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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1944)
Fall of Cherbourg Matter of Hours as Yanks Near Waterfront 1 , - . Qrealesf Naval Battle Reported Raging in Pacific Jap Fleet Emerges to Defend Marianas Lose 600 Bombers Pearl Harbor, June 21 OI.R) The greatest naval battle since Jutland appeared in the mak ing, if not under way, on the approaches to the besieged Mar ianas today between the Ameri can fifth fleet and possibly the entire Japanese fleet. Viadio London quoted the Japanese Domei agency as say ing that a "fierce" naval battle was raging in the waters be tween the Philippines and the Marianas.) The outcome of the battle may determine the control of the western Pacific, including the sea approaches to Japan it self, as well as the length of the war against Japan. Nimitz Statement Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief of the U. S. Pacific fleet, disclosed at a press conference yesterday that strong Japanese units "possi bly their entire fleet" had emerged from the Japanese home islands in force for the first time in nearly two years and had been sighted between the Marianas and the Philip pines. "A major engagement is a possibility," he said in a confi dent review of the developing battle for the western Pacific. "We have put enough muscle into our fifth fleet to handle the situation. We assume the Japs will put in everything they have. If the fleets join, it will be a decisive battle." 600 Jap Planes Lost The American fleet already has won what may be the pre liminary to the main engage ment by shooting down a record of 600 Japanese planes which sought to interfere with Ameri can invasion forces rapidly completing the conquest of Sai pan, Japanese naval base and administrative center of the Marianas, some 1,500 miles south of Tokyo. Three hundred of the enemy planes were shot down in a sin gle) day, Sunday, and the others hf)(e been destroyed in other engagements since the start of the invasion a week ago to day, Nimitz disclosed. Addi tional damage was believed to have been inflicted on the en emy yesterday, he said. Most of the enemy planes were believed to have come from Japanese aircraft carriers, perhaps part of the fleet which now is known to be east of the Philippines. Though the exact size of the fleet is not known, (Concluded on page 10, column 3) Tokyo Claims Yanks Smashed (Br the United Press) Tokyo radio broadcast today specific claims of heavy Ameri- dcan naval losses in the area of 1 the Marianas islands where Ja- i i t i j r Tjrtiitr&e uiuaucasis nan repuneu large American and Japanese fleets. Apparently engaged in a propaganda war to- goad the United States navy into prema ture disclosures of the situation in the Marianas, Tokyo radio broadcast a statement of Ad miral Kenisuke Takahashi that "the enemy's landing operations on Saipan has offered us a golden opportunity to smash him with staggering effect. The enemy on Saipan is dependent on his communications and will meet with a serious crisis before the full force of our counter-offensive." The Tokyo radio asserted that an American battleship listed in a Japanese communique yes terday as sunk by Japanese planes off the Marianas June 16 was of the 45,000-ton Iowa classy The enemy broadcast, entire ly without confirmation, said another battleship claimed to have been heavily damaged; was of the 35.000-ton North Caro lina class "and went down to a watery grave the night of June 15 off the Marianas." "Two out of four United States aircraft carriers which were heavily damaged and set ablaze or left heavily listing the night of June 17," the broadcast went on, "were of the 24,000 ton Essex type while another was of the 10.000-ton Independ ence type which had been con- jvpttsd from a cruiser. A fourth pPP'srea to oe also of the t-ssex ype." apital jkjouro 5 56th Year, No. 148 Navy Chiefs See U S Victory Over Japanese Fleet Washington, June 21 WB American forces may at long last have cornered Nippon's principal battle fleet for a showdown fight, and so far as Admiral Ernest J. King is con cerned "the sooner the Japan ese fleet fights, the better we'll be satisfied," The navy's commander in chief today expressed apprecia tion for the "cooperation" of Japan's navy in apparently moving into battle position in the western Pacific, and ex pressed complete confidence in the outcome of possible con tact east of the Philippines. Information Lacking He made his statement after Navy Secretary Forrestal had reported that despite strict ra dio silence from the Pacific there have been some indica tions that American forces "may have succeeded in catching up with all or a part of the Jap anese fleet yesterday." Forrestal added that there is, however, "no definite informa tion" as to the prospective en gagement. He based his comment upon a statement yesterday by Ad miral Chester W. Nimitz, Paci fic fleet commander in chief, who reported the Japanese fleet had been located in the waters east of the Philippine islands and indicated that