Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1945)
iui in mm Mm Mam Weather Forecast: Variable) clondlnesf, but Ufht to moderate raia bowers tonight and Friday. Little change in temperature. Temp. Highest yesterday ..., ... 59 Lowest this morning 39 Precipitation past 21 hrs trace Thirty-ninth Year 'Germans ADVANCING YANKS FIND PILLBOXES DESERTEDBY FOE Unmarked Snow Evidence Foe Gone for Days; Fight ing Bitter Near Monschau Paris, Feb. 1 U.R) Amer ican First army headquarters to day reported signs that the Ger mans were withdrawing from some sections of the Siegfried line, against which United States divisions were closing on a 40 mile attack front in Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Units of the First and 82nd airborne divisions entered the Slgfried pillboxes east of the Malmedy area of the frontier. and found them empty and sur rounded by unmarked snow evidence thnt they had been abandoned for some days at least. - Mar Abandon Portion (A high military source in Washington interpreted lack of German resistance on the U. S. First army front a3 a "sugges tion" that the Germans had de cided to abandon a large section of the Siegfried line.) Front dispatches, however, re ported bitter fighting on the approaches to the Siegfried line in the general area of Monschau. Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges' forces scored gains of half a mile to more than two miles today The heaviest fighting was in the area of Wahlerscheid, a cross road southwest of Monschau, where, the Germans were resist ing In heavily fortified pillbox es. Sprlngllk e temperatures around 50 degrees thawed -out the First army front ,and turned the roads into rivers of mud. Pattern Takes Towns To the right of the "First army, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's Third army forces overran four German towns and broadened their front inside Germany to four and a half miles. Capt. Ludwig Sertorius, nazi military commentator, said al- lied preparations for a major offensive on the broad arc east of Aachen were "nearing a con clusion" and "it cannot yet be seen whether the enemy Intends to include central Holland in his great new offensive." E JAPS WILL MOVE Shungking, Feb. 1 U.R) Chinese sources predicted today that the mounting American air offensive against Japan may force the Japanese to move their capital from Tokyo to a more remote part of Honshu' or even to the island of Hokkaido, to the north. They pointed out that addi tional heavy bombers will be within range of Honshu when new bases on Luzon are put in operation. Tokyo id the worst situated of any world capital for construc tion of air raid shelters, the Chinese said. Located in a low lying coastal basin, large areas of the city are subject to minor floods. The water level is only a few feet under ground. As a result, air raid shelters suffi- ciently deep to offer protection against bombings must be con structed at heavy cost of rein forced concrete and even then are subject to heavy water seep age. The wine situation forced Tokyo to build its subway sys tem barely beneath the surface. TO BERLIN By United Press The shortest roads to Berlin from advanced allied lines: Eastern front 40 miles (from Oder at Frankfurt). (Western front 296 miles (from paint southeast of Nij megen). Italy 530 miles (from point north of Ravenna). Medford United Press Abandon London Escaped Destruction By Narrow Margin New, York, Feb. 1 U.R) London , escaped "total destruc tion", only by a hair's breadth during the robot bomb attacks last summer, S. N. Behrmarf dis closed in an article about a re cent visit to the British capital which appeared in the current issue of the New Yorker mag azine. Only the invasion of the con tinent in June saved London from "total extinction," Behr man said. "Had the invasion not'taken place when lt did the enemy in stallations in France would have sent across twenty-five hundred robots a day," the article said. "This they were equipped to do., Even allowing for the ad mitted imprecision of aim, this would have meant the total ex tinction of the capital." 