The Waterbury Democrat. [volume], December 20, 1944, Image 1

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The Weather
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Not So Cold Tonight
Full Weather Report Fife 4.
ESTABLISHED 1881 VOL. LXII, NO. 294
Office at Waterbary. Coer. Under the Aet ot we’oh 9, lf!»)
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WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1944
Home, Final
#
Late Spoti
Late News Flashes
TWENTY-TWO PAGES
PRICE 4
I
4,000 NAZIS
LOST AS REDS
AIM AT KASSA
BY M. S. HANDLER
(United Frees War Correspondent)
Moscow, December 20. —
(UP) — The German grip on
eastern Slovakia loosened
under increasingly - heavy
Soviet blows today as two
Red Armies advanced
through the Nazi puppet
state on a 100-mile front in
converging drives on the
enemy stronghold of Kassa.
Late dispatches said the
Germans and their Hungar
ian allies were falling back
slowly all along the attack
front after losing more-than
4,000 men in a series of
pitched battles in the moun
tain passes east and south of
Kassa.
More than half the Axis casual
ties were inflicted by General Ivan
I. Petrov’s Fourth Ukranian Army,
which swung against Kassa from
the east and southeast over the
week-end in a thrust coordinated
with Marshal Rodion Y. Malinov
sky's Second Ukrainian Army strike
across the Hungarion-Slovak border.
Petrov’s troops, immobilized for
weeks on a line etending across the
eastern tip of Slovakia from the
polish to the Hungarian borders,
rolled up the German flank on a
25-mile front and drove three
armored wedges within nine to 14
mile* of the big railway and high
way center.
Defense* Shattered
One attacking column broke open
the enemy defenses along the Ung
var-Kassa highway and captured
Dargo, M miles east of Kassa. |
Massed batteries of German ar- j
tlllery and mortars covering the
mountain road were in the Soviet
advance.
A second Russian force moved
in from the southeast to take Mova
metao, 12 miles from Kassa, rout
ing the l&th Hungarian regiment
and capturing more than 800 prison- |
ers, along with huge stores of arms
and equipment.
On Petrov’s left flank, a third
column drove up the east bank of
the Bemad river against stiff Ger- !
man opposition and stormed Nados,
nine miles south of Kassa. One hun
(Contlnuea on Pase 4)
Greek Crisis !
Under Debate
BY LYLE C. WILSON
(United Press Staff Correspondent)
Washington. Dec. 20.—<UP)—The
Greek crisis, under debate today in
the House of Commons, tootc its
own peculiar American twist here in
a misunderstanding between Presi
dent Roosevelt and British authori
ties on how Greece and the Balkans
were affected by the last Quebec
conference.
The misunderstanding was cited
by some persons as iurther evi
dence of the need for an early
meeting of the bigt hree—Mr.
Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill and Marshal Josef Stalin.
But the President told his news
conference yesterday that such a
meeting was in the "speculative”
•iage and that no date had been
Xa also said there was nothing
& a statement by Ernest Bevin,
British minister of labor, that he
Bad Initialled lit Quebec a plan
for British stabilization of Greece.
The British evidently feel that the
current fighting between their
troops ar.d Leftist ELAS elements
grew out of their stabilization ef
forts and that all parties to the
plan share responsibility.
Details of what transpired be
tween Mr. Roosevelt and Churchill
at their last Quebec meeting are
not known to the public.
But a public record is developing
of what Mr. Roosevelt and Chur
chill, respectively, understand to
have taken place. Chronologically,
here it is:
Churchill, Dec. 9, in a statement
!• Commons:
'My honored friend, the Presi
dent, was of the opinion we should
certainly have plans made, and ac
cordingly at the Quebec conference
it >vas proposed by the combined
chief* of staff (British and Ameri
(Continued on Page 4)
Three days left.
Not much time
Get those gifts
If you're goin' to buy’m*
Mow]
shopping days
TILL CHRISTMAS
Deflated "Superman"
■■ i ■ i ■ —wra—^
Signal Corps Radiotelephoto from NBA Telephoto.
