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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1943)
l3AxisPles jested in Italy And Sarjdinia Doolittle Reports Great esLVictory Day in His iftry of Strategic Force Allied Headquarters in North Africa, May 21 VP) American fighters and bombers destroyed 118 enemy planes in widespread and devastating raids yesterday against Italy and Sardinia dur ing what was officially called "one of the greatest victory days j In the history of the strategic ' air force." I The strategical air force, un i der command of U. S. Maj. Gen. ; Jn-aes H. Doolittle, is made up pioQ;. S. heavy and medium ;:-vrbombers. Its formation was an j Jnounced April 15. I Aircraft of a half dozen types .' participated in the whirlwind t aerial action in which 91 axis ' planes were shattered on the j ground and 22 axis pilots en ; la Red in air combat were sent 'Crashing In flames. One Amerl !oan plane was lost. Dam Also Blasted j.iislied headquarters spokes men said today that in a swift ,hijt and run sweep over north Western Sardinia P-38 Light- frfnings, outfitted as flghter-bomb- Iers, dropped three bombs on a dam 10 miles east of Sassari near the Gulf of Asinara. Re- .MiMts nvert not announced. Twelve of !5 rt.vtfia-Maviirt- tl-79s, three-engined Italian bombers, were set afire on the Milas airdrome of Sardinia in sfks without a pause to give tlnr reeling axis air force any rest. Targets Hit U.S. Flying Fortresses again raided Grosseto airdrome, 90 miles north of Rome, and a spokesman said "some of the finest precision bombing of the war took place" over its hang ars, administration buildings and runways. Fifty-eight of 59 aircraft parked on the ground there were destroyed during the high altitude attack, reconnaissance photographs showed. The fortified island of Pan- telleria, 45 miles east of Cap Bon, was raided again. Sardinia Raked P-38 Lightning fighters out fitted with bombs ranged .from one end of Sardinia to the oth-er-blasting bridges, trains and bOacks. B-25 Mitchells, with Lightning escorts, bombed the Villa-Cidro airdrome northwest of Cagliari while B-26 Maraud ers escorted by P-40 Warhawks attacked the nearby Decimom annu airdrome. The roll call of enemy aerial disaster thus was brought to 186 planes in two days. Allied air craft destroyed 73 axis planes aloft or on the ground the day before in similar heavy smashes at Italian Mediterranean bases. 5,172 Axis Planes The RAF and the U.S.A.A.F. disclosed in a joint communique that they had destroyed 5,172 axis planes in air combats in the Mediterranean area between the entrance of Italy into the war on June 10, 1940, and the collapse qf axis resistance in Tu'sia this month. W these 3,415 were shot down by the Middle East command squadrons, including Malta-based units, and 1,757 in the north west African campaign. Since the German and Italian ground forces tossed in the sponge, however, allied airmen have brought down 89 more planes, swelling the North Afri can total to 1,846 and the list In all the Mediterranean area to 5,261. U-Boat Yards Bombed by Forts London, May 21 VP) Separ ate forces of U. S. Flying Fort resses struck new daylight oris today at the U-boat yards ofilhelmshaven and Emden, mashing through heavy fight er opposition which brought flown 12 of the bombers, the eighth U. S. A.A.F. announced. 1,1 Simultaneously e f a h t h air force P-47 Thunderbolts swept anew over the nazi-guarded European coast in separate ope rations and received their stiff 's' punch to date from German lighters. Three Thunderbolts ere lost in a fight with a force rocke-Wulf 190s and ony one Focke-Wulf was reported damaged. Swift Mosquito bombers of he RAF bombed Berlin last nSht for the second successive "Sht and the fifth time since ay 13, it was announced. ' Simultaneously other British mbers and fighters struck at JHjy industries and commum Jis at widespread places in th France and Germany, in cluding Bremen and Essen. Mines also-were laid in enemy 'ers, an air ministry com munique said. C aupital 55th Year, No. 121 S3Z?J2SmS Salem, Commander of Japanese Fleet Killed in Battle (Br the Associated Press) Japan announced today the death in air combat in the south Pacific of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of her combined fleet, the man who planned and executed the attack on Pearl Harbor and once boasted that he would dictate peace terms to the United States in the White House. Yamamoto has been credited with inflicting more hurt to the armed forces of the United States than any other enemy commander in our history. He was Japan's foremost naval leader. He is believed to be the highest ranking commander of any of the belligerents to die in action in this war. Killed in Battle A Tokyo broadcast said he was killed "on the very front lines of the south" while direct ing operations against allied naval forces from an airplane. Admiral Mineichi Koga, for mer commander of the Japanese fleet 'n Chinese waters, was named YamamUo's successor and already is in command, the radio said. t Broadcasts 0 n YamamcAo's death were recorded by the As sociated Press and the federal communications commission. Announced by Tokyo A Tokyo radio announcer, in a voice which broke