'CIVIL RIGHTS' BILL DUE TO I Salem, Ore.. Feb. 1 U.R) The "Civil Rights" bill, which has created a stir in the capitol this week, was due to be report ed out of committee today, prob ably without recommendation, and will be debated by the Ore gon senate tomorrow. The House decided to act to day on the senate bill appropri- ting $25,000 for the joint legis lative liquor commission inves tigating committee, which passed the senate yesterday by a 19 to 10 vote., Some members of the senate naa cnargea tne money, which would be taken from li quor revenues, would be denied the old-age pensioners of the state. Sen. Frederick S. Lamport of Salem said - the money would "just go down the rathole." He predicted prohibition would come again "within four years' if "the liquor commission is not removed from political suspi cion." Proponents of the bill asked its passage to clear the name of the liquor commission, which has been charged with illegality in the purchase in 1943 of two distilleries with the Washington State Liquor Board. Jap Ambassador Departs Berlin New York, Feb. lOJ.PJAn NBC -report from. Switzerland today said that the Japanese ambassador to Germany and the staff of the Japanese em bassy have left Berlin for an unknown destination, presum ably to the new seat of the Nazi government. The report said the whole Berlin diplomatic corps was leaving the capital. Bataan Heroes Fight Under Regimental Banner 3 Years With American Forces on Lu zon, Jan. 31 (U.R) Maj. Gen. Oscar W. Griswold, with tears in his eyes, today accepted from a small group of bedraggled Amer ican guerilla survivors of Ba taan the regimental flag, of the gallant 26th cavalry. This American flag, piped In gold, had never touched ground in three years of Japanese occu pation. Bearer Killed Its first bearer was killed as he rode Into battle. Later the flag was sewed inside a pillow provided by a Filipino house wife and flown at the head of a guerilla- band of 3,000 hill dwelling Negritos, commanded by Lt. Hemy Clay Conner, Jr., East Orange, N. J. Six barefoot Americans bearded, tired but happy marched up th Luzon plain with Full Leased Will MEDFORD, OREGON, THURSDAY, FEBRlIt Siegfried SENATE VOTES TO George Bill Passes 74 to 12; Ultimate Confirmation of Wallace Seen Assured. Washington, Feb. 1 U.R) With administration forces largely cooperating, the senate today passed by 74 to 12 the George bill to remove the multi- billion federal lending agencies from jurisdiction of the Secre tary of Commerce. President Roosevelt sent word to the senate that he would sign the bill after the House also passes it. Wallace Assured ' The president's promise, and the administration votes in go ing along with the George bill, were designated to assure ulti mate confirmation of former Vice President Henry A. Wal lace for the commerce post although with far less power than Jesse H. Jones possessed Following passage of the George bill, the senate by voice vote adopted a motion to defer consideration of Wallace's nom ination until March 1. This delay also was1 In line with the administration strategy; They believed it would clinch ultimate approval of Wallace for the cabinet 1ob, because it leaves ample time for final congression al nassage of the George bill and Mr. Roosevelt's actual signature of it before the nomination will come up. . The administration victories, however, were won only after the narrowest squeak at the out set of the day's proceedings. The anti-Wallace forces want ed to consider his nomination first and they came within one vote of winning adoption of a motion to do just that. The count on this motion was a 42 to 42 tie, and under senate rules a motion is defeated on a tie. When he saw that the motion was lost, Sen. Robert A. Taft, R O., for strictly parliamentary reasons switched his vote so that as finally-recorded it was 43 to 41 against consideration of the Wallace nomination. CIVILIAN FREIGHT UNDER EMBARGO OF FOUR DAYS - Washington, Feb. 1 (U.R) The office of defense transporta tlon today ordered railroads to place civilian freight in eight states and the District of Colum bia under another four-day em bargo beginning Saturday, . be cause of - continuing severe weather conditions. NOVELIST ILL Hollywood, Feb. 1 (U.R) Novelist Vicki Baum was con fined to her home today under doctor's care after suffering a relapse from an attack of influ enza and fatigue. the flag high on a bamboo pole, sl. ging as they walked back into the American lines. 