Americans Smash Into Rennes; German Tanks Check British Advance
i
NAZI RESISTANCE
CRUMBLES FAST
IE
Combourg, Dinan Also Pen
etrated; More Prisoners
than Invaders Can Handle
Supreme Headquarters, AEF,
Aug. 3. (U.R) Armored spear
heads of American forces plung
ing 30 miles into Britttany on a
35-mile arc smashed into Ren
nes, Combourg, and Dinan to
day, while to the northeast coun
terattacking German tanks
checked the British break
through drive east of Vire.
Rennes, in addition to its Im
portance as a main junction on
the Paris-Brest trunk line, is the
center of the Breton waterway
system.
(The capture of Rennes was
announced in Washington by
Secretary of War Henry L. Stim
son.) United Press Correspondent
Robert C. Miller, reporting the
penetrations to Rennes, Com
bourg, 20 miles to the northwest
and Dinan, on the Brest railroad
near the coast, said a big part
of the Rennes garrison dirty,
haggard and bleary eyed de-
. cided in advance that they had
had enough of the war.
Drive Rolls Ahead -
'The drive continues to roll
ahead, gathering momentum
hourly," Miller's dispatch said.
The number of German pris
oners now was running into the
thousands, with some U. S. units
rounding up more than they
could handle, and if the Nazis
had any resources for the de
fense of Brittany there was no
evidence of it.
United Press Correspondent
Richard D. McMillan, in a dis-
patch filed from the British
front at 6:3 J p. m., said that in
one of the most furious German
counterblows the Nazis hurled
massed tanks across the Noireau
river in the area of Conde, 15
miles east of Vire.
Nazis Fan Out
The German armor fanned out
under apparent orders to crash
the British lines at all costs.
Some penetrations were made.
and infantry moved into support
them. The rocket-firing Typhoon
planes swarmed against the en
emy armor, and broke up some
of the pockets.
"A crisis for the Germans
seems to have arrived," United
Press War Correspondent Henry
T. Gorrell reported from Lt.
Gen. Omar N. Bradley's first
army headquarters where the
thrust into Rennes was an
nounced. The American spearheads
probing into Rennes, which com
mands most of the highway,
railroad, and waterway system
of Brittany, encountered virtual
ly no German resistance, Gor
rell said. All signs indicated that
the Nazis were unable or unwil
ling to undertake a strong de
fense of Brittany, the jutting
finger of western France which
would be lopped off by a push
to the Bay of Biscay.
No Slowdown
Informed sources here said
there was not the' slightest indi
cation of a slowdown in the
American armored fan-out thru
Brittany. The double thrust to
Rennes and westward in the
coasxai area was regarded as
ending the first phase of the con
quest of Brittany.
Aside from road blocks and
antitank screens the Germans
might throw up in the rolling
Breton countryside dotted with
little gray stone villages, there
seemed to be nothing on hand
or in prospect to delay Bradley's
tanks.
It was regarded as "likely"
that the Germans already were
evacuating their U-boats and
technical personnel from such
big bases as St. Nazaire and
Loricnt, where they constructed
great concrete pens to protect
the submarines from air attack.
ELK SCHOLARSHIPS
GO T0.22 YOUNG
Chicago. Aug. 3. (U.R) The
Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks at their grand lodge
meeting today awarded scholar
ships totaling $5,200 to ?2 boys
and girls of high school age.
Winners included: First prize
of SfiOO. Marjorie J. Po-veli. Mis
soula, Mont., and Francis Birch.
Salt Lake City: third prize of
S400, Irene Olson, Boulder,
Colo., and Mark J. Jacobsen.
Missoula, Mont; fifth prize of
$200. Glenn D. Brewer, Berke
ley. Cal.
Honorable mentions of $100
each: Joyce Allen, Laramie,
Wyo.; Daily P. Child?. Jr., Lyn
wood. Cal., and Don Muchmore,
Eagle Rock, CaL
Medfoed
United Press
Thirty-ninth Year
Nazis Hammered
"Vtbntk Ocean "HEfcjfjoRs JKtfft
CHANNEL V Vu- 'VhW9UEN
ISLANDS YXsTuir" Cj
) -A NORMANDY
" ML M' J
BRimw yrHM ojj
FRANCE I Tl
BoyotvC Mi!e V.
eT J 0 25 50 BourgeN
(Acmt Teltphoto)
American armored columns lash out west and south ot captured Pontor
son and sweep through disintegrating German battle lines at a pace tnat
may already have earned to within striking distance ot Rennes Rapid
progress was made toward Paris after passing Brecey. while British and
Canadians joined with Yanks in hammering back Nazis In Caumont area.
