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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1943)
raa TAKEN, 1 GUT H HA IF Light Bombing On Outskirts of Rome Reported Enemy Source Says Brit ish Attempt Landing at Qri on Italian Coast London, July 21 U.R Sev eral incendiary and light bombs were dropped In the Rome sub urbs during a 65-minute air alarm today, a Bern dispatch reported, but no planes ap peared over the city itself. A neutral source, cut oft at 12:03 p.m. while telephoning Rome from Bern, later re-established contact with the fascist capital and was informed that the alarm ended shortly after 1 p.m., a United Press dispatch said. There were no allied reports of a raid on Rome or Its en virons. A nazi broadcast reported coastal guns at Bari in south eastern Italy had beaten off the At allied attempt to land on tne Italian mainland. The alarm sounded only a little more than 48 hours after more than 500 American bomb ers subjected the Italian capital to its first air raid in history Monday. An alert also was sounded Monday night but no raid developed. British Officials Silent Radio Zeesen in Germany re ported that allied planes at tacked Rome last night, but it was possible the station was re ferring to an air alert sounded Monday night, though no raid developed then. A Paris broadcast quoted Berlin sources in reporting that British troops had attempted a landing near Bari, nearly 150 miles up the Adriatic coast of Italy. Coastal batteries opposed the landing attempt and the S;nture ' proved a complete ure," the broadcast said. As usual, British official sources declined to comment on the axis report. If a landing actually was attempted, it prob ably was more in the nature of a reconnaissance raid by commando troops than an in vasion attempt. The British made several commando raids on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lam pedusa before launching the of fensive that led to its capitu lation last month. Eern dispatches revealed that Italy was making additional preparations for anticipated in vasion of the mainland. The command of the fifth army, whose jurisdiction Includes Home and Florence, announc ed that church, bells would toll klhe event of an allied landing ow nearby shores. Once the invasion alarm has been given, Bern said, all traf fic would be banned and In habitants would have to remain In their homes pending further instructions. Renewed Italian invasion jit ters coincided with the an nouncement that Premier Mus solini and Adolf Hitler had met in a northern Italian town Mon day while American planes were dropping bombs on Rome. The terseness of the com munique announcing the meet ing and the absence of the "friendliness" and "cordiality" phrases that marked announce ments of previous meetings was interpreted here to mean that there had been a showdown between the two axis leaders on the increasing seriousness of the Italian situation. fiava Rock Hard Problem for Troops Training In Central Oregon; Operations on Schedule Headquarters, Central Oregon 7,,N, 01 isn A , "ciu signal corps construction oattalion, fresh from a long tour of duty in a desert war games area, is finding its worn in tne cascade range- as Oregon maneuvers start the opposite of that just completed. Where previously the men have fought shifting sands, now they combat rough and rocky terrain left by volcanoes which once spouted lava about the country side. Setting thousands of poles for communication lines throughout the vast maneuver area, the soldiers find lava rock a real Hblem. The rock soon dulls inary tools. Officers say blasting is necessary in 90 per cent of the work. To keep up with the army schedule and not because signal corps men cannot do the job demolition Capital 55th Year, No. 172 Feeder Line Cut by Japs Unable to Break Through Allied Blockade Allied Headquarters in the Southwest Pacific, July 21 VP) American bombers were cre dited today with sinking a crui ser and two destroyers of a Jap anese convoy attempting vainly to run the allied sea and air blockade around the big Munda airbase in the Solomons, A force of three light cruisers, six destroyers and two trans ports, undoubtedly seeking to aid the hard-pressed garrison at Munda, was spotted by Catalina flying boats shortly after mid night yesterday in Vella gulf just west of Kolombangara is land. The Catalinas followed the convoy until strong formations of Liberators, Mitchells and Avenger bombers arrived with bombs which blasted atleast three warships to the bottom and sent the remainder fleeing or limping