Reveal 4 months secret planning to link Russians in shuttle blitz
By James McGlincy
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Americans smash counterattack of Biak Island Japs
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Jap-flown U.S. plane shot down by Yank freighter
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Nolan, Rooney press fight for Congress seat
By Joseph H. Schmalacker
An all-out fight with the fourth term, the New Deal and so-called “communistic tie-ups” as the principal issues, developed in the special election in Brooklyn’s 4th Congressional district last night as the campaign approached a climax and political party organizations and organized labor groups mobilized to bring their supporters to the polls Tuesday.
The importance rival forces have attached to the special election as a political laboratory test in advance of the November campaign became clear from the eleventh-hour activities of the opposing camps.
The Republican campaign headquarters, backing William G. Nolan, GOP nominee, and gunning for a political upset in a district long controlled by the Democrats, flooded the mails with 25,000 letters to the voters, began the distribution of 15,000 cards by hand and prepared to throw a force of 250 workers into the district for direct calls to the homes of voters.
Nolan said in the letter to the voters:
I am opposed to communistic tie-ups, to the New Deal, to the fourth term and to the government’s “kicking” of labor and small business around to suit its political convenience.
Rooney backers announced
The headquarters for John J. Rooney, Democratic nominee (also endorsed by the American Labor Party), struck back by announcing Rooney’s endorsement by the Central and Labor Council of the American Federation of Labor acting through its Brooklyn Nonpartisan Committee.
Meanwhile, the Greater New York CIO Council, headed by Councilman Michael J. Quill, reiterated its support of Rooney and called on CIO members to vote for him.
Mr. Quill, declaring Rooney had pledged himself without qualification to support President Roosevelt and his war and peace policies, asserted the special election was important, not only to help determine the makeup of Congress, “but also as demonstrating labor and the people’s support for President Roosevelt’s Victory program.”
Nolan restates position
Nolan’s letter reiterated his platform of the freedoms of enterprise on which he has been campaigning.
His letter told the voters:
It is imperative that every voter go to the polls and vote, not only to elect a new Congressman, due to the untimely death of our friend and neighbor, Congressman Thomas Cullen, but to oppose the New Deal and a fourth term. I believe in the democratic principles of Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Murtha, president of Central Trades and Labor Council, and James C. Quinn, secretary, told Rooney in a letter that the council after an analysis of the records of the candidates had reported favorably on Rooney’s candidacy.
Other Rooney supporters
Rooney’s headquarters said he had also received expressions of support from Vincent Kane, president of the Uniformed Firemen’s Association; Vincent J. Ferris, former secretary of the Allied Printing Trades Council; James Barry of the Plasterers Council; Jacob Rosenberg, president of the Musicians Union, Local 802, and John Owens, secretary and treasurer of the International Longshoremen’s Union. Nolan, a superintendent of stevedores, is a member of this union. The Rooney headquarters listed about ten other union locals said to have endorsed him.
Meanwhile, William A. Root, chairman of the Nolan campaign committee, and Raymond Schmidt, vice chairman, said they believed the election would be close. The voting on Tuesday will be from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET.
Bricker to carry fight to convention
Washington (UP) – (June 3)
Roy D. Moore, Ohio publisher who is managing Governor John W. Bricker’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, said tonight that “our man is still in the fight and will stay there until the GOP Convention acts.”
He said in an interview that the Bricker forces do not anticipate or concede possible first-ballot nomination of Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York. He also challenged accuracy of newspaper polls and surveys by private organizations indicating that Dewey has enough pledged and claimed delegates to win on the first ballot.
Moore said:
Governor Bricker would not have entered this contest unless he and his friends thought he could win. The fact that we are still in this fight should prove that we haven’t changed our minds.
Bricker’s aides, he asserted, have made no claim to delegates except those from Ohio.