some engagements may already have been fought. Off Saipan Island Forrestal reported that the Japanese fleet has been sighted at "various times during the past few days, milling around from 500 to 800 miles to the westward of Saipan island" in the Marianas east of the Philip pines, (A Japanese broadcast re corded at London said today that a "fierce naval battle" is raging off the Marianas.) Forrestal said that Japanese planes attacked American na val units near Saipan Sunday and indicated that the planes apparently came from carriers which at that time were some 500 miles to the westward. The Japanese plan, he con tinued, seemed to have been to launch the aircraft with the idea that after attacking they would be able to land for re fueling on Guam and Rota, Japanese - held bases in the Marianas. "We have no other details of the resulting air battle," he continued, "other than the fact that our forces were ready for the attack. "Our carrier aircraft and ships's anti-aircraft guns wiped out most of the Japanese planes." At Pearl Harbor Admiral Nimitz has reported that the Japanese have lost a total of 600 planes since action began in the Marianas. 33 Bombers in Sweden Stockholm, June 21 (IP) Twelve American heavy bomb ers came down in Sweden to day, boosting to 33 the number reaching Sweden in two days. Two bombers crashed in land ing today and it was not known immediately whether the crews were saved. Yanks Seize 2 More Japanese Airfields on Schouten Islands Advanced Allied Headquarters, New Guinea, June 21 (IP) Two more Japanese airdromes on Biak island were in American hands today, giving the allies four airfields on the Schouten islands, off the Dutch New Guinea - north coast, from which war planes soon may attack the Philippines. Yank infantrymen, aided by tanks and artillery, drove the Japanese from nearby ridges yesterday, then advanced al most unopposed onto Sorido and Borokoe airstrips. The fields, more than a mile apart, are within four miles of Biak's largest airstrip, Mok mer, captured June 7 and used by the allies the past week. Five miles south on Biak, on tiny Owl island, the Ameri cans have built another air field. These four fields, close to the equator, are about 880 miles from the Philippines and a like distance from Yap in the Entered as second Out mattti at Salem. Oregon Russians Pursue Fleeing Finns From Viipuri Moscow, June 21 0J.fi) Tri umphant red army troops struck out from newly-captured Viipuri today in pursuit of dis organized Finnishs column re treating toward Helsinki under a hail of fire from Russian bombers and fighters. (The British radio said the Russians had advanced six miles beyond Viipuri.) (BBC also said the Finnish radio was broadcasting con stant appeals to the people of Helsinki to evacuate the capi tal "due to the score of the Russian offensive in Karelia.") Marshal Leonid A. Govorov s Leningrad army stormed into the ancient fortress city yes terday to complete a rapid 11 day campaign through Finland s strongest defenses in the Kare lian isthmus and bring the soviet forces within 135 miles east of Helsinki, Finland's ca pital. (The British radio said Stock holm dispatches reported from Finland that Marshal Baron Karl Mannerheim had taken the initiative toward forming a new Finnish government to discuss peace.) The capture of Viipuri, whose fall brought Finnish capitula tion in the 1939-40 war, broke a "bottleneck" of the coastal route leading to Finland's ca pital and front dispatches in dicated the routed Finnish troops would not be able to make a stand on the compara tively wide open territory. Pursuit Continues With the occupation of the key city, a junction point on Viipuri bay of six highways and five railroads, the Russians struck swiftly at the retreating Finns and sent bombers and Stormovik fighters deep behind the enemy lines to blast a path for ground forces. Other red army aerial for ces, attempting to disrupt com munications between the capi tal and the front lines, hit rail junction, highways and three troop trains. Bomb Carrier . Genoa Harbor Rome, June 21 (U.R) Ameri can Thunderbolt fighter-bombers attacked and seriously dam aged an enemy aircraft carrier in Genoa harbor, believed to be the 20,000-ton Italian carrier Regola which was seized by the Germans last September, it was announced today. A formation of Thunderbolts led by Lt. Gordon A. C. Moody, of Coldwater, Mich., scored five direct hits on the warship. The Thunderbolts drove their bombs home through intense anti-aircraft fire thrown up by the Regla's batteries and every other ship and shore gun in the harbor, then swung back to rake the vessel with machine gun fire. One Thunderbolt was so heav ily damaged by flak that the pilot was forced to bail out six miles outside Genoa harbor. He was picked up later by a Cata lina flying boat which landed in the middle of a coastal minefield to rescue him. Carolines, Celebes east of Bor neo, Timor in the Netherlands East Indies and Darwin, Aus tralia. American construction crews hastened to put into operation both Borokoe, which the Jap anese never quite got ready to use. and Sorido, also in bad shape. The allies now occupy most of the flat southeastern half of Biak which is suitable for airstrips. Headquarters announced to day that Boston attack planes, operating possibly from Mok mer or Owi, attacked enemy shipping off Manokwari, Dutch New Guinea. 