America at war! (1941– ) (Part 1)

[NormanStewart]

Censorship code prevents news blackout despite curbs

Voluntary restrictions sought to forestall disclosures likely to aid enemy

Washington (UP) –
A code of wartime practices for newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals was announced today by the Office of Censorship.

Under the code, which was drafted by Director Byron Price and Assistant Director J. H. Sorrells after conferences with the industry, the government asks that certain classes of information which might be of aid to the enemy be withheld from publication except when officially given out.

Many of the practices proposed have already been put into effect by publications on a voluntary basis.

Statement issued

It was disclosed that Mr. Sorrells would be in direct charge of administration of the code, assisted by a small board of editors and an advisory council of the publishing industry, soon to be appointed.

The Office of Censorship issued the following statement:

This statement responds to the many inquiries received by the Office of Censorship, asking for an outline of newspaper and magazine practices which the government feels are desirable for the effective prosecution of the war.

It is essential that certain basic facts be understood.

Keep enemy uninformed

The first of these facts is that the outcome of the war is a matter of vital personal concern to the future of every American citizen. The second is that the security of our armed forces and even of our homes and our liberties will be weakened in greater or less degree by every disclosure of information which will help the enemy.

If every member of every news staff and contributing writer will keep these two facts constantly in mind, and then will follow the dictates of common sense, he will be able to answer for himself many of the questions which might otherwise trouble him. In other words, a maximum of accomplishment will be attained if editors will ask themselves with respect to any given detail, “Is this information I would like to have if I were the enemy?” and then act accordingly.

No journalistic blackout

The result of such a process will hardly represent “business as usual” on the news desks of the country. On the contrary, it will mean some sacrifice of the journalistic enterprise of ordinary times. But it will not mean a news or editorial blackout. It is the hope and expectation of the Office of Censorship that the columns of American publications will remain the freest in the world, and will tell the story of our national successes and shortcomings accurately and in much detail.

The highly gratifying response of the press so far proves that it understands the need for temporary sacrifice, and is prepared to make that sacrifice in the spirit of the President’s assurance that such curtailment as may be necessary will be administered:

…in harmony with the best interests of our free institutions.

Summary is listed

Below is a summary covering specific problems. This summary repeats, with some modifications, requests previously made by various agencies of the federal government, and it may be regarded as superseding and consolidating all of these requests.

Special attention is directed to the fact that all of the requests in the summary are modified by a proviso that the information listed may properly be published when authorized by appropriate authority. News on all of these subjects will become available from government sources; but in war, timeliness is an important factor, and the government unquestionably is in the best position to decide when disclosure is timely.

The specific information which newspapers, magazines, and all other media of publication are asked not to publish except when such information is made available officially by appropriate authority, falls into the following classes:

Troops

The general character and movements of United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps units, within or without the continental limits of the United States – their location, identity, or exact composition, equipment, or strength; destination, routes, and schedules; assembly for embarkation, prospective embarkation, or actual embarkation. Any such information regarding the troops of friendly nations on American soil.

NOTE: The request as regards “location” and “general character” does not apply to troops in training camps in continental United States, nor to units assigned to domestic police duty.

Ships

The identity, location, and movements of United States naval or merchant vessels, of neutral vessels, or vessels of nations opposing the Axis powers in any waters, unless such information is made public outside continental United States; the port and time of arrival or prospective arrival of such vessels, or the port from which they leave; the nature of cargoes of such vessels; the identity or location of enemy naval or merchant vessels in any waters, unless such information is made public outside continental United States; the identity, assembly, or movements of transports or convoys; the existence of minefields or other harbor defenses; secret orders or other secret instructions regarding lights, buoys and other guides to navigators; the number, size, character, and location of ships in construction, or advance information as to the date of launchings or commissionings; the physical setup or technical details of shipyards.

Planes

The disposition, movements, missions, new characteristics, or strength of military air units of the United States or the United Nations unless such information is made public outside continental United States and its origin stated; scope and extent of military activities and missions of the Civil Air Patrol; movements of personnel, material, or other activities by commercial air lines for the military services, including changes of schedules occasioned thereby. Activities, operations and installations of the Air Forces Ferrying Command, the RAF Ferrying Command, or commercial companies operating services for or in cooperation with the Ferrying Command. Information concerning new military aircraft and related items of equipment or detailed information on performance, construction and armament of current military aircraft or related items now in service or commercial airline planes in international traffic.

Fortifications

The location of forts and other fortifications; the location of coast defense emplacements, antiaircraft guns, and other air defense installations; their nature and number; location of bomb shelters; location of camouflaged objects; information concerning installations by American military units outside the continental United States.

Production

Specifications which saboteurs could use to gain access to or damage war production plants. Exact estimates of the amount, schedules or delivery date of future production, or exact reports of current production. Exact amounts involved in new contracts for war production, and the specific nature or specifications of such production.

Nature of production should be generalized as follows: tanks, planes, plane parts, motorized vehicles, uniform equipment, ordnance, munitions, vessels. Generalize all types of camps to “camps” or “cantonments.” Any statistical information other than officially issued by a proper Government department which would disclose the amounts of strategic or critical materials produced, imported, or in reserve – such as tin, rubber, aluminum, uranium, zinc, chromium, manganese, tungsten, silk, platinum, cork, quinine, copper, optical glass, mercury, high octane gasoline. Any information indicating industrial sabotage. In reporting industrial accidents, no mention of sabotage should be made unless cleared with the appropriate military authority.

