Unlv bt On IUmtmT .. Check Your Tires V TEE BEND BULL Weather Forecast Tartly - cloudy with widely-scattered showers today, tonight ami Tuesday; cooler tonight-. --. j From the day the Jam HrUJ Pearl Harbor, tirej have been a valuable spot In U. S. armor. Be sure to check yours. CENTRAL OREGON'S DAILY NEWSPAPER Volume Llll THE BEND BULLETIN, BEND, DESCHUTES COUNTY; OREGON, MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1945 NO. 94 OTTO Uo So Troopers DClfu rr Isles Close to Japan Proper Invaded, Nip Radio Reports j. - 1 1 Tokyo Asserts Kerama Group Yanks' Target Enemy Says Landings Preceded By Heavy Fire From Huge U. S. Flotilla Guam. March 26 (Ul Tnkvn if f said today that 2,000 American in vasion troops were storming two and perhaps three tiny Islands in the Okinawa group in a major am phibious leap toward Japan prop er, only 380 miles to the northeast. (A Tokyo broadcast, quoted by BBC and recorded by CBS, said the Americans "tried to get ashore on Okinawa island," the principal island in the group.) Thirteen aircraft carriers, 11 battleships, 10 cruisers, 32 de stroyers and other smaller craft were supporting the invasion with a terrific air and naval bombard ment that began Friday, Japanese broadcasts said. Stiff Fight Reported At 11 p. m. (Tokyo time), Tokyo radio recorded by United Press, San Francisco, said the Japanese garrisons were putting up "fierce resistance" to American "laiuUng operations in the Kerama group, which includes Tokoshika and Aka.Thls Indicated possible beach head fighting, and eliminated the word "attempted." In this broadcast Tokyo said there were "four groups of enemy task forces and many other war craft" cruising off the Ryukyus. Earlier Tokyo had said the Amer ican task forces disappeared Mon day morning after the Sunday morning landing "attempt." "Intercepting" Forces Though not saying specifically that the Americans had succeeded in landing on Tokoshika and Aka, Tokyo reported that "our garrison units are now intercepting enemy forces . . . which attempted a landing." Another broadcast said the gar risons were offering "stiff resist- f j a nee. f j There was no official confirma 'A tion of the landinps availahle at y 4 Pacific fleet headquarters, but one f jfand possibly two task forces of me racmc ueet were Known to De In the Okinawa area. Headquarters did confirm that battleships, other warships and carrier planes had bombarded Kerama Retao which includes Tokoshika, Aka and Zamami along with Okinawa and other is lands in the Ryukyu chain stretch ing down from the southern tip of Japan to Formosa on Friday and Saturday. Would Cut Distance A landing in the Okinawa group would put American ground forc es nearly twice as close to the Japanese homeland as the ma rineson neawly-captured Iwo, 695 miles south of Japan. However, Iwo lies only 750 miles south of Tokyo, whereas Tokoshika is nearly 1,000 miles away. The Okinawa group also Is less than 400 miles from the China coast at a point south of Shang hai. Tokoshika and the other islands in the Kerama Retto appeared of no importance themselves except as bases from which to attack Okinawa, site of a naval base 'and important air installations mid way between Kyushu, southern most of the Japanese home is lands, and Formosa. Okinawa, largest island in the group of the same name, is 67 miles long and has a maximum width of 10 miles. Thickly-populated, it has some 450,000 inhabi tants, of which 66,000 are concen trated In the Naha area of the southwest coast, opposite Toko shika. BULLETIN Twelfth Army Group GHQ, March 26 IIB Gen. Dwight D. Kisenhow-er today conferred "i ui i,t. en. umar nnuiiey or y the I2(h army group. Let. Gen. George S. Patton of the Third -.. army and Lt. Gen. Court ney M. Hodges in what was de scrlhed as "a significant conference." Japs Report Ryukyu Landings CHINA . . 1. V fast China Sea f . f , X - M!fNT v W ' IfOfflM -V , ' .7ToHo . - 'Sy ) , . oa7ic V '' I??" Crl . ,eWB 'jlvv.jvffe--1 '',,:.' ! bonin IS. ..VOLCANO 18. ;.' fc-- -s?' . S t'BKIM "V- 5 MARIANAS ., '. ' fN is" FORMOSA I -OUAM - f - Japanese radios reported today were storming several islands of the Okinawa group in the Ryukyu chain, in a major amphibious leap toward Japan proper. 