Bruised and bleeding, this exceedingly young German paratrooper is
is the picture of dejection after his capture by field artillery men of
the American 1st Army. He was one of the many paratroopers rounded
up by the Yanks when they landed behind American lines in Germany.
Jap Disintegration
Increasing Rapidly
ELAS Capture!
RAF Quarters
At Kifissia
BV JAMES E. ROPER
United Press Staff Correspondent 1
Athens, Dec. 20. (UP)—An Elas
force of 1.000 persons, including
women, boys, and girls throwing
grenades like baseballs, stormed and
captured the RAF headquarters at
Kifissia, 10 miles northeast of j
Athens, it was • revealed today. {
Earlier Lt. Gen. Ronald Scobie ;
served notice on leftist forces that
an all-out campaign would begin
tomorrow morning to end the in
ternal struggle.
The headquarters attack began j
Monday. A British armored column i
reached the scene more than 241
hours later ap dflred on the Elas ,
swarming around the flat-topped j
stone buildings. i
Tanks and armoretd cars slashed i
toward the beseiged British building i
and rescued the RAF personnel I
which included WT staff officers.'
Some of the RAF men were wound- }
ed. Many of the Elas were wounded
by the armored forces.
The headquarters was in the Hotel
Cecil one of the last buildings cap
tured by the Elas. The insurgents set
Are to hotel and were believed to
(Continued on Page 4)
O'Neil Named Mayor
By 34 Vote Plurality
Attleboro. Mass., Dec. 20.—(UP)—
By a plurality of only 34 votes. City
Council Pres. Francis J. O’Neil was
elected mayor here yesterday in a
three-cornered contest in which a
total of 5,877 ballots were cast, com
plete returns showed today.
O’Neil polled 2,385 votes; City
Councilor Francis S. Manchester
2,351, and Christopher W. McNary,
1,141. Manchester will ask for a
recount.
BY WILLIAM B. DICKINSON
(United Pres* War Correspondent!
Allied Headquarters, Philippines,
Dec. 20—(UP)—Japanese resistance
on Leyte showed increasing signs of
complete disintegration today as
planes of the Third Fleet boosted
their toll of enemy shipping in an
around-the-clock bombardment of
Luzon to 102 vessels sunk or dam
aged.
Three American divisions on Ley
te were rolling up the last defenses
of the shattered Yamashlta line
after capturing the Japanese head
quarters town of Valencia, seven
and a half miles north of Ormoc,
and hurling the defenders back into
the wild hills to the northwest.
On Mindoro. 300 miles northwest
of Leyte and only 75 miles south of
Manila, American and Australian
combat engineers were rushing
airfields to completion to cover the
next phase of the Philippines cam
paign. No ground opposition yet
had developed on Mjndoro, and 13
Japanese planes which ventured
over the area were shot down Sun
day and Monday.
From Admiral Chester W. Nir
mitz's Pacific Fleet headquarters at
Pearl Harbor came word that an
other 14 Japanese ships had been
added to the list of those sunk in
the first three days and nights of
carrier-based attacks on Luzon, site
of Manila.
The Pearl Harbor communique
covered attacks Thursday, Friday
and Saturday. Though there was
no official word that the raids ex
tended beyond the week-end, a
Pearl Harbor dispatch yesterday
described the offensive as "contin
uing.”
Hie revised total showed 41
ships sunk, all of them merchant
ships with the exception of a mine
layer, and 61 damaged. • including
four destroyers, two destroyer es
corts and a coastal defense vessel.
The number of Japanese planes
destroyed In the three-day assault
remained at 269 and those damaged
at 192, but American losses were re
vised upward from 20 to 27 aircraft.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s land
(Continued on Page 4)
lOOUnarmed U. S. Prisoners
Massacred By Nazis Sunday
first American Army Heauquar-1
ers, Dec 19.—CUP)—The first Amer- :
lean Army today forwarded to'
Washington an official report on the
massacre of more than 100 un
armed American prisoners by Nazi
Schutzstafiel and panzer men of a
tank column south of Malmedy Sun
day afternoon.
