Debacle in Saarland Costs German Forces 100,000 Casualties
"Japan's Hidden
Fleet Blasted by
Carrier Planes
17 Warships Crippled,
600 Planes Wrecked in
Inland Sea by Task Force
Guam, March 21 (U.Rt Dis
patches from famed task force
58 today boosted the toll of
two days of daring air attacks
on the Japanese fleet in its home
bases to at least 17 warships
and 600 or more planes
wrecked.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
said the raids Sunday and Mon
day on Kobe, Kure and other
bases in Japan's inland sea had
crippled the surviving remnants
of the Japanese fleet at a tjme
when it was rushing repairs to
meet an anticipated invasion of
Japan itself.
The carrier-borne fleet of
1000 to 1400 U. S. navy planes
broke off its attack late Mon
day. A Japanese communique
said the lank force, including
its escort from the Fifth fleet,
was "fleeing southward"' to
ward the Marianas with Jap
anese aircraft in "close pur
suit." Radio Tokyo said, however,
that there were '"plenty of pos
sibilities" the task force might
renew its attack.
Nimltz's Rejiort
Nimitz's communique on the
attack listed 15 to perhaps 17
warships as damaged, but late
radio dispatches from task force
58 said at least 17 and pos
sibly more wareraft were left
smoking and bomb twisted.
The toll included a minimum
'of seven aircraft carriers, prob-
ably all that remained in the
' Japanese fleet, and two or more
battleships, dispatches said. In
addition, six freighters were
sunk and seven damaged.
The number of Japanese
planes destroyed or damaged
was revised by late dispatches
from 575 to at least 600.
Japs Resist Desperately
"Japan's hopes of rebuilding
her cripple airforce and fleet
were smashed," United Press
War Correspondent Lloyd Tup
ling reported from the flagship
of Vice Admiral Marc A.
Mitscher, commander of task
force 58.
The Japanese resisted the de
fiant American challenge to
their fleet with the heaviest
and most persistent air attacks
on the task force and its planes
since the air-sea battles off
Formosa last September.
(Concluded on pace 9, column 8)
Trap 3000
Japs in Burma
Calcutta, March 21 i-Ti Brit
ish troops struck out from newly-won
Mandalay today to mop
up Japanese forces squeezed in
the area between the ancient
city and Meiklila, 75 miles to
the south.
British forces hold Meiktila.
cutting the southern escape
routes for some 30.000 Japan
ese troops in central Burma and
leaving the invaders only minor
mountain trails eastward into
Thailand.
Fort Dufforin, the last Japan
'. ese stronghold in Mandalay. fell
yesterday to the British after
pn0 fanatical enemy defenders
escaped through allied siege
lines at night.
British and Burmese civilian
hostages were left behind by
the Japanese. The hostages
sent a long messenger carrying
a Union Jack to allied head
quarters and notified the Brit
ish the enemy has fled.
The civilian internees report
ed they suffered numerous cas
ualties during the allied aerial
and artillery bombardments of
the port during the weeks the
Japanese held out. They said
the Japanese often forced them
to stand nut in the open during
the attacks.
Northeast of Mandalay Chi
nese troops cleared snipers and
stragglers from the Hipaw
Namhsin area and the British
36th division consolidated their
hold on newly-recaptured Mo
gnk. The fall of Mogok virtu
ally ends Japanese resistance
north of the Burma road.
Japanese Told of
Loss of Iwo Jima
(San Francisco, March 21
tjp- )Prcmier Kuniaki Koio of
Japan told his countrymen to
day the loss of Iwo Jima to the
American marines "is the most
unfortunate thing in the whole
war situation." and again warn
ed against a United States in
vasion of the Nipponese home
land. Koiso. in a Tokyo domestic
heard by the FCC. said the Am
ericans had "numerical super
iority" and appealed to the Jap
anese to exhibit a "burning de
termination to defend the na
tion "
"There will be no uncondi
tional surrender." he said.
"So long as there is one Jap
anese living, we fight to shat
ter the enemy's ambition to
PifrP5. We 'must not stop fight -in
until then."
