The Wilmington morning star. [volume], September 23, 1944, FINAL EDITION, Image 1

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VOL. - k—NO. 211 _ . _. , WILMINGTON, N. C., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1944 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867
_——^ J ' ---- - - -- - ■ 11 ' *
Hurried Hunt, Slow Return
Allied soldiers in the top picture move on the double during street
fighting in Brest, France. Below, at a more leisurely pace, Allied
soldiers march back up the same street with some German prison
ers. (AP wirephoto).
Roosevelt Gibes
At Dewey Charge
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22.—(IP)—President Roosevelt
gibed at the recent flurry of Pearl Harbor stories and Gov
ernor Thomas E. Dewey’s campaign charge of administra
tion “defeatism’’ today in a news conference discussion
ranging all the way from domestic politics to international
allairs. *
He looked for a lot more such|
things before election day, the^
President said when a reporter
mentioned the story told in Con
gress. and denied by Australian of.
ficials. that Australia warned this
country 72 hours before the Pearl
Harbor attack that a Japanese task
force was headed for Hawaii. Mr.
Roosevelt commented that anybody
who had undisclosed information
about the attack ought to give it to
the army and navy boards now in
vestigating the circumstances.
Dewey’s contention that the ad
ministration is saturated with de
featism was brought up by Blair
Moody of the Detroit News who
asked if the President would com
ment.
Mr. Roosevelt replied by asking
Moody whether he thought so.
"No, that’s why I asked the
question,” the reporter replied.
He didn't think so either, the
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 7)
-V
UNRRA ADOPTS
RELIEF FORMULA
MONTREAL, Sept. 22. — (/P) —
Toe impoverished people of the
Axis-invaded nations of Europe will
deceive, depending on supplies and
resources, a daily diet of a maxi
mum 2,650 calories a day and one
"'earable pair of shoes or boots’
Under a relief formula adopted to
uay by the policy committee of the
United Nations Relief and Reha
bilitation administration.
The formula was worked out in
Lundon bv the European commit
tee of UNRRA.
It was explained at a press con
terence by Director General Her
bert Lehman that these were the
bjaximum goals of UNRRA. UNJt
FlA cannot bind itself, Lehman
*aid to promising everyone shoes
*nd that much food because of
imitations of supplies and money.
Allied Night Bombers
Cripple Nazi Effort
To Evacuate Aegeans
ROME, Sept. 22. —UP)— Al
lied night bombers rained a
concentration of explosives on
the Greek port of Salonika last
night, attempting to cripple
German efforts to evacuate the
Aegean area, and reliable re
ports from Cairo said the Na
zis already had pulled out of a
greater part of the Peloponne
sus.
Previous unconfirmed reports
said the Germans were- at
tempting to abandon several of
their Aegean island holdings.
tVRECKSURVIVOR
BADLY INJURED
George Marks of Carolina Beach,
survivor of Thursday’s automobile
wreck on the Castle Haynes road
right miles north of Wilmington, in
which three persons died, was re
oorted last night by attaches at
lames Walker Memorial hospital
o be in a critical condition,'. suf
fering from serious back injuries.
The bodies of the three persons
rilled have been shipped from Wil
mington to their homes, where the
funeral services will be held.
The body of Rupert J. Perry.
3ueen City Coach company bus
Irivtr, was shipped to Roberson
rille, where funeral services will
be held sometime today.
The body of Mrs. Allene Sides,
23, of 7-A-12 Hooper Drive, Maffitt
Village, who was killed instantly,
was sent to Albemarle, and the
body of Mary Newland, 7-A-ll Hoo
per drive. Maffitt Village, was ship
ped to Manassas, Va. ■
Heroic Sky Troops Fight Desperately
In E^//>rt To Hold Open Invasion Road
/Nazi War Factories In Ruhr Valley
-___ _*
U.S. Fliers
Hit Manila
Second Time
HARBOR AREA HIT
Japanese Radio Reports
Airfields Smashed
In New Strike
By The Associated Press
Daring American naval air
men, flying from Pacific
fleet carriers, were reported
by the Japanese radio yester
day to have smashed the Ma
nila area of the Philippines
for the second consecutive
day.
News of the second Yank sky
visitation to the Philippines capi
tal district was not confirmed by
American sources. Domei, Japa
nese news agency, and the Japa
nese-controled Manila radio said
200 carrier planes, in four waves,
blasted harbor facilities and the
airfield Thursday morning.