135 miles to the west, Monday, and sank a 1000-tnn freighter, a small coastal vessel and four barges at a cost of one plane. Salem, Oregon, Wednesday, June 4 I a i - .'j.-.- - ,,i Jap "German Soldier" Captured in France VP) This Jap, cap tured while serving in the German army in France, gives his name and serial number to an American as he files along with other German prisoners rounded up in the Normandy coast area. (AP wirephoto from coast guard.) Berlin Again Blasted by 1000 Heavy Bombers London, June 21 (IP) More than 1000 American Flying Fort resses and Liberators blasted Berlin and the capital's outskirts today and the German radio indicated that at least some of the planes flew on eastward possibly in the first shuttle raid from Britain to new American bases in Russia. The bomber fleet had an escort of about 1000 fighters, making a total force of some 2000 planes which carried the aerial war. once.. mora to the heart of the German homeland. Basdorf, on Berlin's outskirts, also was blasted. German broadcasts admitted damage and casualties and threatened to retaliate with "bigger and more powerful ex plosives" than those used in the current rocket bomb offensive. First Liberator fliers back at British bases said there was plenty of flak over the targets but they did not see a single German fighter a rare occur rence in raids on the hub of Germany. Shuttle-bombing flights from Britain to Russia would com plete the "ring of steel" thrown about Germany by allied bomb ers. Flights have been made already from Mediterranean bases to new American airfields inside Russia. Russia's frontier is some 900 miles air line from England easily within the range of both Flying Fortresses and Liberators which yesterday flew more than 1000 miles roundtrip to the Stettin area. Berlin broadcasts said the Hannover and Brunswick areas also had been attacked by the daylight raiders, but there was no immediate allied confirma tion of these reports. During the night the tempo of the allied aerial offensive was maintained as RAF Mosquitos thundered out in relays for four hours to harass German lines of reinforcements by blasting the Mezidon railroad yards near Caenin the Normandy battle area. Rail yards at Chartres also were hit. Employment in War Work Slackens Washington, June 21 IIP Employment in war manufac turing industries has dropped an average of 100,000 workers a month this year, the commerce department reports. Jobs in non-war industries have declined almost 50.000 a month the report said, adding: "Manpower shortages in some individual plants persist, but the general trend is downward." The department predicted this trend would continue in war industries but that employment in non-war jobs would remain about the same during the sec ond half of this year. The Weather Clear tonight, partly cloudy Thursday. Little temperature chanef. Max. 75, min. 52. Rain. 0. River. -.15. 21, 1944 Capture Jt3p Forts in Burma Southeast Asia Headquarters, Kandy, Ceylon, June 21 (U.R) British troops, driving north along the Kohima-Imphal high way, captured a Japanese strongpoint eight miles north east of Kanglatongbi after fierce bayonet fighting, a com munique announced today. At the same time, other al lied forces advancing south from Kohima cleared two enemy roadblocks below Maram to leave only approximately 20 miles of the road in Japanese hands. British imperials also fought off a Japanese counter-attack on the allied lines across the Imphal-Kuhrul road, 17 miles northeast of Imphal. In northern Burma, Chinese troops and airborne Chindits formed a tight circle around Mogaung, on the Mandalay railway, and killed a Japanese party attempting to escape down the Mogaung river south of Kamaing. Kachin levies and Gurkas, forging ahead from newly-captured Tiangzup in the Fort Hertz valley, captured Jnip, six miles to the south and were reported taking a heavy toll of fleeing Japanese. Winsfead Awarded Soldiers Medal Washington, June 21 (U.R) Warren W. Winstead, MM2C, USNR, Independence, Ore., was one of six navy men awarded an army decoration, the sol dier's medal, for rescuing the crew of an army bomber from the flaming plane after it crash ed and exploded on Momote airstrip, Los Negros island in the Admiralty group, April 23, 1944. The war department report ed Winstead was cited for brav ery and "superb disregard of extreme danger." Col. de La Roche Kidnaped, Slain London. June 21 (U.R) German-controlled broadcasts said today that Col. De La Roche, ranking officer in the Vichy state police force, had been kid naped and slain. The first radio reports of the assassination had Identified the ' victim as Col. Casimir De La Rocque. chief of the notorious Croix De Fau, French fascist i organization. 