Any information about new or secret military designs, formulas, or experiments; secret manufacturing processes or secret factory designs, either for war production or capable of adaptation for war production. Nationwide or regional roundups of current war production or war contract procurement data; local roundups disclosing total numbers of war production plants and the nature of their production.

Weather

Weather forecasts, other than officially issued by the Weather Bureau; the routine forecasts printed by any single newspaper to cover only the State in which it is published and not more than four adjoining states, portions of which lie within a radius of 150 miles from the point of publication.

Consolidated temperature tables covering more than 20 stations in any one newspaper.

NOTE: Special forecasts issued by the Weather Bureau warning of unusual conditions, or special reports issued by the Weather Bureau concerning temperature tables, or news stories warning the public of dangerous roads or streets, within 150 miles of the point of publication, are all acceptable for publication.

Weather “roundup” stories covering actual conditions throughout more than one state, except when given out by the Weather Bureau.

Photographs and maps

Photographs conveying the information specified in this summary, unless officially approved for publication.

Detailed maps or photographs disclosing location of munition dumps, or other restricted Army or naval areas.

NOTE: This has no reference to maps showing the general theater of war or large-scale zones of action, movements of contending forces on a large scale, or maps showing the general ebb and flow of battle lines; or maps showing the general ebb and flow of battle lines.

NOTE: Special care should be exercised in the publication of aerial photos presumably of non-military significance, which might reveal military or other information helpful to the enemy; also care should be exercised in publishing casualty photos so as not to reveal unit identifications through collar ornaments, etc. Special attention is directed to the section of this summary covering information about damage to military objectives.

General

Casualty lists

NOTE: There is no objection to publication of information about casualties from a newspaper’s local field, obtained from nearest of kin, but it is requested that in such cases, specific military units and exact locations be not mentioned.

Information disclosing the new location of national archives, or of public or private art treasures, and so one, which have been moved for safekeeping.

Information about damage to military and naval objectives, including docks, railroads, or commercial airports, resulting from enemy action.

NOTE: The spread of rumors in such a way that they will be accepted as facts will render aid and comfort to the enemy. It is suggested that enemy claims of ship sinkings, or of other damage to our forces should be weighed carefully and the sources clearly identified, if published.

Information about the transportation of munitions or other war materials, including oil tank cars and trains.

President covered

Information about the movements of the President of the United States or of official military or diplomatic missions of the United States or of any other nation opposing the Axis powers – routes, schedules, destination, within or without continental United States: movements of ranking Army or naval officers and staffs on official missions; movements of other individuals or units under special orders of the Army, Navy or State Department.

NOTE: Advertising matter, letters to the editor, interviews with men on leave, columns, and so on, are included in the above requests, both as to text and illustration.

Inquiries welcomed

If information concerning any phase of the war effort should be made available anywhere which seems to come from doubtful authority, or to be in conflict with the general aims of these requests; or if special restrictions requested locally or otherwise by various authorities seem unreasonable or out of harmony with this summary, it is recommended that the question be submitted at once to the Office of Censorship.

In addition, if any newspaper, magazine, or other agency or individual handling news or special articles desires clarification or advice as to what disclosures might or might not aid the enemy, the Office of Censorship will cooperate gladly. Such inquiries should be addressed to the Office of Censorship, Washington. Telephone Executive 3800.

Should further additions or modifications of this summary seem feasible and desirable from time to time, the industry will be advised.

BYRON PRICE
Director, the Office of Censorship
January 15, 1942

[NormanStewart]

1,800 more put on blacklist by government

Rich Swedish industrialist among those name by State Department

Washington (UP) –
The United States today increased to almost 5,000 the number of Axis and non-Axis firms blacklisted from trading or dealing financially with Americans.

The State Department’s latest blacklist includes 1,800 companies and individuals operating in Sweden, Turkey, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal.

Axel Wenner-Gren, wealthy Swedish industrialist who is a friend of the Duke of Windsor, was on the list. Wenner-Gren recently arrived in Mexico from Peru and transferred his yacht, Southern Cross, to Mexican registry.

The United States applied the first economic sanctions against Axis firms or firms doing business with the Axis on July 17, 1941. It applied only to firms in South America. That list has been added to, and some names originally on it have been removed.

The latest list follows closely one compiled by Great Britain and is considered a result of the conferences among British and American officials here.

It carries the names of 506 firms or individuals doing business in Portugal, 166 in Portuguese possessions, 569 in Spain, 52 in Spanish possessions, 82 in Sweden, 196 in Turkey and more than 400 in Switzerland.

The firms or individuals may be restored to the good grace of the State Department if they demonstrate satisfactorily that they have severed their trade or financial relations with enemy nations.

[NormanStewart]

U.S. War Department (January 16, 1942)

Communiqué No. 61

Philippine Theater.
The War Department has been advised of the safe arrival at Darwin, Australia, of the U.S. Army hospital ship MACTAN carrying a considerable number of soldiers and sailors who were wounded in the Philippines.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

Communiqué No. 62

Philippine Theater.
Ground fighting of varying intensity continues all along the frontline. Enemy shock troops with special training are attempting aggressive infiltration. Attack planes and dive bombers are being used incessantly by the Japanese against our frontline troops and artillery positions.