1,000 Supermen March Out
Of Rennes With White Flag
By Robert C. Miller
United Press War Correspondent
With the American Spearhead Near Rennes, Brittany, Aug.
2 (U.R) More than 1,000 members of the German garrison of
Rennes marched out four abreast from that communications
hub today with their own officers and with white flags flutter
ing from sticks, surrendered to American advanced patrols.
PILOT IS KILLED
E
Fred Frank, 28, of Walla
Walla, Wash., co-owner of the
S and M Flying Service located
at Dallas Port, Wash., was burn
ed to death when the seven-
passenger Fairchild plane he
was piloting crashed and burst
into flame shortly after taking
off from the Illinois Valley air
port near Cave Junction In Jose
phine county at 2:55 p. m. Wed
nesday. Frank, according to reports
from Grants Pass, had taken off
on a test flight and was between
200 and 300 feet from the ground
when the motor conked out.
causing the plane to sideslip and
plunge to earth, where it Im
mediately caught fire.
The plane was one being
leased to the Siskiyou National
Forest Service for carrying para
firefighters to conflagrations in
the area.
Frank, a short time before the
fatal accident, had taken his
plane up with four firefighters,
but at an altitude of about 50
feet the motor went out. How
ever, he was able to land the
plane safely. Then followed the
test flight, with no passengers,
which ended in tragedy.
The remains were shipped
north for burial.
EX-CAPONE PAL
IS
ii
"
Chicago, Aug. 3 (U.R) Law
rence Dago Mangano, 54-ycar-old
member of the old Al Capone
gang, was killed early today and
his bodyguard, Michael Pon-
tillo, 34, was fatally wound
ed in a new flareup of gang war
fare over gambling.
The shooting occurred when
three gunmen in a black sedan
drew alongside the car In which
Mango, Pontillo, and Miss Rita
Reyes were riding, and opened
fire with shotguns and .45 cali
ber pistols.
Mangano died shortly after
wards at Bridewell hospital but
Pontillo survived the shooting by
seven hours. Miss Reyes, who
escaped injury, was held by
police for questioning.
Police were agreed that gamb-
ling was the motive, pointing
out Mangano apparently had
succeeded to the syndicate
gambling throne vacatea oy the
suicide of Frank (The Enforcer)
Nitti. The only other possible
successor to Nitti would have
been Jack Guzik, also a Capone
era mobster. Guzik was abduct
ed a few months ago but was
released unharmed after several
days.
Full Leased Wire
Back in France
Rennes has not fallen as this
dispatch is written (on Wednes
day) and it is not possible to say
what proportion of the Rennes
garrison was represented In the
tatterdemalion procession that
came straggling down the high
way toward our prison pens.
Had Enough
It is obvious that this part of
the garrison, at leasts decided it
had had enough of war. The
men were -dirty, bleary-eyed
from continuous shelling and
forced marches, and a far cry
from the "supermen" who were
supposed to rule Hitler's world.
They had thrown down their
guns and stripped off their am
munition. Their officers tried to
keep a semblance of military
bearing in the line but it was
hopeless. The soldiers no longer
cared.
They asked our patrols for
transport to the rear but all
available transport was being
used to move American troops
across Brittany. An officer scrib
bled a map on a piece of paper
and directed the Germans to
march themselves to a rear
prison camp.
White With Dutt
Whenever they encountered
an American unit moving up
they would wave their white
flags frantically so we wouldn't
shoot. The sun beat down on the
procession and their uniforms,
boots, and faces were white with
powdered dust. When they fin
ally arrived at the enclosure they
threw themselves down along
side thousands of other prison
ers rounded up in our rapid ad
vance. All along the road they passed
dozens of burned out tanks and
trucks, overturned wagons and
dead horses marking the line
along which they had retreated
before they decided to toss in
the sponge at Rennes.
The prison pens were filling
; rapidly as the doughboys clean-
ed up bypassed pockets behind
nut 1ntUn ..nil., C 41 MA4
vu. i.i iim, uiii. & .lie mum
part these were giving up with
out a fight, like the men of the
Rennes garrison, when con
vinced that the jig was up.
SALT LAKE LION
Chicago, Aug. 3 (U.R) D. A.
Skeen, Salt Lake City, Utah,
was elected president of the
International Association of
Lions Clubs at the, close of the
annual convention today.
Fred W. Smith, Ventura, Cal.,
was chosen third vice-president.
Donald D. Laing, Abilene, Kan.,
was elected chairman of the
board of governors.
