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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 5, 1944)
Savage Battle Rages for Peninsula Communication Hub U.S. SHOCK TROOPS Weather MedfordT ibune Forecast: Fair tonight and Thuridaj. Warmer Thursday. Hlrheit yesterday , ?8 Ixiwest this morning S3 Precipitation past ti hra. g OF PUITSCENTER Troops Closing 'in From 3 Sides; Garrison Threat ened With Trapment United Press Full Leased WU nll.d Prut Full Leased Wire Thirty-ninth Year MEDFOSD, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 1944 NO. 88. Warships Shell Saipan Capital City Allied Supreme Headquar ters, London, July 5. (U.R) American shock troops drove into the French transport cen ter of La Haye-Du Puits today, captured the railroad station, and were slashing forward in violent street fighting within 300 yards of the center of the shell-scarred town. Gen. Dwieht D. Eisenhnwpr's headquarters confirmed front reports of a savage battle at close quarters in the streets of La Haye-Du Puits, and said the Normandy town was invested from the northwest, northeast and southeast. May Trap Nazis United Press Correspondent , James McGlincy, reporting the penetration of the vital town in the west coast sector of the low er Cherbourg peninsula, said other American forces were driving in from the east and west, threatening to trap the German garrison unless it gets out quickly. The American right flank along the coast advanced two miles, McGlincy reported, while the fighting front spread to the area due west of Carentan where U. S. forces made limited progress yesterday before a Ger man counter-attack nudged them back. . At the other end of the Nor- mandy front, Canadian troops who had seized most of the Caen-Carpiquet air field were forced by German pressure to reorganize their positions. A headquarters spokesman said they now were 600 yards west of the airfield hangars, which were in enemy hands. Air Field Holds Out Several German tanks were knocked out and some prison ers taken in the heavy battle raging around the Carpiquet air field. A front report said the Canadians and Germans were facing each other across the ruined runways, but the town of Carpiquet was firmly in al lied hands. Although the latest reports to ! headquarters said only that the Americans were fighting their way through the streets of La Haye-Du Puits, some quarters felt that the town might already be in U. S. hands, since it is a market town of 1,300 through which a man normally could walk in 10 minutes. Caen Fight Rages In the Caen sector, heavy fighting was going on around Esquay. Violent struggles sway - ed back and forth over high ground a mile northeast of Es quay, eight miles southwest of Caen. The British apparently were holding the western part of the village of Fontaine, three miles southwest of Caen, with the Ger- j mans battering back into the eastern section. The Normandy weather closed in somewhat this afternoon. Clouds lowered to 1,500 feet and kn. .n aimncr niiH mrpr. cast with some drizzle. F SAFE AND SANE In contrast to the heavy toll of accidental deaths throughout ths nation over the Fourth of July holi.'ay, Jackson county citizens observed Independence Day in the quietest and safest f ion in years. Police r jrted there were no serious automo bile accidents, and no fires were reported either in Medford or in fore-ted are .. Many local persons attended the program 'n Ashland's Lithia park yesterday, featured by a war bond auction; a number Joui i- ed to the Rogue River celebration and some went to Klamath Falls for the "Buck- aroo Days rodeo, others went: fishing and on picnics and the rest stayed home, SIDE GLANCES By TRIBUNE REPORTERS Auctioneers Earl Newbry, Frank Van Dyke and Ebe Dunn fluently selling war bonds to Ashland's Lithia Park visitors in typical double-talk style. Bill Zicgler gallantly buying a piece of gooseberry pie for an acquaintance. Betty Allen all atwitter over her first fishing trip and a catch of four trout. I (Acm Telephoto) Leathernecks from the Second Mnrlne Division the conquerors of Tarawa tighten vise around this dazing coastal area, which was the city l "larapan, Saipan capital city. Fires caused by fleet bombardment can be seen as well as sunken Japanese shipping (arrow) In the harbor. Coast Guard photo. Bonin and Volcano Islands Blasted as Marines Take Garapan, Mariana Capital MEDFORD FATHER CLAIMS