The report was sent forward after
the Interrogation of 15 men who es
caped from a group of 120 to 150
American prisoners. The GI’s re
ported that the Germans lined them
up in a field and sprayed their
ranks with the machine guns of
their tanks. ^
The men were part of aa^Anieri
can Add artillery unit.,<i0hlch was
moving along the highway in con
voy when it was attacked tag Ger
man tanks.
Mid Winter Term January 2. Bust
The outfit scattered and most of
the men were captured. The Ger
mans took their cigarettes and valu
ables and then lined them up in a
field, making each put his hands
behind his head. .jr
One of the Nazi guard* fired a
shot int othe crowd then the
tankers opened UD,#ith their ma
chine gups. Theinen who were not
killed fell to<fie ground with the
dying butane Nazis continued to
spray alh with machine gun fire.
^A-'Ww Americans stood up and
made a run for it, 15 of them final
ly escaping. Many were seriously
wounded as the German tanks con
tinued to fire and Nazi atop the
tanks took pot Shots with their rifles
at any man who showed sign of life.
News at tti* massacre has spread
up and down First Army fines and
has increased the urgency with
which the Tanks desire to finish off
the attacking Nazis.
ALLIED POLICY
FINDS ‘DIG 3’
NOT AGREEMG
BY PHIL AULT
(United Press Staff Correspondent)
London, December 20. —
(UP) — Prime Minister
Churchill conceded today
that the “Big Three” have
fallen into disagreement
over Allied policy in liberated
Europe, but said Britain was
doing her utmost to heal the
breach.
Breasting a new flood of
criticism in Commons over
British intervention i n
Greece, Churchill told the
house that Britain, the
United States and Russia
were cooperating fully on the
prosecution of the war, but
added:
“Whether there is complete
agreement on every aspect of these
matters is another question alto
gether.”
He said it was “justifiable con
clusion” that Britain was taking
steps to bring about greater ac
cord.
“The three great powers are in
entire agreement upon the general
aims which bind our alliance,” he
said, “and we have every need to
keep in closest association in this
dangerous and momentous phase
of the war.
Churchill made his comments
during a question period preceding
a general debate on the Greek situ
ation, which was scheduled to be
gin following the luncheon recess.
Defends Britain
Defending his government for
the fourth time in 12 days, Church
ill refused a challenge from the
floor to explain whether the self
assignment of "spheres of influence
in liberated Europe might not con
flict with the Dumbarton Oaks
proposals for world security.
“I think that is a topic that I
obviously should not attempt to
deal with now,” Churchill said.
The question had been raised by
Independent Daniel Lipson, wrho
obviously had in mind Russia's de
mands about Poland as much as
Britain's intervention in Greece.
Churchill said the burden of
settling the strife in Greece had
“fallen upon Britain” and we have
r.ot so fa rbeen able to discharge
(Continued on Page 4>
Virgil Waugh,
71, Loses Leg
Two persons waiting ior a ous
near 1518 North Main street were,
seriously injured shortly bet ore 7
o'clock tills morning by an auto
mobile which veered from the high
way.
The victims. Virgil Waugh, 71, of
25 City Mills Lane, and Irene
Covinelli, 33, of 215 Platt street,
were taken to St. Mary’s hospital
where Mr. Waugh’s left leg had to
be amputated, above the knee. Drs.
John J. Mullen and R. D. Cliristo
foro who performed the operation
reported Mr. Waugh's condition as
"very poor" late this morning.
Miss Covinelli, who suffered a
fractured pelvis, was reported in
fair condition.
The driver, John Covallo, 17, of
181 Lakewood road was notified to
appear in city court on a charge of
reckless driving, and was also held
for questioning by Coroner Stephen
A. Homick who began a preliminary
investigation.
Cavallo told Motor Patrolman
John Deeley that he was travel
ing south at about 25-30 miles an
hour when he was blinded by the
lights of an oncoming veliciie.
His car swerved from the trav
eled portion of the road, Officer
Deeley said, knocked over a fire
hydrant, struck the man and wo
man, and halted ag’ainst a telegraph
pole. The car was badly damaged,
and a water department crew had
to be called to repair the hydrant
which began to overflow.
Mr. Waugh and Miss Covinelli
were driven to the hospital m the
police ambulance by Sgt. Edward
Sullivan and Patrolman John Shea.