northward. A third destroyer was listed as probably sunk, and a trans port and yet another destroyer were damaged. Four bombers were lost two Mitchells and two Avengers. Munda Steadily Pressed The action, described in to day's communique, .from the headquarters of General Doug las MacArthur, served to main tain steady pressure on Munda, big airbase on New Georgia is land, which has been hit by land, sea and air attack since the southwest Pacific offensive started on July 1. This fourth attempt to crack the Munda blockade brought to 17 the number of Japanese war ships listed officially as having been sunk in the fast-spreading allied offensive in the Solo mons. Five more are consid ered probably lost. Allied ground forces moving slowly in on Munda were aided yesterday by Dauntless dive bombers which dropped 18 tons of bombs on Japanese gun posi tions along a perimeter about two miles east of the airdrome. An enemy destroyer at an chor in the harbor of Sarong, Dutch New Guinea, and a medium-sized cargo ship off the coast there were bombed with unobserved results. U. S. bombers also hit the Kahili airdrome on Bougainville island, starting numerous fires and explosions with 42 tons of bombs, and started large fires among supply dumps and Instal lations at Madang, New Guinea. Innkeeper Executed For Sheltering Flier New York, July 21 VP) The nazi-controlled Paris radio said today that an innkeeper in the French town of Cormeilles had been put to death by order of a German military court for giv ing overnight shelter to an American airman. Maneuver Area. Camn Ahhnf . .. . .. . . squads from the corps of en gineers assist in blasting be cause of their training in hand ling explosives. Often ground which appears soft enough for post holes proves to be solid lava two feet under neath and not old lava rock which becomes softer with the centuries. Poles were cut, trimmed and barked by the signal corps men. They were cut from areas pre viously designated by the forest service and under careful super vision so that no fires may re sult. Most of the poles lack the usual cross arms; instead wire SSSfJiSSUSs: Salem, Oregon, Wednesday, July 21, 1943 j First Americans to Bomb Rome MP) First man to drop bombs on military objectives in the 500 plane American raid on Rome was Lieut. Fred G.- Wheeler (right), Redwood City, Calif., who compares notes with his pilot, Col. Sam Gormley, Alhambra, Calif., after their return from their mission. (This Northwest African air force photo was transmitted to Washington by U. S. signal corps radiophoto in Algiers.) Bombing of Paramushiro Described by Raid Crews Headquarters, Alaska Defense Command, July 20 (Delayed) VP) Alaska pilots training in combat flying over Kiska celebrated today with the first successful raid on Japanese territory since the bombing of Tokyo. Aleutians-based bombers returned without the loss of a plane from a long distance bombing of Paramushiro, Japan's northernmost military Strike Slows Ford Operation Detroit, July 21 U,R)A dis pute between union shop com mitteemen and a foreman dis rupted production of aircraft engines at the Ford Motor com pany's River Rouge plant, for several hours today. The walkout began at 4:30 a. m. when 2500 men arid women affiliated with United Automo bile Workers (CIO) quit work in protest against the discharge of four committeemen. Full production was resumed by the day shift at 7:30 a.m., but 45 minutes later 523 em ployes in the cylinder assembly division sat down at their benches. However, these employes re sumed work at 9 a.m. and pro duction was .back on schedule. A company spokesman said the dispute began when the committeemen protested the presence of a foreman who had docked 17 women workers for quitting early July 1. The com pany transferred the foreman to its Highland Park plant, then discharged the four committee men, the spokesman said. will be fastened by single in sulator. This, officers, explain, be cause the line will be torn down once the maneuvers end. Stringing of the miles of copper wire is being started on an undisclosed number of cir cuits. The exact mileage used in the network was not divulg ed, except that one circuit will comprise 168 miles of wire. One of the construction bat talions is made up entirely of colored troops, under command of white officers. Encamped in. a lush valley, their tented areas - is as immaculate as if within the limits of a regular garrison. During the day they toil long hours in clearing brush, digging holes, setting poles. base. . The raid came as a logi- cal development