Many reports reaching Gen. MacArthur’s headquarters from the occupied areas indicate that the enemy is systematically looting and devastating the entire countryside.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

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U.S. Navy Department (January 16, 1942)

Communiqué No. 29

Far East.
Units of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet report the sinking of five enemy vessels in Far Eastern waters. They include two large cargo ships, two large transports and one medium-sized transport. These sinkings are in addition to enemy casualties at sea previously reported.

Atlantic Area.
The submarine situation along the northeast coast of the United States remains unchanged.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (January 16, 1942)

Pan-American motion urges Axis ousters

U.S. offers resolution to set up hemispheric ‘FBI’ system
By Everett R. Holles, United Press staff writer

Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 16 –
Resolutions presented to the conference of foreign ministers of the American republics today called flatly for a joint severance of all relations with the Axis, and creation of a vast continental organization, to suppress Axis espionage and sabotage.

Resolutions introduced by th United States and other nations sought:

1. A joint severance of relations with the Axis countries.

2. Establishment of a hemispheric FBI system to round up suspected aliens. This was introduced by the United States.

3. Restriction of travel of suspected aliens.

4. Denial of citizenship to alien suspects and revoking citizenship already granted.

5. Limitation of the use of aircraft and airfields to friendly nations.

Committee planned

The resolutions aimed at suppression of Axis activities provide for formation of an advisory committee, representing all 21 American republics. This group would begin functioning at once, and would be called the “Committee of Political Defense.” It would operate in conjunction with the Pan-American Union.

Other United States resolutions urged establishment of the strictest control over radio, telephone and cable communications, as well as the elimination of clandestine communication devices. It implied that the United States would furnish radio locaters.

Another United States resolution asked that the Inter-American Neutrality Committee, sitting at Rio de Janeiro, be reorganized into an advisory committee on juridical maters, and that it be empowered to deal with post-war problems.

Present resolution

The resolution calling for a break in diplomatic relations between the American republics and the Axis was presented by Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.

South American delegations presented other resolutions asking in effect for financial and military aid in return for their stand with the United States in a strong hemisphere front.

Efforts by Argentine Foreign Minister Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú to soften the severance of relations resolution apparently failed, it was revealed. A modification might have provided Argentina – and also Chile and Paraguay – with the means to maintain economic and commercial relations with the Axis.

Contains three parts

The resolution was in three parts. The first contained the same pro…

[NormanStewart]

This is official –
U.S. restricts defense gifts

Will accept only those given without strings

Washington (UP) –
Voluntary contributions of money from individuals or organizations for the purchase of war equipment can be accepted by the government provided the offers are wholly unrestricted, the War Department declared today in announcing the plan of employees of the New York Central System, numbering more than 130,000, to collect funds for this purpose.

Several similar programs are being carried out elsewhere.

The War Department made it plain, however, that these gifts, whether of time or money, must be unconditional, otherwise special legislation would be required for their acceptance.

Contributions, moreover, must be to the general funds of the United States and cannot be allocated to the purchase of special pieces of equipment, as a medium tank or a heavy bomber.

The department pointed out that it would be proper for a donor to request that the money be devoted to a specific purpose, leaving its final disposition to the government.

Senator Brewster (R-ME) recently introduced a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to accept gifts of money from individuals for provisions of materials of war.

[NormanStewart]

Reports verified –
Second vessel sunk off coast

Navy confirms new attack near Long Island

Washington, Jan. 16 (UP) –
The Navy revealed today that a second merchant ship – an Allied vessel of unrevealed nationality and tonnage – has been attacked and presumably sunk by an enemy submarine off the Long Island coast.

Reports of a second submarine attack off Long Island had been in persistent circulation for 24 hours but until noon today, the Navy had reported it was without information on the attack.

The brief statement today gave no details of the second attack beyond the fact that the submarine’s victim was an Allied vessel of foreign registry and that it was presumably sunk.

The announcement of the second attack was made orally by a Navy spokesman, who said:

The Navy Department is now able to confirm that a second merchant ship, a vessel of foreign registry, was attacked by an enemy submarine off Long Island. The vessel, an Allied ship, was presumed to have been sunk.

It seemed likely that the ship was a victim of the same submarine which sank the 9,577-ton Panamanian tanker Norness at 1 a.m. Wednesday about 60 miles southeast of Montauk Point, Long Island…

[NormanStewart]

Favorite programs may fade –
Radio ‘don’ts’ issued

Interviews, quiz broadcasts, ad lib comment on air curbed for duration by censors

Washington, Jan. 16 (UP) –
If one of your favorite radio programs is suddenly changed or taken off the air entirely, don’t be alarmed.

That’s another of those things that go with a nation at war.

The Office of Censorship today issued a set of instructions for the radio industry to follow during the war.

The Office of Censorship said:

Most of the precautions emphasized in the statement are being exercised already by broadcasts on a voluntary basis.

Attention was called to the fact that all newspapers, magazines and periodicals were censored at the national borders, but that no such post-publication censorship was possible in radio. For that reason, newspapers and magazines will sometimes contain information that radio broadcasters are prohibited from using.