EX WIFE Portland; Ore., July 5 U.R) Police today are still seeking the mother of the 11-month-old Luchterhand baby whom she left with a strange woman at the Central Bus depot here "Sunday while she went "to make a phone call," and failed to return. Fred Luchterhand, father of MHfnrrt f ,im the .hlid. told . .. ... hu .x.wifa left Mcd. ford en route to New York to p'ace the child with her mother. He said he would return the baby to his home. Luchterhand in a telephone conversation with the police, Monday, reported that the wom an was his ex-wife. He said that he had pa.d her passage fremi San Francisco to Oneida, N. Y., on the understanding that she was to take the baby to relatives i . Oneida. Left With Woman Mrs. Luchterhand had left the baby with another woman, asking her to "hold him while I make a phone call." When the woman did .not return the youngster was turned over to police who later discovered a suitcasi full of clean baby cloth ing believed to be left behind by the mothcr. Police officials reported that the woman had been around the K..a ilnnnt BDUOTill fimP flftPf sne baby but was not V" "L apprehended. No Information concerning Luchterhand or his ex-wife could be learned here today, directories not listing either and I police authority having no knowledge of his address or oc cupation. It was not known how Portland police learned Luchter hand was the child's father. London, July 5 U.R Amer ican airpower struck a smashing double blow at Axis Europe to day, sending some 500 heavy bombers and fighters against Nazi target's across a wide belt of northern France, Belgium and Holland while other four-en- gined raiders struck from Italy at Toulon and the Zeziers rail- way yards on the French Medi- terranean coast Another large force of Allied bombers, presumably American, streamed out across the British east coast at six o'clock this eve ning, heading toward the south east and flying at a great height. Sales to date In the Fifth War Loan Drive S2,060,657 "E" Sales Quota .$425,912.50 S600.000 Total Quota for County .42.262.000 United Press War Correspondent Pearl Harbor, July IS (U.R) The campaign to wrest Saipan from the Japanese entered the final phase today as new strikes were reported against the Bonin and Volcano islands, 650 miles from Tokyo, by a powerful U. S. naval task force which sank or damaged six enemy ships, including four destroyers, and knocked out 104 planes. (A Japanese communique, broadcast by Tokyo radio and re ported by FCC, acknowledged that "powerful" American forces, supported by tanks, planes and warships, steadily were pene trating the Japanese positions on : Sapan and sald "confused fight- ing is taking place here and there.") Foe Squeezed U. S. marines, driving up the west coast of Saipan, captured Garapan, the first Japanese city to fall to Americans in the Pacific, and Tanapag harbor while other ground forces ad vanced along a line all the way to the east coast to squeeze the enemy Into a nine square mile area at the northern tip of the island. Fall of the Marianas' adminis trative center and the important land-locked harbor came as Vice Admiral Marc A. Mltscher's car- , rlM tesfe force h, he Bon,M an(J Volcanos with waves of planes and tons of shells from the guns of cruisers and destroyers. The task force, which struck the island groups of Japan s in ner defense line for the second time in a month, opened the new attack on Sunday by raiding Iwo Jima, key island of the Volcanos. The American fliers shot down 39 enemy planes and probably 16 others while 24 additional planes were destroyed on the ground in the initial attack. Haha Jim Hit On Monday the American forces, with cruisers and de stroyers joining in the bombard ment, again hit Iwo Jima and also attacked Haha Jim in the nearby Bonin islands. (Axis broadcasts yesterday acknowledged the attacks on Iwo Jima, but said the second target was Crichi Jima in the Bonins.) Admiral Chester W. Nlmlt? said three Japanese destroyers were sunk or beached, a large cargo ship and a medium oiler sunk, and another destroyer left dead in the water and burning in Monday's attacks. Several small cargo vessels also were damaged, while 25 planes were shot down and an undetermined number destroyed pn the ground. In the two days of action the carrier force lost nine planes, but all the surface vessels escaped damage. II BOYS CUED IN BURGLARY TRY Charged with