Capital
7fU V - kl CQ Entered ,s leeond elui
Jttl Tear, INO. 07 m.lter Silm. Oteeoo
Red Siege Guns
Batter Stettin
From Altdamm
Moscow, March 21 M The
first White Russian army, now
in possession of virtually the en
tire east bank of the Oder from
the Baltic to its confluence with
the Neisse, crowded siege artil
lery to the very edge of Stettin
today after wiping out the en
emy's Altdamm bridgehead.
The menace to Berlin grew
hourly as Marshal Gregory K
Zhukov probed many place5
along the river, seeking spring
boards for his next big attack
cast and northeast of ruined
Berlin.
Mopping lp Trapped Nazis
Marshal Ivan S- Konev still
is engaged in liquidating trap-j
ned garrisons in Breslati and I
Glogau on the upper Oder, but
has moved additional units of
his first Ukraine army groim to
the Niesse line southeast of Ber
lin.
In East Prussia. Marshal
Alexander M. Vailovky. for
two years chief of staff of the
red army, was staging the final
kill in a dwindling German
pocket along the coast south
west, of Koenigsberg.
Disclosure that Vasilovsky
had taken over the third White
Russian army front after the
battle death of Gen. Ivan Cher
niakhovsky was made in Mar
shal Stalin's order of the day
yesterday saluting the capture
of Braunsberg. one of two Ger
man bastions in the pocket.
4.000 Prisoners Taken
Vasilevsky's seizure of
Braunsberg gathered 4.000 pris
oners into the bag. That figure
is expected to be more than
duplicated when Ihe nest of
resistance in nearby Hciligen
beil is crushed.
Khukov took Altdamm with
one fierce lunge after a series
of hard actions had reached this
suburb, less than five miles
from Stettin proper. Front dis
patches said an aviation engine
factory with more than .1.000
new engines intact, an airplane
assembly plant and a torpedo
factory were among the booty.
As in Kolberg last week. Rus
sian storm units found German
dead hanging from makeshift
gallows in Altdamm. An Ez
vestia dispatch said an order
from Hitler had been found, say
ing that troops leaving positions
voluntarily should be shot on
the spot. On bodies in army
uniform were signs reading.
"Hanged Because I Fought Bad
ly." The corpses of executed
civilians had a sign saying. "I
Was Hanged Because I Evacu
ated." Drive On Austria
Several enemy divisions were
routed in Altdamm. but the
number of prisoners has not yet
been given.
(Far to the south at the lower
end of the eastern front, two or
more Russian army groups were
reported by Berlin to be driv
ing toward the mountainous
area of southern Germany and
Austria where the nazis, accord
ing to some renorts. may make
a final stand after defeat on the
reich's northern plains.
(Berlin said Marshal Feodor
I. Tolbukhin has hurled 200.000
of his third Ukraine army troops
and supporting armor into an
offensive through northwestern
Hungary, wilh advance forces
already plunging beyond Tata.
10 miles southeast of the big
Danube river stronghold of Kn
marom. This is the direct route
toward Viena.
Storm Warnings on Coast
Portland. March 21 'P
Southeast storm warnings were
hoisted at 10 a. m. Wednesday
from Coos Bay to Tatoosh and
through the Straits of Juan de
Fuca to Port Townsend for
southerly gales the next 24
hours.
Army Personnel Ordered to
Obey Midnight Curfew Rule
New York. March 21 OP- Mayor F. H. La Guardia. replying to
President Roosevelt's support of a midnight curfew as against
the mayor's 1 a m. amusement deadline, said today ' He's running
the country: I'm just running4
the city."
LaGuardia. questioned as he
entered the municipal builriinc.
said he was "too busy running
the city to comment on the nation-wide
reaction to his de-
1 fiance of War Mobilizer James
F. Byrnes request.
"I'm running the city." the
mayor continued. "I tried to
run the army but they wouldn't
let me."
This latter remark was in
reply to a question about his
reaction to a war department
order directing army personnel
to observe the midnight dead
line and apparently referred to
the time he sought an army
commission.