with emo tion, gave the news to the Jap anese people with these words from the official Japanese an nouncement: "An imperial headquarters communique is sued on May 21 at 3 p.m. (Japan time) Admiral Isoroku Yama moto, commander in chief of the combined fleet, while directing general strategy on the front line in April of this year, en gaged in combat with the enemy and met a gallant death on a warplane." A subsequent broad cast set the locale of his death in the south. ' ' Hated America Presumably the "very front lines on the south" referred to the waters of north of Austra lia, in the New Guinea or Solo mon islands area where there have been frequent naval en counters. Yamamoto was possessed of a consuming hatred of the Unit ed States, acquired in his youth when his fathers told him of the "barbarians" who had come in their black ships, broken down the doors of Japan, threatened the son of heaven, trampled up on ancient customs, demanded indemnities . . ." His military training started at the age of six, but he later switched to the navy because he said he wanted to "return Commodore Perry's visit." Liege Quizling Posed as Geranium London, May 21 (U.B The Economist, weekly magazine, said today in an article on ner vous breakdowns among Quisl ings in occupied Europe: "The strange case of Monsieur Willens, the Rexist mayor of Liege is worth recording. Short ly after the murder of the Rex ist mayor of Charleroi, a horri fied official discovered Willens stark naked on a desk pouring ink on his head and proclaiming he was a geranium. "He was accorded the safety of a straitjacket, which may in deed have been his object." Davies' Visit to Josef Stalin Held Highly Successful Moscow, May 21 (U.B The mission of Joseph E. Davies, who last night delivered a sealed letter from President Roosevelt to Premier Josef Stalin in an audience at the Kremlin, was believed today to have been highly suc cessful All external evidence indicat ed soviet favor of the mission, the nature of which still is cloaked in the secrecy Mr. Roosevelt threw over it in dis patching his special envoy to Moscow with a personal message for Stalin. (Prime Minister Winston Churchill told congress Wednes day that he and Mr. Roosevelt hoped to meet Stalin, and if possible Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek of China, "at no dis tant date.") The Moscow press gave prom inent display to the announce ment that Stalin received Davies last night. Stalin summoned Davies to Decision on War Strategy Due Next Week Washington, May 21 VP) President Roosevelt disclosed today that the British-American chiefs of staff would submit some preliminary recommenda tions tonight to .him and Prime Minister Churchill and he said probably final decisions on them would be made next week. At the same time, the chief executive told a press confer ence it is absolutely true that a large majority of American forces outside the United States are in the Pacific. The British prime minister had mentioned that in a speech to congress Wednesday, and the president said it is particularly true of the army and navy. About half of our air force is in the Pacific, he asserted. Maritime Day Mr. Roosevelt also issued a statement hailing National Mar itime day tomorrow. Paying tribute to the men who sail and build the merchant vessels, he told reporters that they were helping to maintain a ring that is slowly and surely being clos ed around the axis powers. Asked if he could give a prog ress report on his conferences with the prime minister, the president replied that so far most afthe work has been done by the combined chiefs of staffs the top military,, naval atid air advisers who flank the two consultants. Staffs to Recommend Tentative recommendations are expected to be made at a meeting tonight, he said, and these will be considered by the president and prime minister over the week-end. They will take them up next week, he said, and the kinds will be iron ed out and a final decision made on them. Speaking of the maritime pro gram, Mr. Roosevelt said that ship construction is going ahead exceedingly well, with the building exceeding sinkings and total output well ahead of what anyone expected a year ago. He spoke of a process now underway of graduating slowly from Liberty ships to faster and better victory ships, which he said could be used for commerce after the war. In his press conference, Mr. Roosevelt reiterated the allies' unconditional surrender stand when asked whether any con sideration is being given to the political future of Italy. He did not elaborate on that point. Oregon Gets Rubber Plant Seattle, May 21 VP) Twenty five acres on the bureau of rec lamation's Klamath project in southern Oregon and northern California have been seeded with Russia's rubber producing dandelion Kok-Saghyz, the of fice of war information report ed here yesterday. Harry W. Bashore, acting commissioner of reclamation, said the project was experi mental and that the main ob jective was to obtain seed. Some of the crop may be processed experimentally, however, he said. Last year a trial plot on the Klamath project's experi mental farm produced rubber at the rate of 50 pounds per acre. The plant can be grown and processed in a