American night air patrols were
reported in today’s southwest Pa
cific command to have hit Japa
nese shipping in southern Philip
pines waters. They sank or dam
aged four vtssel-s, including a
transport.
Carrier and landbased planes
struck against Japanese airfields
on Halmahera island, 300 miles
south of the Philippines, destroy
ing or damaging many planes.
Yank fliers unloaded 58 ons of ,
bombs on Celebes airdromes and ,
destroyed seven small surface
craft at Ceram.
The U. S. Navy reported the :
initial Manila sector raids Wed
The definite sinking of 11 ships,
including a big destroyer and four
large tankers, and the probable
s/nking of another destroyer, two
major tankers, a large transport,
a floating drydock and 24 other (
craft
The destruction of 205 Japanese
planes—110 shot down and 95 on
the ground.
Heavy damage to military ob
jectives at and near the Cavite
navy yard, Nichols and Clark air
fields and Manila and Subic bays.
The Japanese claimed flak ac
counted for 15 American raiders,
including four probables, in the
Thursday strike, and that two
were shot down by interceptors.
They also said Nippon naval
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 3)
SHIPYARIMJNiONS
IMPLY STRIKES
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22. —(A1)—
Shipyard unions today added their
weight to the labor pressure upon
wage ceilings with an AFL union
implyingthere may be strikes un- 1
less wages are raised.
John P. Frey, president of the
AFL metal trades department, in
a shouting, table-thumping demand
upon the War Labor Board, insist
ed that the government “honor” a
1942 wage contract “or we will take
matters into our own hands and
use our own judgment.”
An industry spokesman said that
shipyards “are .paying the highest
industrial wages in the country.”
John Green, president of the CIO
Marine and Shipbuilding Workers
union, presented his union’s de
mand for an increase of 17 1-2
cents an hour, contending that the i
government wage policy “has been
unfortunately allied with an arti
ficially construed index which is no
longer indicative of present war
time conditions.”
Marines Hit Beach In Peleliu Invasion
TJ. S. Marines take cover on the beach of Peleiiu, in the Palau islands, as they storm ashore Sept. 1
[4 in the invasion of the Japanese stronghold. Marine amtracs, hit by Jap mortar fire, burn in the
background. Two thirds of the island is now in American hands. This is one of the first original pic
tures of this invasion to reach the United States. (AP wirephoto).
Nazis Retreat In Italy
Greek, Canadian Troops
Shatter Gothic Line
To Drive Up Po
ROME, Sept. 22.— <-© —German
hopes of holding northern Italy
through the coming winter were
blasted today as decimated rem
nants of 12 Nazi divisions fell back
into the Po valley before the vic
torious onslaught of Greek and
Canadian troops who forced a
crossing of the Marecchia river
west of the captured Adriatic
stronghold of Rimini.
Rupture of the enemy’s Gothic
line defenses at Rimini and to the
west of the shattered resort city
gave Gen. Sir Harold Alexander,
Allied commander-in-chief in Italy,
the opportunity he had long sought
to throw his great armored su
periority against the Germans
where there was room for maneu
ver.
“The battle of Italy is not yet
over,” wrote Associated Press War
Correspondent L y n n Heinzerling
from Rimini, “but it appeared to
be entering its final phase today.”
Eighth army tanks from their
foothold across the Marecchia
were ready for quick smashes in
two directions—northwest along
the ancient Via Emilia toward the
big industrial city of Bologne and
north-northwest toward Ravenna,
Ferrara and the Po estuary. The
Nazis, with much of their trans
port lying in rusting heaps beside
Halian roads. aDDeared literally to
face a fight for their lives.
As the four-week assault on the
Gothic line thundered toward a
climox American troops of the 5th
army stormed into Firenzuola, ar
important road junction 26 miles
south of Bologna, and seized the
Southern slopes of Monte Coloreta,
a mile and a half northeast of
Firenzuola.
As they moved up, the dough
boys found large numbers of
enemy dead littering the slopes on
which withering artillery and ma
chinegun fire had been laid pre
ceding the advance.
-V
Policemen ‘Capture’
Captured Machinegun
MALDEN, Mass., Sept. 22. — (fP)
—First a Japanese machine gun
was captured by an American ma
rine sergeant and today it was cap
tured by the Malden police.
