Allied Fleet Nears Borneo Port
Jap Cabinet
Acts in Crisis
MANILA, June 16 (UP)—
Tokyo reported today that a
strong Allied fleet was near
ing the great oil port of Balik
Papan on the east coast of
Borneo, indicating another
invasion of the island might
be imminent.
A Japanese broadcast said that
the fleet included an aircraft car
rier, three battleships, 16 destroy
ers and other warships. Any other
warships in a fleet of that makeup
could well be landing craft.
Today's communique from Gen.
MacArthur’s headquarters re
ported a heavy bomber attack on
Balik Papan gun positions and
nearby airdromes at Manggar and
Seppinggan.
Balik Papan. with a prewar pop
ulation of 30,000, was one of Bor
neo's greatest oil producing cen
ters. The combined production of
it 3 refineries and those of cap
tured Tarakan Island. 310 miles to
the north, was 1,680.377 tons of
crude oil in 1939.
More than 400 miles to the
northwest of Balik Papan. on the
opposite coast of Borneo, Aus
tralian troops completed clearing
the Brunei Peninsula and Labuan
Island in the mouth of Brunei
Bay.
.Yanks Seize'
Belle Isle in
Marine Style
By MICHAEL ZEAMER
BKLLO JIM A (Belle Islet. June
IS—Tough, grim-faced marines
stormed ashore here last night
after an earth-shaking •‘bombard
ment’’ by scores of navy dive
bombers to seize the river island,
according to plan and without
casualties.
Thousands of Detroiters who
stood outside a roped-off area sur
rounding the invasion zone, went
away not a little shaken by what
they saw in the mock—but
realistic —invasion.
Reporters and cameramen
boarded LSVPs at the fcx>t of
Griswold in camouflaged marine
regalia and transferred to
armored craft at a rendezvous
point near the Belle Isle bridge.
PLANES STRAFE AREA
From there, they waited off
shore for the navy planes from
Grasse He, which thundered out
of darkening skies and roared
daringly low over the beach.
Charges of TNT planted in the
river threw geysers of smoke and
water in the air, starkly similar
to a bomb blast.
Wave after wave of Corsair
fighters screamed down in forma
tion to strafe the area. Then, the
L'oast guard-manned landing craft
toward the shore.
SWARM ASHORE
Tn our craft was a squad under
the command of Sgt. R. L. ITter
*en, 1087 Loch moor, (Iroase
Pointe, The 11 marines crouched
low as they neared the shore and
a light machine gun in the bow
began hammering at the "defend
ers.”
Dynamite blast* served as an
unnecessary reminder to "hit the
beach" as the marines swarmed
(Continued on Page !, Col. S)
Sean O'Kelly Wins
Presidency of Eire
DUBLIN. June 16 <UPt—The
election of Sean O’Kelly, the gov
ernment candidate, as the new
president of Eire was virtually
assured today by late returns.
The count w-hh O'Kelly, 324,620;
Gen. S. Maceoin. 209.921. and Dr.
Frank Mi-Arlan. 128.167.
Michigan Colonel
Piles Up 238 Points
LONDON, June 16 (INS)- An
examination of U. S. Air Force
records revealed that Col, David
C. Schilling of Traverse City,
Mich., was leading the demobili
zation sweepstakes with 238
points.
Eisenhower Beaten
Bv Woolens and Heat
a/
NEW YORK. June 16 (INS)—
Gen. Eisenhower and 21 members
of his staff today were equipped
for a skirmish with New York’s
heart wave- after some speedy
tailoring by a Fifth Avenue de
partment store.
Although the general's trip
home has been planned for sev
eral week*, it was only on
Wednesday that the army got the
Idea that” perhaps the summer,
parade*, the general and thick
| GUAM, June 16 (UP)—
Signs of Americail prepa
rations for possible new land
ings in the Ryukyus were
reported by Radio Tokyo
today as Japanese defenses
on southern Okinawa all but
collapsed.
(The International News
Service picked up a Tokyo do
mestic radio report early today
which said that Japanese min
isters had been called to an
emergency meeting at the resi
dence of Premier Suzuki.)
At the same time U. S. Super
fortresses were reported by
enemy sources to be mining wa
ters off Niigata, ICO miles north
of Tokyo in perhape their deepest
penetration of Japan.
SOW MINES OFF HONSHU
Other B-29s mined the western
tip of Honshu, Kanmon Strait,
between Honshu and Kyushu and
the nearby Suwo Sea, Tokyo said.
American officers on Okinawa
said final victory might come this
week-end, certainly within a week.
The trapped Japanese, herded
into a shell-swept 10-square-mile
pocket, began what may be their
last disorganized banzai charges.
