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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1944)
1 MONDAY,. MAY 29, 1944 TEE JOURNAL, PLATTSMOHTH, PAGE TEELEE 4 i ' ' k WERT? ART A Thrilling Scene As Fifth Army Joins Anzio Force General Clark Joins Forces as They Meet to Form New Common Front in Italy BY UXITFD PRESS 'Where the hell do you think "I came up here to make contact with the Anzio forces." "Well, you made it." Two American soldiers met on the Italian coastal highway five miles south of the Mussolino Canal today, and with that, laconic ex change marked the historic juncture of the main allied oth army with the Anzio beachhead forces. The meet ing was rei.orted by the Columbia bioadcasting system. CBS correspondent. Eric Sevareid. reported the meeting in a special broadcast from the front. He identi fied the two soldiers as I-t. Francis Buckley, Philadelphia, attached to the main f.ih army, and Capt. Ben Zimmemer, Honolulu, from the beachhead. Zimmemer, walking south on the highway at the head of a beachhead patrol, spotted Buckley coming to ward him and give him the usual (3. I. greeting: "Where the hell do you think you're goint? ' "And that was it." Sevareid re ported, adding that within a mat ter of minutes the two soldiers were surrounded Ly a knot of armored cars, jeeps and trucks from the con verging forces. Lt. Gen. .Mark W. Clark, command er of the allied 5tli army, was on the spot almost immediately after the contact was made. The nazis had blown up a small bridge across one of the canals criss crossing the Pontine marshes, but the converging troops met no resist ance apart form a few isolated Ger man snipers. Sevareid said. For about an hour after Buckley and Zimmemer met, allied units trom both fores kept piling up along thf road, including a British recon naissance party from the Anzio side. The C. I's v.ho had fought their way up 60 miles from the south in 14 days had only one question for tha beachhead comrades; "Where's that Anzio beer we've been hearing about?" Trap Jap Columns Southeast Asia Headquarters. Kan Cy, Ceylon, May 26. (UP) Allied troops have -trapped a Japanese col umn moving in from the west to reinforce Myitkina, a communique said toJay, as bitter fighting con tinued in and around the beseiged enemy stronghold in northern Bur ma. Official reports said Chinese jungle troops ambushed the er.eiay relief column along the Myitkina trail yesterday and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese. Head quarters spokesmen indicated the enemy force was being anaiailatd in a narrowing pocket near the village of Na-iikwi. Heavy rains hampered all ground and aerial operations on the Myit kina sector, but the communique said American and Chinese infantry men tightened their seige line around the city and killed 52 Japanese in a clasn on its northern outskirts. There was no new report on the progress of the week-old battle inside the town. FLY MANY SORTIES Washington. May 2G. (UP) American air forces flew .",50,000 sorties against the enemy last year. The total for li44 will be 1.500,000 more than four times the 1941: figure. The dropped 200,000 tons of rjombs in 1V43. This year's aggre gate will be 700,000 tons. These esti mates of the pushing power of the army air forces were given today in a war department showing of "An Army Air Forces Report, ' a film version of General Henry H. Arn old's recent official report cn the air forces. 300 Germans Killed Moscow, May 26. (UP) More than 300 Germans were killed yes terday in minor reconnaissance and offensive patrol clashes with soviet units, a Russian commur.'que said today. No changes were reported on the east front. Seventeen German planes were shot down in air combat Wednesday aud Russian planes sank two German transports, toi ailing 7,000 tons, on the same day m the Gulf of Finland. Bay War Bonis VETERANS AND JOBS Washington, May 25. (CP) National Selective Service today gave lecal draft boards a blueprint for guaranteeing returning veterans their pre-indction job with the pay an! working conditions they en joyed before donning uniforms. Veterans are askd to go to iheir local boards for aid if they experi ence any difficulty in getting back their pie-war jobs. The regulation covering all men and women who entered active military service after May 1, 1940 were prescribed to local boards in a memorandum setting forth policies for veterans reemploy ment rights embodied in the Select ive Service act. Constitutionality of the provisions was upheld