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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1944)
Capital. Japs Lose 19 Ships, 201 Planes At Truk As Yanks Complete Conquest of Eniwetok Atoll 56th Year, No. 44 Salem, Oregon, Monday, February 21, 1944 Price Five Cents Beachhead Battle Bloody Loss for Germans Enemy Repulsed Enemy Installations At Truk Badly Damaged No Americans Landed Battleships May Have Aided 2.em hn rHmon Major Air Blows on Germany Continue Nazis Hurled Back 2 Miles On Anzio Front AJoiiraal London, Feb. 21 (P) The Berlin radio reported today that tank-led allied infantry, going over to the offensive in the Anzio beachhead south of Rome, had made "temporary" breaches in the nazi defenses and had inflicted "consider able casualties" on German troops in intensified fight ing. Allied Headquarters, Naples, Feb. 21 VP) American and Brit ish forces have stopped a su preme etfort by densely-packed German troops to wipe out the Anzio bridgehead and have thrown the enemy back two miles toward Carroceto, allied headquarters announced today. The nazi steamroller advance, aimed down the Anziate high way last Wednesday morning toward Anzio, the cord of allied beachhead, was halted only aft er all elements of allied power were called into play during 48 hours of the most intense period of the fighting. Naval Units Helped "Our effort was very greatly assisted by magnificent support given by allied naval units, al lied air formations and both British and American artillery," the communique said. .The German offensive reach esf its peak before dawn Satur day. Then American tanks and infantry, under the cover of a heavy artillery barrage, began smashing forward at 6:30 a.m. and was still rolling ahead yes terday. The Intensity of the enemy efforts was demonstrated by the appearance of elements of five regiments within one 1,000 yard area. Six enemy divisions threw their entire strength into the assault. Three others were held in reserve. 18 Nazi Divisions An allied spokesman an nounced the Germans steadily swelling their armies in Italy, now have 18 divisions involved in the Italian actions. Nine of these facing the beachhead, it f;as announced, are grouped un er the 14th German army, commanded by Gen. Eberhard Von Mackensen last reported on the Russian front. He is the son of the world war general. The bulk of the remaining divisions stand on the main 5th army front behind the Cassino defenses. They comprise the 10th army under Gen. Heinrich Von Vietinghof. Both armies still are under Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. Punched 4000 Yards Throwing everything they could muster into a mighty southward stab to split the al lied beachhead forces, the Ger mans had managed to punch some 4,000 yards below Car roceto before their advance was hurled back. Their casualties were heavy, e dead piling up in great num bers, hundreds being wounded and at least 700 falling prisoner. Some of those captured said one German regiment alone' had lost 60 percent of its strength. Air Force Utilized Allied air operations yester day were devoted almost ex clusively to attacks on the brok en German beachhead lines. Four-engined heavy bombers again joined medium and light bombers in bombing and shoot ing up enemy concentrations. The allies sent 900 sorties into the air, the Germans sent up an . estimated 100, and the sky bat tles and attacks on both sides of the beachhead ground battle lines were rapidly rising to a record peak when the weather limited further forays. 4ction Deferred on CCC Lease of Life Washington, Feb. 21 (IP) The house bOnking and currency committee deferred action to day on a bill to continue the commodity credit corporation's life when the administration was unable apparently to marshal sufficient committee votes to prevent any limitations from be ing added to the bill. Chairman Spence (D. Ky.) said the committee would re sume its discussion tomorrow. Kep. Wolcott (R. Mich.), one of the leaders in the fight to ban subsidies through a limita tion in the previously vetoed CCC bill, said the committee voted 9 to 8 for including some limitation in the pending bill. Hfe did not specifically define the nature of the proposed lim itation. , , 4th Attack in 36 Hours Strikes Plane Factories London, Feb. 21 (U.R) About 2000 .American .planes struck their second staggering blow at Germany in two days today, at tacking o n a scale equal to the Sunday