USE FLAME THROWERS
Tenth Army forces had cap
tured nearly half the southern
plateau. Flame throwing tanks
paced the American advance* and
crushed diehard Japanese in fox
holes beneath their treads.
Radio Tokyo said American
naval units had extended their
patrols 110 miles northeast of
Okinawa to Amami Island, only
185 miles south of Japan proper,
in preparation for possible fresh
operations against the “Japanese
homeland ."
JUST SLAUGHTER
Lt. Gen. Buckner, commander
of the American Tenth Army, told
newsmen on Okinawa that the
conquest of the island was com
plete except for the final destruc
tion of the last “few thousand"
Japanese on the southern tip.
“I can't see how this can last
a week longer as things look
now,” he said. “We are now
down to a cut and dried job of
killing them off.”
KILL 12 FOR 1
Buckner disclosed that the
original American estimate of 60.-
000 to 80.000 Japanese on Oki
nawa had been raised to 85.000
and indicated that his men al
ready had killed nearly 80.000 of
them Twelve Japanese were killed
for every American lost, he said
Another Tokyo broadcast said
the number of Superfortresses
based in the Marianas had in
creased to 800. This, coupled with
increasing American air strength
in the Okinawa area, pointed to
intensified air raids on Japan
proper. Tokyo conceded.
Custer Men
In Strike Area
CHICAGO, June 16 (INS)—
Army troops moved into Chicago
today as the ODT began its first
day of operating the city’s truck
ing concerns.
The troops, coming from camps
as far away as Camp Custer,
backed up the government in its
determination to keep vital war
material moving in the face of a
threatened strike by members of
two truck drivers’ unions.
The drivers, members of the
Chicago Truck Drivers, Chauffeurs
and Helper* Union (independent)
and the International Brotherhood
of Teamsters. Chauffeurs. Ware
housemen and Helpers of Amer
ica, Local 705 (AFL>. voted six
to one last night to strike.
In a referendum taken by the
NLRB, the two unions agreed to
strike in protest against refusal
of the WLB to reconsider their
wage and hour demands
Thugs
Bob KdiNon Branch
Ecorse police today sought two
sun glass-wearing bandits who
yesterday afternoon held up the
Detroit PMison branch office at
4468 W. Jefferson. Ecorse. and
took $260 82. The two men locked
the manager. Don Ball of 2241
Edsel, Trenton, and his clerk.
Elizabeth Dingman of 132 Leßoy,
River Rouge, in the basement.
woolen uniforms worn in the Eu
ropean theater would not mix.
And so a major approached the
department store and asked
whether yome 50 lightweight tans
could be t>rcpared for the general
and his party from record* of
chest measurements and such.
After some swift telephoning and
snipping, the store turned out the
uniforms, then shipped them by
plane to Europe along with a fit
ter and two expert tailors.
Frenchmen
Slaughter
Spain Nazis
CHAMBERY, France, June
16 (UP) —French resistance
members fought an hour
long pitched battle here late
yesterday with troops of the
Spanish Blue Division, which
fought the Russians on the
Eastern Front, and killed 12
Spaniards.
About 100 Spaniards and sev
eral TYenchmen were wounded
in the fighting.
A sealed train brought the
Spaniard* hi re on then way home
to Spam from Switzerland, where
they had been interned after
fighting as volunteers with the
wehrmacht on the eastern front.
PATRIOTS STONE TRAIN
As the train drew into Chnm
bery station, the French attacked.
They smashed w indows and ripped
off doors to get at the Spnma.ds
inside
Equipment and personal belong
ings being taken home by the
Spaniards were tossed out on the
station platform, where a crowd
(jounced upon them.
The battle raged an hour before
railroad officials could got »he
train moving again. Finally the
tram started oft in the direction
of Aix-Les-Bains. Members of
the resistance movement had
blown up a section of another line
from this town to Grenoble, where
several thousand Frenchman were
awaiting the Spaniards with the
declared intention of lynching
them.
REPATRIATION HALTED
(.Meanwhile reports from
Moscow said that the Soviet
government had halted repat
riation of liberated Swiss citi
zens because of alleged mis
treatment of Russians in that
country.
(Moscow radio said Spanish
officials in Switzerland were
helping war criminals get from
Switzerland to Spain by issuing
documents to SS men, French
Fascists and former members
of the Spanish Blue Division
which fought on the Eastern
front. The documents say these
persons are volunteer Spanish
workers returning from Ger
many. )
Runaways
Caught
Missing since last Sunday.
Jerry Reid, 8. and his brother.
Jackie, 10. were safe at home
again with their mother. Mrs
Merl Reid of 4347 Lincoln, resting
and catching up on eating.