Noted Author Writes Inside
Stories of War for The Democrat
Curt Riess, famed for his best-selling
books that tell the stories-behind-the
I stories of momentous events at home
and abroad, is in Europe on assignment
from NEA Service and The Democrat. . .
He is the author of “The Nazis Go Under
ground”, “Total Espionage” and many
other volumes that have called the turn
Sn happenings inside Germany . . . Read
liess’ unique dispatches from neutral, oc
cupied and Allied nations EXCLUSIVELY
IN THIS NEWSPAPER. '
Turn to Pag* Z2 Today
Where Nazis Make Gains
iNEA Telephoto)
Map shows area along- Western Front where Germany's powerful coun
teroffensive has stormed 20 miles into Belgium and Luxembourg through
American 1st Army lines. Their drive is intended to sever communi
cations between Allied northern and central ironts.
Church, State Pay
Bishop Last Honor
Archmishop John G. Murray, for
merly of Waterbury tqday praised
the “benevolence and wisdom" of
the late Most Rev. Maurice F. Mc
Auliffe Bishop of Hartford whose
funeral rites were held this morn
ing In the midst of all the solemn
and sanctified rituals of the Roman
Catholic pontifical Mass of re
quiem conducted at St. Joseph’s
Cathedral Hartford. Archbishop
Murray delivered the eulogy of the
late Bishop during the Mass pre
sided over by Archbishop Richard
Cushing of Boston.
Others serving at the Mass in
cluded Bishops such as Most Revs.
Henry J. O'Brien, acting adminis
trator of the Hartford Diocese, who
celebrtaed the Mass proper; Joseph
M. O'Leary, Springfield, Mass.; Jo
seph E. McCarthy. Portland, Me..
Francis P. Keough, Providence, R.
I.; and Matthew F. Brady, Man
chester. N. H.
Every parish of Waterbury was
represented by local clergy among
the more than 600 attending this
morning’s divine service lasting
three hours in the black draped
Cathedral, which formed the back
ground for the deep red colors of
the Bishop's office, the white surp
lices of the numerous attending
priests and the soft glow of the
thousand lights of the huge church.
Governor Raymond E. Baldwin
led the group cf state dignatarles
(Continued on Page 4)
FBI Arrests
Ex-Minister
Newark, N. J„ Dec. 20— (UP)—
Carl Emil Ludwig Krepper. 00, a
former Lutheran minister, who was
linked to a Nazi sabotage ring
through secret writing on a con
victed saboteur’s white handker
chief. was arrested at his home here
today and held in $30,000 bail to
answer three federal indictments.
Arrested on a bench warrant,
Krepper was arraigned before Unit
ed States Commissioner William
Bartholomew and held as a federal
prisoner in Hudson County Jail
pending further proceedings. He
was asked to plead to the three in
dictments. returned and impounded
several days ago, which charge him
with violation of sabotage, censor
ship and foreign agents statutes.
Krepper's indictment and arrest
followed investigation by FBI
agents of a handkerchief found in
possession of one of eight German
saboteurs landed from submarines
on the Atlantic Coast on June 13
and 16, 1942. The handkerchief
carried Krepper’s name and address
in invisible Ink.
One indictment charges that
Krepper conspired with Walter
Kappe, identified by the FBI as a
director of the I azi sabotage school
(Continued on Page 4i
Superforts
Raid Tokyo
From Saipan
BY FRED SCHERFF
(United Press Staff Correspondent)
Washington. December 20.—(UP)
—American Superfortresses of the
21st Bomber Command in Saipan
were reported today by Axis sources
to have raided Tokyo last night,
showering the Japanese capital with
incendiaries which caused several
fires.
A Tokyo dispatch of the German
Transocean News Agency said big
bombers from the Marianas flew
over Tokyo during the night and
“dropped incendiaries which caused
several fires, which were soon put
out.”
First reports of the night strike
at Okyo, where the Japanese ord
ered the evacuation of several more
suburbs in the stripdown prepara
tory to the American aerial siege,
did not make clear the scope of the
attack.
An PCC recording of the Trans
ocean report said three super fort
resses from the Marianas dropped
the incendiaries on Tokyo,' and dam
age was "slight”.