bombardment that knocked out one-fourth of Adolf Hitler's fighter plane produc tion. The systematic destruction of the German air force as a weapon for the last defense of the reich thundered toward a climax as American and Brit ish aerial armadas rained an unprecedented weight of explos ives on the nazi homeland. Repeat Performances The repeat performance today by United States forces of the biggest daylight air attack of all time followed a smashing as sault by the R,oyal Air Force on the industrial center of Stutt gart, which rocked under the impact of an estimated 1,600 tons of bombs during the night. Soon after announcing that American airmen had shot down 126 German planes in the as sault on nazi aircraft centers yesterday, United States head quarters revealed that an equal ly strong force had returned to hammer targets in northwest Germany today. Marauders Join Raiders Marauder medium bombers of the United States ninth air force, transferred to Britain from the Middle East, joined in the record-shattering offensive with an attack on the German air field in the Coxyde area of the Belgian coast, -" " A small force of RAF and Royal Australian air force Mos quito bombers of Britain's sec ond tactical air force smashed at northern France. (Concluded on page 10, column 5) Air Output Cut A Fourth Washington, Feb. 21 (IP) Gen. H. H. Arnold, commanding general of the army air forces estimates and he says his esti mate is "conservative" that the massive American air as sault on Germany yesterday knocked out one-fourth of the enemy's fighter plane produc tion capacity. He said the 2,000-plane raid, which he described as the "big gest United States air mission in history," was a tactical as well as strategic achievement. "The routing of heavy bomb ers and the timing of the attacks by components of the main force and by medium bombardment planes in the coastal regions were skillfully planned," he said last night. "German defense personnel is getting no rest." Arnold meant, the war de partment explained later, that the new forays had knocked out 25 percent of the Luftwaffe's fighter capacity "as of yester day." This represented a tre mendous inroad, coupled with the announcement 10 days ago that as of November, the U.S. forces had chopped German fighter building capacity by 43 percent. Germans Again Raid London Set Fires, Cause Casualties London, Feb. 21 W) Nazi air raiders scattered incendiaries and explosives over London in a .short but fierce attack last night which set fires in many areas and caused some casualties. The assault apparently was staged in an attempt to repeat the big fire raid which was carried out against London ear ly Saturday morning the heav iest blow which the British capital has suffered since the big attacks of 1940-41. The Germans followed the same pattern last night s in the previous raid, fanning out in all directions in an effort to confuse the defenses and scat tering fire bombs apparently In discriminately. The attacking force, however, evidently was smaller than that of Saturday, when it was esti mated that 150 planes came over the city. The raiders were greeted with a thunderous anti-aircraft bar rage and first reports indicated that at least three had been shot Russians Launch Toward Minsk In White Russia London, Feb. 21 (U.R) Sov iet troops have broken into the outskirts of Krivoi Rog and are battling the nazi gar rison of that Dnieper bend stronghold, a communique broadcast by Radio Moscow said today. London, Feb. 21 OT The Russians continued to roll over frozen ground toward the Baltic gateway of Pskov today while to the south, a Berlin broadcast said, the red army had thrown 100,000 more men Into a power ful new push toward Minsk in White Russia. A soviet communique an nounced that 114 villages were captured in the drive for Pskov yesterday, with more than 2,200 Germans killed in advances of two to 12 miles through swirl ing snowstorms. Three points each within 30 miles of Dno, a rail junction 60 miles east of Pskov, were taken in the ad vance, the bulletin said. Drive on Pskov The red army units-nearest to Pskov were last reported 28 miles to the north after battling down the east shores of Lake Peipus and Lake Pskov, but Moscow announcements have not mentioned their progress in several days. The drives announced yester day were taking place south and southwest of Luga, south west of Novgorod beyond captured Shimsk and west of