after the American occupation of Attu and had long been expected and prepared for, with Japanese shipping being swept from the northern seas by naval surface vessels. The bombers were from the army's 11th air force, which has done the lion's share of all fly ing in the Aleutians the last year. Returning pilots reported the bombing was no more difficult than flights against Japanese bases on American islands in the Aleutians. They came out of the overcast into clear skies above Paramushiro and looked down on a square mile of mili tary installations. They saw some Japanese planes but none wanted to fight. Veterans Make Raid Only light anti-aircraft fire was met. Bombs were dropped near ships in the harbor. They saw what appeared to be an ancient fort, built long before bombers were ever made. The raid was made by veteran pilots who had been over Kiska many times. Some led raids on Attu only a little more than a month ago during the American fight for that island. The pilots all knew they were making a dangerous sur vey flight in preparation for fu ture flights which will event ually hit all the Kuriles as well as more thickly populated Ja panese territory. Lieut. Tom Merrill, navigator for one crew, has had an auto mobile stored in Los Angeles. Pilots said he has been boast ing about it ever since he ar rived in the Aleutians, but be fore every raid he has offered to sell ft to any taker at a great ly reduced price. The men carried no special (Concluded on pare 10, column 6) Don't Miss Salem's United Nations Festival Sunday, July 25, p.m. on the STATE CAPITOL LAWN EVERYBODY WELCOME (Bring your own chair or pillow!) Jonii General Admits Battle Tough Allied Headquarters in North Africa, July 21 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower declared emphat ically today he was confident of a complete allied victory in Sic ily, but said the task facing Brit ish and Canadian forces was one of bitter fighting with a gener ally slow advance. "Due to the nature of the ter rain and the location of the ene my forces, the task facing th British eighth army, including Canadian forces, is one of bitter fighting with a generally slow advance," the allied commander in chief said. "The (American) seventh ar my is making a more or less rapid advance through weaker resistance, thus over-running substantial portions of the island and confining the enemy to pro gressively smaller areas." Two Warships Bombard Kiska Washington, July 21 VP) The navy reported today that two small American warships bonv barded the Japanese defenses on Kiska island in the Aleutians Tuesday and the enemy failed to return the fire. In the south Pacific, mean while, the Japanese bombed the American base on Funafuti, El lice islands, in the latest of ( series of light attacks against advanced outposts guarding the supply lines to Australia. The enemy caused no damage or in juries at Funafuti so far as re' ports here showed. Navy communique No. 448 said: "South Pacific (all dates are east longitude) "1. On July 20, during the early morning, three Japanese bombers dropped several bombs on Funafuti, Ellice islands. No damage was reported and no personal injuries were sustained. "North Pacific: "2. On July 20th, two U. S. light surface units bombarded the Japanese main camp in the Gertrude cove area on Kiska The enemy did not return the fire." The navy had not reported any raid by the enemy on Funa futi since April 26, at which time American occupation of the advanced position in the south central Pacific was disclosed. The Japanese bases closest to the Ellice islands are in the Gil bert group to the north. am AJL Price Five Cents Red s Move Puts Base Of Orel in Tough Plight , Moscow, July 21 (U.R) Rus. slan troops drove in behind Orel to within less than five miles of the Bryansk railroad today, practically immobilizing the only line for evacuation or reinforcement of the hard-pressed German base. Striking southward from cap tured Studenkovo, five miles above the Orel-Bryansk rail way, the Russians brought it within easy gunshot range and left the threatened German gar rison to the east without a feed er line, lield dispatches reveal ed. At the same time the red army stepped up its attacks along a 450-mile front running south from Orel, consolidating and expanding new gains which had carried spearheads across both the Donets and Mius rivers. (The German high command acknowledged fierce defensive battles in the Orel salient and along the Donets and Mius riv ers and conceded "local pene trations" by powerful Soviet formations, but