25 Tons of Paper Collected In Jaycee and Scout Drive Bend Provides Enough Salvage in One Day to Fill Boxcar to Overflowing, Workers Report Members of Bend's Junior viewed with satistaction the salvage paper city-wide pickup yesterday, which they reported met with success, with an estimated 25 tons of paper gathered in the city. Although a larger boxcar had been provided for the ship ment of the paper to the processing plants, at least another ton of paper was left over, according to Don Higgins and George Thompson, co-chairmen of the salvage drives. The car was reported to have had a capacity of 50,000 pounds, and it was packed full. Since the Junior chamber men assumed sponsorship of the paper salvage work last Au gust, they have collected approxi mately 100 tons, they reported today. Only once before was the total tonnage exceeded, and that was in the first pickup when 35'4 tons were collected. Scouts Assist Boy Scout Troop No. 24 as sisted the Jaycees in yesterday's pickup en masse, and other indi vidual scouts played an important role by carrying paper bundles from the homes of donors to the routes followed by the trucks. Higgins and Thompson reported that they encountered some dif ficulty because contributors had not securely tied their paper, causing considerable delay in han dling it and storeing it in the car. Jaycees who worked in the pick up were Higgins, Thompson, Bruce Gilbert, Carroll Meeks, Joe Van Wormer, Marion Cady, Wal lace Guthrie, Harold Gentry, Vir gil and William Lyons, Mark Sanders, Richard Brandis, Frank Prince, Jr., Don Connor and Wil fred Jossy. In-Plant Feeding Plans Abandoned Portland, Ore., March 26 IP -Plans for installing in-plant feed ing facilities in the three Kaiser shipyards here, after being ap proved by tne government Mar. 8. have been abandoned, U. S. mari time commission officials said to day. The project would have cost $1,100,000 for construction of buildings and installation of equip ment at Vancouver, Oregon ship and Swan island yards. The facili ties review board, a part of the WPB, refused to grant the neces sary materials, it was reported. that American invasion troops chamber of commerce today Japs Are Licked, Admiral Asserts . Aboard Admiral Mitscher's Flagship off Japan, March 20 (Delayed) (U?) The Japanese are licked and they knew it, Vice Ad miral Mac A. Mitscher said today. His mighty task force had just swung its latest blow at remnants of the enemy's fleet and air force. In a two day attack on Kyushu. Shikoku and southwestern Hon shu his carrier planes beat off the heaviest Japanese counterattacks In seven months and destroyed or damaged 30 enemy ships and at least 629 planes. War Not Over "The war may go on another five years," Mitscher said. "But the Japanese are licked and they know it. Their navy is beaten and their air force is very, very weak. If they disappoint me a couple of times more by their refusal to fight, I might become sorry for them." The devastating attacks Sunday and Monday by almost 1,150 bomb ers, fighters and torpedo planes had three major effects: 1. Decimation of the last large concentrations of Japanese planes. 2. Checking of enemy attempts to rebuild Its air forces through the wrecking of aircraft supply, repair and pilot training centers. 3. Rendering the fleet inoperat able as a result of destruction and damage to remaining capital ships. . GRASS FIRE PIT OIT Bond city firemen last night were called to the 1500 block on Hill street, where a grass fire was getting out of control. No dam age resulted, the fire fighters reported. Russian Army Nears Vienna In New Drive Soviets Strike Within 35 Miles of Hungary; ,j Million Reds on March ; - By Robert Musel ,1 (United Praia Staff Corrcsiiondent) j London, March 26 ilP Berlin said today that the Russians havi thrown a Third army group lntp their Vienna-bound offensive, alv ready within 35 miles of the. Ausi trian border. '? Ernest Von Hammer, Germarj DNB commentator, said the new force seized a bridgehead across the Hron river near the Siovakian Hungarian border some 96 miles east of Vienna in an attack that began at 4 a.m. Sunday. The army group went over to the attack north of the Danube river while two other red arms groups the Second and Third Ukranlan were driving the Ger mans back toward Austria in dl order along a 90-mlle front south of the river. City Outflanked Vanguards of the Third Ukrain ian army already had outflanked the western Hungarian fortress city of Gyoer and were less thari 78 miles soutneast oi Vienna. The new assault widened the of fensive front to at least 130 miles and put well over 1,000,000 Rus sian troops on the march In a de termined bid to thwart nazl "lans for a last stand in the Bavarian and 'Austrian Alps beyond Vlermir.' Von Hammer acknowledged that the Russians had forced the Hron on a wide front In the new attack north of the Danube river, but asserted that apart from a "narrow bridgehead" southwest of Leva, they had been unable to obtain a "firm foothold" on the west bank. j "The small bridgehead is ex posed to heavy German artillery fire and attacks," Von Hammer said. Lies On Border Leva lies on the Hungarian Siovakian border some 30 miles up the Hron river from its con fluence with the Danube. Forcing of the Hron would open the way for an attack on Komarom, 29 miles to the west, one of the main strongholds on the trunk railway from Budapest to Vienna. Far to the north, the Russian siege of Danzig and Gdynia, twin German-held ports on the Baltic, appeared to be entering its last days. Soviet forces captured suburbs within a mile and a half north west and two and a half south and southwest of Danzig and within a mile and a half south west and two miles south of Gdynia yesterday. They also wid ened their wedge between the two ports to seven miles. 