fallen Staraya Russa, below Lake Ilmen. One hundred of the localities captured were de clared taken in the push from Staraya Russa, . , A.Berlin broadcast also as serted that Russian forces in the Ukraine had launched a furious assault toward Krivoi Rog, last big ore city held by the Ger mans in the Dnieper bend. Berlin broadcasts still main tained that' nazi troops which were encircled at Korsun, 25 miles below the middle Dnieper river, had escaped the death trap through the aid of German armor and infantry attacking east of Zashkov, 55 miles west of Korsun. The Russians have announced the erasure of the trap, with 73,200 Germans de clared killed or captured. Lyons Pilot Downs Plane Guadalcanal, Solomon Isl ands, Feb. 21 (IP) Second Lt, Russel J. Christenson, Lyons, Ore., shot down a Japanese Zero during a raid by the Sun- setter P-38 squadron on Rabaul, New Britain, Friday. Tacoma Man Killed By Train Sunday Tacoma, Wash., Feb. 21 (U.R) Jules Stampfleur, 67, of Ta coma, was killed yesterday when he was struck by a Ta-coma-bound Union Pacific train near here. He evidently had stepped back to avoid a south bound train, and moved into the path of the northbound train. He was a resident of a local old people's home. down. The alert, which began about 10 p.m. as the enemy planes swept in over the Thames estu ary, lasted approximately one hour. There was a second brief alert at 3:26 a.m., apparently touched off by enemy recon naissance planes. Three schools, a Roman Cath olic convent, a hotel, several apartment houses, a number of business properties and many private homes were burned out. Incendiaries were the Ger mans' chief cargo, literally hun dreds falling in one district, but some high explosives were mingled with the fire bombs. The Berlin radio made great propaganda capital of the raid, describing it as a massive assault. Monastery Being Blasted VP) Clouds of smoke billowed from the St. Benedictine monastery on top of Mt. Cassino, Italy, as it was being blasted from the air by B-25 army air force bombers, and from the ground by artillery. The Germans had fortified the ancient structure as a defense position against the advance of the allied 5th army. (AP wirephoto via signal corps radiophoto.) Attempt to Assassinate King Peter of Yugoslavia London, Feb. 21 (IP) The Moscow radio broadcast a Tass Cairo-dated dispatch today declaring an attempt' had been made to assassinate King Peter of Yugoslavia. The broadcast, recorded by the soviet monitor, quoted the Russian news agency dispatch as saying the attempt had been made by fascists in an effort to First Soldier Held for Treason Albuquerque, N. M., Feb. 21 (U.R) Federal authorities today promised a speedy trial for Pvt. Dale Maple, 24, San Diego, the first American soldier charged with treason in World war II. , The handsome Harvard gradr uate, who according to the fed: eral bureau of investigation was dismissed' from the ROTC in 1940 because of alleged pro nazi sympathies, was charged with aiding in the escape of two nazi prisoners from the prison stockade at the army winter training center at Camp Hale, high in the Colorado Rockies Maple and the two prisoners were captured Thursday when their car broke down Just south of the Mexican border and were turned over to U. S. authorities by the Mexican immigration office. Maple denied the charges on arraignment and was held m default of $100,000 bond. U. S District Attorney Howard Houk said his case would be presented to a federal grand jury in Santa Fe, N. M., March 6, and his trial would be held shortly after that. Maximum penalty on conviction is death, Houk said. The two Germans, Earhard Schwichtenberg and Heinrich Kikilius, neither of whom could speak English, were reported missing Tuesday night. At the same time, officials at Camp Hale reported that Maple was absent without leave from the camp. Recover $30,000 Of Stolen Property Portland, Feb. 21 (IP) Near ly $30,000 of loot, ranging from war bonds to boxes of pennies and 3000 pounds of ammunition, has been recovered from hid ing places since the arrest of two brothers on burglary charges last week, Detective Chief J. J. Keegan said today. Detectives said they spent three days searching the house where the brothers, Wayne M. Anderson, 26, and Bion Ander son, 38, lived. The last cache 100 watches, 1120 quarters, and a diamond ring was in a flour bin. Linfield College Plans Expansion McMinnville, Feb. 21 UP) Large