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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 25, 1945)
MEDFORDfJltli Weather Forecast: Bonday, cloudy with rain warmer, and windy. Tomp. Highest yesterday 1 Lowest this morning , , 28 Dm Tha Mall Tribute Want Ad Way Quick RmuIU At Small Cost Tribune O llted Prase full Leased Wtra United Pr FuU Leased Wit Fortieth Year MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 1945 NO. 2. Allied Armies Cross Rhine; Drive Wedge Five Miles Into Ruhr Paris, March 24 (U.R) Four allied armies vaulted the Rhine today In a climatic win-the-war offensive ot gigantic proportions and within 24 hours advanced eight miles across the north Ger man plain and drove a wedge 12 miles wide and five miles deep into the vital Ruhr Industrial basin. - Massive fleets of naval, assault boats carried the troops and tanks. Field Marshal Sir B. L. Montgomery's three armies, in cluding the American 9th, crossed the Rhine while 3,000 troop car riers and gliders dropped three divisions some 40,000 men of the 1st allied airborne army behind the German lines. GREATEST OFFENSIVE Fleets of allied planes darkened the sky Joining massed artil lery In blasting the east bank defenses for miles beyond the river. It was the greatest offensive yet launched against the Germans from the west, designed to end the war in the quickest possible time. The assault crashed into Germany's Inner fortress on a wind ing 35-mile stretch of the Rhine from Rees through Wesel south to Duisburg In the heart of the Ruhr, Germany's last major war production area. The British 2nd and Canadian 1st armies established three or more bridgeheads between Rees and Wesel, Field dispatches said these were quickly expanded into a 13-mile front with -armored spearheads as much as eight miles east of the Rhine and pointed for Berlin, 280 miles away across Ideal tank country. NINTH ROARS AHEAD The drive into the Ruhr by Lt. Gen. William H. Simpson's American 9th army roared ahead against light resistance and cut the Wesel-Duisburg road by reaching the outskirts of Dinslaken. only four miles north of the major industrial city of Duisburg. Ninth army doughboys also captured Spellen, three miles south of Wesel on the south side of the Llppe river, and overran Voerde, Mollem, Stapp and Walsun as they rapidly enveloped the Ruhr arsenal. PARATROOPS SCORE Allied supreme headquarters announced that the airborne forces had linked up with ground troops in a solid junction within six hours after they dropped,, but the exact points of contact was not immediately disclosed. Front reports said some airborne troops had landed due north of Wesel and Joined forces with British troops fighting to con solidate a series of bridgeheads between Rees and Wesel. It was believed that other paratroops landed in the American one continuous bridgehead. ' End of War Drive Washington, March 24 (U.R) Military observers tonight cited incoming reports vi uie biubmi ing allied drive beyond the Rhine and said "This is it." . They hope that the allied armies In the ' west ' arei". .com mitted now in the last great bat tle of the European war. That is what this was planned to be Time and- the fortunes of war will determine whether General of the Army Dwight D Eisen hower will have to pull up once" more, reform for attack and throw still another Sunday punch. . No V-day" date is mentioned here. But the war department has its own estimate of the day beyond which organized German resistance shall cease. Days, weeks and months probably must elapse before they will have verification or repudiation of their estimate. If this thrust fails to roll on . to Berlin there is one .thing of absolute certainty Eisenhower can and will reform his armies, send them forward and beat the ears off the enemy. He has faltered, paused and stopped twice since D-day, June 6 when the allied armies came ashore in Normandy. The first time was when the thrust be yond Paris was stalled. Lt. Gen George S. Patton, Jr., simply ran out of gas. Since then prep arations of the greatset magni tude have been made. Cleaning up the west bank of the Rhine was merely incidental to what Is happening now. There have been disappoint ments and the inevitable mis calculations In these mass under takings. The second time we were stalled was in December. Then the Germans broke through to create the Ardennes bulge But some of the luck and some