The war department move.
interpreter! as the government's ; ter and spirit" of Byrnes re
fyst counter-measure against I quest.
Yanks Storm
Burning lloilo
Panay Capital
Manila. March 21 (U.R Amer
ican troops linked with strong
Filipino guerrilla forces on
Panay today in an offensive that
hurst into the suburbs of burn
ing lloilo swept through more
than 250 square miles of the
island.
The lightning strikes of Maj.
Gen. Rapp Brush's 40th division,
which threw the Japanese into
disorder on Panay's south cen
tral plains, ripped through three
key road towns and tumbled
Mandurriao airdrome, with its
big 4. .500-foot runway.
The rapidly developing cam
paign on Panay, sixth largest
of the Philippines, was disclos
ed in Gen. Douglas MacArthur's
communique which also revealed
new important gains on Luzon
and continuation of neutralizing
air attacks on Formosa and Ja
pan's shipping lanes in the
China Sea.
Brush's seasoned troops over
ran Japanese machine-gun
points and small arms resistance
in a two-pronged offensive that
carved out a beachhead 18 miles
deep and 14 miles wide on Pan
ay's southern coast.
One column raced seven miles
in one day along the hard-surface
coastal road, captured the
seven-span Carpenters bridge
across the lloilo river and storm
ed into the suburbs of the capi
tal, already aflame from large
fires.
Jans Destroy Capital
The extent of the blazes indi
cated the Japanese were at
tempting the same destruction
of Ilolio and its 90.000 inhabi
tants as they did at Manila.
At the same lime. Brush's
second force speared inland to
seize Janiuay. 18 miles north
northeast of lloilo. From there
it made a sharp turn to the east,
raced seven miles to the big
road iunction of Potoan and
continued another eight miles
eastward to capture Barotac
Nuevo, 16'? miles northeast of
lloilo.
The drive inland enabled the
American troops to ioin with
Panay's strong guerrilla forces,
said to be the best organized in
the entire Philippines.
Patrol Activity
On Italian Front
Rome. March 21 Eighth
army troops in the Adriatic sec
tor improved their positions
northeast of Ravenna with a
local advance in the Mezzano
area yesterday. Otherwise ac
tivity along the Italian front
was limited to patrol operations,
allied headquarters said today.
Increased activity of Italian
patriots in German-held north
ern Italy was reported and a
15th army group communique
quoted a caotured enemy officer
as saying the nazis often were
forced to use a whole regiment
to combat partisan attacks on
supply dumps and troop move
ments. Some enemy prisoners were
taken in the action in the Mez
zano area. A strong German
oatrol forced eighth army troops
to withdraw from a strongpoint
northeast of Cu ffiano.
On the fifth army front only
scattered contact with the en
emy was reoorted. Eight Ger
mans were killed in a clash in
the central area south of Bolog
na while a number of prison
ers were taken by another al
lied patrol.
One patrol penetrated into the
vicinity of Monte Rumici but
was forced to withdraw under
a smoke screen when it encoun
tered heavy enemy mortar and
mall-arms fire.
I LaGuardia's curfew extension.
u"as Put int0 effect here last
n'ni
In New York City, which
still is holding out as a 1 a. m.
oasis, the order came as a sur
prise to cafe owners, barkeeps
and grumbling soldiers.
The first inkling anyone had
of the order was when military
police suddenly appeared in the
plush confines of the Stork
club and ordered all army per
sonnel to leave.
The second service command
then confirmed that a midnight
curfew enforcement order had
been issued and a few minutes
later in Washington the war
department announced that all
service commands had been in
structed tn live up to the "let
M l IfTbll l r TTfi Pi
dTgj. rsBr Jr Wt- XL 11 11
Salem, Oregon, Wednesday, March
P
Task Fon-e on the Prnul ip
blow againj.1 the Japanese in the
Reich Blasted from Dawn j
To Dark by 7000 Aircraft
London. March 21 M1 Allied air forces ripped Germany from
dawn to dusk today with explosives from 7000 warplanes. includ
ing 2000 heavy bombers which unleashed one of the greatest
coordinated attacks of the war. The four-engincd bombers from
Britain attacked the reich in relays, while tactical aircraft from
Soviet Discards
Turkish Treaty
Moscow, March 21 iV So
viet Russia last night denounc
ed her 1925 treaty of friendship
and neutrality with Turkey
and declared "serious improve
ments" were needed in the pact.