Apparently forgetting that he no
longer was at Saipan, the sergeant
—home on furlough—tofik his fath
er to the rear of a cemetery to
show how the weapon worked.
The roar brought a swarm of po
lice.
After explanations the sergeant
lost his souvenir.
“No charges,” said the cops.
CHINESE ADMIT
JAPANESE GAINS
CHUNGKING, Sept. 22 — tf) —A
Japanese force estimated at 20,000
has captured Wuchow, Sikiang port
145 miles southeast of Kweilin, and
pushed on in the direction of Liu
chow, strategic junction of the Hu
nan - Kwangsi and the Kwangsi
Kweichow railroads, the Chinese
announced- tonight.
A Chinese spokesman admitted
Wuchow had fallen without much
opposition, but declared the Chinese
resistance would stiffen as the ene
my drove deeper into Kwangsi
province.
About 60 miles southwest of Wu
chow, other Japanese forces cap
tured Jungyun. If the Japanese
close the gap between Jungyun
and Wuchow, they will have a line
running from Hainan island to
Hongkong for defensive operations
against any American landings.
Japanese troops bearing down on
Kweilin from the northeast still
were apparently stalled along the
Hunan - Kwangsi railroad about
40 miles from the evacuated U. S.
airbase, but the Chinese spokesman
said the enemy was bringing up
reinforcements. The Japanese orig
inally started their push on Kweilin
with five divisions.
Kwanyang, about 50 miles east
ot Kweilin, was reported again en
dangered tonight. Recently, the
Chinese succeeded in hurling back
more than 40 miles a Japanese col
umn which reached the town’s out
skirts. Another column, however,
was heading. toward Kwanyang
from the direction of Chuanhsien.
Gen. Chen Mu-Nung, comman.der
of the Chinese 93rd army, was exe
cuted Sept. 20 for his failure to de
fend Chuanhsien.
Fighters and medium bombers of
the U. S. 14th Air Force continued
to support the Chinese by attack
ing Japanese supply lines, storage
depots, troop concentrations and
river shipping. The Americans now
had the added handicap of having
to operate mostly from western Chi
na bases.
-V—
Armed Holdup Men Stage
Three Robberies In N. Y.
NEW YORK, Sept. 22—(#)—Arm
ed holdup men staged three rob
beries in Manhattan and Brook
lyn in less than two hours today
and escaped with approximately
$44,000 in cash.
Police were investigating to de
termine if the hold-ups were the
work of the same men.
European War Flashback
(BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Sept. 23, 1918—British forces captured a strong German post
northeast of Epehy after a three-day attack. The French took pos
session of the west bank of the Oise on a three-mile front between
Moy and La Fere.
Sept. 23, 1940—British and Free French naval squadron bombard
ed Dakar after French governor refused to acceed to order from
Gen. De Gaulle to permit a landing
, * ' $
BIG PLANES HIT
GERMAN TARGETS
LONDON, Sept. 22.—(*—Twelve1
hundred American heavy bombers
blasted deep into central Germany,
today from bases in both Britain
and Italy, hitting the industrial
city of Kassel, the Munich area!
and other targets, while Allied
fighters continued their assault
along the flaming battlefront de
spite thick cloud conditions.
The German air force made no
challenge to the 650 Fortresses and I
Liberators which sped from Brit-;
ain straight across Germany and
showered explosives on Kassel, but
flak over the target was relatively
heavy and nine bombers as well
as one escorting fighter were miss |
ing.
During the night Italian-based
Liberators also flew a perilous 1, j
750-m i 1 e roundtrip to Warsaw
where tons of food, medicine and
war equipment were parachuted to
Polish patriots holding out in the
capital. It was at least the third j
such mission made by Allied heavy'
bombers in as nany weeks.
The glow of fires raging in War
saw could be seen 60 miles away,
the pilots said, so they had no
difficulty in picking out the as
signed spots for parachuting sup
plies.
EISEIWOWfi? RARFS
FUTURE POUCIES
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY
FORCE, Saturday, Sept. 23.— (tf*)—
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower today
bared his policy for dealing with
occupied Germany—a policy of two
fisted firmness stamping out the
infamous reign of Hitler and the
Nazis and already in effect in con
quered German towns.
The Allied supreme commander
minced rfo words in proclaiming
the death penalty for Germans
“who aid the Nazis in any way.”
