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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1944)
VI kb w mm m MEDFORDfm;rRIBT i VUaC ' NE United Press Fall Leased Wlr United Puis Full Le 'in Thirty ninth Year MEDFORD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1944 NO. 65. Greatest Invasion Armada Storms Northern France .15, . - ? . .. . ' t9-r-. American troopi load LCI's with half-tracks and other armored vehicles scant hours before the Allied armies stormed northern France with History's greatest invasion armada 11,000 planes, 4,000 ships and thousands of similar craft and in first few hours seized beachheads that threatened to isolate Normandy Peninsula and win railroads pointed straight at Paris. Photo' by NEA-Acme Pho tographer Bert Brandt for War Picture Pool, transmitted by Signal Corps radio-Telephoto from England. . American fighting men are ferried by small boats from Britain's shore to invasion boats for gigantic assault on French coast. This is the first photo showing actual departure for the invasion Signal Corps radio-telephoto from England. ENGLAND I vr london csfcf - 0 C E J, Combined British-American landing operations against western coast of Europe from sea and air stretch over entire area between Cherbourg and Le Harve. Nasi broadcasters says Allies .have won footholds on several islands dff coast of France. SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Mary Kuchlthau pleased that her midnight housocleaning ac tivities coincided with the start of the Invasion, Roscoe Hopfer crossing Sixth itrect with a leap and a bound when a passing motorist loudly honked a horn. A muskrat, or "marsh rat," will provide about one and one half pounds of good ration-free meat, Utah Pilot First To Land in France London, June 7 (U.R) 1st Lt. Norman T. Johnson of Vernal, Utah, was the first fighter pilot of the Ninth air force to land o n Allied-held territory 1 n France the Allied expeditionary air force announced today. Johnson, flying a Thunderbolt, was returning from escorting C-47 troop-carrier gliders towards the Cherbourg peninsu la when he was forced to make a crash landing near th coast in- fid the Allied line, Churchill Wanted To Join Invaders Allied Supreme Headquarters, London, June 7 (U.R) Prime Minister Churchill was persuad ed only with the greatest diffi culty from accompanying the in vasion force to the French coast, an Australian correspondent at tached to the KMS Hilary re ported today. The Incident was disclosed by Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay when he visited the Hilary yes terday afternoon, the correspond ent said. WHISTLES, BELLS TO BE SIGiL IN BONO KICK-OFF The piercing wall of fire dnJ police sirens, the blast of factory and laundry whistles, the ringing of bells and sudden concerted action by various other noise making apparatus will usher In the opening of the 5th War Loan drive next Monday at 10 a. m. For the first time In years since Armistic day, 1918, in facts Medford and vicinity will hear the loudest legalized racket that ever smote the eardrums. And. it Is hoped, the noise will sig nify to every person In this lo cality the Importance of again reaching deep Into their hearts and most important into their porketbooks for the purchase of extra war bonds during the pe riod of June 12 to July 8. All local Issuing agents are getting set to lend assistance to those purchasing bonds. In addi tion, the "Fighting 5th" War Loan headquarters has been es tablished at 21 N. Central ave nue, In the location formerly occupied by Adrienne's. for still further convenience of bond buy ers. Bonds may be purchased there throughout the nay and evening. Charles Clay, Sr., well known Medford businessman, has accepted the rcsponsibilitv of business manager for Medford and vicinity during the drive and will have his office there. The telephone number will be 3398. It has been nolnted out by both Eugene Thorndike and Henry Zacharlsen. renectlvcly chnirman of the 5th War Loan and countv chairman of the War Finance Committee, as well as Mr. Clav, that It will take the "all out" efforts of everyone In the county to put the quota over the too during the drive. They especially point out the Importance of buying series "E" bonds by Individuals and hope that the sudden outburst of noise next Monday morning will not be misconstrued by anyone as the beginning of another Inva