The two runaways were found
early today on the roof of a five
story apartment building at 190
E. Grand Rlvd. by Patrolmen
Henry Grider and Vernon Foote
of the McClellan station after
residents had asked police to in
vestigate.
All the glamour had gone from
their "expedition." They were wet.
shoeless, tired, very hungry, and
their clothes were in tatters The
boys said they spent most of their
time tramping around on Belle
Isle.
The father of Jerry and Jackie
is in the service.
Truk Blasted Again
SAN FRANCISCO, June 16
(UP)—Tokyo radio reported an
other carrier based raid today on
Truk, in the Carolines, following
two days of air and naval attacks.
THE WEATHER
NormLT TtMrCRATt’BES
12 mid 72 Sam. 69 lo« m. 67
la. m. 73 la m 69 tl a m. 6a
3a m 70 7 a m. 6» 1 j n»<n 69
3 » m 69 6am 66 lp rn. 71
4 a m. 70 9am 6S
Th* aun will art at 9 04 p m today and
rtar tomorrow at 5:56 a m
Tha moon will rlar at 12 2* p m.
today and art tomorrow at 1 32 a. m.
"fUMtmbrr
wh*i» you wart
kicking
kacaott It was
| toa f *11"
FORECAST:
Scattered
showers tonight.
Partly cloudy
2
and cooler tomorrow.
Tilmy't jfUtn caaat it 131 ,
,■BHm I ■ ■ H
Tt»« Axmj R«mUiS» You!
nu||ov>
Murks a
World W ar II \ H
Grill Ribbentrop on Japs
BBBBBBBBBBBb
Sr* Story on Pa** T»o
The Camille Dewecrdt family pictured in court after
a jury had acquitted him in the shotgun slaying of
Hint Spellman
In Vatican Job
ROME, June 16 (UPtPope Pius
XII intends to name Archbishop
Francis J. Spellman of New York
a* the now Papal secretary of
state, an unimpeachable Vatican
source said today.
The Vatican informant s;iid that
Archbishop Spellman would be
named a cardinal during a consis
tory sometime late in the fall,
possibly a few da>s belore Christ
mas. His appointment as secre
tary of state will follow.
It was said the Pontiff at fust
intended to appoint Archbishop
Spellman immediately, but by
church tradition the secretary of
state is always a cardinal. There
fore he postponed the apointment
until after the consistory, which
will be the first of Ins reign.
Birmingham Woman
Held in riieek Frauds
The masquerade was over today
for Martha Marie Thrasher, 24, of
Birmingham, who posed ay a
member of various wealthy De
troit families, including the Fords,
and is alleged to have kept up
apjiearances by cashing bad
rhecks foi nearly $3.000 in three
cities.
Police arrested her in her Chi
cago hotel room amid an array
of expensive clothing, jierfume
and other luxury items which
they charge the money went to
buy. She is also wanted in Wash
ington and Detroit.
Detectives Reuben Shutter and
□ETROT^tfWmiES
Only Detroit Newspaper Carrying Both International Newt Service and United Preaa
411 h visa,
so is &
Grill It ill Im‘iilrop
On-Jap'Nazi Pact
LONDON, June 16 (UP)—Supreme headquarters
investigators questioned former German foreign minister
Joachim von Rlbbentrop today for clues to the Nazi under
ground—if any—and the extent to which Germany shared
her V-weapon secrets with Japan.
Ribbentrop told his British captors originally that he
was a “mission for Hitler." but it later developed the
mission was to tell Britain and Germany that the fuehrer
had always hoped to avoid war with Britain.
Ike Flying Home
In Roosevelt Plane
PARIS. June 16 ft’Pt Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower left for the
United Stales today in the ate
President Roosevelt's private
plane.
The plane was specially sent hv
Gen. Marshall to bring Ei>en
hower back.
Karl Braun of the Detroit police
said she had been sought in Wash
ington for cashing $2,700 worth
of worthless checks while posing
as Mrs. Benson Ford, wife of
Henry Ford's grandson.
In Chicago, they said, she used
the name of Mrs. Phil Wood,
sister-in-law of the boat
builder, in cashing checks for SBOO.
She will face a forgery charge
if she is returned to Detroit, they
declared.
She is accused of using the
names of various wealthy Grosse
Pointers in cashing 10 checks for
an aggregate $550 here.
C Detroit 31, Mich., Monday, June 18,1945 5 Cent*
ACQUITTED IN SLAYING
Time* Photo
wealthy Henry Convreur. After hearing the verdict the
spectators mobbed Deweerdt with their congratulations.
