to
taling 120,000 men, Moscow an
nounced today. " .,
An additional 6000 Germans fell
yesterday trying to stem Soviet
armies hacking their way . toward
Stalino, ' Poltava, Bryansk and
Smolensk, along a 600-mile front,
said a communique recorded early
today by the Soviet monitor.
' The Taganrog debacle was the
- greatest single German defeat -since
i ' Stalingrad. More ' than
35.600 Germans were killed and J
5106 captured in' final Uqaida-'
- tion of the encircled 1 r p s
eanght west of the sea of Asov
city, the communique said. ?
German troops were withdraw
ing In ; the Donets basin Berlin
military circles - telling Swedish
correspondents that axis fears 'of
an allied invasion . in the west
prompted, the retreat. . German
lines also were sagging east of
Smolensk, south of Bryansk, and
deep inside the Ukraine.
The Germans were .declared In
today's Moscow, communique . to
have hurriedly shifted some of
their inland forces to the south.
The ' Russians, then- promptly
went over to the offensive south
west of Voroshilovgrad, punching
out gains of four to six miles to
ward Stalino and Debaltsevo,
which lie on the network of rail
ways feeding the Germans in the
central Donets:
" Complete erasure of the col
lapsing .German : Donets" front
apparently was foreshadowed la
a Berlin broadcast which said
, the Russians were' amassing a
tremendous striking force along
the stretches of the middle .Do-
- nets river. "-'A Russian 'break
through 1 probably would result
in an even larger encirclement
of . German troops than those
trapped at Taganrog.
(Turn to Page 2 Story A)
Dane Saves
9 US Fliers
LONDON, Sept 1 -VP)- Henry
Frandsen, S3, Danish fishing boat
captain saved nine ; American
fliers forced down at sea recently
and by his act of mercy he es
caped the Germans, who estab
lished ; a military dictatorship in
his homeland Sunday, a
Frandsen sighted. " a dinghy
bearing the survivors, of the crew
of a Flying Fortress about ' 100
miles west of Helgoland.. He took
them aboard 'and, instead - of re
turning home, headed for England.-
'
The i American fliers had been
injured when the Fortress crash
ed : ami burned after being - bit
by anti-aircraft fire over Helgo
land. Frandsen said the British
whisked : them away so ' fast he
never learned their names." -
"All I know is that the pilot
was a cowboy : from Texas and
the navigator : a gardener - from
Brooklyn," he said.
"They gave me and the three
members of my crew American
cigarettes, watches and . other
things, but . I didn't get their
names. However, I am happy to
have saved them. If I hadn't, a
German patrol boat might have
found them. And it turns out I
am now safe In England. ' -
Staff Shortage
In ; Hospitals Grave
1 SEATTLE, September . 1
Dr. Thomas Parran; surgeon gen
eral of the US public health ser
vice warned today that care of
the sick In civilian hospitals "has
already reached a dangerously, low
level; because of a shortage of
nurses, and said Washington state's
enlistment quota for the cadet
nurse corps Is 11 82. In a talk of
hospital ; executives , and nurses
here, he' said reports on the na
tional recruiting drive were ex
tremely favorable.
Elliott Roosevelt 'J:'.
Back From Africa ;
WASHINGTON, Sept 1.-JP)-CoL
Elliott Roosevelt son of the
president has returned from
North Africa for a visit He has
been In charge of a photographic
reconnaissance group.
ThuradaT Morning. Saptembar 2.
Seelts Peace
Conflict's End
Within Year Is
Pontif f s Fla V
By WILLIAM SMITH WHITE,
LONDON, Sept : l--rPope
Fius XII appealed to the leaders
of the world today to reach "a
worthy peace, and he' expressed
hope and faith that the fifth year
of the . war, beginning today;
would end in such a peace. --
The pope, declaring his views
in: a 14-minute world broadcast
called for "generosity" toward
those nations "less favored than
others by ; the "- trend of war at
any given time," and he admon
ished against ; "actions which in
stead of encouraging confidence.
rather inflame hatreds anew and
strengthen the determination to
resist
The pontiff referred to , ."the
powerful and the leaders of peo
ples, and continued: ;a' V ' I
.'"May their wisdom, their mod
eration, their strength of mind
and their deep sense of humanity
teow'aYayoreomfortiUPon the
tear-and-blood-drenched t thresh
a (Turn to Page 2 Story B).-.