of the breaks were with the al lies, as will be more widely known when the whole story can be told. Naili Tipped Off Watch Field Marshal Sir Ber nard L Montgomery's drive in the north. His smoke-screened preparations tipped the Germans some weeks ago that they would be hit hard by Monty. But they didn't know when. The man in the beret is driving now for the Westphalian plain, the broad highway to Berlin. It is an area where tanks and other armored vehicles can roam, prow', en circle and kill. On that flat land they need not bother with roads. Siafe-r Kennv Firm For Congress Quiz Minneapolis, Minn., March 24 fiioi cictoi- Elizabeth Ken ny's dispute with the American Medical Association over u' ment of muscular paralysis con tinued tonight. She remained adamant In her threat made earlier this ween (hat thn tv ill leave the United States unless her theories and methods receive a Congressional airing. TO BE 'PULVERIZED' Washington, March 24 U.R) Robert Murphy, political adviser on German affairs to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned the German people tonight that they must choose now between "unconditional surrender and pulverization." He also revealed plans for re educating the German people, under allied supervision, to make Germany a ' peace-loving nation. The plans contemplate elimination of all nazi teachers, teachings and text books and the closing of all schools in Germany until the necessary adjustments of faculties and text books have been effected. - Murphy, who will return to Eisenhower's headquarters next week, spoke on the state depart ment's weekly radio program on "What About Enemy Countries?" Also participating in the forum were Assistant Secretaries of State James C. Dunn and Archi bald MacLeish. SACRIFICE PAYS Indianapolis, Ind March 24 (U.R) Some 4,860,000 pairs of nylon stockings which Amer ican women sacrificed towed hordes of gliders across the Rhine river today. First Troop Carrier Command Headquarters here estimated that much nylon material was used in the glider tow ropes which pulled 3.000 , airborne-troop-laden gliders nearer Berlin and nearer the end of the Euro pean war. QUOTA EXCEEDED Jackson county has exceeded its Red Cross 1945 war fund quota by 120 per cent according to an announcement yesterday by B. H. Harder, Medford, coun ty drive chairman. Mr. Harder stated that canvasses are incom plete in a few sections here and in outlaying districts but that the solicitation is nearly com pleted. The drive ends April 1. SHIP NEED TOLD New York. March 24 (U.R) The United States should main tain an adequate postwar mer chant marine fleet to provide the means whereby American pro ducers can seek out a $10,000. 000,000 foreign market, Almon E. Roth, of the National Fed eration of American Shipping, Inc., asserted today DEVASTATE RUHR IN RECORD RAID Greatest Armada of Ail Time Pounds Reich In Final Round Against Hun . ' London, March 24 (U.R) The allies sent an estimated 14,000 warplanes the greatest air ar mada In history against Ger many today, devastating the Ruhr, launching a record air borne landing and blasting Ber lin in the first raid on the reich capita by Italy-based planes. "This is the opening of the final round," Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder told the fliers in their final briefing for the greatest day of "air opera tions in five and one-half years of war. , i Heavy bgmbers, medium bomb ers, fighters, gliders, troop car riers and tactical planes filled the skies over the reich, shooting down at least 68 German planes and plastering the Ruhr with bombs in support of the big push across the Rhine. American and British planes threw an impenetrable air um brella over the ground armies blasted German troop concentra tions, strongpoints, armor, gun positions, airfields, railroads and highways. They also bombed two big fuel refineries. ; Most spectacular was the gi gantic airborne operation in the Wesel area, in which between 5,000 and 6.000 planes' were en gaged, the greatset air effort in history. A 100-mile column of gliders and troop carriers for two hours poured thousands of troops behind enemy lines while protecting fighters swarmed on all sides of the great formation. Shortly after the landing some 240 Liberators of the U. S. 8th airforce came over the airborne bridgehead only a few hundred feet above the ground, dropping 1,800 tons of food, medicine and fighting