Leaky cylinder causes gas scare in Bronx
…
Farley’s name may be offered to convention
New Deal foes would prevent unanimous choice of Roosevelt
By Lyle C. Wilson
Washington (UP) –
Submission of James A. Farley’s name to the Democratic National Convention for the presidential nomination in opposition to President Roosevelt’s fourth term candidacy was under consideration today by conservative Democrats.
Farley’s permission still has to be obtained. No one expects the proposed maneuver to prevent the President’s renomination, but it would prevent unanimous action. It is the only method by which anti-Roosevelt Democrats can show the voters the extent of fourth term opposition within the party – be it large or small.
Convention spectators will see real political drama if Farley is placed in nomination. Among some of the big and little convention delegates already selected, there is a scattering of anti-fourth term sentiment which will never have an opportunity to express itself unless there is at least one name put up against Mr. Roosevelt.
Could poll delegations
But with two men in the contest, a situation will be created in which all or any of the state delegations can be polled. The usual way of casting ballots is for the chairman of each delegation to announce the disposition of its voters as the state roll is called. Some of the big states and some of the little ones bind their delegations with the so-called unit rule.
In Florida, for instance, the unit rule has been followed. That state’s 18 delegates to the Democratic convention are divided 14 for Mr. Roosevelt and four for Senator Harry F. Byrd (D-VA). Under the unit rule, the chairman could and probably will announce that Florida casts 18 convention votes for Mr. Roosevelt’s renomination.
But with Farley or any opposition candidate in the race, there could be a request for a poll of the delegation.
Foresee split in 20 states
It is believed that in upwards of 20 states, Farley’s name would cause a minority of the various delegations to split away from the Roosevelt parade to cast what would be, at most, courtesy ballots for the former Postmaster General and protest ballots against the President.
Farley was placed in nomination four years ago in opposition to a third term.
The purpose of the anti-fourth term campaign is not to elect some alternative Democrat President of the United States. It is to defeat Mr. Roosevelt. He has taken party control away from men who feel that they are entitled to consideration in Democratic affairs and they are determined to come back to power.
The Pittsburgh Press (June 5, 1944)
Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
London, England – (by wireless)
Here I’ve been gallavantin’ around with lieutenant generals again. If this keeps up, I’m going to lose my amateur standing. This time it is Jimmy Doolittle, who is still the same magnificent guy with three stars on his shoulder that he used to be with a captain’s bars.
Gen. Doolittle runs the American 8th Air Force. It is a grim and stupendous job, but he manages to keep the famous Doolittle sense of humor about it.
Doolittle, as you know, is rather short and getting almost bald. Since arriving in England from Italy, he has diabolically started a couple of false rumors circulating about himself.
One is that his nickname used to be “Curly,” and he occasionally throws his head back as though tossing hair out of his eyes. His other claim is that he used to be six feet tall but has worried himself down to his present small height in the past five months.
Jimmy Doolittle has more gifts than any one man has a right to be blessed with. He has been one of America’s greatest pilots for more than 25 years. He is bold and completely fearless. Along with that he has a great technical mind and a highly perfected education in engineering.
In addition to his professional skill, he is one of the most engaging humans you ever ran across. His voice is clear and keen, he talks with animation, and his tone carries a sense of quick and right decision.
He is one of the greatest of storytellers. He is the only man I’ve ever known who can tell stories all evening long and never tell one you’ve heard before. He can tell them in any dialect, from Swedish to Chinese.
Above all he loves to tell stories on himself. Here is an example:
The other day he had his plane set up for a flight to northern England. The weather turned awful, and one of his crew suggested that they cancel the trip. As Jimmy said, he would probably have canceled it himself, but when the junior officer suggested it, he sort of had to go ahead and go.
They were hanging around the operations room, getting the latest reports. The crew thought Gen. Doolittle had left the room. The junior officers were talking about the dangers of making the trip in such weather. They didn’t think the general ought to take the chance. And then he overhead one of them say, “I don’t think the b****** gives a damn about the weather.”
The poor officer almost died when he discovered that the general had heard him.
Other passengers said that throughout the flight this benighted fellow just say staring at the floor and now and then shaking his head like a condemned man.
The general thinks it was wonderful. No, he didn’t do anything about it, for he was flattered by the compliment.
Doolittle says:
But only one thing saved him. If he had used the word “old” in front of b******, I would’ve had him hung.
He tells another one. He was at a Flying Fortress base one afternoon when the planes were coming back in. Many of them had been pretty badly shot up and had wounded men aboard.
The general walked up to one plane from which the crew had just got out. The upper part of the tail gun turret was shot away. Gen. Doolittle said to the tail gunner, “Were you in there when it happened?”
The gunner, a little peevishly, replied, “Yes, sir.”