claimed the wedges were "cordoned off.' (The London radio reported that Russian forces driving to ward Orel from the east were less than seven miles from the city.) Advance in All Sectors Soviet military reports said the red army was advancing in all key sectors of the southern front winding down from the breached Orel salient to the Sea of Azov in the Taganrog area. They described the Rus- n drive as a series of en circling movements reminiscent of the last great winter cam paign which swept the Germans 500 miles westward from Stalin grad. The concentric squeeze on Orel was described as tighten ing swiftly, threatening the key stone city midway between Moscow and Kharkov not only with direct assault but with iso lation for reduction of the Ger man garrison in the manner made famous at Stalingrad. Synchronized with the drive down into the base of the Orel salient from the north were in tensified attacks on the sagging rim of the bulge from both south and east attacks which yester day netted 50 towns and vil lages in advances ranging up to seven and one-half miles. To the south in the Belgorod sector, the army organ Red Star said, the Russians were mopping up the area from which the Germans had been ousted, res toring the situation before the German offensive which began July 5. Charred Tanks Strew Fields "The red army is rolling for ward over fields where lie the charred carcasses of the Ti gers (the 60-ton German tanks)," Red Star said. "Soviet salvage detachments already are towing the booty to the rear." Deeper in the Ukraine in the regions south of Izyum and southwest of Voroshilovgrad, what began as local Soviet thrusts was developing into a gigantic battle for the Donets In dustrial basin. The crossings of the Mius and upper Donets shaped up as a possible renewal of the attempt last winter to encircle the Do nets basin and force a German withdrawal. "The battle is mounting in ferocity and intensity hourly, with fierce infantry clashes rag ing in several sectors, heavily supported by tanks, artillery and aircraft," Red Star said. The push across the Mius was reported to have cut the only supply railroad serving Tagan rog, southern anchor of the German line since Marshal Semyon Timoshenko threw the nazis out of Rostov In their first major reverse of the war. Axis Gets Set for Stand at Mount Hold All Road Capture Accomplished by Americans; Axis Armored Back; Half of 40,000 Prisoners Nabbed by Yanks By Virgil Plnklcy Allied Headquarters, North Africa, July 21 U.R) The axis U bringing in reinforcements for a last ditch stand around volcanlo Mount Etna on the northeastern tip of Sicily, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower indicated today as allied armies stormed through the main enemy communications of Enna and slugged furiously at Catania on the east coast. Americans and Canadians converged In a pincers with the aid of French Moroccan troops to capture Enna and occupy approxi mately one-half of Sicily's 10,000 square miles, cutting off axis rear guards and forcing the main enemy divisions back toward tha northeastern peninsula opposite the toe of Italy's boot. Eisenhower said "The enemy apparently plans to make a stand along a line at the base of the northeastern peninsula, including Mount Etna." He predicted bitter fighting and slow advance in the final stages of the conquest of Sicily. (Radio Algiers said Catania was being attacked from all sides and might fall at any moment.) The fall of Enna, a town of 27,000 on a high horseshoe shaped hill In mid-Sicily, cut off German and Italian rear guard troops and gave the al lies control of a network of roads leading to all corners of the island. French Goumiers, native Moroccan troops, parti cipated in the allied advance. Canadians Close In The Canadians closed in on Enna from the southeast, break ing through stubborn enemy resistance, while the American 7lh army reached the road junc tion from the southwest, after flanking operations that carried some units farther northward toward the coast. The effect of the capture of Enna was to split Sicily in half, with the allies controlling all territory south of a line running from Catania on the east coast to Enna and thence southwest ward to a point beyond Agri gento, where the Americans were stiU advancing. Enna rep resented an advance of about 35 air line miles from the nearest south coast port of Gela, but the troops covered many more miles in their offensive over mountain roads. Of greatest importance, how ever, was the seizure of the road network centering at Enna. The