11 F 1 -cnts 8th Army Vets Drive 4 Miles Beyond Perugia Rome, June 21 (U.R) British eighth army troops have clear ed the Germans from Perugia and advanced three to four miles beyond the town, a com munique said today, while rench and American units of the allied fifth army on the British left flank pushed slowly northward against bitter enemy opposition. Driving rains slowed the al lied armies all along the cen tral battlefront and desperate nazi rear guards were putting up a fierce delaying fight every where, but there was no indi cation that the main German forces had been sent into ac tion. Pursuit Continues Latest reports said the Brit ish were fanning out swiftly be yond the town in full pursuit of the retreating nazis. Twenty-three miles to the west, other eighth army forces captured Chiusi and swept on northeast of Lake Chuisi to highway 73. There was no major change in the fifth army front to the west, but headquarters spokes men said French and American troops were running into savage resistance in the Radiofani sec tor and north of Grosseto. The Americans on the Tyr rhenian coastal flank captured Monte Pescali, a hill feature 10 miles north of Grosseto dom inating the intersection of high ways one and 73, where stub born enemy rear guards had been holding out for days. French Seize Villages On the American right. French colonial troops occupied a number of villages northwest of Radicofani yesterday, in cluding Monticello, Seggiano, Vigo Corcia, Bani San Filippo, Paucia, Palozzetta, Poggio Ma Jane, Pantano and Campo D'Or cia. The French gains, averaging about four miles, were battered out after bitter street fighting in most of the captured villages. On the Adriatic coastal front, British eighth army forces con tinued their almost unopposed advance northward, driving four miles up the coastal road to the Menocchio river. The British columns occupied San Benedetto Del Tronto, big fishing port and pre-war resort town, Cossigiano, 10 miles in land, and Grottamare, three miles north of San Benedetto. Landon Predicts Dewey on First Ballot Chicago. June 21 (IP) Former Gov. Alt M. Landon of Kansas, 1936 republican presidential nominee, predicted on arrival today for the GOP national con vention starting Monday that Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York "will probably be nomin ated on the first ballot certain ly not later than the second." Meantime a prominent mem ber of the Pennsylvania delega tion who declined to be quoted by name said "there is no other course conceivable than that our delegation will go for Dewey." Pennsylvania's 70-vote dele gation, second largest in the con vention, is uninstructed. The group will caucus Sunday night to decide its position. Nazis Step-Up Robot Bomb Assaults on South England London, June 21 (U.R) The Germans stepped up their robot bomb assault on southern England last night and today in defiance of allied air fleets that have pounded their launching bases with tens of thousands of tons of ex plosives in the past five months, Just as allied officials were about to congratulate themselves on a 24-hour lull in the enemy attacks, the winged, Jet-propelled torpedoes began to roar across the channel coast from the Pas De Calais area again with even more frequency than previously. A British announcement la conically acknowledged that the attacks had "increased slightly" and caused "damage and casual ties" in southern England, which geographically includes the Lon Americans Smash in Suburbs to Within Less Than Mile of Docks As Nazis Dynamite Port Quays Trapped Germans Rolled Back on Left Flank As Acqueville Seized Troops on Right Advance Beyond Valognes Good Progress Made Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, June 21 (IP) American troops smashed within 1500 yards less than a mile of Cherbourg's waterfront today, driving between two fortress bas tions under cover of air and artillery bombardment. The fall of the great supply port seemed only a matter of hours tonight. The piledriver offensive crashed through the suburbs along the inland road between Fort du Rnule and Fort Orteville, nazi strong points shuddering under bombs as well as leaflets calling on the trapped nazis to surrender. Nazi demolition squads worked feverishly to cripple the port through which the allies could pour a flood of men and supplies into Normandy. Another force rolling the trapped Germans back on the left flank seized Acqueville, at the base of Cape de la Hague, the land finger jutting northwest of . Cherbourg and possibly offering I a chance of escape by sea. On Right Flank Troops on the right flank ad vanced beyond Valognes, and supreme headquarters declared "good progress" was made to ward the prize harbor today. Supported by powerful artil lery and air bombardment, vet eran American troops assaulted Fort du Roule, within a mile of Cherbourg's docks, and Fort Octeville, bastion two miles in front of the military harbor area, blasted by nazi demoli tions. The. Germans staged a last ditch defense in