Völkischer Beobachter (June 5, 1944)
‚Wirklichkeitsfremd, lügenhaft, lauschend‘ –
Methodische Volksverdummung in USA
Bittere Kritik an Roosevelts Nachrichtenpolitik
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Wie sie mit den Neutralen umspringen –
Völkerrecht: ein überlebter Begriff
34 neutrale Schiffe von anglo-amerikanischen Streitkräften angegriffen
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Schwere Kämpfe östlich von Rom –
Seit 12. Mai 400 Panzer vernichtet
dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 4. Juni –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
Der Feind setzte gestern seine heftigen, von starken Panzer- und Schlachtfliegerverbänden unterstützten Durchbruchsangriffe nördlich der Albaner Berge beiderseits der Via Casilina fort. In äußerst schweren und verlustreichen Kämpfen gelang es ihm, unsere Abriegelungsfront bis in den Raum zehn Kilometer östlich Rom zurückzudrücken.
In heldenhaftem Kampfe zerschlugen die Verteidiger des Monte Cavo bei Rocca di Papa unter Führung des Oberleutnants Schöngreen alle den ganzen Tag über gegen diese Schlüsselstellung geführten Angriffe des weit überlegenen Feindes. Erst als die letzte Munition verschossen war, kämpfte sich die Besatzung befehlsgemäß auf die eigenen Linien zurück. In Nahkämpfen zeichnete sich der Leutnant Brose eines Flakregiments besonders aus.
Die Fallschirmpanzerdivision „Hermann Göring“ hat sich bei den schweren Kämpfen im Raum nordwestlich Valmontone heldenhaft geschlagen.
Westlich der Albaner Berge setzten sich unsere Truppen auf den Tiber ab.
Die Ausweitung des feindlichen Einbruchs nach Nordosten wurde von den Besatzungen unserer Stützpunkte bei Zagarolo und Palestrina in zähem Kampf verhindert.
Auch beiderseits Cave und im Frontabschnitt südlich Paliano scheiterten alle feindlichen Angriffe in schweren Abwehrkämpfen.
Kampf- und Nachtschlachtflugzeuge griffen auch in der vergangenen Nacht feindliche Kolonnen und Bereitstellungen im Raum von Valmontone wirksam an.
Im Abschnitt nördlich Frosinone konnte der Feind unseren Absetzbewegungen infolge der nachhaltigen Straßenzerstörungen nur langsam folgen. Auf dem Ostufer des Liri nördlich Sora wurden mehrfach starke feindliche Angriffe abgewiesen, ein Einbruch abgeriegelt. Seit dem 12. Mai wurden im Bereich des hier eingesetzten Korps 400 feindliche Panzer vernichtet.
Geleitstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine wehrten vor der westitalienischen Küste feindliche Schnellbootangriffe ab und beschädigten dabei mehrere Boote.
Deutsche Schnellboote versenkten in der Adria im Seegebiet vor Split vier feindliche Nachschubfahrzeuge und brachten zahlreiche Gefangene ein. In einem anschließenden Gefecht mit feindlichen Artillerieträgern beschädigten sie mehrere dieser schwerbewaffneten und gepanzerten Fahrzeuge.
Im Osten warfen deutsch-rumänische Truppen die Sowjets im Kampfraum nordwestlich Jassy, von rollenden Angriffen starker deutsch-rumänischer Kampf- und Schlachtfliegerverbände unterstützt, weiter zurück und nahmen mehrere Höhenstellungen. Starke von Schlachtfliegern und Panzern unterstützte Gegenangriffe des Feindes scheiterten. 25 feindliche Panzer wurden abgeschossen und 33 sowjetische Flugzeuge in Luftkämpfen vernichtet.
Einzelne britische Flugzeuge warfen in der vergangenen Nacht Bomben auf die Städte Mannheim und Ludwigshafen.
Allied HQ, Naples (June 5, 1944)
Communiqué
Allied armies in Italy have established their relentless pressure upon the enemy. Troops of the 5th Army on June 4 entered the city limits of Rome, where sporadic resistance is being encountered. They control the whole of the Colli Laziale and have advanced in contact with the enemy toward the Lower Tiber. Our troops now dominate Highways 5, 6 and 7 leading into Rome.
Troops of the 8th Army in contact with enemy rearguards have made considerable progress. The towns of Palestrina, Fiuggi, Genzano, Paliano, Guarcino and Cave are now clear of the enemy.