"Admitting the value of the
soviet-Turkish treaty for the
purpose of upholding friendly
relations, the soviet, union nev
ertheless considers it necessary
to state that as a result of deep
changes occurring, especially
during the second World war.
this treaty does not correspond
any longer with the new situa
tion and it is necessary to make
serious improvements," said an
announcement from the soviet
commissariat of foreign affairs.
The 20-year pact would have
been automatically renewed on
November 7 this year unless de
nounced six months beforehand.
An Izvestia editorial said that
"in the present war there have
been individual moments when
relations between the soviet
union and Turkey could desir
ablv have been better."
The newspaper made no ref
erence to Turkey's recent dec
laration of war on the axis. The
previous diplomatic rupture be
tween Turkey and Germany in
1944 was coffed at by Russian
newspapers at the time. They
held that it was a disguise bo
hind which close connections
were maintained between An
kara and Berlin.
Canada to Seek
Small Nation Rights
Ottawa, March 21 A Canada
will seek at the San Francisco
conference to amend the big
three's world security proposals
in order to win for the so-called
secondary nations more regard
for their power and responsi
bilities. Prime Minister W. L. Mac
kenzie King made this intention
clear as he opened debate in
parliament yesterday on Can
ada's program for the securily
parley, He listed Australia, the
Netherlands and Brazil as rank
ing among the secondary states
and entitled with Canada to a
greater voice than out lined at
Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta.
Although making clear that
Canada was a strong supporter
of the security proposals. King
ureg clarification of the con
stitutional position in the pro
posed organization of "import
ant secondary countries."
62 Scarlet Fever Cases
Portland. March 21 uV- Sixty
two persons in Oregon were
stricken with scarlet fever laM
week the largest number since
last May, the state board of
health reported today.
The Weather
(Released by the United Slates
Weal her Buretuu
Forecast tor Salem and vicin
ity: Cloudiness uiil lnnea.-e to
niht wit.n he h t rains developing
and com muinii Thu rsflav
Warmer temperatures expee'ed
lonigiv. with a minimum ii'-ai
40. Max. yesterday. 47. Mm.
todav. 32. Mean temperature
yesterdav, 45. whirh wa.s 2 be.
low normal. 7o?i 24-hour prr
cipi'aiion to 11 :30 a m. today. 18
Total precipitation for the
month rili which is 29! inches
above normal Willamette, river
height, 11.3 ft.
21, 1945
A mighty U. S. navy task force
Pacific orean area.
continental bases mauled Ger-
man troops reeling from the
American advance toward the
Rhine.
Still another fleet of U. S.
loth airforce bomber forma
tions from Italy assaulted nazi
communications in Austria.
In the smoke-blanketed Ruhr
valley, more and more the po
tential death trap threatened by
Gen. Eisenhower, railroads,
highways, and bridges were
struck steadily with shells,
rockets and bombs.
In morning raids. 2000 U. S.
bombers and fighters ham
mered nine airfields in north
western .Germany and a tank
factory at Plauen. 10 miles from
the Czechoslovak border, and
British planes struck a large
oil refinery at Bremen.
U. S. fighters downed at least
nine nazi jet planes near Plauen
and destroyed 40 planes aground
at various airfields.
American Liberators from It
aly bombed the jet-plane air
base at Neubcrg. 50 miles north
of Munich, and Flying Fort
resses pounded the Kagran and
Vosendorf natural oil refineries
in the Vienna area which pro
duce gasoline and lubricating
oils for Germans on the east
ern front.
A second fleet of U. S. Eighth
airforce bombers flew into Ger
many late this afternoon, in the
first double-header mission by
Americans since last summer.