New International directors
include Dr. Eugene S. Briggs,
Enid, Okla., and Thomas
H.
Fowler, Seattle, Wash.
TO BERLIN
By United Press
The shortest distances to
Berlin from advanced allied
lines today:
Russia 328 miles.
Italy 607 miles.
France 623 miles.
MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, AUGUST, 1944.
First
On
CIO-AFL DISPUTE
THREATENS TIE-UP
16,000 Vote to Quit Jobs;
Philadelphia Transporta
tion Still Stalled.
By United Press
A jurisdictional dispute be
tween rival CIO and AFL
unions today threatened to tie
up all industries at Aluncie,
Ind., adding to the widespread
strikes that plagued the United
States and Canada, tying up
transportation in Philadelphia
and Montreal and hampering
war production.
' Sixteen thousand CIO work
ers at Muncie voted to quit their
jobs in sympathy, a spokesman
sMd, after 250 members of an
AFL union agreed to post an
iron clad" picket line around
the glass house at the Ball Brd-
thers plant.
Philadelphia Idle
At Philadelphia, where a
strike of 5,800 transportation
workers entered its third day,
trucks were pressed into service
to transport workers to their
jobs in war factories and the
city awaited an expected order
from President Roosevelt for
the federal government to seize
control of the paralyzed trans
portation system.
Within the city, heavy police
guards were maintained to pre
vent any recurrence of sporadic
outbreaks between negroes and
whites which occurred yester
day.
The unauthorized strike be
gan when the company began
training eight negro "workers as
tram and subway operators.
The regional war manpower
commission placed navy produc
tion losses at 70 per cent with
army contracts suffering a 50
per cent deficit. Production
losses, the army said, affected
radar, planes, heavy artillery,
and flame throwers.
Transportation also was
paralyzed at Montreal where
employes began taking cars to
the barns shortly after midnight.
but personnel managers predict
ed no serious stoppage in war
production as they had made
arrangements to transport em
ployes to and from work in
trucks.
The executive board of the
United Automobile Workers
(CIO) called upon 7,000 strikers
at the gear and axle division of
the General Motors Corp. at De
troit to return to work today
after suspending President Nes
tor Dessy and all other officers
of Local 235.
HEAVY FIGHTING
Washington, Aug. 3 (U.R)
Announced casualties of U. S.
army personnel Jumped 11.190
during the week from July 6 to
July 13, Secretary of War Henry
L. Stimson revealed today. That
figure, apparently reflecting the
bitter fighting In Normandy and
Italy, was more than twice the
usual number of army casualties
announced during a seven-day
period, which normally has been
about 5000 in recent months.
Figures announced by Stimson
during his news conference, to
gether with totals released today
by the navy, indicated that over
all casualties among the U. S.
armed forces during this war
now are well over 300,000.
Stimson said army casualties
announced In Washington
through July 13, totaled 218.473,
while a navy casualty list re
leased today showed 51,871 cas
ualties among navy, marine
corps and coast guard personnel.
In addition, reports from the Pa
cific said 734 casualties have
been reported thus far from
Guam and Tinian, making a to
tal of 277,078,
Russian
German 'Sacred SoiP
GOVERNORS CLAIM
RETURNING VETS
Only Private Enterprise Can
Assure Peace-time Jobs,
Is Conference Warning.
St. Louis. Mo., Aug. 3 (U.R)
Ihe Republican Governors con
ference under leadership of Gov.
1 nomas h. Dewey today charged
the Roosevelt administration
with blocking the returning vet
erans' path to postwar employ
ment and warned that only pri
vate enterprise can assure peace
time jobs.
The conference made public
reports on six of the 14 domes
tic problems it undertook to dis
cuss here under leadership of
the republican presidential can
didate and his running mnte.
Gov. John W. Brickcr, of Ohio.
Say Disaster Invited
The 26 republican governors
approved the reports last night.
They charged the administra
tion with listlcssness, negligence
and a lack of leadership "which
invites national disaster."
"The national administration"
said the report on reconversion
and postwar jobs, "is now stand
ing squarely in the path of the
future employment of our re
turning veterans and millions
of displaced war workers."
Reporting on the national
guard and organized reserves,
the governors said "the New
Deal is seeking to undermine
and abandon the traditional
state national guard system."
lhey said federal absorption
of public and private lands
inreatencd many local political
subdivisions with destruction.