sion. Instead. It will signal the beginning of the "Fighting 5th" War Loan drive the "Fighting 5th" so-called since It will enable those remaining at home to do their fighting on the home front In the way it will be felt most by the purchase of extra war bonds. Extension Agreed in Kimmel Hearing Washington, June 7 (U.R) The house today approved a con ference report on legislation de signed to extend for six months the time In which Rear Admiral Husband E. Klmmcl and MaJ. Gen. Walter C. Short and others military, naval or civilian may be tried on charges arising out of the Pearl Harbor1 disaster. The house agreed to the con ference version of the resolution 'by roU call vote of 213 to 121. RAMPAGING FIFTH Allies Race Far Beyond Rome On Four Highways; Clos ing In On Civita-Vecchia. Allied Headquarters, Naples, June 7. (U.R) Allied tanks and Infantrymen are driving the Germans in disorderly retreat along a broad front north of Rome and are closing in on Civita-Vecchia, 40 miles north west of the capital, it was an nounced today. E JAP MOTION Fourth Bombing Of Island Fails To Bring Out Single Interception Attempt. Washington, June 7. U.R) Army and navy heavy bombers carried out a daylight 'raid on Guam on Monday, encountering no fighter interception but mod erate to intense antiaircraft fire, the navy revealed today. This was the fourth attack on I Guam. The last previous attack Official sources said f if th was on May 6 when 25 fighters army forces were racing far be- opposed the raiders. yond the capital along the four main highways radiating out of Rome to the north, riding rough shod over scattered German rear guards left behind by the fleeing 14th army. Near Civita-Vecchia There was no immediate indi cation as to how far the allied spearheads were from Civita Vecchia, the main seaport for Rome, but the announcement said they were "approaching" the city suggesting the allies were within striking distance." Front dispatches said there was little or no organized resist ance in the path of the pursuing 5th army columns now spread out over a front of more than 40 miles north and east of Rome and Gen. Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander declared confidently that the power of the German armies In central Italy has been broken. Also on Monday, a lone navy search plane sighted a group of. small enemy cargo ships pro ceeding northwest of Truk and damaged one of the vessels. Another search plane shot down an enemy torpedo bomber west of Truk. Allies Drive Inland After Beating Off First Heavy Counter London, una 7. (U.R) Gen. Kurt Diolimar, Nail radia commentator, said today that allied operations on the conti nent had been extended to a front of about 140 miles. London, une 7. (U.R) A dispatch from a war correspon dent aboard the American cruiser Augusta said today that the German 7th and 15th armies commanded personally by Marshal Erwin Rommel were rushing armored and infantry divisions to the French beachhead front. Southeast Asia Headquarters, Kandy, Ceylon, Junt 7. (U.R) Japanese forces, losing heavily in steady assaults by allied troops, were thrown back on two Indian fronts today and reportedly were fleeing from the Kohima area. In northern Burma, Chinese and American forces, supported by artillery and aircraft, contin ued their drive Into Myitkylna, making a 100-yard gain in the southern section of the city. 3 KILLED WHEN TREE HITS BUS Lebanon, Ore., June 7 (U.R) Three persons were killed when a large fir tree, whipped by a gust of wind as loggers felled It, crashed across the front of a Valley Stage Line bus near Cas cadia. The dend were Mrs. Gertrude Corbett Holton, Redmond: Ar thur Holm-Teen, 53, Waldport, Ore., and Thomas G. O'Kclly, Mitchell, Ore. Seriously Injured were High Kizcr, Albany, driver of the bus: Mrs. Owelty; Charles Weil, Bend, and Jerry Gillls, Bend. Re ported suffering minor injuries were Mrs. H. W. Powers, Bend, and Bill Slavens, John Day. Wind was believed to have blown the tree In the opposite direction from which the ioggers intended It to fall, thus crashing into the bus at the exact moment It came by. The bus was routed to Lebanon. 