Aiming at swift justice for war
criminals and threatening the fir
ing squad for those who disobey,
the Allies have ordered Nazi par
ty administrative officers to re
main at their posts until all funds,
records, equipment' and property
are surrendered.
Plight Critical
For Arnhem Men
Gallant Allied Force Digs In Flaming Ruins
To Stave Off Charging German Tanks
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDI
TIONARY FORCE, Sept. 22.—(£>)—'The .British Second
army battered forward yard by yard tonight in an attempt
to rescue heroic airbone Tommies and Poles who six miles
to the north dug into Arnhem’s flaming ruins and were
determined to hold open the door of invasion to Hitler’s
war factories in the Ruhr valley.
The cannonading of Second army
tanks and artillery blasting away
it the Germans, entrenched across
;heir path and armed with anti
tank guns, rumbled up from the
southern horizon to the encircled
British division.
As the Arnhem warriors held off
waves of charging German tanks
and infantry with the light weapons
with which they plummeted into
Holland six days ago, Supreme
Headquarters described their plight
is “critical”.
The British Second was joined
by the bulk of the Allied First Air
borne army, which launched the
battle for Holland last Sunday, but
their combined weight had pushed
them only two miles north of Nij
megen and six miles from Arnhem.
Some field dispatches placed for
ward elements a little nearer the
beleaguered “lost” division, but no
one was able to report that it had
been relieved.
Late advices said there still was
heavy fighting in Nijmegen, where
the Allies won their all - important
crossing of the formidable Waal
Rhine barrier, despite previous re
ports that the last German had
been routed from the city.
This bold attempt to wheel
around the northern end of t h e
Siegfried line and strike for the
heart of Germany was hamstrung
by bad weather, which grounded
Allied air strength, but there was
a possibility skies would clear to
morrow.
There was violent fighting inside
Germany itself, where the U. S.
First army has cut through the
Siegfried line east of the German
frontier bastion of Aachen.
A late front dispatch said the
Germans were driven from the
southern half of Stolberg, 6 miles
east of Aachen, but house-to-house
fighting still raged for the remain
der.
Canadian First Army forces won
the day’s most resounding Allied
victory by crumbling the last re
sistance north and south of the
French coastal city of Boulogne
and freeing that important port for
Allied supply ships.
The Canadians seized 7,300 pris
oners, including a Lt. Gen. Heim,
in mopping up Le Portel, overlook
ing the port on the south, and Wim
ereux, just to the north.
But even this victory, vital for
the continued even flow of supplies
and reinforcements, was dwarfed
by the desperate struggle on Hol
land’s western fields.
Belgium Will Be First
To Get Its Goverment
LONDON, Sept. 22. — (£>)— Bel
gium probably will become the
first liberated country in Europe to
reestablish constitutional govern
ment, in view of a Brussels radio
report today that the government
of Premier Hubert Pierlot had re
signed.
Prince Regent Charles is expect
ed in Belgium quarters here to
Eorm a new government this week
end. .
Pierlot’s action came as no sur
prise, because he said before leav
ing for his homeland that he plan
ned to retire in favor of someone
who had lived in Belgium during
he German occupation.
RUSSIANS S l
BIG NAY BASE
LONDON, Saturday, Sept.
>3.—(/p)—The R e d army
japtured the Estonian capi
;al and naval base of Tallinn
yesterday, opening up the
Bulf of Finland to the Soviet
Baltic fleet whose airmen
sank three transports choked
vith Nazi troops attempting
;o escape from the port.
Simultaneously, another power
ful Red army was on the verge
of crossing into prewar Hungary
E r o m western Romania after
sweeping up 50 towns and villages
near the frontier, and a Polish
communique from Warsaw said
the Polish patriots had contacted
Red army troops in the northern
and southern districts of Warsaw
after the Russians crossed the Vis
tula river.
A few hours before Moscow an
nounced the fall of Tallinn to Rus
sian troops which had reached it
after a lightning advance of nearly
50 miles in 24 hours, Berlin re
ported that German troops were
giving up northern Estonia now
that Finland had quit the war.
There was no longer any need
to protect Finland’s southern
flank,” Berlin said in explanation
of the fresh Baltic disaster heaped
upon the Germans.
lviarsnai Leumu uuvuiuv a
Leningrad army, aided by an Es-,
tonian corps, overran 800 more
towns yesterday, making a total
of nearly 3,000 seized on the1 sixth
day of the big offensive.