The ad lib or informal types of programs will be hardest hit. Under this heading, the Office of Censorship listed four classifications: Request programs, quiz programs, ad lib forums and interviews, and ad lib commentaries and descriptions.

Under the request programs, the Office of Censorship asked that no telephoned or telegraphed requests for musical selections be accepted for the duration. Mail requests should be held for an unspecified length of time, and precautions should be taken against honoring a given request at a specified time.

If a telephone caller, for instance…

[NormanStewart]

U.S. SINKS 5 JAP SHIPS
Navy guns bag 3 transports, 2 cargo boats

Asiatic surface fleet cooperates with subs in telling attack
By Harrison Salisbury, United Press staff writer

Washington, Jan. 16 –
The Navy today ran its bag of Japanese warships, transports and supply ships up to 24 with the sinking of five more vessels in the Far East, as General Douglas MacArthur’s men fought off a fierce assault of Japanese shock troops, attack planes and dive bombers.

The new sinkings were achieved by “units of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet,” the Navy communiqué reported, indicating that surface warships as well as submarines may have participated in the attack on Japan’s tenuous sea lines which are vital to her operation of campaigns over thousands of miles of ocean.

The bulk of the previous Navy sinkings have been achieved by U.S. submarines, naval aircraft and the gallant Marine defenders of Wake Island.

Cargo ships included

The latest toll on Japanese sea power included two large cargo ships, presumably of 6,000 tons or better, two large transports, probably about the same size, and one medium-sized transport.

If the Navy is able to continue this rate of sinkings and Dutch and British forces maintain their equally heavy attacks on Japanese sea forces, the punch of the Japanese attacks on Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and General MacArthur’s men on Luzon will be weakened.

The latest Navy sinkings indicate that despite the concentration of Japanese naval power in the Southwest Pacific and the constant operation of fleets of Japanese bombers and observation craft there, Admiral Thomas C. Hart’s far smaller United Nations fleet is still able to challenge the Japanese control of the ocean.

50,000 tonnage

In the latest two days alone, U.S. naval forces have sunk six Japanese ships, including a crack 17,000-ton liner of the Yawata class – a total tonnage of probably close to 50,000 tons. The effect of these sinkings has not yet been noted in Japanese land operations.

The Army communiqué today reported that General MacArthur’s…

[NormanStewart]

WAR BULLETINS!

Caroline Islands raided

Melbourne, Australia –
Australian planes raided the Japanese-mandated Caroline Islands last night, the Royal Australian Air Force announced today. One Australian plane failed to return from the attack, which was made in bad weather.

More Chinese troops reach Burma

Chungking, China –
Newspapers reported today that a second body of Chinese troops had reached Burma and had proceeded at once to designated garrison sectors. They reported also that a special Chinese military mission would be sent to Washington to take part in Allied war conferences.

Axis ships attacked off Africa

Stockholm, Sweden –
The newspaper Aftonbladet reported from Berlin today that British naval units had attacked Axis shipping in the Spanish harbor of Santa Isabel on the island of Fernando Pó, Spanish West Africa.

Emden, Hamburg fired

London, England –
The Air Ministry said today that British bombers, striking again in strong force, had started large fires at Emden and Hamburg, Germany’s largest port. The RAF also struck at objectives in northwest Germany, and at enemy airdromes in the Low Countries, the announcement said. Six planes were missing from all operations.

Sarawak Rajah reveals big losses

Sydney, Australia –
Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, said today Indian troops defending his principality lost half their force but that he had “heard” they:

…killed 3,000 of 6,000 Japanese who attacked them.

Sarawak was defended “magnificently,” he told the Sydney Telegraph, and “could have been held with 1,000 more men.”

[NormanStewart]

U.S. War Department (January 17, 1942)

Communiqué No. 63

Philippine Theater.
A heavy Japanese attack against the right flank of American and Philippine troops in the Bataan Peninsula is now in progress. This attack is well-supported by aircraft and artillery.

The assailants greatly outnumber the defending troops. However, our soldiers are stubbornly contesting the attempted advance.

There is nothing to report from other areas.

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U.S. Navy Department (January 17, 1942)

Communiqué No. 30

Far East.
A U.S. submarine has sunk three enemy merchant ships off Tokyo Bay.

ADM Thomas C. Hart has assumed control of Allied naval forces in Far Eastern waters.

Atlantic Area.
Enemy submarine activities off the northeast coast of the United States continue.

There are no further developments to report from other areas.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (January 17, 1942)

Carole Lombard, 21 others die in crash of flaming transport

15 Army aviators aboard; film star’s mother and press agent victims

Career ends in mountain crash

Miss Carole Lombard, the movie star, was among the 21 persons aboard a Transcontinental & Western Airlines plane which exploded and crashed into a Nevada mountain last night.

Las Vegas, Nevada (UP) –
Film star Carole Lombard and 21 other persons were believed to have been killed last night when a Transcontinental & Western Airlines plane crashed into Table Rock Mountain.

15 of the passengers were pilot officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. Army Ferry Command returning to their West Coast bases.