2.000 March Twenty-two Negritos marched behind them, and Filipinos join ed the procession until it num bered 2,000 and was strung out along the main highway. Americans in the lead sang "California, Here I Come," re ported United Press War Corre spondent H. D. Quigg, who wit nessed the meeting. It was ts Lt. Connor said: "Take an ordinary man back in the states, who has . never been overseas. He doesn't feet a thing, except maybe there's not enough butter. He doesn't know how much faith means. "Those of us out here who didn't have faith these last three years in America, who didn't have something to hold to like this flag, just went to pieces. Sections WORK OR ELSE PASSAGE SEEN BY END OF DAY Two Substitute Proposals Voted Down; Way Seen Smoothed for Legislation Washington, Feb, 1 (UPj The house today eliminated two major obstacles to passage of the May work-or-else bill, expected before nightfall, by voting down two substitute proposals. The defeated substitutes were: 1. By Reps. Forest Harness, (R., Ind.) and Frank A. Barrett, (R., Wyo.), to keep manpower controls on a voluntary basis and direct the war manpower commission to investigate labor hoarding and waste. 2. By Rep. Jerry Voorhis, CD.. Calif.) to give legislative back ing to WMC directives, which the sponsor said would keep the system under the program de veloped voluntarily by labor, management and government. The Harness-Barrett proposal lost by only 187 to 177, but the Voorhis amendment was over whelmed 205 to 71. ,The Harness-Barrett measure would have merely asked de ferred men 18 to 45 in non-essential jobs to agree in writing to accept war work. Br United Press Key rail yards in Buffalo and Syracuse were gripped today by a new onslaught of winter that again threatened to snarl trans portation. Gale winds piled snow across New York state's Genessee and Mohawk valleys, hampering freight switching. Railroad spokesmen feared the consequences of worsening weather, but said freight move ments were encouraging under existing circumstances. They said a large dent had been made in stalled rolling stock but they admitted the possibility of a sec ond embargo on civilian com modities if winter takes another bad turn. All government agencies re sponsible for food and fuel sup plies said the fuel crisis had been met generally, but that a few spot shortages continued. , LOSS OF 3 Washington, Feb. 1 (U.R) The navy today announced the loss of the fast destroyer-mine sweepers Hovey and Palmer and a landing ship as a result of Jap anese action in the Philippine area. These losses raised to 258 the total of U. S. naval vessels lost from all causes in this war. The Palmer and Hovey, built as destroyers in the last war, were converted into minesweep ers In 1940. Each carried a nor mal complement of . about 120 men. The lost landing ship, the LST 759, normally carried about 50 men. There was no disclosure of the extent of casualties but the skip pers of all three vessels were saved. THE VOICE TO DRAFT Hollywood, Feb. 1 (U.R) Frank "Th-j Voice" Sinatra, Idol of the bobby-sox set, leaves to day by train for New York to appear before his draft board for possible reclassification. The crooner has been classified 4-F because of a punctured eardrum. X, 1945 510 Allied Prisoners Rescued From Luzon Japanese Camp In Daring Foray By Yankees By Frank Hewlett United Press War Correspondent Allied Headquatrers, Luzon, Feb. 1 iflJ.R) A picket force of American commandos has slip ped behind the Japanese lines and brought back to safety 510 allied war prisoners, many of them men of Bataan and Cor regidor, Gen. Douglas MacAr thur revealed today. The men were brought back to freedom by a daring foray last night in which 121 members lot the 6th ranger battalion and zoo trained guerillas penetraiea 25 miles inside the Jap lines to storm the prisoner of war camp at Cabanatuan, 70 miles north of Manila in Nueva Ecija pro vince. "No incident of the campaign has given me such personal satisfaction," said MacArthur. 27 Americans Lost ' The rescue attack was accom plished with such precision that only 27 Americans were lost and three wounded while the Jap garrison was annihilated. In the 'fight at the camp and in a run- YANKS WITHIN 20 OF Br 'United Press American troops swept to within 20 miles of Manila today and B-29 Superfortresses lashed again at the enemy from Singa pore to the Japanese homeland. - The American 6th army broke across the Pampanga river, last defense barrier before Manila, and it appeared the U. S. forces would be in the Philippines capi tal within days. The American 8th army also continued its drive inland, swept through the Olongapo naval base at the head of Subic bay and oc cupied Grande island at its en trance. Elements of the U. S 7th fleet entered the bay, barely 30 miles from the mouth of Manila bay, and already were rebuilding the base. Tokyo said the American na val force in Subic bay comprised more than 10 battleships, cruis ers, destroyers and several other unidentified ships. COFFEE