The acknowledgment that the
B-29 incendiaries caused “several
fires” indicated that the flight was
more than a reconnaissance mis
sion, although Superfortresses In
some previous scouting operations
over the capital have dropped bombs
to keep the Japanese nerves on edge.
The last attack on Tokyo, report
ed by the Japanese, was on Decem
(Contniued on Page 21
Britain, Ethiopia
Endorse Agreement
London, Deo. 20.—(UP)—Foreign
Secretary Anthony Eden told com
mons today that a new agreement
between Britain and Ethiopia had
been signed yesterday, by which cer
tain large areas previously admin
istered by the British revert to Ethi
opia.
The agreement, signed at Addis
Ababa, does not affect the sover
eignty of Emperor Haile Selassie,
Eden said.
Eden also gave Britain's official
hissing to the rFanco-Russlan 20
year alliance. He said Britain had
made known Its stand before the
Moscow negotiations began.
He said the pact did not conflict
with the plan for a future world se
curity organization, "which all par
ties are seeking to establish.
Battle May Prove
Most Bloody—News
Blackout Relaxed
BY JAMES McGUNCY
United Press War Correspondent)
Paris, December 20. — (UP) — American reserves
went into action on the fluid 70-mile Belgian-Luxemburg
front today, fighting desperately to halt the greatest Ger
man offensive since Marshal Rommel drove into Egypt,
but still were giving ground in what may prove to be the
decisive and most bloody battle of the war.
Exactly how far the German Panzer columns had
penetrated still was obscured by a partial news blackout
but captured German prisoners said it was their com
mander’s hope that Antwerp could be taken “in five days”.
There were indications some Nazi spearheads were veering
toward the Ardennes gap where the break-through that
broke the back of the French Army in 1940 was achieved.
Nazis Within
22 Miles Of
Allied Base
By SAM D. HALES
(United Press War Correspondent!
Paris. Dec. 20 — (U.P.) — Sup
reme Allied Headquarters revealed
today that in the first 48-hours of
the Nazi counter-offensive — up to
Monday noon—the Germans punch
ed out gains of 18 to 20 miles, pene
trating to within 20 miles of the
j great Allied base of Liege and cut
. off several large American groups on
j the 70-mile Belgium-Luxumbourg
| front.
Supreme Allied Headquarters for
the first time lifted its security news
blackout to tell, in part, the story of
the first 36 hours of the German
do-or-die counter offensive.
The account emphasized that up
to Monday noon the situation still
was ‘‘fluid and fluid is a dangerous
word in conenction with Nazi pan
zers.”
The attack, launched with large
panzer forces, paratroops and crack
Nazi infantry hit the American First
Army front in fopr main thrusts
from Echternach on the center of
the Luxembourg frontier, just
northwest of Trier, to Monschau,
southeast of Aachen
Field Marshal Gerd Von Rund
stedt launched these main drives at
the American lines:
1. From Echternach on the Lux
embourg border. This penetrated to
Consdorf, five miles southwest of
Echternach and within 13 miles of
(Continued on Page 4)
15,500 War
Jobs Open
Boston, Dec. 20. <UP)—The War
Manpower Commission today warn
ed that non-essential industries in
New England might be closed unless
15,500 workers were recruited for
war jobs.
“ . . . Production must be doubled
immediately by all plants . . . Even
if it means closing un-essential busi
ness," said Regional Director Arthur
C. Genres.
Industrialists were urged to
“share" workers, while women were
asked to remain at their war jobs
in an effort to solve the critical
labor shortage. Gernes warned that
lowered manpower ceilings witsh
subsequent forceable placement of
non-essential male workers into
war jobs would result unless the
crisis were resolved shortly.
Gernes explained that such steps
would be necessary’ because of the
critical conditions in the labor mar
kets and the inability of war plants
to obtain much-needed workers.
The War Manpower Commis
sion.” he said, “must consider every
possible source of male labor in
all non-essential establishments.”
Doubling of small arms produc
tion in New England has placed an
added burden on the area, Gemer
declared. Officials predicted a
definite and more pronounced shor
tage of materials by February un
less the necessary workers are re
I cruited.