last Feb ruary by a U. S. District Court in Kentucky. The memorandum point ed oiit that employers are required with certain exceptions, to restore veterans to their old jobs with their old pay and seniority. A former service man or woman, nay not be discharged for a year after employment, without sufficient cause, basd on the circumstances of each specific case. A dissatisfied employer, ihe memo randum said, may appeal to the courts for redress but if the refusal to comply necessitates court action the case will first be submitted for review to ihe Veterans Personnel Division of the State Selective Ser vice headquarters, then, if necessary, to National Selective Service and then to the Justice department. The regulation stipulates that a veteran entitled to reemployment will hive recourse to the cr.urt to recover back pay, even after re instatement if the reinstatement wis improperly delivered by the em ployer. New Post For Admiral Halsey Jr. Is Being Planned ;0ne of the Most Daring Tacticians in the Navy Ee Has Commanded in the South Pacific Washington. May 25. (UP) A dm. , one of the in the U. S. William F. Halsey. Jr ni.it daring tacticians Navy, is slated for a new assignment so important that its disclosure at this time would provide the Japan ese with vital war information. This was indicated today by Secre tary of the Navy James V. Forrestal s unwillingness to discuss Halsey's new assignment and his statement that, "vhat3ver I say could be used constructively by the Japs " Meanwhile, Forrestal disclosed the first of an expected series of changes in the navy high command. Vice Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, who serv ed as Halsey's air commander, will replace Vice Admiral John S. Mc Cain as deputy chief of naval opera lions for air. This is an important post because it provides the naval air arm with representation on the navy's top command. McCain's new assignment has not yet been decided, but he is known to be eager to return to sea duty. He too is regarded as a during, bril liant fighting man. Halsey, the rough and tumble commander of the South Pacific area who demonstrated time and again that he is ever ready to take on a bigger opponent, is due to leave that post soon. Dispatches from the south Pacific have indicated that the com mand in that area may be dissolved because the war has moved west ward deer into Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur's territory. There have ben suggestions that because Halsey has been at sea steadily for a longer period than any other top commander in the Pacific, he might get a desk job in Washington. Forrestal told reporters that "you can say Admiral Halsey is not go ing to be an emeritus character." ibis was interpreted by ron.e ob servers to mean that the admiral would be continued in a combat post. Call International Conference Washington. May 26. (UP) President Roosevelt today calied an international conference of 42 na tions and the French committee of national liberation tc discuss inter national monetary problems at Brit ton Woods, New Hampshire, begin ning July 1. Army Flier Killed Oklahoma City, May 26. (UP) Sgt. Pete Ray, Jr., Scotsbluff, Neb., wis one of eight army fliers killed yesterday when a combat mapping plane crashed and burned at Will Rogers Field, the Public Relations office anounced today. Russia To Intervene With Japs As To Allied Prisoners Will Assist in Trying; to Get Sup plies and Assistance to the Ameri cans Held In Japan Washingtoii, May f.C. (UP) Sov-jsion in which attorneys win defend iot. Russia's decision to intervene"! them against charges of unlaw with Japan in behalf of Am-ricar I fully cohabitating with their wives and f I'itisu prisoners was hailed here today amidst growing belief Japan may be trying to ei ase some of her bad record fcr treatment of prisoners. The United States has tried for more than three years to work out a systematic way of providing Ameri can piisontrs with supplies. Several of its proposals have been flatly re jected and some haven't even been answered. Now, suddenly comes hope that the Japanese n ay be persuaded .o give prisoners belter treatment and to allov regular shipments of supplies to them. In an effort to clinch such prospects, Gieat Britain and the United States have asked the Soviet Union, which is not at war with Japan, to approach Japanese officials on the subject. Russia agreed to act, and there was little doubt here that her voice would carry great weight, especially on the eve of promised new