scale expansion of Lin field college, including a new student union . building, com mons and music conservatory, was recommended today for im mediate action by the board of trustees. The Weather Fair and cool tonight and Tueaday. Temperatures for last 24 hours: Max. 49, min. 27. Rain, trace. River today 1.8. put the blame on Yugoslav sol diers who, the dispatch said, are trying to return to their home land to fight in the partisan ranks of Marshal Josip Broz (Tito). Four members of the king's guard were arrested, Tass said. The Russian government has long openly backed the Tito forces. The dispatch, the broadcast said, declared that: - "Disturbances h a v e taken place in the Yugoslav military units quarter in Cairo and else where, because the public (Dr. Bozhidar Puric,' premier of the Yugoslav government-in-exile) government is placing every ob stacle in the way to prevent of ficers and men from returning to Yugoslavia although they ex pressed a desire to join Tito. "Such wish was expressed by 643 officers and men out of 800 in Cairo units, by 224 sailors out of 260 in Alexandria and by 16 of 22 in the king's guard." Tito announced today his Yugoslav partisans have routed a German column of 600 men near Mesto in Slovenia and had also broken up a Bulgarian of fensive in the direction of Zvna Mlavr. Senate Debates On Skim Milk Washington, Feb. 21 (IP) Still a little hoarse from recent shouting over taxes, service vot ing and subsidies, the senate got around to the skim milk issue today. Senator Overlon (D, La.) led the forces opposing a house-approved bill to amend the pure food and drug regulations so that "powdered skim milk" or "skim milk powder" might be labeled "non-fat dry milk sol ids" or "defatted milk solids." Overton said he had tried out the proposed new terms on some of his colleagues, and "they did n't know what I was talking about." He sought the floor on behalf of the status quo. But Senator Clark (D. Mo.), speaking up for a dairying sec tion, demanded a change. "Skim milk," he asserted, "is a bad name," and its "compulsory ap plication to a good product is inaccurate, unfair, and retards the use of this very valuable food product by millions of con sumers of the country." McNary Weary With Enforced Rest Washington, Feb. 21 (JP) Senator Charles McNary (R Ore.), longs to return to work but his physicians probably will not permit him to leave Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for another month or two. For years he was one of the hardest working members of the senate. His staff says he is be coming increasingly dissatis fied with his enforced rest which followed a bhain opera tion last November. He is in daily touch with his office by telephone and telegram and in sists work be sent to him. - w And Navy Chiefs Takes Their Jobs New York, Feb. 21 (IP) The Tokyo radio acknowledged to day that Japan had suffered hea vy losses in the American attack on her great naval base at Truk and announced simultaneously that both the chiefs of the Jap anese army and navy general staffs had been relieved of their posts. Premier Gen. Hideki Tojo, a broadcast said, has personally assumed the role of chief of the army general staff in a sweep ing shake-up that seemed to be a direct result of the American assault, described earlier by Ad miral unester w. Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the Pacific fleet, as "partial settlement" for the sneak attack on Pearl Har bor. Admit Truk Losses In a short wave broadcast to the United States, the Tokyo radio quoted an imperial head quarters communique as ack nowledging the attack on Truk had cost the Japs two cruisers. three destroyers, 13 transports and 120 planes. Another broadcast quoted an announcement of the navy min istry as saying that Flee Admir al Osami Nagano, chief of the Japanese navy's general staff, had been "relieved of his post." The announcement added that Emperor Hirohito had named Admiral Shigetaro Shimada, na vy minister to serve concur rently as chief of the naval general staff. Sugiyama Relieved The Tokyo radio said the Jap war ministry announced that Field Marshal Gen. Sugiyama had been relieved of his post as chief of the army general staff and that Premier Hideki Tojo had taken over the job. The broadcasts were recorded by the U.S. foreign broadcast intelli gence service. The communique announcing the Japanese naval losses at Truk acknowledged that in ad dition "some damages