As the general walked away the annoyed gunner turned to a fellow crewman and said in a loud voice: “Where in the hell did he think I was, out buying a ham sandwich?”
A frightened junior officer, fearing the general might have overhead, said, “My God, man, don’t you know who that was?”
The tail gunner snapped:
Sure I know, and I don’t give a damn. That was a stupid question.
With which Jimmy Doolittle, the least stupid of people, fully agrees when he tells the story.
Another time the general went with his chief, Lt. Gen. Spaatz, to visit a bomber station which had been having very bad luck and heavy losses. They thought maybe their presence would pick the boys up a bit. So they visited around awhile. And when they get ready to leave, a veteran Fortress pilot walked up to them.
He said:
I know why you’re out here. You think our morale is shot because we’ve been taking it on the nose. Well, I can tell you our morale is all right. There is only one thing that hurts our morale. And that’s having three-star generals coming around to see what’s the matter with it.
Jimmy tells these stories wonderfully, with more zest and humor than I can out into them second-handed. As he says, the heartbreaks and tragedies of war sometimes push all your gaiety down into the depths. But if a man can keep a sense of the ridiculous about himself, he is all right. Jimmy Doolittle can.
More of this tomorrow.
President Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat 29
On the Fall of Rome
June 5, 1944, 8:30 p.m. EWT
Broadcast audio:
My friends:
Yesterday, on June 4, 1944, Rome fell to American and Allied troops. The first of the Axis capitals is now in our hands. One up and two to go!
It is perhaps significant that the first of these capitals to fall should have the longest history of all of them. The story of Rome goes back to the time of the foundations of our civilization. We can still see there monuments of the time when Rome and the Romans controlled the whole of the then-known world. That, too, is significant, for the United Nations are determined that in the future no one city and no one race will be able to control the whole of the world.
In addition to the monuments of the older times, we also see in Rome the great symbol of Christianity, which has reached into almost every part of the world. There are other shrines and other churches in many places, but the churches and shrines of Rome are visible symbols of the faith and determination of the early saints and martyrs that Christianity should live and become universal. And tonight, it will be a source of deep satisfaction that the freedom of the Pope and the Vatican City is assured by the armies of the United Nations.
It is also significant that Rome has been liberated by the armed forces of many generation– many nations. The American and British armies, who bore the chief burdens of battle, found at their sides our own North American neighbors, the gallant Canadians. The fighting New Zealanders from the far South Pacific, the courageous French and the French Moroccans, the South Africans, the Poles and the East Indians – all of them fought with us on the bloody approaches to the city of Rome.
The Italians, too, forswearing a partnership in the Axis which they never desired, have sent their troops to join us in our battles against the German trespassers on their soil.
The prospect of the liberation of Rome meant enough to Hitler and his generals to induce them to fight desperately at great cost of men and materials and with great sacrifice to their crumbling Eastern line and to their Western front. No thanks are due to them if Rome was spared the devastation which the Germans wreaked on Naples and other Italian cities. The Allied generals maneuvered so skillfully that the Nazis could only have stayed long enough to damage Rome at the risk of losing their armies.
But Rome is of course more than a military objective.
Ever since before the days of the Caesars, Rome has stood as a symbol of authority. Rome was the Republic. Rome was the Empire. Rome was and is in a sense the Catholic Church, and Rome was the capital of a united Italy. Later, unfortunately, a quarter of a century ago, Rome became the seat of Fascism, and, still later, one of the three capitals of the Axis.
For this quarter century the Italian people were enslaved. They were degraded by the rule of Mussolini from Rome. They will mark its liberation with deep emotion. In the north of Italy, the people are still dominated, threatened by the Nazi overlords and their Fascist puppets. Somehow, in the back of my head, I still remember a name – Mussolini.
Our victory comes at an excellent time, while our Allied forces are poised for another strike at Western Europe, and while the armies of other Nazi soldiers nervously await our assault. And in the meantime, our gallant Russian allies continue to make their power felt more and more.
From a strictly military standpoint, we had long ago accomplished certain of the main objectives of our Italian campaign: The control of the islands – the major islands – the control of the sea lanes of the Mediterranean to shorten our combat and supply lines, and the capture of the airports, such as the great airports of Foggia, south of Rome, from which we have struck telling blows on the continent, the whole of the continent all the way up to the Russian front.
It would be unwise to inflate in our own minds the military importance of the capture of Rome. We shall have to push through a long period of greater effort and fiercer fighting before we get into Germany itself. The Germans have retreated thousands of miles, all the way from the gates of Cairo, through Libya and Tunisia and Sicily and southern Italy. They have suffered heavy losses, but not great enough yet to cause collapse.
Germany has not yet been driven to surrender. Germany has not yet been driven to the point where she will be unable to recommence world conquest a generation hence.