offen sives by the allies in the Far East. The good news for the families of the thousands of Americans and Britishers held by the Japanese was first revealed by British foreign Minister Anthony Eden. The state department soon confirmed that the United Slates and Great Britain had made a joint request of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union will seek from Japan "particular satisfaction" on three points.: 1. Recognition of the right of Swiss and International Red Cross representatives to visit all camps and report on conditions: 2. Granting of complete lists of all per sons held and of those who have died: :;. Agreement to receive ship ments af Red Cross supplies to be delivered by neutral ships to Japan ese ports. It is well known that Japan, new that the allied die has been cast for crushing blows against areas oc cupied by Japan and against Japan proper, is anxious to make doubly sure that the Soiet Union will net form the northern part of a giant pincers movement against her when the war in Europe ends. It therefore is believed that she will listen far more attentively to soviet diplomats regarding tieatmeut of prisoners than she has to those of small neu tral nations. Belief that Japan may be trying to help her record in the eyes of the western nations is based on these developments this month: 1. Japan sent a note to the United States in Ylu.ih ostok to American prisoners. Delivery of 1,500 tons of supplies in Vladivostok to American prisoners. ?.. She agreed to allow prisoners and civilian internees in the Philip pines to b"y 5 25,000 worth of sup plies each month locally with money provided by the United States gov ernment. ; She agreed to let the Dutch government in exile also provide money to its people in the East Ind ies for the purchase of needed sup- pli"?!. Confident of Victory London, May 26. (UP) V. M. Mclotov, soviet foreign affairs com missar, and Foreign Secretary An thony Eden expressed confidence of allied victory today in an exchange of messages on the second anniver sary of the signing of the Anglo Russian pact. GAS COUPON EXILING Washington. May 2 P. (UP)--The Office of Price Administration an nounced today that old style K-2 and C-2 gasoline ration coupons will be invalid for use by consumers after May 31st. Holders of such un i sed coupons may take them to loc al rationing boards and exchange them for ihe newer strip type B23 and C-3 coupons. WHERE THE FUEL GOES A HEAVY BOMBER cruising at a speed of 250 m.p.h. ciay use 200 gallons of gasoline ia one hour. Sentence Funentalists Salt Lake City, May Fifteen fundamentalists, 16. (UP) who. have a total of 55 wives and'2S3 children, today were under sentence to serve from one to five years each, and one of the wives v. as sentenced to spend a day in jail for screaming at the judge. The men were sentenced yester day nmid a turbulent courtroom ses- loudly condemned "S8 6 cases of sex- ;hattial immorality in Salt Lake City in 1 9 1 3, none of which involved a high er fine than 350," and immediately filed notices of apr-eal to the'state supremo court. Execution of sentence was delayed until tomrorow so defendants could attempt to raise $2,500 additional bonds required to keep them at lib erty pending their appeals. The courtroom was packed to the doors, and the only telephone avail abe to more than a half dozen re porters was in the judge's office. One girl reporter burst into tears occause a rival held the phone and she could not get out of the room to find another. Elderly Betsy Lee, one of the five alleged wives of fundamentalist leader Joseph W. Musser, was drag ged through the packed spectators by sheriffs after screaming, ' The wrath of God will be brought down upon you," at State District Judge Ray Van Cott, Jr., as he was sentenc ing Musser. American Casualties Washington. May 25. (UP) An nounced casualties among the Ameri can armed forces not including loss es in the current Italian drive, total 206.227, it was revealed today. This total comprises 47,605 dead. 77.S6S wounded, 44,522 missing and ::6.232 prisoners. Secretary of War Henry L. Stim son told a press conference that army casualties through May 6 prior to launching of the new 5th army pu.-h totalled 161.13U cf which 2?,059 were killed, 05,779 wounded. ;!4,19C missing and 31.779 prisoners. He said GS.SfiG of the wounded have returned to action. A navy casualty list released to day showed a total of 45,114, of wnich 19,5-lG were dead,. 