were in curred among the land installa tions." Emperor Acts Domei, official Japanese news agency, said that Emperor Hiro hito had personally Installed Premier Tojo in his new post. Tojo also has been serving as war minister, head of the muni tions industry, minister of com merce and industry and minister of education. Domei also announced that Gen, Atsushi Ushiroku had been appointed vice-chief of the army general staff, "concurrently as suming the post of war council lor." Lt. Gen. Shojiro Iida was named commander-in-chief of the army central district head quarters, the news agency said. No mention of new assign ments for Nagano or Sugiyama was made. More Passengers Ride City Lines Portland, Feb. 21 (U.R) Gor don G. Steele, vice-president of the Portland Traction company, said that his company's vehicles carried 47.5 more passengers last year than in 1942. lojovmy Aerial Attacks Hit Rabaul And Jap Bases in Dutch Indies Allied Headquarters in the Southwest Pacific, Feb. 21 (IP) Japan's southwest Pacific fortress of Rabaul has been weakened by three more aerial attacks, one of which at least temporarily knocked out the important Vun- akanau airdrome southeast of the town. Coming in at different levels the successive waves of allied planes dropped 123 tons of bombs and left both Vunakanau and Tobera airports devastated. Thirteen Japanese planes were shot out of the air, and others were destroyed on the ground. The attacks February 18 came only a few hours after United States destroyers shelled Rabaul in a daring early morning raid. Allied Mitchells and Light nings struck first, swooping down on Tobera and shooting down five plane Just taking to the air. A large flight of Liberators struck less than an hour later at Vunakanau. Their escorting Lightnnlngs knocked down seven of 20 Japanese planes that Pearl Harbor, Feb. 21 (U.R) u. S. invasion forces battled their way across the next-to-the-last enemy-held island in Eniwetok atoll today as front dispatches indicated a battleship bombard ment may have aided carrier-based planes in sinking 19 Japanese ships in last week's smashing raid on Truk. (A Japanese communique broadcast by Tokyo radio admitted the loss of 18 ships. Including two cruisers and three destroyers, and 120 planes in- the American attack on Truk, It claimed the sinking of two American cruisers, the damaging of an aircraft carrier and an unidentified warship and the destruction of 54 carrier-based planes.) Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific fleet, an nounced In a communique late yesterday that marines and army troops had captured the western half of Eniwetok island and oc cupied all other islands in the atoll except Parry, which was iso lated by the landing on Eniwetok. "Although the Americans are meeting opposition, casualtiei continued to be light," Nimitz said. - Capture of Eniwetok The invaders were expected to complete the conquest of the atoll, 750 miles northeast of Truk, within a mattef of days, bettering even their eight-day victory on Kwajalein earlier this month. Speculation that the 16-inch guns of American battleships may have contributed to the de struction of Truk last week stemmed from official reports that all aerial opposition had been wiped out in the first day of the assault, leaving the way clear for warships to approach within gun range. Altogether, the powerful American task forces sank 19 Japanese ships, probably sank seven others, destroyed at least 201 enemy planes and wrecked shore installations last Wednes day and Thursday in the great est naval victory numerically since the battle of the Bismarck sea in March 1943, when Amer ican planes sank an entire con voy of 22 enemy ships. Only 17 Planes Lost The successful attack cost the American armada only 17 planes lost and "moderate dam age" to one warship. "The Pacific fleet has re turned at Truk the visit made by the Japanese fleet at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and effected partial settlement of that debt," Nimitz said in his triumphant communique yester day noon. He listed Japanese losses spe cifically as follows: Japanese Losses Sunk: two light cruisers, three destroyers, one ammuni tion ship, one seaplane tender, two oilers, two gunboats and eight cargo ships. Probably sunk: one cruiser or large destroyer, two oilers and four cargo ships. Shot down in combat: 120 planes. Destroyed on the ground: 74 planes; shore installations. Damaged