ADDICTS ARE REASSURED Washington, Feb. 1 (U.R) Government food officials, alarmed at an increase in "scare" buying of. coffee, de clared emphatically today that "coffee rationing is not in sight." The office of price administra tion said buying in excess of normal needs had increased dur ing the past week due to ru mors that coffee would be re turned to the ration list. It as sured the public that no pre. paratlons for rationing are be ing made. More Diphtheria And Scarlet Fever In Week's Report Additional cases of both diph theria and scarlet fever continue to be reported In the county. with three of diphtheria and six Leases of the fever listed with the county neaun department zor the week ending January 26 All three diphtheria cases and two of the scarlet fever cases are in Medford while the four remaining fever cases were re ported from Oak Grove, Jack sonville, Applegate and Pros pect. Other communicable di seases listed were one, case ol measles, Oak Grove; one case of pneumonia, Central Point; one case of chicken pox in weaioro and one in Central Point; three cases of recurrent malaria, Camp White and three cases of trench mouth, Camp White. Tribune United Pitts FuU FIVE OREGONIANS A United Press list of pris oners rescued from Japanese prisoners of war camps on Luson, Philippine Islands, an nounced today contains the name of five Oregon men. , Tiiey were Sgt. Charles C. ' McKewen, Portland) Capt. Dentan J. Reese, Milwaukee; Capt. Robert E. Slyn, Eu genet Capt. Floyd I. Floyd,. Enterprise, and Pvt. John Braunberger, Portland. (The full list as received by United Press wire has been posted In the Mall Tribune window.) nlng escape battle with Japanese columns supported by tanks, the Americans killed 523 Japs and knocked out 12 tanks. (A CBS broadcast from Luzon reported the American comman dos killed 73 Japs guarding the camp and 150 Jap soldiers In a fierce five-minute attack. A spec ial squad broke the main gate, hacked away the barbed wire and shouted: "You're free, Yanks, head for the main gate where the guides will pick you up." One prisoner died of a heart attack in the excitement as he reached the gate. Within 27 minutes tne expedition was heading back, the weak and sick being carried to oxcarts three miles away). : Almost all the rescued prls- pners were Americans but there was a sprinkling of British, Dutch and others. In Fair Condition 'The condition of the rescued men is fair," MacArthur said. "they are receiving every care and attention, and their rehabili tation will be rapid." The prisoners brought with them the first eyewitness ac counts of the last days on Cor- regidor before the fortress fin ally surrendered at 10 a. m. May 6, 1942. They revealed that Geh. Jona than N. Wainwright forced the Japanese to pay a frightful price before going down before the Japanese tide. The Japanese lost almost 5,000 men in their landing on the rock walls of the island fortress. The story was told by Lt. Col John K. Borneman, Niagara nails, N. Y., one of three chap lains rescued at the camp. ine other two chaplains were Lt. col. Alfred Oliver. Wash mgton, D. C, a Methodist, and Capt. John J. Dugan, Boston, a watnouc. Ack-Ack Knocked Out Borneman, a Presbyterian and cnapiain of the 60th coast artll. lery, said that most of the anti aircraft batteries on Corregidor naa been knocked out by Jap anese artillery firing from Ba taan on the night of May 5-6 That was the night the d rect Japanese assault on the fortress was launched. The Japanese, attacking with a force of about 10,000 men, lost Parafrags Make One Less Bomber ' (Acmt Tettphoto) One less bomber will fly with the Jap Air Force as para fragmentation bombs are strewn screes it in sweep over Aparrl airdrome in northern Luzon by B-26's of tha Fifth Air Force. The new flghter-reconnnlMance plane will be riddled by bomb fraunenti and will need, repairs before taltlng to the air sgala Sth AAF photo. Leased Wire NO. 265. almost 5,000 men in the assault but succeeded in putting 5,000 ashore. They obtained a foothold on the eastern end of the island but those who were not killed were sealed off. "The Invasion was repelled," Borneman said, "but so many of our guns were knocked out that General Wainwright decid ed after a four-hour fight that it was useless to continue re sistance. "General Wainwright was grand throughout, but he wouldn't let any more personnel die. We later learned the Japs had 60 batteries of guns and 240 howitzers on Bataan which had pounded us for over month. At 10 a. m. over the Voice