The total number of prisoners taken since the start of the attack now exceeds 20,000.
Motor transport, railyards and bridges, highways and road bridges were attacked by aircraft of the Tactical Air Force north and west of Rome and in central Italy yesterday.
Medium and fighter-bombers as well as fighters also attacked rail and other military targets and shipping in Yugoslavia.
Strong forces of escorted heavy bombers struck at railyards in northern Italy and important enemy communication lines along the French-Italian border.
From these operations, two enemy aircraft were destroyed and 11 of our aircraft are missing. Seven enemy aircraft were sighted over the battle area yesterday during the daylight hours.
It is now known that one enemy aircraft was destroyed and one of ours is missing from night operations during the night of June 3-4.
The Mediterranean Allied Air Force flew approximately 1,000 sorties. Last night, our bombers attacked objectives in northern Italy.
Communiqué
Troops of the 5th Army occupied Rome on the night of June 4-5. Leading elements have passed through the city and are across the Tiber in some places.
U.S. Navy Department (June 5, 1944)
Communiqué No. 522
Pacific and Far East.
U.S. submarines have reported the sinking of sixteen vessels in operations against the enemy in these waters, as follows:
- 1 large transport
- 1 large cargo vessel
- 7 medium cargo vessels
- 2 small cargo vessels
- 4 medium cargo transports
- 1 small cargo transport
These actions have not been reported in any previous Navy Department communiqué.
Communiqué No. 523
Atlantic.
The escort carrier USS BLOCK ISLAND (CVE-21) was sunk in the Atlantic during May 1944 as the result of enemy action.
The next of kin of casualties, which were light, have been notified.
CINCPAC Press Release No. 433
For Immediate Release
June 5, 1944
Several enemy patrol-type vessels were sighted west of Truk Atoll on June 2 (West Longitude Date) and attacked by a single search plane. One was probably sunk and all were heavily strafed. On June 3, another search plane sighted the disposition and made an attack which resulted in the sinking of one of the auxiliaries and severe damage to another.
Liberators of the 11th Army Air Force bombed Ketoi Island in the Kurils before dawn on June 4. No opposition was encountered. A single search plane of Fleet Air Wing Four bombed Paramushiru Island before dawn on June 4. All of our planes returned from these operations.
The Brooklyn Eagle (June 5, 1944)
Allies occupy Rome, chase Germans north
Nazi forces fleeing toward new lines
By Robert V. Vermillion
Bulletin
The London radio said Pope Pius appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s today as crowds cheered and Allied troops marched through Rome.
Allied HQ, Naples, Italy (UP) –
The 5th Army completed the occupation of Rome, the first Axis-held capital in Europe to be liberated, and swept on without pause across the Tiber River today in close pursuit of German forces fleeing in disorder toward a new defense line possibly 150 miles to the north.
U.S. tank and infantry vanguards were already streaming north of Rome under orders to annihilate the enemy armies when Allied headquarters announced the triumphant liberation of the religious capital of the world in a special communiqué on the 271st day of the Italian campaign.
The communiqué said:
Troops of the 5th Army occupied Rome on the night of June 4-5. Leading elements have passed through the city and are across the Tiber in some places.
Adolf Hitler was reported, by the official German news agency DNB, to have ordered his forces to withdraw northwest of Rome to avoid drawing the ancient capital into the battle area. The clandestine Radio Atlantic said the Germans were rushing three divisions from southern France and two others from northern Italy in an attempt to stem the Allied tide.
Clark: ‘A stepping stone’
Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, commander of the 5th Army, called the fall of Rome a “stepping stone toward the complete surrender of Germany” in a message to a savings group committee in London.
Despite the Nazi declaration of Rome as an open city, German tanks, machine gunners and snipers offered sporadic resistance throughout the ancient capital yesterday and last night in an attempt to delay the Allied advance, which covered more than 15 miles in the final 24 hours.
Allied fighters and fighter-bombers swarmed out ahead of the advancing ground forces and rained a steady hail of bullets and bombs on retreating German tanks, trucks and other vehicles clogging roads almost bumper to bumper as far north as Lake Bolsena, 50 miles above Rome. At least 600 tanks and other vehicles were destroyed or damaged yesterday alone.