3 ,F. WRONG BOX Alameda, Calif., June 7 (U.R) Mrs. Ruby J. Box, 18, Konawa, Okla., pulled the handle of a red box to mail a letter to her serv iceman husband In Florida. Four fire truck companies and two police squad cars responded. Klamath Falls, Ore., June 7 (U.R) Three men were killed here last night when the driver of their car attempted to pass a highway oil truck and swerved Into soft shoulders in the road, overturning the car. The three, all highway em ployees, were returning from working near Bcattle, on the Klamath Falls-Lakeview high way. Dead were Oscar Lucas, 58, Bend, driver of the car; William Frank Reed, 64, Bend, and Ralph Lee Turner, 71, Redmond. A fourth passenger, Fred Harvey, 29, of Denham, was injured slightly. Washington, J6ne 7, U.R) Sen. Guy Cordon, R Ore., In troduced today a bill to reopen the Oregon and California rail- j "c . . v. w J . ? r, .., ,. D j confined to their barrack ivbu n I 111 ,UU9 ITDVI, 1 wh h grant lands to exploration, and location under provisions of the general mining laws. By Virgil Pinkley United Press War Correspondent Allied Supreme Headquarters, London, June 7. (U.R) Allied invasion forces have cleared the enemy from all of their beach heads In France and today were battering their way inland in stiff fighting after beating oft the first heavy German counter attacks in the Caen area. The American, British, and Canadian assault forces which stormed the beaches of Normandy were being reinforced, constant ly by hundreds of United States gliders shuttling thousands of troops into the Cherbourg peninsula and by surface craft sailing in to the coast from which the Germans had been driven. Heavy Fighting Rages Inshore Gen. Dwlght D. Eisenhower's headquarters announced late to day that heavy fighting wus raging inshore on the expanding perimeter of the beachheads, but the Germans were putting up very little resistance In the air and none at sea. Airmen said the Cherbourg peninsula was dotted with fires, indicating that the Germans might be scorching the earth prepara tory to withdrawing to avoid the threat of being isolated by the cutting of their communications at the base of the stubby finger of northwestern France. However, Marshal Erwin Rommel was reported In front dis patches to be speeding armored and infantry divisions of two l armies under his personal command to the invasion zone for a inn scaie coumcronsiaugni. Late reports at allied supreme headquarters, covering operations to dawn today, indicated that the situation had improved con siderably overnight. The invaders beat off sharp German armored counterattacks in the area of Caen, 28 miles southwest of Le Havre and 9'A miles inland, where Prime Minister Winston Churchill reported fighUng yesterday. Some Landings Now Linked By today they had cleared all their beaches and linked some of them, strengthening their overall position considerably. Spokesmen emphasized that the fighting so far, although the Nazis had thrown tactical reserves into lt, could not be regarded as decisive. The allies were steadily reinforcing every beachhead with men and supplies, and Rommel now was bringing In mors troops for the showdown. . ' That probably will come when both sides have caught their second wind perhaps tomorrow, possibly 48 hours hence. When the German strategic as distinct from the tactical reserve can be thrown into the battle depends on when the Nazis decide on the weight and direction of the main allied thrust, perhaps In a week or two. Paratrooper! who spearheaded the attack by all accounts were Involved In some of the fiercest fighting. The air-borne forces were revealed to have carried out all their allotted tasks, includ ing the capture Intact of several highway bridges which the Nazis had been expected to blow up. Air-Borne Assault Success The success of the biggest air-borne assault ever launched was regarded as one of the most satisfactory aspects of the invasion, which as a whole was considered in staff quarters to warrant 'sober satisfaction." Overnight reports from the battle zone indicated the progress in many respects was less than had been hoped for. By noon, however, the situation was "decidedly more encouraging." Heavy fighting was going on where the main allied columns were slugging their way forward. American rangers and British commandos were maintaining liaison between tho main columns. The Nazis apparently were surprised and confused in the initial stages of the invasion. One armored division was found dispersed and unsuspecting. But now they have been able to move up reserves, and the fighting is bound to get tougher with each mil of allied advance. Nazi propagandists were getting