12.0S9 wounded, 9,026 missing, and 4,453 prisoners. The last overall compilation of casualties for both services, made two weeks ago. showed a total of 201.451. or 4,77 less than today's total. The May 11th army figures, however, v. ere for casualties through April 2Sth so that only nine days army action was covered by the 4,7 "3 increase. Here from California Mrs. Luther Womack has arrived from Richmond, California, to visit her father, J. J. Lohnes. brother Harry Lohnes and wife of Murray and her sister, Mrs. England of Ced ar Creek and other relatives and friends. Mrs. Womack is employed in the Calspray company of Richmond, holding a very responsible position with the firm. Learns of Sisters Death Mrs. Elizabeth Hennings received word on Friday afternoon of the death at Beloit, isconsin, of a sis ter, Mrs. Emma Witte. 77, who pass ed away after a short illness. Older residents of the county will remem ber Mrs. W itte as the former Emma Pagendorfer, she making her home in this locality for several years. There is surviving in addition to Mrs. Hennings. a sister, Mrs Clans I'loehm. residing in Oregon and a hi ot her, Gus Dagendorfer, w ho lives in Oklahoma. Here from Illinois Richard Elliott, of Aurora, Illin ois, arrived here this morning to spend a few days here with his many old time friends over the Memorial day holiday. Mr. Elliott has for the pa"t year been engaged with the engineering department of the Bur lington and stationed at Aurora. RADIO & ELECTRIC SERVICE Phone 29 1 Door North of Shea's We Repair AH Makes of Radios and Appliances BUY and SELL TUBES PARTS Reasonably Plentiful Food Supply Promised Less Poultry, Canned Vegetables. Butter and lard for Last Ealf of 1944 Predicted Washington, May 2 6, (UP) Gro cery baskets will carry "reasonably ! plentiful" amounts of meat but less poultry, canned vegetables, butter and lard during the last half of 1M4, the Office of War Information pre dicted today in a report on the food outlook. According to the OWI, here is how the civilian larder i? expected to look for the nxt several months: Meat Currently point free meats will remain reasonably plentiful al though choice cuts of good grades of meat will be increasingly harder to find. Butter, fats and oils In the last half of the year civilians will get six to eight percent less butter, fif teen percert less lard, twelve per cent more margerine and six percent more shortening and other edible oils than in the first half of 1944. Lard--Point free s ince March 3rd, today was removed completely from rationing. Canned Vegetables The prevail ing "point holiday" will be tem porary since the 194 4 pack of princi pal canned vegetables lin a beans, snap beans, beets, corn, p.as, spin ach and tomatoes probably will be below 20 percent of the 1943 output. Canned Fruits Continued ration ing wil be necessary to distribute evenly the lovv civilian supply. Half cf the 1944 pack will go to the mili tary and the civilian der..and will erase the remaining supply. Sugar No increase in household allotments appears possible. Fggs Production will stay at its record high level. Poultry A boost of 1S1 percent in military requirements, combined with feed shortages, means fewer chickens for civilians. Milk Civilian supplies will only be "slightly less." Fresh Vegetables and Fruits -Commercial growers appear to be exceeding goals by about 20 ner- ceut, thus promising temporary gluts of certain fresh vegetables. House wives must do a bigger job of can ning this year. As OWI released the results of its survey, the WFA removed all res trictions on the slaughter of live stock on farms in an effort to en courage further reductions in the current record numbers of meat ani mals. 4-H Poultry Club Meets The "Plenty of Poultry for Vic iory' 4-H club met at the home of Robert Cole on Monday evening, May 15. President Ralph Hild called the meeting to order, followed by the American and 4-H flag salutes. Vari ous reports were made and all busi ness was discussed. After the business meeting our president turned the meeting over to our leader, Richard Cole. New iiterature was rassed out and ex plained. Wo studied lessors I and II "The Poultry Industry" and "Care of Baby Chicks." Written questions were asked ihe members of the club by our leader. New assignment was made for the next meeting. Delicious refreshments were serv ed by Eloise and Mary Margaret Cole. Next meeting will be held May 22, at Ralph Hild's. On Monday evening, May 22, the "Plenty of Poultry for Victory" 4-H club met at the home of Ralph, De loris and Dorothy Hild. Our