equipment to the troops. Great squadrons of R. A. F Lancasters blotted out German defense positions ahead of the other ground troops which cross ed the Rhine in assault boats They hit troop concentrations, armored units, fortifications and machine gun nests "with great accuracy." . Virtually every British-based and tactical plane at the allies' disposal was in action over the Rhine when tne 15th airforce in Italy sent its largest escorted heavy bomber fleet of the war on the 1,200-mile roundtrip to Berlin. EARLY POSTPONES PLANS TO RESIGN WHITE HOUSE JOB uroehlnatnn. March 24 (U.R) Stephen T. Early has agreed to postpone his resignation as :. n orffairifnt Roosevelt un til the chief executive finds someone to replace the late Maj Gen. Edwin M. Watson in his secretariat, the White House re vealed tonight. It Issued a statement by Mr Roosevelt saying Early had niannui tr, resign, to enter nrl vate business, when he returned from Europe where he has oeen advising the army on Improve ment of its public relations set up. Early returned to Washing ton this week. Mr. Roosevelt said Jonathan Dnnlpl ion of Joseohus Daniels publisher of the Raleigh News and Observer, will replace Early n hi ecretarv in charge of press relations. Daniels, now an administrative assistant to the president, has been filling Ear ly's post during his absence. Karlv will nerve a secretary in charge of appointments, the nnst held bv Watson, until a permanent replacement Is. nam ed, the president sad. Congress Agrees On Work-Or-Fight Act Washington, March 24 (U.R) Senate and House conferees agreed today on a compromise work or Jail manpower bill which would provide penalties for both employers and employes who wilfully violate It. The measure would give to War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes power to freeze work ers in essential industries. tcHU late hiring of workers, and es tablish limitations on the num bers of workers employers may Fighter Plane With Bat Wings, (Acm TtUphoto) Here's the first view of the Northrup Aircraft's XP-56,a fighter plans with batUke wings and no tail. Twin, three-bladed, counter-routing pusher propellers are located where the tail is on more conventional type air planes. The weird looking craft will be used as a basis for designs of future military and peacetime ships. YANKEES EUTED F Nazi Resistance Feeble and Troops Elated As End of War Looms Ittr Inn fitrlnHAV United Press War Correspondent With American Forces on the Rhine, March 24 U.R) We are on the threshold of the war's end tonight. There Is a spirit of ela tion along the front. Tonight It tooks like the mad- nn ror-a fni RerUn Is nn nnt only between the various armies on the western front, but also be tween the eastern and western' allies as a whole. The spirit Is something hard to believe. I saw guys returning frnm the front . cold, shivering and drenched. They were tired and uncomlortaDie. cut iney were happy. They are in on tne Irlll iwiof nnrl they're tiot going to sleep until the race is fin ished. Yesterday I listened to Gen. Omar N. Bradley seriously warning , against over-optimism. Ha meant it" Ovpf nnfimlsm has been too much of a good thing. But In the past few days I ve flown over the 1st army Rhine hrlHmhinrl nnrl seen big cities gutted, along with little farm villages. , Thera ! nn Siegfried line, no mountain-like pillboxes such as those at Normanay, to noia us back. The only fortified area itrhara thai Hermans could hODe to make a fanatical stand is the heavily-congested Ruhr. All nl O the front the allies now seem able to tear apart and grind their way tnrougn mc nazi's defenses. They seem to be going where they please and there's no question where that is The Germans, hoping to stop this avalanche, are frantically pulling In everything possible. FOr weeks their commanders had been resorting to "piracy" snatching stray troops anywhere they could find them and Im pressing them into service. They have sent convalescents to the front. They have hurled training companies, raw and un prepared, Into the battle in a desperate hope of plugging the dykes But it's no use. Each day our army takes prisoners num bering into the thousands. Each day they overrun numbers of towns and vital miles of the reich. .. Each day defenses which could have been formidable and bloody have been taken with ease. SCOTCPETSOF With the British 2nd Army. March 24 flJ.R) Battle-hardened