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