president, Ralph Hild, called the meeting to order. The American and 4-H flag salutes were given by all. Robert Cole read his secretary's report and was approved. Roll call was answered by all but two mem bers. Other business was discussed after which the president t.irned the meeting over to our leader, Richard Cole. We read and discussed Lesson III, "Care of Growing Chicks." after which our leader gave us written questions. We corrected the papers and recorded the grades to see who is the most outstanding member at the end of the year. After the les son all joined ir, in singing 4-H club yells. Meeting adjourned. Delicious refreshments were served by Mrs. John L. Hild. Next meeting will be held June F, at Merle Dean Meisinger's. Reporter: Merb? Meisinger. Bay War Bonis The War In Review 4j, j 1 i -- -- ft Allied Headquarters, Naples. May 22. (UP)- The nazi command has thrown into battle its last reserves south of Rome, and, by pouring re inforcements i lto the coastal sector, has thrown the American vanguard lack to three miles from Terracina. it was announced today. Marshal Albert Kesselring turned on the allies with everything he had for what appeared to be the show (:Gwu battle of southern Italv. The concentrations of German forces produced the first allied set. bacK of the Hth day offensive when the Americans were pushed back from Terracina coastal anchor of the enemy line, after advancing patrols attempted to enter the stratgic town this morning. London, May 23, (UP) A 1.750 piane fleet cf American Flying Fort resses, Liberators and fighters, smashed almost unopposed at the German network of railways and airfields in northern France today, after 1.000 RAF night bombers drop ped some 4, ISO tons of explosives cn Dortmund, Brunswick and other tar gets along s.:iid behind the invasion coast. The American daylight raiders fanned out in overwhelming force ever a 220 mile arc extending from the channel coast almost to the western border of the reicb, blasted two big railway centers and six of the Luftwaffe advanced fight-.r bas es. Allied Headquarters. Naples, May 23. (UP) American armored forces assaulted Terracina today, but wer" halted by explosives dropped from a sheer 75-foot cliff on the .-ppian Way. while U. S. infantry was clos ing in on the reinforced anchor of the Gei man defense line. (The German high command re ported that allied forces in the Anzio beachhead have started a powerful offensive 20 off miles be hind the Terracina position, appar ently putting a two-way squeeze on the nazis in the coastal sector.) James C. Roper, U. P. correspond ent, in a dispatch from the oth. army front, reported the assault on Terracina. and said American artil lery yesterday began shelling a lo.vn in the rear of the German forces surrounding the Anzio beach head. At the northeastern end of the battle line, the British 8th army bat tered "well into" one section of the only intact segment of the Adolf Hitler line. Allied Headquarters, Naples, May i'.i. (LP) -American forces cut the" Appian Way cn both sides of Cis terna today, knocked out more than thirty German tanks in a tour-hour battle near the town 25 miles be- lcw Rome, and to the southeast cap tured Terracina, coastal anchor of the German defenses on the main Italian front. A special announcement by allied headquarters said the allied troops freaking oat of Anzio beachhead scored new gains and took many pris oners on the second day of the of fensive spearheaded by United States armor slashing across the primary line of retreat for seventeen German divisions on the main front. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes' U. S armored units crumpled the coastal aa?hor of the German defenses with the capture of Terracina from which they were driven back three days ago by nazi reinforcements or dered to hold the strategic town at all cost. London. May 24. (UP) About 5,000 allied war planes blazed a trail of ruin across axis Europe from the channel coast to the Austrian Alps today, spearheaded by two big American air fleets that blasted Ber lin and Paris from the west and the suburbs of Vienna from the south. In the most wide-spread Ameri can daylight attack of the war. some 00 heavy bombers and fighters from the United States 8th, 9th and 15th air force smashed at the three vital axis nerve centers, while about 1,500 other allied planes swarmed ever the French invasion coast. The British-based American heavi es, almost 1.000 strong, fought through heavy enemy fighter oppo sition to pound Berlin