Some rainfall handicapped
fliers operating along the lines
of German retreat from the
Saar, but to the north it was
bright and dear and Ihn tnrrifir
attack shifted to the Ruhr, I
where Gen. Eisenhower has ;
made it plain the next allied ;
blow can be expected.
The continent-based 29th tac
tical airforce struck heavily at
German troops and tanks mov
ing from the Dortmund area to
ward the Rhine in front of the
U. S. Ninth and British second
armies. Four trains loaded
with tanks and armored vehicles
were spotted moving up and
were attacked.
North Santiam Road
Opened to Traffic
The North Santiam highway
was opened lo traffic this morn
ing and by nightfall the South
Santiam will be far enough out
from under its burden of snow
to carry its normal complement
of automobiles, state highway
engineer lialdoek said today.
Ninety inches of snow was
measured at the summit by state
highway department workers.
who are using two large rotary
snowploughs to clear the routes
Contrary to popular belief
the deepest snows in tiie Ore
gon mountains arc not in De
cember but on or about the first
of April, Baldock said.
Gestapo Offices in
Copenhagen Bombed
Stockholm, March 21 UP)
The Danish press service re
ported today that an attack by
British Mosquito planes this
morning destroyed g e s t a p o
headquarters in Copenhagen.
The gestapo headquarters,
housed in the Shell building,
wa destroyed, the report said.
The attack apparently was
similar to others carried out by
the RAF in which picked small
forces of planes have carried
out pin-point bombing attacks
on nazi headquarters.
i
.w-. ., X, . , A ,. . .....
- -m -. j
I i
Price Fi cnrs
steams out to deal another lethal
Soviet Warns
On Peace Meet
'By the A.uorlntrd Press)
Criticizing advocates of a
change in voting procedure at
the coming world security con
ference at San Francisco, the
Moscow radio declared today
that attempts were being made
under the guise of a "sincere re
gard for the small countries" to
"return the fulure organization
of security to the evil days of
the league of nations."
"The future international or
ganization of security." the
broadcast asserted, "can in real
ity insure the interests of the
small countries only if it he
comes an effective organization;
that is. if it will be built on the
same foundation on which is be
ing built the great structure of
our common victory; that is. on
agreement and unanimity and
the close collaboration of Ihe
main great powers of the anti
German coalition."
The broadcast, reported In
die FCC, declared that the smail
countries in the league of na
tions had "formal equal rights."
"This made it possible for
one or another small country,
on the instruct ions of a large
aggressor, to disrupt important
measures intended for the in
surance of peace and security."
The broadcast addd that the
league of nations had done "ab
solutely nothing to insure real
security and peace and to save
the first victims of the murder
ous fascist aggression."
Office Holders to
Travel by Plane
Terming airline transporta
tion "a luxury for politicians
and office-holders." State Treas
urer Leslie M. Scott cast the
only dissenting vote as the state
1 board of control today approved
', a $400 deposit with an air trans
' portation company to obtain a
5 percent discount on air travel.
The board discussed but did
I not decide for or against the ex-
penriiture o f approximately
i $10,000 for water rights to pro
j vide irrigation for penitentiary
; and state cottage farms south
! east of Salem.
Reluctantly, hoard of control
members agreed that if it is re
quired, the states name might
be used on a property holders'
petition to permit erect ion of
the Central Lutheran church
in Ihe resident ia I zone on t he
northeast corner of Capital and j
Chenieketa streets. The only
objections raiser! were that t he
state is now buying property
close tn that area and may ex
tend its building program east
of Capital street
Churchill Denies Huge Food
Stores Being Held by Allies
London. March 21 'V- Prime
the "suggestion in some quarters in the United States" lhat
Britain had 700.000.000 tons of food storks on hand and said the
country had less than 0.000.000
ton.
This amount, he said, is in the
process of being reduced by aid
to the liberated countries and
by the end of .June will amount
lo onlv 4.750.000 tons.