axis, with mid-island defenses crumbling, was being driven' steadily back toward northeast Sicily and its main communica tion lines are vanishing except on the north coast. The rearguard action fought by the enemy In the Enna sec tor and the fierce battle at Ca tania were regarded as design ed to gain time while the main axis forces fell back toward Messina, only a few miles from the toe of- the Italian boot. Two axis armored divisions were among the enemy forces falling back from the Enna area Eighth Has Stubborn Foe At Catania, however, enemy resistance continued strong against the 8th army of Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. Field dispatches said that the battlefields south of Catania were strewn with German dead, and wrecked tanks of the Her mann Goering division, while allied warships and airplanes hammered at the coastal road leading northward to Messina. Prisoners taken in Sicily were estimated to total around 40,000, more than half of them taken by the Americans. As usual, Italian prisoners complained that the Germans took their transport and fled, leaving the Italians to walk. They also complained (Cnnclurlnd nn page 10, column 7) Disorderly Youngsters May Be Denied Gasoline Rations "Wolves of the Home Front" who howled hilariously and drovd automobiles accordingly about the streets Friday night, threaten ing a mass battle at a skating rink and later, when one of th. leaders landed in the county jail, may find their fangs drawn and their lusty howls reduced to a whisper when they seek more gasoline. License numbers were taken of 25 vehicles, most of which bore stripes of white tape, and today, under orders of Chief of Police Frank Minlo, officers of the department checked with the secretary of stale's office and obtained names of regis tered owners. These names, together with the license plate numbers are being turned over to the Salem ration board and the OPA for future action. Drivers of many of the cars, police state, herded their jalo pies around the streets of the city, disregarded safety rules Last Ditch Etna; Allies Pound Catania Canadians and Divisions Forced to Fall - Free Germany Group Formed Moscow. July 21 VP) Forma tion of a committee composed ot German prisoners of war and refugees to work for a "fre Germany" was announced in a manifesto published here today. The manifesto was signed by 33 persons, including five de scribed as former members of the reichstag, and was address; cd to the German army and th German people. President of the group is th German poet, Erich Weinert. Other offciers include Major Karl Hetz, first vice-president, and Lieut, Henrich Count von Einzidel, second vice-president. Former members of the reich stag said to have attended th session in Moscow a week aga are Martha Arendzee, Edwitt Hoernle, Walter Uubricht, Wil helm Florin and William Pieek, The latter is the former Comin tern leader in Berlin. U.S. Force Bomb Myitnge Bridge New Delhi, July 21 MV-Hea-vy and medium bombers of th U.S. 10th air force yesterday heavily attacked the Myltng railway bridge on the important Japanese-held Mandalay-Ran-goon rail line in south central Burma, a U.S. headquarter! communique said today. Almost 30 tons of bombs were dropped on the bridge during the concentrated attack. One for mation reported that bombs were seen to straddle the 150 foot span for Its entire length, but resulting smoke made ac curate assessment of damage lnv possible. Other formations rt ported hits on the north ap proach and in the center, and additional possible hits. The Mu river railroad bridge was attacked by B-25's, with both direct and near hits re ported. The attacks were mads without loss, the announcement said. Raid-Free Night En joyed by Britain London, July 21 tP) Britain enjoyed another raid-free night last night the fifth successive night to pass without the sound ing of an alert anywhere in th United Kingdom. and even parked their cars in the middle of the street. Reginald Alforde, 20, said te be working in a Portland ship yard, was given a 90-day jail sentence by Justice of the Peace Joe Felton when he was haled into justice court and pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. The group had styled them selves the WOHFS and were set to howl. After Alforde had been locked up, a group of them appeared at the sheriff's office, and when told to disperse asked if "the jail could hold 300" and when informed that accommo dations could be arranged, went away. Police anticipated a re turn of activity Saturday night but it failed to materialize.