A disjiatch from British army
headquarters said Ribbentrop was
on no other special mission when
captured Thursday in Hamburg.
Questioning of Ribbentrop was
believed centering around four
main topics on which may hinge
future war plans of the United
Nations:
1 Did the Germans detect a
sizable anti-war block in Ja
pan ?
2 Did Germany pass on to
Japan scientific data for the lat
est terror weapons, as for in
stance the transatlantic V
rockets?
3 How strong and closely
knit !s the Nazi underground in
Germany, who are its potential
leaders and where is it based?
4 Do secret Nazi outposts
exist in neutral or other coun
tries?
Ribbentrop was flowm to su
preme headquarters from Luene
herg yesterday. Authorities re
fund to say whether the head
quarters were those in Paris or
Frankfurt-up-Main.
Pierre Lavnl Sick:
Too .Many Cigarots
BARCELONA. June 16 (UP)—
Pierre Laval, former Vichy pre
mier who is interned here pending
decision on his extradition to
France, was reported recuperating
today from an illness duetoover
mduigence in cigarets and liquor
Steel Strike
Issue Cloudy
The strike of approximately
8.000 workers, closing the three
plants of the Great Lakes Steel
Corp. in Ecorse. continued today
as company officials sought cause
for the walkout.
No reason for the strike, which
began yesterday afternoon, has
been given by the union. Local
1299, United Steel Workers, CIO.
Officers of the local refuse to
make any statement.
The three plants closed are the
Great Lakes Steel and its two
subsidiary plants, Hanna and
Michigan Steel. All throe ar«
turning out armor plate and other
war material for the south Pa
cific.
Possible cause of the strike was
the reported firing of two brick
layers yesterday and the dismis
sal of several other workers about
a week ago.
The earlier firings reportedly
(Continued on Page 2, CoL 2)
»\v He-Man 1 niform
For U. S.Na\T Vrged
WASHINGTON. June 16 (UP)
—The “feminine and agonizing”
uniform of American sailors is a
hand-me-down from the British.
The black neckerchief signifies
“continuing mourning to Lord Nel
son hero of the British navy,**
according to Senator Langer <R)
of North Dakota.
Langer is leading a drive to get
rid of the navy’s bell-bottom
trouser outfit.
I Continuing on the British an
RED
LINE
16 Poles Face
Death Trials
On 3 Charges
LONDON. June 16 (UP)
—rVice Premier Jan Jankow
ski of the Polish exile gov
ernment and 15 other Polish
underground leaders arrested
by the Red army face possible
death sentences, a Moscow
dispatch revealed today.
The Soviet attorney general*
office announce that the 16 Poles
would be tried soon on charges of
sabotage, terrorism of the Red
army and the use of illegal radio
transmitters all capital crimes
under Soviet military law.
( RIMES COMMITTED
The announcement said the
crimes allegedly were committeed
in western Poland sometime after
January, when the Red army broke
the Germans’ Vistula line and
smashed into eastern Germany.
First word of the seriousness of
the charges against the arrested
Poles came as two Polish delegates
from London left by plane for
Moscow to attend a Polish national
unity conference.
The two delegates were Stanis
law Mikolajczyk, leader of tha
Polish Peasant party and a former
premier of the London exile cab
inet. and Jan Stanczyk, Polish
Socialist leader.
TWO HESITATE TO GO -
They had delayed their de
parture because of the refusal of
a third designated London dele
gate, Julian Zakowski. to accept
the invitation and the inability of
Wincenty W’itos, leader of tha
Peasant party within Poland, to
attend because of illness.
- Both problems were ironed out
with undisclosed results in a
lengthy telegraphic exchange be
tween the British foreign office
and Moscow ending at 9 o’clock
last night, an authoritative British
source said.
A British foreign office com
mentator said the Big Three com
mittee which arranged the confer
ence attached so much importance
|to Witos* presence that it has
addressed a second invitation urg
l ing him to make the trip if at
' all possible.
STAGE SET FOR TRIALS
A Moscow dispatch said thn
! stage was all set for the trial
of Jankowski and other arrested
Poles. It will be Moscow’s first
public mass trial of international
importance since 1938.
Mikolajczky was expected to
ask immediate release of thn
arrested men as a prerequisite t*
success of the unity conference.
cestry of the present uniforms ho
said the three white stripes on
the oversize collar commemorated
three great naval victories of Lord
Nelson The only American parts
of the uniform, he added, are tho
13 trouser button* commemorat
ing the 13 colonies.
“These be)* want something
more in common with the con
tour of their hod lea," he de
clared “Whoever designed the
present enlisted navy man’s
uniform must have had aa In
tense hatred of mankind,*