these strong points, and fighting was report ed in the built-up suburban sec tion of France's third greatest port. Acqueville Taken Acqueville on the; flank Is four miles southwest of the port, and only 11 from the tip of the Cape de la Hague. The American advance also cap tured Teurtheville-Hague, two miles south of Acqueville. Eighty nazi tanks have been destroyed by the allied liberat ing armies to date, supreme headquarters said. Heavy fighting was reported in the Tilly-Sur-Seulles area near the center of the front, and an American spearhead to the west had pushed within two miles of St. Lo, communications hub of Normandy, The assault upon the two forts of Cherbourg sprang forward from St. Martin Le-Greard, four miles south of the port. Hilltop Fortress Fort due Roule, a major key to control of the besieged Ger man stronghold, stands atop a 450-foot hill. The French worked for more than a century building up Cherbourg's forts and defenses and the Germans now are mak ing a last stand in the inner ring which embraces part of the city itself. Smoke hung over the city as the trapped German defenders carried out hurried demolitions in the strategic harbor, now in plain view of the attacking American troops coming out of the hills surrounding their ob jective. U. S. Public Debt Passes $190 Billion Washington, June 21 (IPi The public debt of the United States has passed another milestone $190,000,000,000. At the close of business June 19, today's treasury statement showed, it was $190,057,000,000 compared with 140,104,000,000 a year ago. Excluding guaranteed obliga tions of certain government corporations, the debt was $188,414,000,000. That is the figure covered by the legal debt limit recqntly boosted from $210,000,000,000 to $280, 000.000,000. don area, though specific dis tricts hit were not disclosed. Allied fighters destroyed sev eral of the bombs in the air be fore they could crash and ex plode. One exploded in the air when neither fighters nor gun fire were heard, though it pos sibly had been hit previously. No explanation was offered immediately for the Germans' ability to increase the tempo of their attacks despite the heavy air bombardment of their launching platforms along a 30 mile stretch of the French chan nel coast. Inner Forts Under Assault By Wes Gallagher Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, June 21 UP) U. S. doughboys supported by heavy artillery and air bom bardment today assaulted two key inner fortresses guarding Cherbourg one less than a mile from the commercial docks and fought house-to-house through the city's suburbs. (An NBC broadcast from Nor mandy declared "our ground forces are moving into Cher bourg.") The power drive from the south hammered against Fort Du Roule, on a hill at Cher bourg's outskirts and within a mile of the docks, and Fort Octe ville, a little more than a mile to the west. Cherbourg's great military port area, now exploding under German demolitions, lies only two miles behind Fort Octeville. The Germans were making a last ditch stand in these inner ring fortresses. Heavy fighting was reported in the built-up suburban section of France's third greatest port. The assault upon the forts raced forward from St. Martin Le-Greard, four miles south of Cherbourg, and advance units on the western flank drove to Acqueville, three to four miles west and slightly south of Cher bourg's city limits. Nazi Shortage Of Infantry Gen. Eisenhower's Advance Command Post, June 21 (IP) A glaring shortage of infantry in Normandy has compelled Field Marshal Karl Gcrd Von Run stedt to commit his prized pan zer units to the actual line of battle instead of holding them in the rear as a striking weapon, and information reaching Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's head quarters today Is that at least 78 nazi tanks have been de stroyed. Reporters at advanced head quarters have been told that Von Rundstedt now is in a posi tion where he cannot bolster his crumbling Normandy defenses without weakening other areas, including the Pas-De-Calais and southwest France. Sending the panzers Into front-line batlle. Von Rund sledt sacrificed 18 Panthers and 27 Tigers, as well as other types. In addition, it was said here, many more German arm ored units have been crippled, Nazi Prisoners Warn Of Robot Bombs Austin. Minn.. June 21 'P The Austin Herald reported to day that a railroad employe had picked up five swastika-embellished sheets of paper warning of robot bombings in store for the United Slates after a train bearing war prisoners had passed through here. The newspaper said a sample leaflet read: "Amerikans: Soon the robot bombs will come lo your soil. Soon you will feel what war means. Quit the war before it is too late." The leaflets, the Herald said, will be turned over to the fed eral bureau of Investigation. Nazi Bodies In Bosporus Istanbul, June 21 (IP) "Hun dreds" of bodies of German sol diers, apparently from troop transports sunk by the Russians In the Black Sea, are drifting into the Bosporus, it was report ed today.