of Freedom radio station, we sent our surrender to the Japs'." Had Secret Radio During the long months of captivity the morale of the American prisoners was kept up by listening to a radio which was built and operated secretly by Lt. William B. Gibson who had been a radio concern repre sentative In Manila when the Japanese attack came. He went to Corregidor as a civilian tech nician to aid in the operation of the Voice of Freedom transmit ter. On the morning of Corregl dor's surrender he was commis sioned a second lieutenant. , Over this radio the Americans were able to follow the progress of the war. They heard of the steady progress of MacArthur's drive northward; of the landing on Leyte and finally of the land ing on Luzon.. They eagerly checked the progress of the Lu zon drive but their rescue came as a surprise. According to their calculations they had not expect- eu their deliverers for several days more. "For many months," Borne man said, "the Japs wouldn't let us bury our own dead but we could have services inside the camp. The Japs often put 20 prisoners in a common grave, dropping them in like cord wood." 96 DIE, 63 HURT IN . MEXICAN RAIL CRASH Mexico City, Feb. 1 (U.R). The National Railways announc ed 96 persons were killed and 63 Injured today when a freight train collided with a special pas senger train crowded with Mex icans making the annual pilgrim age to the Shrine of San Juan de Los Lagos In the state of Jalisco. MORE VENEREAL DISEASE Los Angeles. Feb. 1 (U.R) Declaring the venereal disease rate for troops in continental United States has risen to 36 per 1,000 men, Lt. Col. Thomas H. Sterberg, army services for ces venereal disease control offi cer, has announced that all in fected servicemen will be treat ed before discharge. :4 A 1 t -vi' It' lsi.)tiW3rft3uav " J POWERFUL FORCE OF FINAL BARRIER i Invaders Believed Only Llttla More Than 30 Miles from Berlin Near Kustrin. London, Feb. 1 (U.R) Rus- slan forces drove to the Oder river less than 40 miles front Berlin today, and 175 miles to the east captured 'the long- encircled Polish city of Torun, Killing or capturing the Ger man garrison by-passed In tha lightning sweep westward. Russian and German reports' agreed that powerful Soviet forces were massing on the east bank of the Oder in evident ' preparation for storming tha last natural defense line) athwart the approaches of Ber lin. Torun Taken The fall of Torun. Polish fortress city on the lower Vis tula 80 miles northwest of Pon nan and 25 miles southeast of Bydoszcz, was announced in a special order of the day by Mar. shal Stalin, broadcast from Moscow. . . The German High Command admitted that Marshal Gregory n. znuKov's forces had swept to the east bank of the Oder northwest of Kustrin, 42 miles east of Berlin. From Kustrjn the river angles northwestward to its right-angle elbow an evert 30 miles from the capital. Both Moscow and Berlin broadcasts reported that tha Soviet vanguard had crashed to the gates of Kustrin. at tha confluence of the Oder and Warthe rlvers where the trunk line from Danzig crosses tha Oder and runs' straight to Ber lin. , Near Frankfurt Moscow dispatches also said the Russians were believed to have reached the east bank of the Oder opposite Frankfurt, 30 miles east and -slightly-south of Berlin. -. . A German communique re porting that Zhukov's forces "have advanced as far as tha Oder northwest of Kustrin" said fresh German reserves had been thrown into battle in that fee tor, indicating the defenders of Berlin might make their su preme effort at the Oder, tha city's last outlying defense line. The angle of the river north westward from Kustrin In rela tion to the distance from Berlin made it uncertain exactly how near the Russians were to tha richest single prize of the war in Europe, but lt appeared to be less than 40 miles and possi bly only a little more than 30. Air Force Aids The Nazi command said re serves also had been ecged against Soviet tank spearheads that had advanced as far as the Sternberg-Zielenzig area 60 to 70 miles east-southeast of Ber lin. Moscow dispatches said scores of Soviet air squadrons were de fying snowstorms and generally bad weather to hammer the en emy day and night on the east eron front. COAST ACADEMY AIM Washington, Feb. 1 (U.R) Rep. Hugh De Lacy, D., Wash., member of the House Naval Af fairs committee, said today he was preparing a bill calling for postwar establishment of a sec ond naval academy to be situ ated In the Puget Sound area of Washington. for Hirohito i nisi HH