single year. the Kremlin a few hours after Davies conferred with Foreign Commissar V. M. Molotov. For eign diplomats usually wait sev eral days after seeing Molotov before Stalin receives them. Another potentially signifi cant point was that Stalin, breaking his current practice of receiving diplomats in the pres ence of Molotov, waited until he was alone with Davies to accept the president's message. Morning newspapers pub lished five columns of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's speech to the American con gress, including his reference to a possible meeting with Statin. The speech had been brushed off yesterday with perfunctory accounts. Oregon Friday, May 21, '" r -t" V"""" J Building New Western Aleutian Base With the busy harbor in the background, two members of American forces which landed on Amchitka island in the Aleutians are hard at work. New ad vance base makes bombing of Jap invaders easier. 100,000 Refugees from Rampaging Mississippi (By the Associated Press) Spreading waters from the rampaging Mississippi and Missouri rivers brought added concern to southern Illinois and Missouri today as other .smaller streams in six mid-west states rose re lentlessly, causing further widespread destruction in the flood stricken zone. As the two big rivers joined together early today Gas Rationing To Continue Washington, May 21 VP) The office of price administration has rejected a proposal from the agriculture department to cancel temporarily all A, B and C ration coupons' along part of the Atlantic scabord, to meet the gasoline shortage' emer gency. ... "As far as OPA is concerned, no curtailment or elimination of A, B or C rations now is con template," an OPA spokesman said today when asked about the agriculture department's plan. He indicated that OPA would depend on curtailment of T ra tions, used by taxis, trucks and other commercial vehicles, and on the eastern pleasure driving to ride out the period of emer gency. The agriculture department proposal prompted by a food production crisis caused by the stoppage of tractors in the north eastern states envisaged no curtailment of allotments to farmers or non-highway users of gasoline. 27,500Sfrike At War Plants Detroit, May 21 VP) Em ployes of a sixth war plant of Chrysler corporation joined in a United Automobile Workers' (CIO) strike' move today as re gional war labor board officials entered a conference with man agement and union executives. The walkout of day shift workers in the bomber plant of the Chrysler DeSoto division brought the number of strikers and other idle employes in the corporation's war factories to nearly 4f,tiuu. n wus jJeiruiL a most serious stoppage since Pearl. Harbor. Edwin E. Wltte, regional WLB director, summoned Chrysler top executives and of ficers of the striking UAW-CIO unions to attend the closed con ference and explain why work cannot be resumed immediately pending settlement of current disputes. Before today's meeting Leo LaMottc, director of the union's Chrysler division, called on the strikers to return to work, and in a statement said "there are certain individuals within our own union who are ready to sacrifice the interests of the workers in the shop and en danger the nation at war, to advance their own political ag grandizement." Gosh! Says President Washington, May 21 VP) Here is President Roosevelt's comment, which he authorized for direct quotation, on the re ported death of Japanese Ad miral Yamamoto: "Gosh!" Journal 1943 some 10 miles northwest of he normal confluence near Alton 111., the number of persons driven from their homes by the disastrous floods was close to 100,000 as estimated by Red Cross officials and other obser vers. Hundreds of civilian recruits including high school boys and girls in some towns labor ed throughout the night in towns regarded as in imminent dan ger,, aiding cngineesr and sol diers in the. struggle to hold back the surging waters. Red Cross officials rushed re lief to the stricken families and government engineers and sol diers aided civilians in evacuat ing homes in hundreds of towns and cities and farms. The Red Cross office at St. Louis said that in Illinois, Mis souri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, more than 80,000 were home less, while in Indiana official and unofficial observers esti mated 12,000 were forced to (Concluded on pare 13, column 6) Ration Stamps' Time Extended Washington, May 21 U.R The office of price administration today extended for one week the time during which blue stamps G, H and J (processed foods) in war ration book II may be used by consumers. OPA said the move was made to re lieve retailers of an end of the month buying rush. Instead of expiring on May 31, as previously announced, blue stamps G, H and J will be good through June 7. OPA also announced that the next three sets of blue stamps in ration book II K, L and M totalling 48 points, will become valid on May 24, and, instead of expiring at the end of June, will continue to be good through July 7. This will provide an overlap period of two weeks when both sets of stamps will be good. An OPA spokesman said that the change should make mar keting easier both for consum ers and retailers and should avoid