Ickes Says j
Gasoline Fast i
Running Out j
WASHINGTON, Sept 1 -P)
Interior Secretary Ickes declared
tonight that at the present ' rate
of consumption , the entire nation
faces the prospect of running out
of gasoline and in the east It may
be only a matter of days. t
Appealing for curtailment of
all but essential driving, Ickes as
serted In a radio address that the
motorists are dipping heavily into
inventory stocks .and that heavy
military . demands " for fuel lie
ahead.
He disclosed for the first time
that the nation's armed forces are
using 600,000 barrels of gasoline
daily, said that military .require
ments will take, more than 30 H
per cent of all gasoline produced
east of the Rocky mountains dur
ing the last half of 1943 and pre
dicted that next year the amount
will expand to 37 . per cent
Ickes said gasoline supplies on
the west . coast are "comfortable
now," but "if the people t there
could' know of the military ae
mands that' lie ahead, when the
war in the Pacific really gets un
der way, they would know that
there - is anything but comfort
ahead for them, so far as the suf
ficiency of gasoline is concerned."
Hie southwest and middle west
he said, is "living on borrowed
time," as far as gasoline is con
cerned, and to the motorists of
the east he addressed this "un
equivocal warning: : ...V-
"If there is any appreciable in
crease in gasoline consumption in
the eastern states, above the pres
ent rate, we will be out of gaso
line in a matter of days." . .
Statesman I
' -- . -J-'- -. '
Classified . .
Advertising
Taps an
EIGHTY :
MILLION 4 j--'
DOLLAR- . -' J
r.UlRKET
Phcrio
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1S43
IMandw
NMForce Overwhelmed
. M.
- -
PSJungle
Fighters-; W
Close-in
Reports
Downing Zeros r :
iu Of f Bougainville
,. -i- '-'
By C. YATES McDANHSL .
ALLIED i HEADQUARTERS
in TmJsbtmrwEciitr
IC, Thursday, Septemlr 2
Japanese in two strongly dug in
positions southland. southeast of
the Sajamaua, New Guinea, air
drome finally . have been over
whelmed, by American and- Aus
tralian jungle - fighterr now dos
ing in on . the enemy' base. J ,
Several days : agoallled " J or
ces approaching the, airfield from
the west and southwest, support
ed by artillery, were ' reported
within rifle range but today's com
munique was the first in more
than a week to tell of, an advance
along the coast '
(Last previous advices con- .
: eerning the right flank Vera that
the Japanese were holding te
Dot inlet as their bnljr position '
South ' of the Franclaco '. river
-which flows below the river
Into Bayern bay.)
In the Solomons sector, an at
tack Monday, .by a small force of
Liberators on Santa Isabel - i-
lanL site . of 'a Japaaese- aeaptan?
base, for the first time drew; no
anti-aircraft fire, prompting con
jecture that the' Japanese may
have evacuated it
Such an evacuation would
mean the Japanese had decid
ed, the Island was untenable
because It has been eatflanked
by American occupation of New '
Georgia and Vella LaveUa Is-
lands te the west
On other " recent - attacks on
(Turn' to Page 2 Story C) I
Casualties Top I
100,000 Mark
WASHINGTON, Sept l.-VPy
More than' : 100,000 members of
United States military forces and
the merchant marine have been
killed in action,' wounded, report
ed missing or taken prisoner.