800 Persons Die When Fliers Err London, March 26 IP More than 800 persons were killed and 1,000 Injured In a mistaken bomb ing of The Hague, Dutch capital, by RAF planes March 3, it was re vealed today. The RAF planes were attempt ing to attack rocket-launching i sites but their bombs fell widej oi rne marK and hit the heavily populated civilian area. Big Jap Hydro-Electric Plant on Formosa Bombed and Destroyed By American Fliers Manila. March 26 lPi Liberator bombers were believed today to have paralyzed all enemy war pro duction in two-thirds of Formosa by shattering the island's big Jit segetsu hydro electric plant. More than 50 Liberators and es corting Lightnings from the Fifth air force hit the hydro-electric in stallations Friday with 145 tons of explosives which wrecked the power plant and transformers. A communique said the raid left "water pouring from the pen stocks" and a spokesman estimat ed the attack knocked out 75 per cent of Formosa's hydroelectric generating capacity. "The whole southern two-thirds of Formosa and its war industries will be very seriously hampered and perhaps even cut off," a Fifth air force staff member said fol lowing a study of reconnaissance photographs. Bad Neivs Due Qermans, Nazi Chief Says on Eve of Emergency Parley London, March 26 (IB A Zurich dispatch said today that Adolf Hit ler has called an emergency meet ing of his ministers and gaulelters (district leaders) for tonight at Berchtesgaden.- Subject matter of the confer ence was not disclosed, the dis patch said, but it quoted a German war office spokesman as saying that Germany "must be prepared for unfortunate "nws." The dispatch, distributed by the Exchange Telegraph agency, said the plans for the meeting were dis closed by " an "unquestionable source." Ministers and gaulelters will be transported to Hitler's Ba varian retreat by plane, it said. Reports reaching Sweden from Berlin said the nazl capital was Nippons Expect U. S. Armies To Invade 'Sacred Mainland' 'The Situation Requires Us to Sit and Think Deeply,' Speaker Warns Jap Rulers (By United Priwul ' Members of the Japanese diet concluded their 86th session today with gloomy forebodings of tin American inva sion of the "sacred mainlnnd." Tadahiko Okada, speaker of the lower house, declared in an interview after the closing that it was "earnestly desired that the government put into practice a powerful policy to surmount the national crisis." "The situation requires us to sit and think deeply to pon der the enemy's successes and his new undoubted attempts at invading our sacred mainland," Okada said. "Never before in history have we faced a (like) situation. ; The daya ahead have no past Rock Slide Blocks Santiam Route A rock slide today had forced the closure again of the south Santiam highway,, according to the Bend headquarters of the state highway department. There was no likelihood' that it would be opened today, it was stated. This highway was closed for two days last week by deep snows. As six inches of new snow fell In the night, and it was reported snowing lightly, plows were oper ating to keep traffic moving on the north Santiam highway. At the summit of this artery, a total depth of 90 Inches of snow was reported this morning. The Willamette highway was reported shrouded in fog this morning, with snow being packed on the pavement east of the sum mit. A total of 72 inches of snow was reported along this route. Weather conditions were said to be clear along The Dalles-California highway, with packod snow being on the route in the vicinity of Sun mountain. Airplane Is Used In Hunt for Car Lima, O., March 26 (U'i O. F. Reynolds went up in the air when his car was stolen and had it back today. When his car painted a pecular green color was stolen Saturday, he hired a plane and cruised over the city, looking for that color. He spotted the car in a war plant i parking lot, landed and called the I highway patrol. By the time he got to the can it was guarded by patrolmen. The thief didn't come buck. I "All southern Formosa will suf- While the Fifth air force was fer an enforced blackout and its concentrating on the Island fort industry an enforced layoff," he . , . . , . said. "The probability of repair Is I ress' sparch and Pa,ro1 Pancs of out of the