attempted burg lary, Earl Flaherty, 19, and Ver non C. Smith 16, both of Dorris. Cal were to be arraigned this afternoon, the former in Justice of the peace court and the lat ter in juvenile court. The sheriff's office, which ar rested the two youths here Monday night, said they readily admitted trying to enter the Sun nyslde store at Ruch last Friday night by forcing a window The store owner, Chester McDon ough, sleeping inside, heard the disturbance and when he shout ed the two ran away. Sheriffs office and the state police investigated the case. L Minneapolis, July 5 (U.R) Mrs. Norma Ward ' Lundeen, widow of U. S. Sen. Ernest Lun deen of Minnesota, and Sen. Rufus C. Holman, R., Oregon, were married last night at the home of Judge Levi M. Hall. Sen Holman said today that besides Judge and Mrs. Hall, the children of Mrs. Lundeen were present for the ceremony. They are Lt. Ernest Lundeen, Jr., 22, of the U. S. army, and Joan Lun deen, 20. a junior at the Univer sity of Minnesota, "It Is our plan to proccde at once to Oregon by automobtle, which will permit me to visit officially as a member of the senate committee on military ar fairs, a number of military es tablishments en route," Holman said. Sen Lundeen was killed In an airplane crash in 1940. Since then, Mrs. Lundeen has lived in Minneapolis and has been active in the America First movement. FLIES OVER LINES Ninth Air Force Fighter Base, Normandy, July 5. (U.R) Gen. Dvight D. Eisenhower, supreme "ilied commander, flew over the German lines on the Fourth of July in a Mustang fighter pilot ed by Maj Gen. Elwood R. Que sada, head of the 9th Air Force fighter command, it was reveal ed today. Pilots said Eisenhower ap peared "greatly pleased" by his observations. He flew in a for mation of seven planes, which was believed to have encount ered little or no flak or other German opposition on its sweep over Nazi-held territory. (NBC Correspondent Merrill Mueller, In a dispatch for the combined press, said Eisenhow er had returned to his headquar ters In England after the visit to France during which he twice penetrated behind German lines. Mueller reported Eisenhower had Important conferences with Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgom ery, commander of Invasion as sault forces, and Gen. Omar N. Bradley, head of the American 1st army group.) CAPONE PAL DIES San Qucntln, July 5 U.R) Ralph Sheldon, 45, former hench man of Al Capone on Chicago's South Side, who was serving a life sentence for kidnaping, died Monday at San Quentln prison of a heart attack, Warden Clin ton Duffy announced today. Sheldon was sentenced In Los Angeles In 1930 for the kidnap ing of Zeke Caress and hit wife. 9rc 11 Ale) WiW& MmA p) ii rS)iyj5)g) OF Parts of East Prussia EvacuatedHigh- Command Admits Loss of Kowel London, July 5 (U.R) Premier Josef Stalin an nounced tonight that the Rad army had captured Molodech ino, 45 miles northwest of Minsk, where street fighting had been going on for three days. London, July 5 (U.R) Berlin reported today that the Germans had pulled out of the Kowel area of Old Poland 175 miles southeast of Warsaw, and Stock holm dispatches said German civilians were being evacuated from parts of East Prussia to ward which the Red army was rolling at a rate of a mile an hour. The German high command acknowledged the loss of Kowel the last strong point east of its Bug river defense line In that sector, and supplementary Ber lin comment indicated a sizeable piece of territory had been yielded to the Russians, giving them a springboard for the lower arm of a pincers push against Warsaw. 15.000 Moved A Bern dispatch to the Stock holm newspaper Dagbladet said the Nazis had begun removing civilians from the border region of East Prussia, and 15,000 al ready had moved westward out of the Immediate path of the Rus sian forces some 150 miles to the east. Many East Prussian families have arrived in Austria, the Stockholm advices said, but a majority of the evacuees were going into eastern Germany be cause of transportation difficul ties. Another Swiss report relayed through Stockholm said 40,000 evacuees from Poland and the Baltics mostly German farmers and officials were hurrying to ward Konlgsberg, capital of East Prussia. By the same accounts, the Germans began the evacua tion of Latvia, with many en gineers and technical experts al ready out of the country from whose border the