2 Women, Man Penalized
For Abandoning Youngster
Maiden. Mass., December 20. —
(UP) — Jail or reformatory sen
tences were imposed today on two
young women and a man as result
of the abandonment of the 13-day
old baby of one of the women ir. the
corridor of an Everett apartment
house December 10.
While District Judge Lawrence O.
Brooks was disposing of the cases,
the waif — a healthy baby boy nick
named Skipper — cooed as he sat
in the lap of a police matron in the
courthouse corridor.
‘ Mrs. Stella Clark. 23, of Old Town,
Me., whose soldier husband has been
overseas for more than a year,
pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting
tta abandonment of bar baby and
was given an indefinite sentence in
framing ham Women's Reformatory.
She also was charged with neglect
oi tne oaoy.
Her brother, Levi Vaillancourt, 25,
of Everett, a medically discharged
veteran of the present war. was
given one year in jail after pleading
guilty to abandoning the infant.
Vaillancourt’s 19-year-old wife
also pleaded guilty to an abandon
ment charge and was sentenced t
one year In jail.
Mr. and Mrs. W.'dlahcourt em
braced in the coni ticom after the
sentences were impce' s.’
Mrs. Clark bad indicated she
would seek cus;cd->' of her baby, nor,
23 days old, but no sucb request
was made in court, and no appeals
from tht sentences were taken.
Police said 65 famines bed offend
to adopt Skipper, and that their
quarters today slightly relaxed Its
blackout on news of the German
counter-offensive and released a
partial account of events up to noon
Monday.
The relaxation came alter angry
protests by Allied correspondents
who at first were forbidden to re
lease any news on grounds the Ger
mans might not be aware of the true
situation.
It was indicated that, at least for
the present, Shaef will invoke a 48
hour tune lag before announcing .
any specific information on the
front situation.
(An NBC report from the First
Army front at 8:30 a. m. today §aid
American troops were surrounded
at St. Vith, 25 mils south of Aachen,
and at other points and that “the
situation is still grave.*’)
The Situation
: First Army Front: By noon Mon
j day, nearly 48 hours ago. the Ger
mans in four main drives pentrat
1 ing at least 18 to JO. miles, had M
! plunged within 13 miles of the city
I of Luxembourg, had overrun St.
Vith, Malmedy and Stavelot and
, were within 22 miles of the great
base of Liege. A Stockholm report
; of uncertain origin today said the
Nazis were only 13 miles from Liege.
Groups of American forces were cut
off but still fighting hard along the
broken front and at the north end
of the break-through, around Mons
chau the Germans were being held
on new American lines.
The Luxembourg radio had been
silent since 9 p. m. Tuesday and
there were indicatio’ns the whole
southeast corner of Luxembourg had
been overrun. First Army War Cor
respondents in highly censored dis
patches said “everything available”
was being thrown into battle to pre
vent a “major break-through.'*
Third Army Front: Just south of
the great Nazi attack area Third
Army observers reported feverish
activity behind the German lines
in the Saar. Streams of trucks were
seen moving up and freight yard*
appeared to be jammed with troops
and equipment unloading. Nasi pa
(Continued on Page 4)
Nazis Gamble
On Offensive
By REVEL S. MOORE
(United Press Staff Correspondent)
Washington. Dec. 20 — (UP.) —
Military observers said today the
German decision to launch the cur
rent counter-offensive with limited
resourcs and against Allied air
superiority represented a long gam
ble which may possibly serve to
hasten the end of more resistance.
If Allied counter-measures achieve
maximum success against the Ger
man Salient, it may well turn out t*
be disastrous for the enemy, it «H
said.
The Germans were believed to
have committed 10 or 12 divisions
to the current Sort, which will be
no more formidable than the effort
to break through the bottleneck at
Avranches last summr. With such
a force, they could not possibly hope,
for example, to cut through to the
coast as they did in 1940.
Observers here believed that the
best gains the Germans can hope for
would be to thrust 50 or 75 miles in
to Prance, cut off some of the Amer
ican forces, outflank the current
effort towards Cologne, and disrupt
supplies for the northern half of til*
western front.
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