The increasing destruction of the enemy’s transport, his lack of adequate reserves and the overwhelming numerical and armored superiority of the Allies raised hopes here that the 5th Army may be able to overtake and destroy a considerable portion of the retreating forces before they reach their next fortified line hinged on Florence and stretching across the narrowest part of the upper Italian peninsula.
Bomb roads north of Rome
Allied planes also bombed highways and bridges north of Rome in a further effort to stall the enemy retreat. Pilots reported German dead were visible along the roadside beside their wrecked and burning vehicles.
Some elements of the 5th Army bypassed Rome from the east in their race to cut off the German withdrawal, while other forces to the southwest were nearing the mouth of the Tiber River.
All the Colli Laziale – the Alban Hills – between the Via Casilina and the Appian Way southeast of Rome were under Allied “control,” an official spokesman said, with the enemy survivors fleeing toward the Tiber estuary. Northeast of Via Casilina, the Army occupied Palestrina and Cave, five and three miles, respectively, above Valmontone.
Nazis threatened with capture
Thousands of German troops, both southeast and southwest of Rome, appeared in imminent danger of death or capture as a result of the sudden collapse of enemy resistance immediately below the capital. German prisoners captured since the start of the current offensive May 12 already exceed 20,000.
The enemy’s plight was further increased by the supposed severing of the only bridge across the Tiber west of Rome in an RAF raid Saturday night.
The British 8th Army, meanwhile, struck deep into the enemy’s flank in the Sacco River and Liri River valleys, capturing Paliano, eight and a half miles northeast of Valmontone and nearly 13 miles northwest of Ferentino; Fiuggi, eight miles north of Ferentino, and Guarcino, eight miles northeast of Ferentino.
Enter city at two points
U.S. reconnaissance elements of the 5th Army pushing along the Via Casilina first entered the southeastern outskirts of Rome at two points at 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. (local time) respectively yesterday and a few hours later reached the official city limits.
One American force met stiff resistance at the outskirts, principally from the Hermann Göring Division, after an eight-mile advance, but other elements severed Highway 5 at the northeastern entrance to the city and then cleared the outskirts toward the southeast without too much difficulty.
While British elements of the 5th Army on the left flank crossed Riotorto and drove to within six miles of the Tiber, a U.S. column rolling down the hills from the Colli Laziale captured Grottaferrata and Marino, northeast of Lake Albano; Genzano, on the west shore of Lake Nemi, and other points.
Presumably overrun in the advance were Castel Gandolfo. site of the Pope’s Summer home, and Frascati, the former German headquarters town.
U.S. entry announced
The American entry into the Rome city limits was announced by Allied headquarters in a special communiqué shortly after 9:00 (2:00 p.m. EWT) last night, which said sporadic resistance was being encountered from German rearguards.
But it was obvious even then that the complete liberation of the city was only a matter of hours and Gen. Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, Allied commander in Italy, joined with Premier Marshal Pietro Badoglio of the Italian government in a plea to the population to facilitate the Allied passage through the capital “in order to continue the destruction of the German armies farther north.”
Clark holds fire
The final battle for Rome was fought in the six miles of suburbs stretching along either side of the Via Casilina to the southeastern rim of the city itself.
The Americans had broken through the enemy’s tough Alban Hill defenses flanking the Via Casilina and had anticipated an easy thrust across the Campagna Plain into Rome, but instead found German tanks, self-propelled guns, machine-gun nests and mortar positions barring their path.
Clark arrived at the scene soon after vanguards entered the and ordered the Allies to hold their fire for three hours to give the enemy a chance to withdraw from the approaches to the Holy City.
When the Germans still held to their positions, Clark gave the order to fire at 11:00 a.m. and artillery and tanks sent a heavy barrage crashing into the outskirts. A tank battle broke out, but the enemy soon wavered and broke, and the triumphal march was on.