the sort of congestion that prevailed in many retail stores at the end of April. Long Distance Phone Calls Limited The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph company is now start ing to ask the cooperation of long distance telephone users to limit their conversations over heavily loaded lines to five min utes, according to R. N. Nixon, manager for the company here. The goal is to speed up tele phone traffic over congested routes during hours when de mand is heaviest and calls are subject to delay. At such times of peak demand the operator will say at the start of conver sation, "Please limit your call to five minutes others are waiting," according to Mr. Nixon. Price Five Cents French Develop Major Crisis London, May 21 (U.B A new, major crisis in the French situa tion has resulted from the latest proposal of Gen. Henri H. Gi raud to the French national committee and it hast far-reaching implications in view of the eventual allied invasion of France. In substance, Giraud proposed that both. sides signify their sin cerity and desire for unity by an immediate agreement to transfer all powers and functions to a new committee on which Giraud and Gen. Charles De Gaulle would have equal rcpresenta-. tion. Giraud suggested that the so lution of dozens of bristling con troversies be deferred until tnis new committee could begin functioning at Algiers. The committee of nine would include Giraud and De Gaulle and would sit down and thresh out all French issues. This would mean that Gi raud's North African adminis tration and De Gaulle's nation al committee in London would be merged into a small and com pact group of delegates. Giraud's proposal has the ef fect of sidetracking the big con troversy which had been raging over whether De Gaulle would go to Algiers or to some place outside Algiers for reconcilia tion conferences with Giraud. However, it De Gaulle accepted the latest proposal, it would be tantamount to granting Giraud an equal right to his own in rep resenting the French populace. Coal Strike Spreads To Ohio Colliery St. Clairsvillo, O., May 21 (U.B A strike in the eastern Ohio coal fields spread today to three of the states' largest mines when approximately 2,500 mem bers of the United Mine Work ers refused to work without a contract. Adolph Pacifico, vice presi dent of UMW district 6, said at Columbus, O., that the miners in eastern Ohio were "very bitter" and he was not surprised at the action. "They are tired of being kick ed around like a political foot ball," Pacifico said. He advised the miners, how ever, to call meetings and vole to return to work. 18 Tons of Bombs Blast Big Japanese Base at Rabaul Allied Headquarters, Australia, May 21 (U.R) Liberators and Flying Fortresses blasted the big enemy base at Rabaul with 18 tons of bombs that kindled large fires as the Japanese raided four allied outposts, a communique 4 said today. Twenty-one enemy planes hit at New Guinea points, bringing to more than 260 the number of aircraft the Japanese have sent on attack missions the past week. The attacks generally were in effectual. Yesterday 12 planes, strafing the Douglas harbor area at Cape Ward Hunt, de stroyed a 12-lon allied lugger and damaged a 50-ton lugger. Four planes dropped 10 bombs in the 26th raid on Milne bay, firing a small fuel dump. Raids on Bobdubi and Port Moresby caused little or no damage. Trapped Jap Remnants on Attu Dig In for Suicide Stand With Americans Continuing to Close In Ei.emy Establishes Positions on High Ground East of Village As Army Bombers Continue Strafing of Whole Jap Defense Line Washington, May 21 IIP) The navy reported today that opera tions on Attu island in the north Pacific are continuing with the latest reports indicating that the Japanese are making a last stand in defensive which ground on the islands' northeastern extremity. (The Vichy radio in a broadcast recorded in London said today that "the Japanese have begun to evacuate Attu." This had no confirmation.) The enemy, as of last Wednesday, held an area of about 15 or 20 square miles with a line opposite American advancing forces about five miles long. Today's communique, however, gave no Information on what had occurred on Attu yesterday and officers said frankly that all they could be sure of for the present was that operations are continuing. They assumed that the Japanese probably had been driven back somewhat farther in the mean- time, although fog and cold might have slowed down the American movement. Navy Communique number 385 said: "South Pacific (all dates are east longitude): "1. On May 19-20, during the night, eight Japanese bombers attacked Guadalcanal island, causing minor damage. U. S. fighters shot down two of the enemy planes. "North Pacific: ''2. On May 19, operations on Attu continued. Japanese forc es have established positions on the high ground east of Attu village. United States . army bombers attacked Japanese en trenchments in the area north of Sarana bay." Entire Line Attacked Yesterday's communique also had told of operations on the 19th and had said that army bombers attacked military ob jectives in the Chichagof area. Thus it appeared that the whole enemy defense line had been under air attack Wednes