tangled In their own reports of large scale allied operations in northwestern France and th channel. Berlin Reports Second Invasion One Berlin broadcast said the allies had mnde a second Invasion thrust at the Pas de Calais region of northwest France along th Straits of Dover. Obscure references to the action failed to make clear what had happened, if anything. Nazi radios had reported a move against the Boulogne-Calais area yesterday, including th purported allied seizure of an airdrome, but no word of such an action was forthcoming from allied sources. The Paris radio said an allied armada of some 8,000 vessels, including heavy cruisers serving as escort and landing vessels of all types, was cruising off the Cherbourg peninsula. The guns of this fleet "are engaged in duels with German shore batteries," the broadcast said. The Stockholm newspaper Nya Dagllgt Allchanda reported on dubious authority that a state of siege had been declared In Paris. A great number of workers were recruited to rebuild bridges destroyed by allied bombings, it said, and German troops were First Arrivals On Beaches Mowed Down By Cross Fire By James C. McGIIncy United Press War Correspondent London, June 7 (U.R) Some of the first assault troops who stormed the French beaches were mowed down by German cross fire but succeeding waves climb ed over their bodies until a foot hold was established, an eye witness who returned from the beachhead reported today. Bert Brandt, 28, an Acme news photographer.-spent a half hour on the beach yesterday and several hours more cruising within gunshot of th landing scene. "It was hotter than hell over there," Brandt said. "I was at Anzio but Anzio was nothing like this." He said the Germans laid down intensive fire on the beaches with wcll-emplaced ma chine guns. American casualties were spotty, heavy on some beaches and light on others. On on beach, Brandt report ed, the German machine gunners waited until the landing craft lowered their ramps and then poured deadly fire Into the barges. The opposition met by, the first wave delayed the land ing of demolition parties sched uled to follow with heavy equip ment. The German defenses finally crumbled under the weight of at tach and by the time Brandt left the beachhead at 3 p. m. yester day, the Americans were firmly ashore and beginning to advance Inland. "The whole thing was an un believable sight," Brandt said. "Planes criss-crossed overhead constantly. You never could look up without seeing a formation of planes somewhere. P-38's and P-47's zoomed right overhead all the time blasting th German defenses." Long Sky Train Hauls Troops Mors, than 400 United States gliders, one section making up a skytrain 50 miles long, poured powerful reinforcements Into th Cherbourg peninsula last night and today, strengthening the allied grip on the first sections of western Europe wrested from th Nazis. Wing Commander W. I. Dcas, RAF pilot, said after a flight over the peninsula that "there were fires everywhere, and it looked as If the enemy was trying to lay waste the country. Suddenly there was a big explosion in the peninsula, and the sky was lit up for miles with a bright orange light." The report suggested the possibility that the Nazis might hav put the torch to everything of value in the section of the peninsula they held preliminary to' pulling out. Reports of fighting In Caen, on the Cherbourg-Paris trunk rail way, indicated Nazi communications were crippled or threatened at the base of the peninsula, and It might be Isolated soon. WITH LOOSE LIP Washington, Jun 7. (U.R) The war department disclosed today that the general who was demoted for violating security regulations In connection with the invasion was MaJ, Gen. Henry J. F. Miller. He had been commander of the ninth air force service com mand In Britain since October, 1943. Dispatches from London bad revealed previously that a gen eral had been demoted and sent back to this country because he told a group of guests at a cock tail party two months ago that "the invasion will take place be fore June 13." Miller was born In Salem county, N. J., Sept. 10, 1890, and was graduated from West Point In 1915. U. S. Fighter Bomber Bass, England, June 7 (U.R) "W could so tanks everywhere, some Just rumbling IntD th town's outskirts, others parked under trees, and I could see sol diers squatting atop some of them as U they wcr smoking."