- The . army reported today that
its casualty total through last
week was 69,358, Navy, casual-
ties totaled 21,556. marines 7904
and coast guard 1363. The .latest
merchant marine summary
showed a total of 4751 dead and
missing. . t
All these add up to 103,532. ,
-"However the army - said " that
8748 of its men classed as wound
ed - have left the i; hospital or re
turned to duty; i ' . . : -
vf- A total of 19,531 persons fas
. all services are listed . as dead,
and 35,395 are listed as missing,
the total of those two flgurea
being 55,476. , I
: Following are the latest cas
ualty summaries for the servicesr
. Army "(through; the end of last
week): killed 892?; wounded 19,
391, of whom- 8743 have left the
hospital or returned to duty; miss
ing 2L406; prisoners of war 19,
634; total 69,358. j ;
Navy (to dateh dead 7840;
wounded 2553; missing 8917; pris
oners of war 2246 total 21,558. -
. Marines ' (to. date): dead 2009;
wounded 2501; missing 883; pris
oners of war 1525; total 7904. ,
r Coast ruard (to date): dead 182;
wounded 22; missing 158; prison
er of war l; total 363. ?
- Merchant marine .(from , Sept
27, 1941, to Aug. 1," 1943) ; dead
627; missimjr 4124; -total 4751.
Rlrs. Roosevelt V. ..
Back in Auldand
AUCKLAND,- V New 2ealand,
SeDt WS'HMrs. Franklin D,
Roosevelt; still not fatigued from
her tour for the Red Cross, visited
US marines and sailors in the
naval hospital today and .told
them:
. "Victory Is . coming our way. 1
hope wa will be able to help you
after the . war to build the kind
of world that will make your sac
rifices worth while.' -" ':
- "It Is not enough to win the
war. We must win the peace."
Pric Zc
, ... - , ... , - . , . . I
Super-Bomber
Now Building
' NEW- YORK, Sept l-JP-;
Enzmes for super-bombers pre
dicted by Gen. H. H. Arnold'
" yesterday are onder eenstrae
iloa - bow - fas a plant of the '
Wright Aeronaatteal - corpora
tion,! "the - US - army air (forces
. said today ta" a" statement made
pvblle by the corporation. -.
- Arnold, commanding general'
f ; the, air forces, . forecast' that
the new bombers,; seen to k go
InU r action, tlwonld dwarf the
Flying Fortresses v and "would
- carry, half a carload of. bomb
across the t Atlantic aawl- fly.
nomeu withont a stopu .
- The Wright corporation" said
. the ' air force announcement
I contamed information that the
new bombers would be power
ed by Cyclone 8 engmes,' which
I It said were the most powerful'
f service engine now built in
-rthl country. -'
Berlin Left
In Flames
By Bombers
By GLADWIN HILL
' : LONDON, Sept! 1. --Hundreds
of RAF heavy bombers tore
through a powerful German
fighter screen last night to rock
Berlin with a 45-minute deluge of
block leveling explosives that gut
ted new' sections -of the xht mil
itary heart and left flames visible
70 miles away. '
- The British -air ministry indi
cated that this second concentra
ted assault In eight days equalled
the 1800-ton Aug. 23 blow which
wiped out entire districtasin west
ern ana southern Berlin, . par
alyzed utility ' services and sped
the . evacuation, of thousands
haunted , by. the specter ' of the
blackened skeleton of Hamburg.
Serving notice that the new
year of the war probably will
be' the bitterest for the axis,
allied planes followed Up ' last
night's hall of. bombs en Ber
lia with daylight attacks on
railway yards In .Holland and
a big asJ sea-going barge off
the Dutch islands.
Bostons blasted the freight
yards at RoosendaaL Holland, and
escorting .Typhoon - pilots report
UIU '
rt- Ws
laV.bas
raU W
ed that accurate- hits were ma
on the 'junction of four busy rail
lines, the air ministry news serv
ice said. ' -
The escort planes attacked the
barge 'on the trip. home. ; - "
Forty-seven bombers, eight of
them Canadian,' and one' fighter
were lost in the latest Berlin at
tack . and in auxiliary night as
saults on airfields and other' tar-
, (Turn to Page; 2 Story E) . ;
Weapons Left oh.Kiska
Would Take Huge Toll
C By NORMAN BELL
AN ADVANCED ALEUTIAN
BASK -SeDtember 1-WVlf the
Japanese had fought at Kiska with
the - weapons they abandoned In
hasty flight, they undoubtedly
would - have killed - many mora
Americans than fell In the con
quest of Attu. -
This became obvious today, after
a check of the material left behind
at Kiska showed the ' wily war
riors of the rising sun got . away
with little more than their skins
in their ' first non-belligerent re
treat of ' the war. .