Scotsmen of the 81st High land division who started their march along the road to victory at El Alamein led the British 2nd army crossing of the Rhine. The men who had battled across two continents since the summer of 1942 flung lifebelts around their waists, climed into amphibious vehicles and crossed the moonlit Rhine at 9 p. m. That r.prmanl suoDOSed to be standing watch on the Rhine must have been asleep lor me Scotties met practically no op nnaltlnn. Military men said the mass crossing by the three armies un der his command was the most kriitinnt nnfratlnn vet turned In by Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. The artillery barrage which preceded it was hit biggest yet. AFRICA FIND NO WATCH ON RHINE TOWARDS VIENNA ON 62 M. FRONT London, March 24 (U.R) The red army-has swept 43 miles across western ' Hungary and is moving toward Vienna on a 62 mile front in a new Juggernaut offensive coinciding with the al lied grand-scale drive into Ger many from the west, Marshal Josef Stalin revealed tonight. Marshal Feodor I. Tolbukhin s 3rd Ukrainian army smashed the formidable Lake Balaton line southwest of Budapest and seiz ed the big bastions of Mor, Vesz prem and Szekesfehervar as well as 350 other towns In a massive surge against Germany's south east ramparts. In a second order of the day Stalin announced the fall of the Silesian citadels and road cen ters of Neisse and Leobschuetz, 43 and 68 miles southeast ol Breslau. Both were key bases in the defense of the passes into the Bohemian plain. Other soviet columns were re ported by Berlin to be attacking from all sides in a roaring bat tle for Oder bridgeheads around Kuestrin on the road to Berlin The Baltic, port of Stettin rocked under a ceaseless ' pre-assaull bombardment; Danzig and Gdy nia tottered. The Russians were welding their might into a su preme knockout drive from the east just as their allies were doing in the west. . GOES TO SENATE Washington, March 24 (U.R) The House today passed Hnd sent to the Senate an $833,801, 000 appropriation bill for agri culture department operations In the fiscal year 1946 which starts July 1. Approval by a vote of 256 to 16 came late in the day after administration forces overcame several attempts to amend the bill. A motion by Rep. John Ta ber, R., N. Y., to send the entire measure back to committee was defeated 159 to 58. Democrats saved a $50,000,- 000 school lunch program item in the closest vote of the day, 89 to 88. Taber had moved to strike the lunch fund from the bill. He also was defeated, 87-67, In an attempt to knock out $90,000,000 for the Farm Security Adminis tration. . No attempt was made to change the $300,000,000 fund for payments to farmers under the 1S46 crop program. The com mittee recommended that amount, although the Budget Bureau originally asked only $200,000,000. CLOSESTRESGUE TO NIPPON TOLD Aboard Adm. Mitscher'g Flag ship off Japan, March 19 (Via Navy Radio (U.R) Snatched from under the muzzles of Jap anese shore batteries by the dar ing pilot of a Kingfisher sea plane, 1st Lt. Ralph O. Glendin ning, Avinel, N. J., today told of watching the bomb-blasted Mi yazakl airfield buildings burn as he bobbed along in a life-raft ten miles off southern Kyushu. The rescue, the closest yet to the shores of the Japanese home land, was made by Lt. William A. Ethridge, Kansas City, Mo His landing on the rough waters within sight of Jap soil was de scribed by Glendinning, a 21-year-old marine pilot, as "the moit beautiful I ever saw." No Toil BLACK MARKETS 10 BUREAUS SAY President Expected To Clari fy Food Situation Tues . day At Conference Washington, March 24 (U.R) The future looked dark tonight for the black market in meat. Both the Treasury and the Office of Price Administration are out to kill it. With the Treasury and OPA at war on the black market. Congress undertook to find out Just why some phases of food production, especially beef, have failed to keep up with demand It apoeared unlikely, however that these various activities could produce much result In the form of more food in the ice box for months to come. In the meantime, some clari fication of a confused situation should be forthcoming on Tues day, when President Roosevelt Is expected to discuss the food shortage in detail at his news conference. And today, having adjusted themselves to -the Idea of reduc ing their consumption of red meat proteins, consumers