States Warned
But the reports cautioned the
states, also, that they must be
ready to accept their own re
sponsibilities and not seek fed
eral funds for public works when
their own resources wore ade
quate. The governors endorsed
continued federal contributions
under certain conditions to holp
pay for public works, the nation
al guard, and highway construc
tion but said public works
grants-in-aid should be made to
the states or through them "with
out conditions which invade the
authority of state or local gov
ernment." The reports were in the form
of agreements on principle.
The agreements on principles
announced today covered: re
conversion and post-war Jobs,
public works, highways, national
guard and organized reserves,
veterans and public lands.
Some of the eight remaining
questions present more difficult
problems. They are: agriculture,
insurance, labor, public expendi
tures, social welfare and public
health, taxation, unemployment
compensation and services, and
water resources.
Ti
COMMITTEE POST
Washington, Aug. 3. (U.R)
Sen. Harry S. Truman, D., Mo.,
Democratic vice presidential
nominee, resigned today as
chairman of the senate war In
vestigating committee.
Truman refused pleas by com
mittee members that he remain
as chairman, saying that "I am
of the opinion that any state
ment, hearing or report for
which I would be responsible
would be considered by many to
have been motivated by political
considerations."
Truman sent his resignation
to Vice-President Henry A. Wal
lace, president of the senate.
Hugh Fulton, who has been
chief committee counsel under
appointment from Truman, also
submitted his resignation. But
Truman said the committee
would meet again tomorrow and
probably would request Fulton
to remain.
RIBUNE
United Press
Dewey Starts
m yv
Gov. Thomas E. Dewey waves to Pittsburgh crowds as he rides with Got.
Edward Mnrtln of Pennsylvania on first stop of a three-day swing Into
Pcnnsyvanla, Illinois and Missouri, whose aggregate ot 80 electoral vote)
are believed by his managers to be necessary lor RcoubUcaa victory.
ALL INVITED TO
E
All residents of the Medford
area are invited to attend a
Chamber of Commerce meeting
this evening at 7:30 p. m., at
which time Senator Guy Cordon
of Roseburg will be the main
speaker. It is strcised that this
Is a non-polillcal gathering and
that discussion will be on prob
lems and projects of a general
nature and of interest to all.
Lumbermen, merchants and
all business men are especially
invited to meet with the United
States senator. The meeting will
be nt the Chamber of Commerce
building.
RATION COUNTERFEITERS
UNDER U. S. INDICTMENT
Los Angeles, Aug. 3 (U.R)
Two service station operators
and a chemist today were under
federal grand Jury indictment
on charges of conspiring to
violate counterfeit laws by print
ing 25,000,000 gallons worth of
gasoline ration coupons.
U. S. Attorney Charles II .
Carr said Joseph Mays and
Charlos Landis and Chemist
John W. Chancy evolved a pro
cess to duplicate the gas tickets
but were arrested before they
had a chance to use it.
Pistol -Packin' Preacher
Rounds Up Slot Machines
By William C. Payette
United Press Correspondent
Santa Ana, Cal., Aug. 3 (U.R)
The Rev. Wesley G. Edwards
was packing a shooting iron to
day while the district attorney's
office was deciding what to do
about the Free Methodist pas
tor's haul of 16 slot machines
from an impromptu swoop
around Orange County.
The Rev. Mr. Edwards said he
needed the gun to protect him
self from reprisals. The police
department issued him a permit
about the snme time Sheriff
Jesse L. Elliott was lifting his
special deputy badge.
The crusading pastor hadn't
Informed the sheriff's office In
advance about the raid, the
sheriff said, and therefore
wasn't to be trusted with
badge.
He undertook the raid, the
pastor said, only after he was
unable to get any cooperation
from county authorities. Out of
11 places visited last Thursday
night, the Rev. Mr. Edwards and
his helpers found eight sporting
the gambling contraptions.
They loaded the equipment in
Full Leased Wire
Shells
St. Louis Trip
(Acmt Telephoto)
T BARRAGE
E
London, Aug. 3 (U.R) A
murderous barrage of Nazi ro
bot bombs rocked London and
parts of southern England
throughout last night and the
early morning hours today,
striking seven hospitals, among
other targets, and piling up a
heavy toll of killed and wound
ed civilians.
Apparently trying to swamp
the British defenses, the Ger
mans pushed off big salvoes of
their deadly flying bombs at
frequent intervals, using an un
usually largo proportion of
'glider" robots that dropped si
lently from the skies to bury
their victims with scarcely a
moment's warning.
Official sources revealed that
the new "glider" bombs have a
larger wing span. In the new
types, the robot's engine shuts
off while still a considerable
distance from the objective and
the bomb glides in almost
soundlessly, with only the whis
tling scream of Its slipstream to
warn of Its approach.