Russians were onlv 10 miles away. - German quarters in Stockholm , were described reliably as count ing on the likelihood that the Nazis would have to give up all the Baltic states. More Gasoline For Servicemen Enjoying Leave Kansas City, Kan., July 5. (U.R) The Office of Price Ad ministration will liberalize its gasoline rationing policy toward servicemen on furlough within t next two weeks, Rep. Errett P. Scrivener, R., Kan., said to day. Scrivener said he had been notified by his Washington of fice that furloughcd servicemen will receive five gallons of gaso line for the first three days of a leave and one gallon per day for each day thereafter, under the new plan. Servicemen have received five gallons for their entire fur lough up to the present time. The representative said he had been informed that men on furlough would receive "leave slips" showing the length of their furloughs. Those slips would be presented to ration boards, which would then Issue gasoline for the number of days indicated. HITLER DELIVERS GRIM SPEECH ON Allies Have Far Outstripped Reich in Production, Der Fuehrer Warns Workers London, July 5 (U.R) Adolf Hitler, in the grimmest speech of his career, warned today that Germany was fighting for Its very existence and acknowl edged that the Allies have far outstripped the Reich in war production. He told German arms and oth er war production leaders at his headquarters that "this gigantic struggle for the fate of the Ger man nation Is deciding the fu ture of many generations to come." Won't Capitulate "I know that unheard-of strength, nerves and determina tion are necessary to survive In such times as the present," he said. "But I also know that the guiding star of all our actions Is the one unchangeable principle that we will not capitulate, how ever great the difficulties that face us." In what amounted to a desper ate appeal to his people to keep fighting despite defeats and over whelming odds, Hitler called on everyone to emulate his forces at the front, where "our gallant soldiers are accomplishing what seems Impossible and do not shrink from tasks which seem impossible to carry out." Gloomiest Yei The speech, reported by the German Transocean and DNB News agencies, was regarded here as the gloomiest and most foreboding ever made by Hitler, exceeding even that following i Italy's capitulation last year. I Though he did not mention1 the Allied Invasion of France, the Anglo-American victories in Italy and the Red army's break throughs on the eastern front, Hitler acknowledged that a "magnitude of difficulties" was confronting Germany. The pessimistic tone of the speech, coupled with the fact he chose to make it before German war production leaders, led to the conclusion that he was mak ing a final effort to squeeze out still greater efforts from Ger man workers already laboring to the limit of their endurance. U.S. Casualties Now 261,541 Total In Last War 259,735 Washington, July 5 (U,R) American casualties In World War II have surpassed those of World War I, an analysis of the latest official reports disclosed today. In this war, 31 months of glo bal fighting have produced 261. 541 casualties as compared to the 259,735 casualties accumulated during the 19 months of United States participation in the last conflict. A breakdown of categories shows: This war 58,772 dead, 107, 038 wounded 55.903 missing and 40.928 prisoners of war. Last war 53,878 dead, 201, 377 wounded and 4480 prisoners. The World War II figures were taken from four non-con- fllctlng, non-duplicating an- World War Dead Wounded Army ....35.2R9 Marines 5,851 Navy 4 Coast Guard 19.632 87,812 14.333 8,793 Totals. 38,771 107,938 BASEBALL National Brooklyn 13 2 Cincinnati 4 8 1 Head, King and Owen; Heus ser and Mueller. (Playoff of unfinished eight inning game of May 21) Philadelphia 9 15 2 Pittsburgh 4 9 1 Lee, R. Barrett and Finley; Cuccurullo, Gee, Rescigno, Butcher and Camelli, Davis. American Cleveland . 