on the ground: more than 50 planes; airdromes. George Jones, United Press war correspondent who accom panied the task forces in the Truk attack, said in a dispatch sent before the raid that the warships included a number of battleships and added, perhaps significantly: Body Thrust Likely "We might see our surface strength make a body thrust into the outer edges of Truk's intricate shorelines for an au dacious bombardment . . . Air craft will make the initial as sault and they will carry the responsibility of Inflicting the initial damage on which other surface craft can capitalize." The attack, carried out un der the over-all command of Adm. R. A. Spruange with Rear Adm. M. A. Mitcher, former (Concluded on pare 10, column 7) tried to fight off the attack. A few minutes later, a Ja panese plane over Tobera was winged by a large flight of Mit chells that swarmed down over that airport and smashed revet ments and other installations. In other portions of the south and southwest Pacific, Japanese bases and installations were at tacked from the air and from the sea. The Koepang area on Timor island, at the southeast tip of the Dutch Indies, was at tacked by medium bombers and fighters. The Admiralty islands north of New Britain were bombed by heavy reconnaissance planes. Along the New Guinea coast, night patrol planes destroyed six barges west of Muschu is land, and other planes exploded supply dumps at Hansa bay and destroyed six more barges. Battleships Had Left Truk U. S. Pacific Fleet Headquar ters, Pearl Harbor, Feb. 21 VP) Don't underestimate the dam age inflicted on the Japanese fleet at Truk. It may seem disappointing that the United States carrier forces which sank 19 ships there and probably finished off seven more didn't include Japanese carriers and battleships in their toll. But the heaviest units of the enemy fleet, believed to have been anchored at Eten harbor inside the Truk lagoon at vari ous times in the past, apparent ly had been ordered elsewhere. As recently as 12 days before the carrier raid of last Wednes day, marine reconnaissance planes photographed two car riers among the more than 25 warships of various types at Eten anchorage. The biggest fighting ships sunk Feb. 16 and 17 were cruisers. Sinking of cruisers, destroy ers, oilers, cargo ships and other auxiliaries doesn't make nearly as sensational reading to the average person as the destruc tion of the more potent carriers and battlesnips. . Remember,- however,- a fleet cannot operate without " these auxiliaries any more than the army can fight without food, guns or ammunition. Destruction of two Japanese oilers and probably sinking of two others deprives the Japan ese battle fleet in the central Pacific of its most important auxiliaries. Without oilers available to accompany and re fuel them, warships cannot re main at sea more than a week. They can carry food, ammuni tion and other supplies for a month or six weeks but they are powerless without oil. 3 U-Boats Sunk Off Gibraltar London, Feb. 21 (U.R)British bombers and naval vessels were believed today to have broken up a German attempt to Infil trate the Mediterranean for at tacks on allied shipping, by sinking three U-boats and dam aging a number of others In an 11-day battle off the Straits of Gibraltar. While a communique indicat ed that some of the U-boats might have slipped through the straits, it pointed out the dam aged ones would have a diffi cult job limping through the al lied controlled waters to bases in north Italy. Wellington bombers, acting jointly with British naval ves sels, sank two of the U-boats, which apparently came from an Atlantic port on the west coast of France, while surface ships sank the other submarine. The Berlin radio, in a broad cast heard here, said, however, that German submarines recent ly sank three loaded landing vessels, a modern 19,000 ton freighter, and an escorting ves sel near Nettuno, and destroyed a 5,200-ton allied cruiser in the Gulf of Gaeta. Deny Liberty Ship Cracked in Atlantic London, Feb. 21 (IP) A. C. Kerr, regional director of the U. S. war shipping administra tion today described as "abso lutely untrue" reports published in the United States that eight Liberty ships had recently cracked up in the Atlantic and limped back to Britain for re pairs. "Take it from me," he said, "the number of Llbcrtys which have developed structural faults Is so small it is not worth mentioning."