Among the victims were Staff Sgt. Edgar A. Nygren and Sgt. Robert F. Nygren, whose home addresses were given as Route 1, Dunbar, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and Staff Sgt. Albert M. Belejacbak, 706 Main St., Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Miss Lombard’s husband, Clark Gable, flew here in private plane and joined searching squads at the foot of the Table Mountain on the eastern slope of Death Valley.

Los Angeles offices of TWA said pilot Art Cheney of Western Air Express, who flew over Table Rock Mountain shortly after the crash, had reported to them he saw flames on the slopes, and believed it was the TWA plane.

Accompanied by mother

The actress was accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, and her press agent, Otto Winkler, a studio representative of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which held her contract. They boarded the plane yesterday at Indianapolis, where Miss Lombard had participated in a defense bond sales campaign.

The plane crashed about 20 miles west of here at 7:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. EST) a few minutes after it had left Las Vegas on the last leg of a transcontinental flight to Los Angeles, 300 miles west of here.

Miners in the vicinity said they heard the plane explode with a thunderous roar. Flames from the burning wreckage could be seen for miles.

Heard explosion

O. E. Saylor, purchasing agent at the Blue Diamond Lead Mine, said he heard the plane overhead a few minutes after it left Las Vegas. He said:

Then we heard an explosion and saw the plane afire against the mountain.

D. Houston, an employee at the mine, said he failed to hear the crash but joined other onlookers five minutes later and still could see the glow against the mountain.

Clark County police officers recruited Tweed Wilson, septuagenarian Indian, to aid in the search. Army officers ordered trucks and “jeeps” into the area.

Horsemen used

The scene of the crash was almost inaccessible. A dozen horsemen and a powerful tractor were pressed into service.

The snow-covered mountain is an 8,000-foot elevation at the lower end of the Charleston Range, which separates Nevada from Death Valley. It rises almost 5,000 feet from the valley on either side.

Willard George, Los Angeles furrier who owns the ranch where Tweed Wilson works, said he saw the plane passing in the twilight and that its tail appeared to be bobbing up and down in a peculiar manner.

He said:

It seemed to be out of control for a time as though someone was fighting in the cockpit.

Crashed near beacon

A few minutes after the plane passed from view, it crashed against the mountain not far from a beacon marking its course.

Major H. W. Anderson, executive officer of the Air Corps Gunnery School at McCarran Field, was in charge of the searching party. Because of the rugged terrain, it was believed it would be several hours before the party reached the scene.

The transport left Las Vegas just at dusk and was apparently behind schedule. The course from Las Vegas to Los Angeles is not lighted, although beacons mark the path.

The airline reported only one civilian passenger, Lois Hamilton of Detroit, in addition to the three Hollywood residents, aboard the plane.

Members of the crew included:

• Pilot W. C. Williams,
• Co-pilot Morgan A. Gillette,
• Miss Alice F. Getz, hostess.

[NormanStewart]

Sales record won by Miss Lombard

Washington (UP) –
A Treasury spokesman today credited Carole Lombard with being instrumental in bringing about the largest recorded sales of defense savings bonds.

He said Miss Lombard journeyed from Hollywood to Indianapolis early this week to star in the first of a series of rallies to promote sales of defense stamps and bonds, and that $2 million worth of bonds were sold as a result.

[NormanStewart]

Philippine peril grows –
Japs assailing flank in Luzon

MacArthur’s forces fight fierce enemy attack
By Harrison Salisbury, United Press staff writer

Washington, Jan. 17 –
General Douglas MacArthur’s forces today fought stubbornly against a fierce Japanese attack by infantry, artillery and aircraft directed by superior enemy forces against the right wing of their northern Bataan Province lines.

The American and Filipino troops, the War Department communiqué admitted, are greatly outnumbered by the Jap assault troops.

The War Department reported:

A heavy Japanese attack against the right flank of American and Philippine troops in the Bataan Peninsula is now in progress. This attack is well supported by aircraft and artillery.

The assailants greatly outnumber the defending troops. However, our soldiers are stubbornly contesting the attempted advance.

Mention by the communiqué of the “right flank” of General MacArthur’s lines indicated that the Jap assault is being launched in the Hermosa area in an effort to drive down the eastern Bataan coastal road toward Mariveles, communications port through which General…

[NormanStewart]

‘We’ll oust Axis if –’
Pan-Americans ask guarantee

Call for assurance U.S. can defend them
By Everett R. Holles, United Press staff writer

Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 17 –
A complete break of the American nations with the Axis was understood today to depend on the ability of the United States to guarantee a definite schedule of defense and economic aid to Argentina, Chile and Paraguay at the emergency conference of American foreign ministers.

Those nations and, to a lesser extent, Peru, were said to feel that concurrence in a resolution calling for a joint severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, Italy and Japan would amount to a declaration of war and the Axis might immediately undertake reprisals.

Ask about weapons

As one prominent South American military figure put it:

We first want to know how and when we are going to get weapons to defend ourselves before we embark on such a dangerous step.

Sumner Welles, United States Under Secretary of State and head of the United States delegation, was believed to be communicating with Washington about what military aid, including destroyers for convoy duty he could promise.

Argentine Foreign Minister Enrique Ruiz Guiñazú said he would offer no resolution to the conference, but his terms for joining the United American front were known to be similar to Chile’s.