"This lalter figure," Churchili
said, "is no more than is neces
sary to maintain the regular
flow of distribution under pres
ent conditions,"
The prime minister explained
that Uri tain's food stock had
been "built up bv foresight and
i self denial over fiv
years and
under bombardment
' The housn cheered
Farlier. Col John Llewellvn.
food minister, told commons the
government had decided that
it would have to continue to pro
hibit export of food from Britain
Yanks Finish Off
Peon's Trooos
nu !- U-...TI 1
miy iii new
Mopping Up Stage Reached in Saar and Palatinate
.Pockets Remagen Bridgehead Extended Over 3
Miles in Drive Toward North
Paris. March 21 V The Third army, continuing its spectacular
race which has turned the German stand in the Saar and Palatin
ate into a disastrous debacle at a cost that may mount to 100,000
nazi casualties, smashed into the city of I.udwigshafen today.
The same armored division which has played an anonymous
role in the current drive from the Moselle, dashed into .Mann
heim's twin city which is one of the greatest chemical producing
centers (if Germany,
.Mannheim, just across the Rhine from laid wipshafen, is 100
miles from Munich in the heart of southern Germany and 75
miles from the starting; point of the offensive.
Rut as elsewhere Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's men found the
Rhine bridge there had been demolished. The structure which
connected much-homhed Ludwigshafen and Mannheim was one
of the most imposing along the Rhine.
Two German armies, the First and Seventh, either were wiped
out or doomed except for scat-' '
tered elements. j
At supreme headquarters, it ;
was estimated that the swift j
Third army of Lt. Gen. George '
S. ration. .Jr.. alone had herd- !
ed an estimated 30.000 nazis j
into prison pens in 48 hours as
it and Lt. Gen. Alexander M.
Patch's Seventh army closed !
new traps which might boost j
the overall total of captured in
the whirlwind campaign to 75,- j
000.
The Seventh army, driving up !
from the southern bases of the j
Saarland and Palatinate, did not !
even tabulate its prisoners be-
yond the first 6000.
The U. S. 78th division drove
north of Bonn in the Rhine
bridgehead today, and seized
more than seven miles of the
southern bank of the Sieg river
cxtneding from the Rhine to
the town of Niederpleis.
Cities such as Saarbruecken,
Kaiserslautern. Worms, Voel
kingen, Zwcibruecken, Horn
be rg and St. Ingbert toppled like
ten-pins. The hard hitting
Americans 27 divisions in all
or nearly 400.000 men were
advancing speedily.
.15-Mile Escape Gap
The German hold on the west
bank of the upper Rhine was
narrowed to a 35-mile escape
gap between the Karlsruhe and
Ludwigshafen areas and it ap
peared doubtful whether the
wounded wehrmacht could
scrape together enough men
from the defeat to man properly
the Valhalla line east of the
river.
The Germans blew their last
remaining bridges on the Rhine,
leaving stragglers west of the
river to death or capture.
Except for a 30-mile stretch
between Pirmasens and Lau
tershourg where the Germans
clung tn fragments of the Sieg
fried line, the enemy was in
complete route. Nazi forces
were surrounded in three places
and threatened with Imminent
encirclement elsewhere.
The large Saarland city of
Neunkirchen (40.500), where
steel and iron works and coal
pits around, was helieved to
have fallen, although there was
no specific word.
Hridgehead Lengthened
The first army fighting east
of the Rhine lengthened Its
hridgehead to 25 miles in a push
along flat country leading 12
miles to the southern limits of
the Ruhr Germany's greatest
arsenal area.
The U. S. ninth, British sec
ond and Canadian first were
massed in mighty strength on
the lower Rhine opposite the
Ruhr, which Gen. Eisenhower
said last night "will become a
deathtrap." The U. S. 15th and
Ihe allied first airborne armies
were in reserve, so far as was !
known. !
At least four racing columns
uf Patton's third army curled in j
a tightening arc before Lud- j
wigshafen Mannheim, twin in-j
iustrtal cities on the Rhine with!
a total population of 427.000.
