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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."