Chile wants ships

Chile, for “all facilities compatible with a state of active non-belligerency,” wants:

• Ships;
• Guns;
• A speeding of priorities for expansion of her dock facilities, electrification, railroads and enlargement of airdromes;
• A $120 million long-term loan for “direct” and “indirect” defense projects;
• Benefits from the seizure of 350,000 tons of Axis shipping in South American waters;
• Abandonment of United States war plants – such as those for producing nitrogen – that would hinder Latin-American exports after…

[NormanStewart]

Stricter tire curb in store

Henderson warns output for civilians may end

Washington –
Price Administrator Leon Henderson warned last night that “we are almost done with manufacturing tires on a civilian basis,” and that the impact of tire and tube rationing “has scarcely been felt yet.”

Opposing a bill before the House district committee which would permit Washington taxi drivers to buy new equipment, he said the “mailbags are full” of requests that the rationing restrictions be relaxed for “special groups.”

Must last long time

He said:

The answer is simply that there are not enough tires to go around. We must allocate our stocks over a long period – and that period extends until our military arms are successful.

Barring unforeseen developments, he said, a stockpile of 9 million tires should be available “for the duration” to civilian consumers who normally buy 35 million annually. If restrictions were lifted, he added, the number on hand would “disappear in a bare three months.”

Urges approval of bill

Rep. William T. Schulte (D-IN) pleaded for approval of the bill, arguing that local transportation is vital to defense and that:

The Burma Road is a pleasure in comparison to Washington’s most damnable, abominable transportation system.

Mr. Henderson announced later that the tire rationing order has been amended to permit “eligible” light truck operators to buy six and eight-ply tires as well as those of four-ply.

Fleet to get rubber

The Navy, meanwhile, announced that synthetic rubber and plastic substitutes developed by research men during the past three years would meet almost all of the fleet’s requirements and that present production facilities would be adequate if the Navy were given their entire output.

Senator Sheridan Downey (D-CA) introduced a resolution to create a special five-man committee to investigate rubber supplies and the development of substitutes. He said that despite “reassuring” reports of Federal Loan Administrator Jesse Jones and others, there is only an 18-month supply on hand and that synthetic production should be increased to 400,000 pounds annually.

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Editorial: Bands, songs and cheers

One trouble with this war so far is – no bands. Anyway, not enough bands.

During the period between World War I and the present one, such things as martial music and flag-waving fell into disfavor. It was felt that they tended to excite interest in war, and no one wanted to do that.

Now that we are at war, however, we can make good use of the emotional “shot in the arm” that is provided by band music, parades, cheers, songs and, yes, flag-waving. Singing nations have always fought better than dour ones.

It would seem that bands, parades and patriotic rallies might well be used to help raise money for the Red Cross, to promote the sale of defense bonds and stamps, to stimulate registrations for civilian defense activities or volunteers for the Armed Forces.

Why not have an occasional band concert in or near defense plants at lunch periods? If we know anything about the effect of patriotic airs upon the average American, the workers would go back to their all-important tasks with greater enthusiasm and determination.

Above all, draftees and volunteers should be sent away, whenever possible, with music and cheers. There has been all too little of that. Most of our soldiers-to-be have gone to their trains with nothing to distinguish them from commuters, traveling salesmen or young men going to visit relatives in Hoboken.

As for the rest of us, it is possible that we are being a little too grim about this war. It is serious, of course; extremely serious. But our morale would be better, and we would make greater contributions to the cause, if we went on an emotional spree every once in a while.

All this is not to say, of course, that we should go hysterical. Quite the contrary. But there are still a lot of people who haven’t taken the war to heart. A little pep might stiffen them up.

Strike up the bands.

---

U.S. fleet in action –
Many Jap subs sunk

Reporter with American warships in Pacific gives picture of men at battle stations
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer

The first dispatch from correspondents with U.S. warship forces operating in the Pacific follows. It is the first direct word from naval forces since the war started.

U.S. Fleet protects Pacific sea lanes

1. Hawaiian Islands, main base for America’s Pacific Fleet.
2. Jap naval forces reported massed near Marshall Islands.
3. “Stepping-stone” islands for U.S. defense of Hawaii.

Aboard a U.S. warship in Pacific war zone –
The U.S. Fleet is in action in the Pacific war zone and has sunk a number of Jap submarines.

It is impossible to disclose the number because such a disclosure would be of value to Japan.

But it was made known today that the operations of the Pacific Fleet had been sufficiently successful to provide ample proof of the Navy’s statement that it was not idle.

Protect ‘stepping stones’

It is also impossible, for naval reasons, to disclose the details of action taken by the force of which this vessel is a part, and by similar forces.

It can be said nevertheless that the U.S. Navy is constantly on the alert in the Pacific war zone to intercept any Jap attempt to seize such American “stepping stones” as Midway, Johnston and Palmyra Islands, which lie northwestward (1,320 miles), southwestward (675 miles) and southward (900 miles) of the Hawaiian Islands, America’s mid-Pacific outpost.

U.S. naval forces are operating far from their bases, patrolling wide areas of the Pacific.

Fear mid-ocean trap

The fleet is refusing to risk the possibility of a mid-ocean trap in which the Japanese might, learning of the presence of an individual force of ships, concentrate a fleet in strength.