Patlon's artillerv already was :
shelling German troops in some
places in the Valhalla line be-
I vimrl the Rhino
1100 Plane t'srd
More than 7.000 allied war
planes raki-d the reich. They
concent rated on targets in and
around the threatened Ruhr as
if isolating it for capture or a
ceal-off
f'nnchnlrd on pane ft. column fit
Minister Churchill today denied
j:
except on government account
He added that the government
had made "all possible provi
sions" for the people of liberated
areas from Ihe supplies in this
country.
Cries of dissent t hundered
through the house when Miss
Flea nor Rath borne, independ
ent, suggested that Ihe British
government was "behaving very
selfishly" by refusing to permit
. , ' " , . , ,
,. , L ,,,,
III' v'MH J IM MI .
Churchill declared that mili
tary operations were being ac- ;
eelerated. for one reann. he 1
came targe port) one of Europe
might he faced with varying'
degrees of fnmin during the j
1 coming winter.
2 Nazi Armies
in Ludwiashafen
iiiiiui un Kuiir
Protest Forced
Labor Transfer
Washington. March 21 '-
The war manpower commis
sion's policy of forced transfer
of labor was touch and go to
day. The whole national system of
moving workers from low to
high priority war jobs is en
dangered, officials acknowled
ged, as a result of a statement
that it was used in New Bed
ford, Mass.. !o demonstrate a
need for national service legis
lation. The statement was made by
WMC's national labor-management
committee, whose function
is to help formulate manpower
policy and to make recommen
dations to the commission. Mem
bers signing it represented la
bor, industry and agriculture.
Although WMC Chairman
Paul V. McNutt chose to ignore
the committee's assertions deal
ing with national service, it was
clear manpower officials are ap
prehensive of spreading defiance
of the labor directive.
In a statement replying to
the committee's charges that he
four times had turned down
recommendations for settlement
of the dispute, McNutt said no
plan agreeable to all interested
parties had been submitted yet.
He added that when one is re
ceived the forced release will
be suspended, but that in the
meantime "I have no alterna
tive but to continue application
of the national WMC program
of war service transfers in New
Bedford."
12,000 Wounded
On Iwo to Recover
New York, March 21 (U.RV
Secretary of Navy James For
restal said today that as many
as 12.000 of the 15,300 Ameri
cans wounded on Iwo Jima
might be completely restored to
health.
He told a Red Cross luncheon
here that between R.000 and 7.
000 of the wounded returned to
their divisions before the con
quest of Iwo Jima had been
achieved.
"On the basis of our past ex
perience, we have reason tn
hope and 1 assure you we in
tend to realize that hope if w
can that between 11.000 and
12.000 of the men wounded on
Iwo will he so completely re
stored to helath as to be capa
ble of complete activity."
Col. Maison Heads
20th Infantry
With Sixth lufantrv Division
on Luzon. March 21 'UPLt.
Col. Harold .J. Maison, former
deputy superintendent of Ore
gon state police, has been nam
ed commander of the 20lh infan
try regiment of the sixth infan
try dj vision, it was announced
today.
He resumed command nf the
regiment during the bat t le of
Motion in February where the
20th and other elements of the
sixth division killed I .'257 Jans
and rfest roved 1 2 enemy tnrks.
Maison's home adorer is 315
Bellevue street. Salem, Ore-
Remagen Bridge
Completely Wrecked
' With the Kirt A nny Across
the Rhine. March 21 4 The
Ltidendorf f bridge across the
Rhine to the expanding Rema
gen bridgehead is wrecked so
I completely that there is no pos
sibility of it being repaired
before the war ends Pontoons
are bearing the traffic,
Engineers who looked at the
twisted and broken girders ly-
i ing in the Hln tie ;un today it
wou hi req 1 1 i re t wn yea rs of
work to re bin !d t he dm i hie-
.a(.kprt r.,Mrnaf hl.irii, wi,h ,he
j equipment now available,
(len. Arnold Returns
Waehint:tnn. March 21 V 0)
On H II Arnold, commander
of the armv air force-, returned
'o Washington todav after a
five weeks' rest In Florida.