It also was revealed that
the Germans have developed a
two-ln-ono "pickaback" plane.
nicknamed the "supcr-doodlo-bug
by RAF fighters.
to their automobiles and drove
off with It.
By the time the count had
reached 16, the automobiles
were full and the raid was
halted.
Driving up to the sheriff's
office with his load, the pastor
was told there was no place to
put them. The pastor stored the
$15,000 worth of equipment
himself.. The sheriff agreed to
take it over yesterday.
He would, the sheriff said,
call on the district attorney to
see If ho thought there was any
evidence of gambling before
issuing complaints against the
places listed in the pastor's little
book.
The Rev. Mr. Edwards said
he thought $15,000 worth of
slot machines was quite a bit of
evidence and asked State At
torney General Robert Kenny
to see what lt looked like to
him.
Kenny was in Mexico City,
but asked his chief special dep
uty. J. II. McClelland, to have
a look.
"He will find," said the pas
tor, "that they look Just like
slot machines."
Weather
Forecast: Fair and Warmer
tonight and Friday Temp,
fllghftt yesterday .. 81
l.owert thH morning S3
Precipitation past 24 tan, . 0
NO. 113.
Fall
AT
GATES OF HITLER
Germany's Fatal Hour Ap
proaching, Says Pravda;
Baltic Area Roads Cut. .
Moscow, Aug. 3 (U.R) Rus
sian artillery shelled the Ger
man soil of East Prussia today
from a range of eight miles "or
less, and the newspaper Pravda
proclaimed that the Red army
"is crashing the gates of Hitler's
Inner fortress, and Germany's
fatal hour is approaching."
Gen. Ivan D. Cherniakhov
sky's army was smashing to
ward the east Prussian border
on a broad arc at a pace whici,
if maintained, well might carry
it into the German fatherland
today.
Front line dispatches said the
tattered German units were
reeling back in confusion be
fore Cherniakovsky's drive
through strong points eight to
11 miles from east Prussia, and
some had lost contact with their
command and were struggling
to escape in the German forests.
Naiis Ease News
(The Transocean news agan
cy said reinforced Russian as
sault units were exerting them
selves to the utmost to reach,
the cast Prussia frontier. The
broadcast perhaps was designed
to ease the impact on the Ger
man home front that the Soviets
now were on Reich soil.)
(The German High Command
claimed that 3,908 Russian tanks
were knocked out in July by
Nazi land forces and another
250 by air attacks. The Soviets
lost 1,329 planes in the same
period, a Berlin communique
said.)
Soviet newspapers published,
an operational map depicting
the results of the first 40 days
of the Red army offensive. It
showed that the Russians had.
reached the Baltic west of Riga,
entered the Warsaw area, and
were battling along a 200-mile
Vistula front south of Warsaw,
In an editorial accompanying
the map, Pravda said:
"The Red army has cut all
roads from the Baltic Sea to
cast Prussia, and is within touch
of the cast Prussian border,
"It Is crashing the gates of
Hitler's Inner fortress and ready
to smash its steel locks. Today
the Germans in east Prussia
hear the menacing thunder of
our artillery. With the roar of;
our guns, fate knacks at Ger
man's door. Her fatal hour Is
approaching."
(An Atlantic radio broadcast
reported by the Stockholm
, n c w s p a per Morgontidningen
said the Russians had crossed
the border into east Prussia at
Eydtkuhnen and Lyck in an ad
vance along the Kaunas-Konlgs-berg
railway. Atlantic said the
crossings had been confirmed
by the Moscow radio.)
COMMERCIAL BUILDING
RENT CONTROL SOUGHT
Washington, Aug. 3 (U.R)
Rep. Samuel Dickstcin, D., N.
Y., today Introduced a bill to
extend the rent control power of
the Office of Price Administra
tion to commercial buildings. At
present OPA has power only
over presidential rents.
HOSPITAL EXPANSION
Washington, Aug. 3 (U.R)
The office of Sen. Sheridan
Downey, D., Cal., said today
that the navy has authorized
the expenditure of $1,495,000
for a 500-bed expansion pro
gram nt the naval hospital at
Long Beach, Cal.
BASEBALL
National
Chicago 6 8 1
Brooklyn - 2 8 1
Chipman, Derringer and Krelt
ner; Davis, Fuchs and Bragan.
American
R, H. E.
Cleveland 3 6 0
Chicago 3 6 0
Smith and Schlucttcr; Diet
rich and Trcsh.
REDS KNOCK