As Navy Secretary Frank Knox recently said, the Navy is waiting and will carry the fight to the enemy when it is ready to do so.

It is necessarily a secret business. American policy is based on the idea that it is best to keep the enemy guessing and waiting, for instance, for overdue submarines to return. That is one reason why it cannot be said how many Jap submarines have been sent to the bottom.

Expect surprise move

The Japanese will not be aided, however, by the news that the destroyer force, working closely with patrol planes of the fleet, has accounted for its share of Jap submarines since the sneak attack on Hawaii Dec. 7.

Vigilance in the fleet could hardly be intensified, but it was made known today that Allied forces throughout the world, including the mid-Pacific area, were taking extra precautions against a possible surprise Axis move, timed to coincide with the current Pan-American Conference at Rio de Janeiro.

In connection with these precautions, foreign broadcasts heard here reported Jap concentrations in the Marshall Islands, 2,400 miles south of Hawaii.

Could strike at Tahiti

Belief was that if the Axis made any move at the moment, it would be intended to lower American prestige in the Rio de Janeiro meeting, and that simultaneous Jap and German thrusts might be made.

From the Marshall Islands, the Japanese could strike at Midway, Johnston or Palmyra Islands or at Samoa, south of Palmyra and nearly 3,000 miles south of Hawaii. They might strike at Free French Tahiti in the Society Islands 1,430 miles east of Samoa, which is in the Panama Canal route to the Far Pacific.

Johnston and Palmyra have naval and air stations. Midway is the key to the defense of Hawaii.

Maintain constant watch

Japan has strong bases in the Marshalls and in the Carolines to the west. It is believed that planes based in the Marshalls attacked Wake Island. The Japanese have established themselves in the British-mandated Gilbert Islands, 500 miles south of the Marshalls, and are believed to have seized bases in the Ellice Islands, 250 miles south of the Gilberts.

Silent always, and by night, ghostly, the U.S. Fleet with its thousands of American men, pursues its steady zigzagging course, maintaining a constant watch on the approaches far outside Hawaii and to the Pacific Coast of the homeland.

This ship in which I am writing is part of the force assigned to patrol a certain sector of the Pacific.

To port and starboard, ahead, astern, other vessels of the force steam quietly, all on their course in a formation set by the force commander, the rear admiral aboard the flagship.

No light shows anywhere on any of the ships we know are near as we watch from the sky control platform high on the mast.

Here’s action after alarm

Seconds after an alarm sounded, this ship and the accompanying force would be throwing steel and lead at an enemy on a rapid-fire order from both heavy and light batteries, while the “general quarters” call sounded and the entire ship’s company ran to battle stations in a matter of minutes.

As we steam along, the gunnery officer orders another drill to put the gun crews through the routine they would follow if an enemy force were sighted. It would go like this:

The control officer shouts:

Enemy vessel 3-5-0!

…relaying a shout from the lookout.

‘Enemy vessel 3-5-0’

Enemy vessel 3-5-0!

…the talker repeats into the mouthpiece of the telephone suspended from his neck, thus passing the word to the bridge and the gun crews that an enemy craft has been sighted 350 degrees from the ship, taking the ship as the center of the 360-degree circle.

Range 4600!

…the sky control officer announces, relaying from his observer. The enemy ship is not quite 3.25 miles away, or 4,600 yards.

While the sky control officer has been announcing and relaying information, and the news passed to the guns and the bridge, the big turrets of the main battery have already been swung to port and the secondary battery on that side of the ship has been trained forward off the port bow.

‘Commence firing!’

It is assumed to be night, and the big searchlights have been brought to bear on the point. Everything is ready.

The bridge telephones the searchlight crew:

Strike arcs!

They turn on their power but no light appears.

The bridge orders:

Open shutters! Commence firing!

As the searchlight beams hit the enemy, the guns open fire almost simultaneously and the main and secondary batteries start throwing their hail of shells.

Cease fire!

…comes the order and it is over.

Deadly earnest this time

Later, the other half of the crew relieve those who have been on duty.

A lookout shouts:

Lights 0-6-0!

This time, the guns swing out in deadly earnest. It is not drill. But a search of the horizon fails to reveal a light. It might have been a shooting star, but no chances are taken in these waters, prowled by enemy vessels, and all unusual lights and other objects are reported, and guns are trained until identification is made.

In daytime, it might be a whale on or near the surface, seen or picked up by the exceedingly delicate detector apparatus. Many whales have been victims of depth charges or airplane bombs.

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (January 18, 1942)

U.S. SINKS 3 JAP SHIPS OFF TOKYO
Daring American sub scores coup in protected bay

Naval operation announced as MacArthur beats off new attacks
By Harrison Salisbury, United Press staff writer

Washington, Jan. 17 –
An American submarine has invaded the most closely-guarded waters of the Japanese Empire – those off Tokyo Bay – and has sunk three Japanese vessels, the Navy revealed tonight.

The Navy announcement came as General MacArthur and his American and Filipino troops fought valiantly against a storming Japanese attack upon their Bataan Peninsula positions.

The Navy communiqué revealed the most daring American naval operation of the war – a feat rivalling that of Army Capt. Colin Kelly in sinking the Japanese battleship Haruna.