were told to expect also a shortage of vegetable protein. Congress showed interest this week in assertions by meat pack ers that there actually Is no shortage of beef cattle. Cattle aren't being slaughtered, pack ers told the Senate Banking Committee, because under OPA nrices there is no profit in them For many, they said, it is "go broke or go black." The Treasury has disclosed what lt is trying to do to black market profiteers Including Il legal dealers In meat what it did to Al Capone. By watching them where they do their big gest spending. In the country's lusher vacation resorts, Treasury agents hoped to nail black mar ket operators with income tax evasion indictments. MICHIGAN STATE L Lansing, Mich., March 24 - (U.R) Michigan's one-man grand Jury initiated new legislative graft conspiracy charges tonight against two former state sena tors who previously have been convicted, alleging they accepted bribes to Influence action on 1941 Horse Racing Bill. The indictment announced by Grand Juror Judge Leland w Carr named ex-Senators Jerry T Logie, R., Bay City, and Charles C. Diggs, D., Detroit. Both are free on bond pending appeal on three-to-five year sentences Im posed after they were found guilty of bribery In a 1939 fi nance company measure. Special Prosecutor Kim Slgler said Logie and Diggs would be arraigned early next week. It was the ninth major indict ment three of them involving race track legislation returned by the Carr-Sigler grand jury since It started its unrelenting drive in 1943 to eradicate graft corruption from the capltol Three .raft cases have gone to trial, and a fourth opens April 16. 8IAPAN HERO CALLED San Diego, March 24 (U.R) Col. Evans Carlson, organizer and leader of the famed Carl sons' Marine Raiders who gained .(lory O'i Salpan, has been re called to active duty, it was re ported today. His exact assign ment was not Immediately re vealed AR BULLETINS 'Calcutta. March 24- (U.R) -British troops advanced to within four miles ol the Jap anas stronghold of Kyaukie In central Burma, lt was an nounced today, as other em pire forces to the southwest hurled back a powerful Jap anese attack on their outposts at Meiktlla. Rome, Mar eh 24 (U.R) German bombardments and sharp patrol clashes have brok en the lull along the 8th U. S. army front, lt was reported today, as allied warplanes for the second straight day flew about 2,600 sorties and blasted enemy communications In north Italy. Chungking, March 24 (U.R) Onruhlng Japanese armor ed columns, gaining mora than 20 miles in 24 hours, have pressed to Fancheng, only 31 miles from Laohokow, Amer ican airbase and military head quarters In northern Hupeh province, a Chinese communi que said today. OREGON DEFEATS UTAH 69-66 TO THIRD SPOT Kansas City, Mo., March 24 (U.R) Oregon's fighting young sters won third place in the N. C. A. A. western basketball finals tonight, defeating the Rocky Mountain entry and 1944 champion, Utah, 69-66. The Webfoots finished in third place in the western tourney be cause they didn't know how to give up. Behind 38-30 at the half, they returned to the floor to pull into a 42-all tie In less than three minutes. Then, with Dick Wilkins lead ing the way, but with all mem bers of the starting quintet cut ting a piece of the offensive. Oregon matched baskets with Utah's Satterfield, Doron and Howard'.-until - the 16-minute mark when they went Into the lead to stay. . . , The score was tied an even dozen times along the way. Dor ton was high man with 24 points. Wilkins got 21 to lead Oregon. New York, March 24 (U.R) A great New York university basketball team scored six points with a half minute remaining in an overtime period to defeat Ohio State 70-65 In the NCAA eastern championships at Madi son Square Garden tonight. Behind by 10 points with two minutes remaining of regular play, the Violets came roaring back to tie the score 62-62 with only a second remaining. OKLAHOMA WINS Kansas City, Mo., March 24 (U.R) Working brilliantly around Man Mountain Bob Kurkiand the Oklahoma Aggies brushed olf Arkansas tonight to win the NCAA western basketball cham nionship. The final score was 68-41, Arkansas defeated Oregon 79 to 76 Friday night. Washington, March 24 (U.R) The way was cleared today for house debate Monday on a pro posal to investigate conditions In veterans hospitals. The house rules committee ap proved a resolution by Rep. John E. Rankin (D., Miss.) which