The Russians in their advance
on Tallinn seized Tapa, strategic
road junction 43 miles southeast
of the capital, and also Paide, 27
miles southwest of Tapa.
The Russians now have recover
ed approximately half of the 18,
353 square miles comprising Es
tonia—an area about equa) to New
Hampshire and New Jersey com
bined.
The Germans were fleefng to
ward the west coast and south
west toward the Gulf of Riga, hot
ly pursued by the mobile Russians
who apparently killed or captured
thousands of them during the day.
Naval airmen attacked German
evacuation ships in Tallinn harbor
Thursday night, the Soviet com
munique said, sinking three large
German troop ships and a patrol
vessel and damaging many other
vessels, including three troop
ships.
Along the southern Estonian-Lat
vian frontier area northwest and
west of Valga Gen. Evan Maslen
nikov’s Third Baltic army captured
60 localities yesterday, and 87
miles southwest of Valga the Lat
vian capital and port of Riga was
under Soviet shellfire and Red
army infantrymen were reported
in Moscow dispatches to be fight
ing its outskirts.
Seizure of Riga would cut off
the land escape routes for all the
Germans caught between there
and fallen Tallinn.
Rome’s Ex-Police Chief Killed
fort BRAVETTA, Rome,
Sept. 22.—(A*)— Pietro Caruso,
Home’s police chief during the
Nazi occupation, war ■ put to
death with shots in the back by
* 16-man firing squad today and
* Fascist radio in German-oc
«upied northern Italy shortly
■merward announced that 40
hostages had been arrested
there for execution in reprisal.
Caruso was the first Fas
*lst collaborationist sentenced
® death by the Italian high
hourt. He was convicted yes
terday of charges that he turn
ed 50 hostages over to the Ger
thons for execution in the drea
ry Ardeatin caves last March in
reprisal for the bombing of a
German SS column. These were
shot in the back. • .
The Fascist . radio station
“Te Vere”, in announcing that
40 persons had been arrested
and marked for death, said that
one of them was a hrother of
Falmiro Togliatti, Italian com
munist who returned to Italy
from Moscow in March .to .be
come a minister without port
folio in the Bor.omi govern
ment.
The Fascist threat to execute
40 hostages for Caruso was
first made last week, at which
time the Italian government
turned down a suggestion that
80 Fascists be put to death in
turn if the threatened reprisal
should be carried out.
Wearing a light blue suit,
and haggard but unflinching,
(iaruso was tied by guards in
a white, unpainted chair as a
blackrobed priest laid a hand
on his shoulder and adminis
tered the last sacrament. Ca
ruso stared at the priest and
listened intently.
“Viva L’ltalia^r’ Caruso
shouted as. the priest moved
away and the firing squad took
aim. The words echoed back
from the thick walls of the
century old fort and the shots
followed.
No coup de grace was nec
essary
/
Dewey Urges More Security
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22—(JP)
—Outlining a program to “pick
up and carry forward an Am
erican system of social pro
gress.” Gov. Thomas E. Dew
ey tonight proposed broaden
ing and strengthening the So
cial Security act, unemploy
ment insurance and other
means to this end.
He also called for develop
ment of a program to assure
medical service to those who
cannot otherwise obtain it, de
scribing this as ‘‘a task that
must be carried out in coopera
tion with our medical men.”
“The Social Security act
should be amended to provide
old age and survivors’ insur
ance,” the Republican presid
ential nominee said, “for those
who most desperately need
protection and are not now cov
ered by Social Security or some
other pension or retirement
ment system.”
The New York governor, in
a prepared speech broadcast
from the Los Angeles coliseum
said 20,000,000 Americans —
"farmers and farm workers,
domestic workers, employes of
non-profit enterprises, many
government employes, and
those who work for themselves”
—are left without this protec
tion as the law now stands.
/
He described “difficulties of
administration” as “not a good
enough answer” for failures to
include people not now protec
ted, and said the proposed
changes would involve many
problems. •
“We will have to adopt dif
ferent methods of collecting
the Social Security tax in or
der to avoid a bookkeeping bur
den upon small employers, fa
mily-type farmers or others we
seek to protect,” he continued.
“If we make up our minds that
protection against old age is
something to which every Am
erican is entitled, we shall find
a way to reach that objective.”