Naval base invaded

The submarine, presumably one of those attached to Admiral Thomas C. Hart’s Asiatic Fleet, slipped into the closely-protected waters off Japan’s greatest naval base, Yokosuka, within a few miles of Yokohama, the heart of the vast Japanese sea empire.

The American undersea craft sank three Japanese merchant ships and managed to flash a report of its success to American naval headquarters. Whether it is still operating in the dangerous Japanese waters was not revealed.

It was the first time in nearly 100 years that an American naval craft had entered Japanese waters on a mission of war.

Memories of Perry

The successful attack was carried out in the same waters where Admiral Matthew Perry sailed nearly 100 years ago, his guns ready for action, in the historic voyage which opened up Japan to contact with the Western world.

The attack by the American submarine was comparable to the action of Japanese submarines in preying upon U.S. commerce close offshore along the Pacific Coast, or of German U-boats in attacking shipping off Long Island.

Although the Navy communiqué mentioned no date when the attacks occurred, it was recalled that more than two weeks ago, the Tokyo radio broadcast warnings of the danger of hostile submarines off the Japanese coast.

Could it have been this sub?

The warnings may have been directed against the submarine whose exploits were reported tonight.

Tokyo Bay, off which the U.S. attacks occurred, is a broad neck of the sea which extends into the indented Japanese coast for nearly 100 miles. It is protected to the south by Izu Peninsula, a pleasant rolling countryside where American Ambassador Joseph Clark Grew often golfed.

Here the great Japanese Yokosuka Naval Base is located – the most important of the whole empire – a naval station comparable in importance to Hampton Roads. It was assumed that Japan has concentrarted strong naval forces to protect shipping in this area.

Liner once halted

It was in these waters that a British cruiser in 1939 halted the Japanese liner Asama Maru and took off a group of Germans attempting to reach the Reich via Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian railroad.

The Japanese at that time were chagrined that a foreign warship had been able to approach their heavy naval and land concentrations so closely without detection.

These attacks are taking a sizable bite out of Japan’s sea resources, especially in view of the fact that an almost equal number of ships have been sunk by other forces of the United Nations.

Tokyo Bay is about 3,400 miles…

[NormanStewart]

Army bomber crash kills 8 in Oregon

Spokane, Washington (UP) – (Jan. 17)
Second Air Force headquarters tonight said eight men were killed in the crash of an Army bomber 2½ miles north of Pendleton, Oregon.

Details of the crash were meagre, but the Air Force said the plane cracked up about 11:30 a.m. PT (2:30 p.m. EST).

The dead were:

• 2nd Lt. A. J. Francisco (pilot)
• 2nd Lt. R. C. Shows (co-pilot)
• 2nd Lt. L. E. Grindle (navigator)
• SSgt. A. B. Spiers
• Pvt. G. T. Vrable
• Sgt. D. Clark
• Pvt. L. Fagan
• Cpl. V. A. Learman.

Home addresses of the officers and crew were not available.

[NormanStewart]

Von Reichenau dies of stroke

Other mysterious deaths of Nazis recalled

Berlin, Jan. 17 – (broadcast reported in U.S. by United Press)
Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, 56, one of the first German military commanders to throw in his lot with the Nazi movement, died of apoplexy today while being transferred to his home for medical treatment.

Von Reichenau was one of three prominent militarists giving early support to Hitler. The others were General Werner von Fritsch, who died mysteriously in Poland, and General Werner von Blomberg, who was ousted.

Until recently an army group commander on the southern front in Rusia, Reichenau won his marshal’s baton as a commander in Poland and for operations as chief of the 6th Army in action against Russia.

The Axis forces had recently suffered heavy defeats on the south Russian front.

The official announcement said:

Field Marshal von Reichenau, who had been taken seriously ill as result of apoplexy, died during transport home. The Führer ordered a state funeral for the field marshal, in view of the distinguished services rendered by the latter.

Adolf Hitler, as Führer of the German nation, charged Reichsmarschall Hermann Wilhelm Göring with representing him at the state funeral, and as commander-in-chief of the German Army, he charged Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt with representing him in this capacity at the state funeral.

Visited U.S. in 1913

During World War I, Reichenau served as a member of the German staff. He became a major general in 1934 and in 1935, he was promoted to lieutenant general commanding an army corps at Munich. A year later, he was made general of artillery.

Following his successes in the campaign against Poland and France, he became a field marshal on July 19, 1940.

…

[NormanStewart]

Ship sunk, one afire in Atlantic collision

Washington (UP) – (Jan. 17)
The Navy Department confirmed tonight that the Santa Elisa and the San Jose, both merchant ships, had collided off Atlantic City, New Jersey, and that the Santa Elisa had been set afire.

The Navy spokesman said the San Jose had sunk. The Santa Elisa, it was said, was burning in sight of the shore.

The Navy spokesman said that the merchant ship Wellhart had picked up 18 survivors and that the Charles L. O’Connor, also a merchant ship, had picked up 11.

[NormanStewart]

Henderson apologizes, lets clergy have tires

Washington (UP) – (Jan. 17)
Leon Henderson today apologized to the nation’s clergy and amended the new tire and tube rationing order to make them eligible purchasers.

The Price Administrator announced that clergymen of all denominations who use autos in carrying out their religious duties would be affected.