day. This line, reportedly consist ing of strategic heights, caves and foxholes, stretches from the shore of Sarana bay to Attu vil lage which is at the head of Chichagof harbor. The penin sula beyond this line embraces an area of 15 to 20 square miles of rough mountainous country, navy men said. Raid Guadalcanal There was no amplification of the action in the south Pacific in which eight Japanese bomb ers succeded in causing only mi nor damage at Guadalcanal. The fact that the attack was made at night and that Ameri can fighters destroyed two of the enemy raiders was evidence that night fighter planes are now in operation on Guadalcanal. The situation in the Aleutians threatened to develop a com plete blockade of the Japanese base on Kiska island. Their plight on Attu appeared hope less. In the circumstances the Ja panese on Kiska could only lok forward to the same fate, al though it may befall them much more slowly and only after the noose of blockading ships and planes has been drawn tight around the bleak and barren American island they have held since last June. Destroyer Downes In Service Again Vallejo, Calif., May 21 M) The destroyer Downes, mortally wounded at Pearl Harbor, has been reincarnated. Into a sleek new body navy repairmen placed vital organs of the old ship that was shatter ed December 7, 1941. Yesterday the new Downes was launched and she held not only the spirit of the old de stroyer but 30 per cent of the old ship's complex machinery her turbines, propeller shafts and much operating equipment. All this had been removed from the shattered hull at Pearl Harbor and shipped to Mare island navy yard. The Vunakanau airdrome at Rabaul took a 70-minutc plas tering. Liberators hit first for 40 minutes, and Flying Fort resses finished up. Strong anti-aircraft fire was met but one gun was silenced and a searchlight destroyed. All bombers returned. Other allied bombers made the ninth straight raid on Gas mata, New Britain, touching off new fires and explosions, and a single plane bombed the Cape Gloucester runway. On the New Guinea coast, medium bombers on patrol forced two enemy barges to run aground. One was set afire. Reds Advance In Donets Area Moscow, May 21 (U.B Russian troops, heavily supported by ar tillery, were reported today to have widened their bridgehead along a 110-mile stretch of the Donets river, southeast of Khar kov, after breaking up German attacks. , The newspaper Izvestia, offi cial organ of the Soviet Supreme council, reported that heavy ar tillery duels had broken a stalemate of several weeks in the Donets basin. The Germans were said to have made futile attempts to de story the Russian bridgehead along the right bank of the river, south of Izyum, Krasny-Llman and Lisichansk. The rod army repulsed tank. Infantry and air attacks and then counterattacked to deepen and widen their bridgeheads, H was said. The newspaper reported that areas to the west and southwest of the river were honeycombed with trenches and other em placements forming a strong Russian defense-offense line. It was in that area that the soviet winter campaign bogged down after rushing all the way from the Stalingrad district. Reports from the front said the Germans attacked all day . yesterday on the Kuban line but that Russian troops had broken the attacks and Im proved their own positions. : Stalemate in New Tax Bill Washington, May 21 VP) The possibility of a presidential veto of any current tax collection legislation which abates a full year's liability plagued senate and house conferees today, and they broke up into separate groups after a stormy, hour long session. The president's letter to Chairman George (D., Ga.), oi the senate finance committee and Doughlon (D., N.C.), of the house ways and means commit tee, in which Mr. Roosevelt In veighed against what he termed the senate bill's "unjust and dis criminatory enrichment of thou sands of taxpayers in the upper income groups," was read to the group as they disputed the amount of lax cancellation that should be authorized in Insti tuting a pay-as-you-go system. The president's attitude was reported to have prompted an assertion by Senator Clark (D., Mo.), champion of the modified Ruml "skip a year" plan, that the conferees apparently have the alternative of agreeing on something Mr. Roosevelt would sign or permit to become law without a veto or of abandon ing their efforts to obtain a bill this year. It is obvious, Clark was re ported to have told the group, that no lax measure could be passed over a veto. Senator Vandenberg (R., Mich.) was reported to have complained that the treasury and the president were attempt ing to put supporters of the full year's abatement plan In the light of seeking to aid the rich. M'Nary's Salmon Fishing Bills Passed Washington, May 21 (U.B The senate today passed and sent to ' the house a bill by Senator Mc nary (R., Ore.) authorizing the fisheries bureau to join with Oregon, Washington and Cali fornia in a program for conser vation of salmon through regu lating of offshore fishing. Also passed by the senate was another McNary bill providing for a survey of crab, shrimp, lobster, clam and oyster re sources in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. 1