2 7 2 New York 6 11 0 Smith, Calvert and Schlueter; Donald and Garb-irk. MAKES BIG BLAST Stockholm, July 8 (U.R) The Danish press service reported to day that the explosion of a Ger man ammunition ship In the Aarhus harbor of Denmark's Jut land peninsula yesterday killed an estimated 80 persons, Injured 300 others, destroyed or dam aged more than 1,000 buildings and sank several-nearby ships. Confirming earlier reports that the terrific detonation In the harbor was caused by the blow ing up of an ammunition ship, the news agency said that so far only Danish casualties were known and that the German casualties were believed to be still higher. Danish circles here emphatical ly denied the explosion was due to Danish sabotage, and snid it was caused by German anti-Nazi sabotage or carelessness. The ex tent of the disaster was explain ed by the fact that the blast caused several explosions among large German ammunition stores along the Quay, GEN. DE GAULLE LEAVES FOR ROOSEVELT VISIT Algiers, July 5 (U.R) Gen. Charles Do Gaulle, president of the French Committee of Nation al Liberation, left Algiers this morning en route to Washington, where he will confer with Presi dent Roosevelt. RELIEF ACT SIGNED Washington, July 5 (U.R) President Roosevelt today signed a bill amending the soldiers and sailors relief act of 1940 to pro vide that no service personnel moving from one slate to another shall be subjected to double tax ation on personal property, nouncements: 1. The official war department announcement of 179.823 army casualties through June 13 but not counting losses In Normandy and Saipan. 2. The official navy depart ment announcement of 47,"'04 navy, marine corps and coast guard casualties as of July 5, ex clusive of losses on Saipan. 3. The announcement by the supreme Allied command of 24, 162, U. S. casualties In Norman dy through June 20. 4. Admiral Chester W. Nlm Itz's announcement of 9752 cas ualties on Saipan from the time of the landings on June 15 up to June 28. Analysis of these figures pro vides the following breakdown by category and service: II To Date Missing Prisoners 36,467 1,944 2,517 Total 205,344 23,816 32,381 43,778 1,688 8,4.19 33,903 40,928 261,541 YANKEES GET 17, AND BRITISH 9 IN RECENT DAYS Now Estimated One-Third to One-Half of Shipping De '. stroyed Cleanup Near Washington, July S. (U.R) The sinking of 17 more Japan ese ships, including a light cruis er and destroyer, by American submarines, was announced to day by Secretary of Navy James Forrestal who said the campaign against enemy shipping would be accelerated by the U. S. ad vance into the Marianas islands. The navy disclosure followed an admiralty announcement in London that British submarines had sunk nine Japanese supply ships during recent far eastern patrols, making a total of 26 Japanese ship losses reported today by the allies. Jap Losses Heavy Forrestal estimated that be tween one-third and one-half of an estimated 7,000,000 tons of shipping possessed by the Jap anese at the start of the war has been destroyed by American armed forces. At the same time, Forrestal told a news conference that "completion of the Saipan oper ation may be expected with con fidence" and that there la evi dence of disorganization among the Japanese defenders. He warned, however, that the "main battles are still to come" In the Pacific. But U. S. forces I have, he added, approached the point where they can force the enemy "to stand up and fight." 4 DIEllECK OF Williams, Ariz., July 3 (U.R) A pile of crumpled coaches to day marked the spot where the Santa Fe railroad's Chief, one of the nation's best-known luxury streamliners, cracked up early yesterday, spilling the locomo tive and 12 of its 14 coaches along the rlghtof-way. The speedy streamliner, en route from Chicago to Los An geles, was heading into a 15-mile straightaway when it lurched from the tracks, piling its coaches up like Jackstraws. Four "ersons were killed and more an 50 Injured In the crash. Those killed were listed as J. S. McLeod. New York, national head of Mctro-Goldwyn-Mayer Film Exchanges; Fireman J. E. Edwards, Winslow, Arlz.j Mrs. Ann Bradys, Hammond, Ind., and Harold H. Helper, manager of the Linde Air Products Co., Los Angeles. June Marriages Lowest Since '42 Marriage licenses Issued by the county clerk's office during June totaled 33, the lowest of any month since April, 1942, when the romance boom started In this county with the construc tion of Camp Whlto and the ar rival of soldiers. For more than a year the marriage license Issu ance averaged 85 to 90 monthly and at the height of the Camp White era one month exceeded the 100 mark. YANKS CELEBRATE Eighth Fighter Command Headquarters London, July 5 (U.R) Thirteen American pilots celebrated the Fourth of July by bagging more than a dozen planes over France, lt was an nounced today.