question because all j ,np Seventh fleet ranged over the transformer stations were de- China sea to continue the block stroyed and generator stages In arte of Japan's shipping lines. Six the plants received a number of freighters were sunk or probably direct hits by 2,000-pound bombs." destroyed and a destroyer escort ine piani, wnien was divided Into two sections and powered by water from Jitsugetsu lake, had a total capacity of 170,000 kilo watts. Among the main war fac tories to feel the power loss will be the two larrre aluminum plants at Tnkao and Karenko. They hnvo an estimated 40,000-ton capacity each and are believed to have pro vided 15 per cent of Japan's alum inum supply. One Liberator was lost to anti aircraft fire In the Jitsugetsu raid, which was the second 145-ton strike in two days on Formosa. more jittery and tense than at any time since the invasion of Normandy. Travelers arriving at Malmoe from Germany said the nightly air raids were driving Ber liiierv"to dementia." GeAans expect further sur prise WB-borne-landings still deep er behind the German lines, Swed ish dispatchers said. . Arthur Axmann, nazl youth loader, called on German girls as well as boys to throw themselves into Germany's last battles. "Not words but deeds can help." he said after reciting how boys already had guided shock troops, blown up bridges, acted as spies and unmasked Allied spies. "C o n s i dcr the concentrated precedent, and we must find our own way out." . - Tokyo radio, heard by Unit ed Press in San Francisco, said the diet expressed "in be half of the people a firm deter mination to repel an enemy at' tempt at invading the homeland." Homo Battles Expected Members of the diet approved 35 legislative budget bills. Pre mier Gen. Kunlakl Kolso closed the session by reading an Imperial rescript. .Addressing the closing session of the house of representatives of the diet,, Koiso predicted that Ja pan will be turned Into a battle, field. This, he added "would com plete the structure In which we will be ready for any eventual ity." "We are not only determined not to allow the enemy to land easily on our soli, but also to drive ahead ourselves in an of fensive for the recovery of Iwo Jima, of course, as well as Salpan and Guadalcanal," Koiso said. "In order to prepare our offensive, we must first draw the enemy into the trap of our homeland." His remarks concluded with the statement that Japan would fight lor 100 years if she found it neces- sary. Post in Alaska Hit by Jaundice Headquarters, Alaska Depart ment, March 26 upi Quarantine was lined today from personnel of the Whittler, Alaska, army post who have been restricted to the base for the past two weeks be cause of an outbreak of Infectious Jaundice. No now cases of the disease were reported during the two week period, health authorities said. The jaundice is carried by rats to domestic animals and then transmitted to humans. ana tnree ire chters damaged In the latest sweeps Friday. The 13th air force also main tained neutralizing attacks in the central Philippines Friday with Liberators and Mitchells hitting Cebu city with 210 tons of homhs. Large fires and explosions In vltnl Installations were started on Cebu, which is near American controlled Panay. In the ground campaign on Lu zon, bloody fighting raged In the rainswept northern mountains around Belete pass, escape route into the Cagayan valley. Btrength of our millions of en thusiastic boys and girls the youth of Adolf Hitler must be come the center of our national resistance. You boys and girls must never capitulate. , There is no going back for us any longer." Hundreds of thousands of young volunteers "stand ready behind our soldiers," he said. Axmann's talk was broadcast by the Berlin radio. The Paris newspaper Figaro said a preliminary contingent of 10,000 specially-trained SS troops had been placed at the disposal of gestapo chief Heinrlch Himmler and begn training as the nucleus of an underground army to carry on guerilla warfare after the col lapse of organized resistance. Hellcatter Home (NEA Telepholo) Lieutenant Louts A. Menard, 23, of Palmetto, Fla one of the first Navy Hellcat fighter-bomber pilots to get a crack at Tokyo pictured upon his return to San Francisco, With nine Axis planes and a long list of medals to his credit, Menard Is here to re port that the Japs do not do so well when the chips are down, Strike Vote Due For Coal Miners Washington, March 26 mi The soft coal wage controversy entered its most crucial phase to day with mounting signs that the government will step in at any moment to prevent a strike. The present contract between the mine operators and John L. Lewis' united mine workers ex pires Saturday and there was vir tually no hope that a new one could