Two scribes touring Rome meet storm of kisses
Packards are first snubbed as Nazis until bartender recognizes them
By Reynolds and Eleanor Packard
Scores notable scoop
Reynolds Packard, veteran United Press war correspondent who was interned by the Italians when the United States entered the war, scored a notable beat yesterday by filing the first press dispatch from Rome after the Allies entered the city.
Rome, Italy (UP) – (June 4, delayed)
Just 20 minutes after the last enemy tank had rolled past, we reached the center of Rome tonight and found that the Germans had left the city 95% intact.
A few fires set by the Germans were still burning and railway yards were in ruins as a result of Allied raids, but Rome as a whole was surprisingly little changed from the time we left it for an internment camp two years and 25 days ago following the United States’ entry into the war.
Our jeep was fourth in line in the first Allied column entering Rome at 8:30 p.m. The three tanks ahead of us sped off in pursuit of eight German Mark IV tanks while we headed for the bar at the Grand Hotel for a drink of Italian cognac.
Suspected of being Germans
The Italians at the bar at first thought we were Germans and would not drink with us, but when Peter, the bar man, and the manager of the hotel recognized us the atmosphere changed abruptly.
Five minutes later, the American Stars and Stripes and the British Union Jack were flying from the hotel’s flagstaffs over the doorway – the first Allied flags to fly in Rome since the United States entered the war.
Our trip through the streets of Rome and its suburbs and been in the nature of a triumphant tour. Never before had we been kissed so often or so much. Men and women alike overwhelmed us with their kisses.
Turn back six times
We had a bad case of jitters getting into Rome. At least six times we lost our nerve and turned back, only to talk ourselves into turning around and heading for the capital again.
The sniping and shelling was so bad that sometimes we felt like minesweepers. Once or twice, we got ahead of the tanks leading the column.
Once inside Rome, Italians waded knee-deep through water spilled by a broken water main to greet us. Though well-dressed and neat, the women told us they had been suffering from malnutrition for more than two years and had had no meat for the past four months, no eggs and no gas.
Clapping, cheering Italians threw armfuls of roses on the American tanks and into our jeep as we rumbled through the streets.
Although the bolder Italians sought to kiss or shake hands with us, many seemed only to want to touch us as if it would bring them good luck.
Roper: Jeep starts for Rome, meets some trouble
By James E. Roper
Rome, Italy (UP) – (June 4, delayed)
As we reached the outskirts of Rome today, the word went around that the Germans had pulled out and all we had to do was ride right into the city.
But we found out differently as our jeep rolled down deserted Highway 6 in the lead of three other cars filled with correspondents and photographers – all unarmed. In the jeep were me with Reynolds Packard, United Press war correspondent, and Ed Johnson of the Chicago Sun.
We were passing a road intersection when we realized the word was wrong. There, coming down the crossroads toward us, was a German vehicle. We crossed the intersection and the driver spun the jeep around to retreat. The move brought us directly under the guns of the German vehicle, about 0 yards away.
I looked at the Germans’ machine gun eye-to-eye. But I ducked when I saw the 37mm assault gun. It looked as big as a 250mm howitzer.
We expected the Germans to blaze away, but they began to pile out of the vehicle and dive into a ditch. They were just as scared as we were, although they could have killed all of us.
The jeep moved back to a column of tanks moving down the road and I hopped on the back of a Sherman commanded by Cpl. Fred Lance of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When we reached the crossroads, the German reconnaissance car was gone. A lone German, however, hopped out of a ditch and started zigzagging to escape the small-arms fire from infantrymen clinging to our tank. They included Sgt. Donald Rew of Lynbrook, New York.
As we started again for Rome, we received a radio message that enemy machine guns were on the left. Twice the tanks tried to get over the hill, but both times heavy German artillery shelling made them retreat. The infantrymen and myself then piled off the tanks and carefully walked behind them for maximum protection until we reached a ditch.
Roosevelt expected to warn Axis nations tonight
Will proclaim Rome’s fall in 15-minute broadcast to world
Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt will proclaim the fall of Rome to the nation and the world tonight in a 15-minute fireside chat expected to warn the Axis satellites, perhaps for the last time, that they must get out of the war now or face the same certain destruction awaiting Germany.