Kiska. . found deserted when
United States and Canadian am
nhihioua .trooDS swarmed ashore
from their landing craft August
15-16. was five times as heavily
fortified as was Attu, which was
taken after 20 days of bloody
fighting in May.
The abandoned materials. In
cluding machine guns, heavy ar
tillery, antiaircraft . gunsi pow
er plants, communication lines and
rubber tires, were left virtually In
tact: The Japanese didn't even
destroy their ammunition dumps.
. They may have 5 been in . too
much of a hurry to get away or
they may have .decided against
any fires or'explosions that might
have revealed their flight plans.
; Both the ; large., guns a and the
smaller automatic weapons were
clean and In firing condition, ex
cept for parts which Jiad been re
iro. IZZ
US Fleet '
TIira.eii
Japan -
Shelled Outpost
Guards Tokyo,
1200 Mileo Away
By; JOHN M. HIGIITOWER
: WASHINGTON, September i
(Py-ln a direct threat to the se
curity of r the . Japanese home
land, a powerful task 'force of
the . United; States navy has
bombed and shelled Marcus is
land, outpost guarding the ap
proaches to Tokyo. s
The audacious raid, in which
the Americans virtually 'dared the
Japanese home fleet to come out
and fight obviously had a .strong
phychological impact on the Jap
anese, for the Tokyo radio said:
"The enemy could have raided
the mainland if he wanted to, so
the people of Japan must further
solidify the defense against the
enemy. ' '
First word of the raid , on
Marcus, only 1209 miles from '
Tokyo, came from a broadcast
Japanese communique, which
said the Island was attacked at
' down, September 1 - August
21, Washington time. It declared
that "many enemy planes raid
' ed - MInainttoa Shim .(Marcos)
at dawn today, and the enemy
shelled the land by naval guns."
This report was substantially
confirmed by a navy statement
here a few hours later. It said that
a carrier task force raid had been
planned against .Marcus for Sep
tember 1 and "is presumably in
progress. -
Whether the phrase "In pro
gress meant that the island was
still being battered 'today or aim-;
ply that maneuvers following th
assault were considered a , part
of it was hot explained. No de
tails were expected from Amer
ican sources for many hours since
officers said the force would not
break radio silence until it was
safe to do so. : - . .
- Marcus island, which the Jap-
anese own, lies 909 miles north- -
west of enemy-held Wake
Island. It Is an afar and radio
base and beeaasa of Its strata-
location holds dominance -
over-the southeastern ap
proaches to the Tokyw area.
Marcus was raided once before,,
on March 4, 1942. The action then
was essentially defensive, an at
tempt to find out what the enemy
was up to and to destroy in the
aftermath of the Pearl Harbor .
debacle bases which the Japa
v (Turn to Page 2-Story F)
moved and hastily hidden.
Officers said the broad beach.
on the north of Kiska was so high
ly organized for defense that the
American force which rushed
ashore there unopposed might well
have been repulsed.
, It was estimated the Japanese
had as many as 10,000 men on
Kiska at one time as against the
2000 on Attu. Material was in the ,
same proportion. . ; v
It was possible that after the
fall of Attu the Tokyo war lords
decided the Aleutian venture, was
too costly and decided to sneak
the Kiska garrison away gradual
ly under cover of fog and dark
ness. The condition of the guns
and supplies indicated that at
least a .skel eton force remained
until probably within half a day
of the American - Canadian as
sault Much of the seized equipment
Is being put to use by the occu
pation force in building up a base
from which to carry the war to
Japan. . This excludes good rubber
tires, some of the guns and en
air field. a - -
The Japanese heavy artillery,
up to" 6-inch guns, was . so placed
that it could be, turned asaimt
any of the landing beaches frc-i
observation posts c v Hanger ai.J
Rose hills, an officer pointed out
In addition to these cur.i rl
anti-aircraft weepc-.s jr
(Turn to Pzz 2-'
L
1