and the net work of nazi airdromes surrounding Paris, while about 750 fortresses and liberators from the Mediterran ean lashed targets around Vienna, in northern Italy and in Yugo Slavia. London, May 25. OJP) The junc- ture of the, main allied ath-army ar.d the Aivno beach Head in western : Italv was hailed in London today as a first rate tactical victory that foreshadows the early fall of Rome. and threatens to trap anywhere up tt, iUO,(.oo Hernia:; troops Nlilitary otfieiais said naz; f;eld marshal Albert Kesselring is being IU'hed back into the AI'mn hills below Rome, where he must try to hold eff the onrushing I'ritbn 8th arsny on his left :'iank and the 5th ai'iy forces cn his right. The slighest miscalculation at this point of the battle, these sour ces said, could involve Kesselring in a major disaster affecting any where up to leO.000 men. Informed quarters credited tlv sudden collapse of the German posi tion between Anzio and Te'r.'ira to General Sir Harold R. L. Alex ander's "masterful" strategy and timing, assorting that the nai'is had expected the main thrust from the beachhead would be aimed from the western flank directly toward Rome. Top ranking allied official toid tne I in ted Press that the Italian victory was bound to have a tre mendous effect on the course ami the d iration i the entire war. Allied Headquaru-iT, Naples. May 26. I UP) The Fii'th Army, swiftly exploiting the linking of its two fronts below Rome, captured the Appian way stronghold of Cisterna in a bloody four-hour battle, oc cupied virtually the entire Pontine marshes, and pushed into the hills to the northeast, it was disclosed today. At the southeastern end of the em battled 70-mile front. British. Can adian and Polish troops of the Eighth am y seized Aquino and Piedmonte probably the 'ast sirongholds in the old Adolf Hitler line, and drove across The Melfa river in pursuit of the retreating enemy. Vallecorsa, six miles north of Fundi, Mt. Civiulla and three iwks farther cast fell to American and French elements of the Fifth army in trie central sector as the last breaking "oii-to-Home" offensive went into its third week. Tlie bag ot prisoners for the first 3 4 davs of the offensive rose to more than jz.O'jo, including nearlv 000 taker, by the Anzio beachhead fori es alone. Fifty -six towns and 7S peaks have been captured. Cisterna, important highway and lailwny junction of ihe Appian way ' miles southeast of Rome, was occupkd late yesterday by American troops after some of the bitterest fighting at the beachhead end of the front. Allied Headquarters, Southwest Pacific, May 26. (UP) American iniantrjmen, spearheaded by a tank attack and supported by artillery and fighter planes, have reached the Maffin airdrome five miles west or" the river on the Dutch New.- 'iuinea mainland and have cut off Japanese retreat, from the airstrip, it v as an nounced today. Capture of the 5,000-foot airstrip appeared imminent. While U. S. in fantrymen smashed nearly five miles along the Dutch New Guinea coast, advancing in the face of raking fire from Japanese artillery, mortars and automatic weapons, American artil lery demolished a bridge across the Woke river, west of Maffin air drome, cutting off the retreat of the airstrip's defenders. The communique disclosed that the Wakde airstrip on Iusoemoar is land, established as an American bae last Sunday after infantrymen had all but annihilated its enemy de fenders, has been lengthened from 2,iiOC to 6,000 feet by U. S. army engineers. London. May 27. (UPi Two big American fleets totalling perhaps ;!,000 war planes struck concentrat ed blows from Britain and Italy at nine key railroad and aviation cen ters along a 40 -mile front through western Germany and eastern France toe'r.y. Two thousand Flying Fortresses and fighters exploded a broad side againrt Ludwigshafen, Mannheim. Strassbourg and Metz in the French German border invasion. The 15th air force sent a formation of the samp make up against Marseilles, Nimes and Avignan and southeast ern France. The pre-irvasion bombardment of the nazi Euiope blazed up in full fury again when clearing weather enables the allied command to fly some 3,50') sorties from Britain in the first IS hours of the day and the Mediterranean forces invaded France for the third straight day. Forecasters expected the summery weather over western Europe to continue at least through the week end, giving the allied air forces an unlimited opportunity to carry the softening or German defenses to new heights.