would authorize such an lnvestl gation by the veterans commit tee. There have been charge), from a variety of sources that care In veterans hospitals Is bad Rep. Philip J. Philbln (D Mass.) said he would attempt to broaden the scope of the lnvestl gation. He said he would ask for creation of a special 11 man committee to Investigate all phases of servicemen's rehablli tation, including conditions In army and navy hospitals. PORTLAND MAN FREED San Francisco, March 24-(U.R) The army announced tonight that among enlisted men and of ficers, liberated by American forces from Japanese prison camps In the Philippines, who have departed for their homes from Letterman General hospital was: Cpl. Peter Connacher, Port land. FUND USE WARNING Sacramento, March 24 (U.R) Gov. Earl Warren today warned against appropriation of state funds for construction of local public works. HOUSE PROBE OF HOSPITALS NEAR T CITY, GUARDIAN Nagoya Target of Super- forts Battleships Rake Ryukyu Group (A Japanese Imperial com munique broadcast by Tokyo radio admitted damage to the city and that flames were not controlled for nearly five hours. (The communique, heard by United Press in San Francisco, said that "about 130 B-29s raid ed the Nagoya district for about one hour and a half from mid night on March 25. The city area was Indiscriminately bombed With exnloslvea nnrl lr,MMJI - ' M..M l.lkL.IUl- aries, causing fires and damage "but the fires were completely extinguished by 4:50 a. m,") Guam, Sunday, March 25 ,R) A fleet . ... .. - w. a icaa, PerfortrefiReH flHapir 4t,. - ' ..v.u HJW V41V subishl aircraft Industry at Na- a . wnn nunareds of tons of demolition bombs early today in airiKe designed to cripple Japan's airplane engine produc tion. A eommiinlnna I.....J -i ik. M w .aaucu Wfc IIIV Zlst bomber command headquar- Hnnouncea mat Marianas based B-2!)' had r.,.im.J series of punishing raids against me principal centers of war making fnolmlea In h. ... .its wapca- ese homeland. The Superfortresses, carrying uuge out undisclosed tonnage "general nnmn.aH UMk. of f .. UUIIIU., droned over blacked-out Nagoya snoriiy aner midnight at 5,000 ieei aniiuae. The five nraolam mM against major Japanese cities lOKyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Koba Were ineenrllnrv.hnmh nH.nlr- designed to burn out target areas, It ' Was the seennil attM against Nagoya the Far East'a greatest aircrait center and Jap an!s third largest city within a week. And it was the fifth time) in the war. that the Mitsubishi plant has been the target for the Superforts, Guam, Sunday, March 28 (U.R) Fast battleships and car rier aircraft of the U. S. Pacific fleet raked four Islands of tha Ryukyu chain south of Japan with tons of bombs and sheila Friday, in a follow-up to tha fifth fleet's assault on Japan pro per earlier in the week, lt was announced today. The big guns of battleship blasted coastal objectives on Okinawa, , Japan's guardian is land in the Ryukuyus, and other nearby Islands while fast navy aircraft hunted down Japanesa shipping and aircraft. No de tailed report of damage Inflicted was given. AIRlNSTAKE Manila, Sunday, March 25 (U.R) United States Infantrymen south of Manila drove nine miles yesterday to Arenas Point and cleared the shores of Batangaa Bay for Allied shipping, Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced today. The capture of Arenas Point put the American troops lust across the strait from Verde Is land which the 24th Division occupied etrller this month. East of Manila, the 6th Divi sion jumped off after a heavy 'tillery barrage and captured Japanese-held ridge between Mount Baytangan and Mount Ya bmg. the communinue said. Meanwhile, the 43rd Division consolidated gains made across the Bosoboro river yesterday and pushed several hundred yardg toward Mount Balidblnan 700 yards southeast of the river. Ike Warns Foe To Ignore Hitler Order By United Press Gen Dwight D, Elsenhower to day warned the German rmed forces not to execute captured Allied airborne soldiers on pain of "severe punishment." The warnings, cited a secret order by Adolf Hitler ordering "the execution of Allied air borne Jnd parachute troops," and warned that "during this last phase of a lost war you will do well to be doubly scrupulous" in not following tha order, "You will be judged according to your conduct, with strict jus tice, but without mercy," tha proclamation said,