be negotiated in the six days remaining. "No contract, no work" has been the motto of the UMW in the past. The miners' readiness to follow that principal this time will be tested day after tomorrow when they take a strike vote under supervision of the national labor relations hoard. The government, however, has set up machinery to seize the mines to prevent a work stoppage. The government may step in even before the vote is taken. Howard T. Colvin," acting director of the U. S. conciliation service, conferred witth both parties at their closing session last week and indicated that government inter vention might come after today's session. Amedee Smith Dies in Portland Portland, Ore., March 26 (tit Amedee M. Smith, 7li, president of Willamette Iron & Steel Corp., and a former president of the Portland chamber of commerce, died here Sunday. Mr. Smith, a native of Buena Vista, Ore., was Multnomah coun ty commisioner from 1D24 to 1928, and during his term of office was instrumental in construction of three bridges in Portland. While he was chamber of commerce presldent-ln 1033 and 1934 he received much of the credit for expediting federal legislation re sulting in construction of the Bon neville dam. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Myrle Bradshaw Smith; two sis ters, Mrs. William Britts and Mrs. Nell Stansborough, and a brother, Harold S. Smith. 80-Mile Drive Carries Allies To Frankfurt Entire Western Front Is Reported Cracking; Patton Again on Loose Paris. March 26 (IP) Germany's western front cracked wide open today with the American First , army streaking eastward in a 22- mile gam ana Lien, ueorge . Patton's tanks running wild and reported entering Frankfurt-on-Main, nearing the Bavarian stronghold of Wuerzburg in a sensational 80-mile drive and reaching the outskirts of Wies baden. The First army advance was made from the southern sector ot . the Remagen bridgehead. Patton's Third army was on the loose and was reported ranging behind the crumpled German de fenses almost at will. City Nearly Empty Reports from Radio Brussels and Radio Luxembourg said that Third army forces drove into Frankfurt-on-Maln this morning and found the city practically empty. Other reliable quarters report ed that some units of Patton's forces had raced forward 80 miles by highway from the Rhine bridgehead to a point near Wuerz burg. That would represent a gain of 37 miles to the southeast from the last reported positions at Aschaffenburg on the Main. - Radio Paris said that Patton's . advance elements also penetrated to the outskirts of Wiesbaden, . -about. live-mUoi north Otilainz... on the north bank of the Main river. , . Patton on Move While the reports of the sensa tional Third army gajns still lacked official confirmation they were In line with the free-swinging advance by Patton's tankers who had been running wild in the German rear ever since the hard crust of nazl resistance was broken. The exact location of the First army break-through was not im mediately specified. A 22-mile ad vance would place the First army spearhead in a position to threat- en or flank Limburg, 22 miles east of Coblenz. A report from the British Sec ond army front said that the whole Germaajthlne defense sys tem appeared to be collapsing; This correspondent said there ' were Indications that the Ger mans had given up efforts to (Continued on Page 5) Lloyd George, 82, Ex-Premier, Dead London, March 26 U? David Lloyd George, world war I prime minister of Great Britain, died to day at 82 after a lengthy illness. Lloyd George's condition had been grave for more than a month. He had not been in good health for several years but had continued to make occasional ap pearances In the house of com mons until recent months. Turns For Worse Lloyd George's condition took a turn for the worse in the last 24 hours and his physicians gave up hope. The former world war prime minister died at 8:35 p.m., It was announced. The official announcement said "Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor passed peacefully away at 8:33 p.m." Attending physicians who sign ed the announcement Drs. R. Rees I'rytherch and S. Wentworth Pat terson, added that Lloyd George died in his sleep. Rhine Crossed by Prime Minister London, March 26 (tin Prime Minister Churchill went across the Rhine again today in company of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery who said the "battle is going extremely well." unurcmii visited British Second army troops, acorn ponied by Chief of the Imperial General Staff Sir Alan Brooke and by Lt. Gen. Miles C. Dempsey. commander of the British Second army. Lnurcniu watched troops and vehicles streaming across the Rhine and inspected troops on the west bank on the site of Satur day's battles.