He will speak from 8:30 to 8:45 p.m. EWT. The address will be broadcast by all major networks and shortwaved to Europe and the rest of the world.
A White House announcement, saying simply that the Chief Executive would speak on the fall of Rome, came as members of Congress and other high officials hailed the fall of the first Axis capital to Allied armies aiming at Berlin.
Mr. Roosevelt was expected to express his gratification for preservation of Rome’s historic and religious shrines and to reassure Pope Pius XII that the Allies would observe the sovereignty and sanctity of the Vatican.
Congressional leaders read great significance into the fall of Rome. Senator Joseph C. O’Mahoney (D-WY) said:
It will have a great psychological effect, particularly in the Balkans.
House Republican Leader Joseph W. Martin (R-MA) said America rejoiced “over the confirmation of the capture of the first European objective.”
House Democratic Leader John W. McCormack (D-MA) said the manner in which Rome was captured confirmed his long-standing belief that U.S. forces would do all possible to avoid damaging the ancient shrines of the Eternal City.
Chairman Sol Bloom (D-NY) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee found it “a good omen that Rome should fall on the Lord’s Day.”
1,250 U.S. planes batter French invasion coast
Mighty blitz seen swelling to climax asked by Eisenhower
By Phil Ault
London, England (UP) –
Up to 1,250 U.S. heavy bombers and fighters raked the French invasion coast with bombs and gunfire today, carrying forward the bombardment that in four days and nights has rained more than 13,000 tons of explosives across Germany’s West Wall fortifications.
The U.S. daylight blow followed a night of almost ceaseless activity across the English Channel during which swarms of the RAF’s heaviest raiders blasted the same invasion-marked area and ranged on into the Rhineland to drop their blockbusters on Cologne.
Other British planes laid mines in enemy waters. Not a single plane was lost in the night-long operations.
Yanks launch daylight blow
Some 750 U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators, accompanied by about 500 Thunderbolt and Mustang fighters, launched the daylight blow at the West Wall this morning, their third attack on that shattered strip of coast in the past 24 hours and their sixth since the latest chain of pre-invasion bombing began Friday.
U.S. Air Force headquarters said the targets again were in Boulogne and Calais areas.
Radio Paris said U.S. bombers raided the outskirts of Pans at midday.
A steady parade of other Allied warplanes shuttled across the Channel in brilliant sunshine this morning, and other raiders picked up the offensive later in the day, although gathering clouds blotted out the high-flying formations.
Britain’s “Hellfire Corner” opposite the Pas de Calais area reverberated almost continually to the thunder of bombs landing on the West Wall 25 miles away.
The mighty aerial barrage appeared to be swelling swiftly toward the crescendo that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told U.S. airmen he would require to accompany his invasion armies into the continent.
The U.S. 8th Air Force heavies struck twice at the invasion coast yesterday and followed through with a dusk attack on the chain of Nazi communications extending back into the Paris area, while hundreds of medium bombers and fighters of the U.S. and Allied air forces swept northern France.
New Mexico GOP voters to pick governor nominee
Albuquerque, New Mexico (UP) –
Only about 33,000 Democratic votes, less than half the 64,000 party votes recorded in the 1942 primary, will be cast in New Mexico’s primary election tomorrow, Ray Rodgers, State Democratic chairman, predicted today.
Major interest in the Republican ticket was centered in the race for the nomination for Governor between Gallup banker Glenn Emmons and Grants businessman Carroll Gunderson.
Seeking nomination for the state’s two seats in the House of Representatives in the Democratic contest, Reps. Clinton Anderson and Antonio Fernandez are running for reelection, opposed by Robert Valdez and Capt. Bob Wollard.
ALP names Dickstein as Congress candidate
Rep. Samuel Dickstein, a Manhattan Democrat, who has served in Congress 22 years, yesterday was named as the American Labor Party candidate from the new 19th Congressional district.
Tammany leaders are scheduled to select a candidate today, and there was some doubt as to whether Dickstein or Rep. Arthur Klein would get the Democratic nomination.