Therefore, the victory still lies some distance ahead. That distance will be covered in due time – have no fear of that. But it will be tough and it will be costly, as I have told you many, many times.
In Italy the people had lived so long under the corrupt rule of Mussolini that, in spite of the tinsel at the top – you have seen the pictures of him – their economic condition had grown steadily worse. Our troops have found starvation, malnutrition, disease, a deteriorating education and lowered public health – all byproducts of the Fascist misrule.
The task of the Allies in occupation has been stupendous. We have had to start at the very bottom, assisting local governments to reform on democratic lines. We have had to give them bread to replace that which was stolen out of their mouths by the Germans. We have had to make it possible for the Italians to raise and use their own local crops. We have to help them cleanse their schools of Fascist trappings.
I think the American people as a whole approve the salvage of these human beings, who are only now learning to walk in a new atmosphere of freedom.
Some of us may let our thoughts run to the financial cost of it. Essentially it is what we can call a form of relief. And at the same time, we hope that this relief will be an investment for the future – an investment that will pay dividends by eliminating Fascism, by ending any Italian desires to start another war of aggression in the future. And that means that they are dividends which justify such an investment, because they are additional supports for world peace.
The Italian people are capable of self-government. We do not lose sight of their virtues as a peace-loving nation.
We remember the many centuries in which the Italians were leaders in the arts and sciences, enriching the lives of all mankind. We remember the great sons of the Italian people – Galileo, Marconi, Michelangelo, Dante, and incidentally that fearless discoverer who typifies the courage of Italy, Christopher Columbus.
Italy cannot grow in stature by seeking to build up a great militaristic empire. Italians have been overcrowded within their own territories, but they do not need to try to conquer the lands of other peoples in order to find the breadth of life. Other peoples may not want to be conquered.
In the past, Italians have come by the millions into the United States. They have been welcomed, they have prospered, they have become good citizens, community, governmental leaders. They are not Italian-Americans. They are Americans – Americans of Italian descent.
The Italians have gone in great numbers to the other Americas – Brazil and the Argentine, for example – hundreds and hundreds of thousands of them. They have gone to many other nations in every continent of the world, giving of their industry and their talents, and achieving success and the comfort of good living and good citizenship.
Italy should go on as a great mother nation, contributing to the culture and the progress and the goodwill of all mankind – developing her special talents in the arts and crafts and sciences, and preserving her historic and cultural heritage for the benefit of all peoples.
We want and expect the help of the future Italy toward lasting peace. All the other nations opposed to Fascism and Nazism ought to help to give Italy a chance.
The Germans, after years of domination in Rome, left the people in the Eternal City on the verge of starvation. We and the British will do and are doing everything we can to bring them relief. Anticipating the fall of Rome, we made preparations to ship food supplies to the city, but, of course, it should be borne in mind that the needs are so great, and the transportation requirements of our armies so heavy that improvement must be gradual. But we have already begun to save the lives of the men, women and children of Rome.
This, I think, is an example of the efficiency of your machinery of war. The magnificent ability and energy of the American people in growing the crops, in building the merchant ships, in making and collecting the cargoes, in getting the supplies over thousands of miles of water, and thinking ahead to meet emergencies – all this spells, I think, an amazing efficiency on the part of our Armed Forces, all the various agencies working with them, and American industry and labor as a whole.
No great effort like this can be a hundred-percent perfect, but the batting average is very, very high.
And so I extend the congratulations and thanks tonight of the American people to Gen. Alexander, who has been in command of the whole Italian operation; to our Gen. Clark, to Gen. Leese of the Fifth and the Eighth Armies; to Gen. Wilson, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Mediterranean Theater, to Gen. Devers his American deputy; to Gen. Eaker; to Adms. Cunningham and Hewitt; and to all their brave officers and men.
May God bless them and watch over them and over all of our gallant, fighting men.
SHAEF Order of the Day
June 6, 1944
Broadcast audio:
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!
Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Hand-written, unissued message:
Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.
TOP SECRET
SHEAF
STAFF MESSAGE CONTROL
INCOMING MESSAGE
SHEAF CP
Filed 060800B June
SHEAF 83/06
TOR 060930B June
URGENT
FROM: SHAEF COMMAND POST, PERSONAL FROM GENERAL EISENHOWER
TO: AGWAR TO GENERAL MARSHALL FOR HIS EYES ONLY; SHAEF FOR INFORMATION
REF NO: 90016, 6 June 1944
Local time is now 8 in the morning.
I have as yet no information concerning the actual landings nor of our progress through beach obstacles. Communiqué will not be issued until we have word that leading ground troops are actually ashore.
All preliminary reports are satisfactory. Airborne formations apparently landed in good order with losses out of approximately 1250 airplanes participating about 30. Preliminary bombings by air went off as scheduled. Navy reports sweeping some mines, but so far as is known channels are clear and operation proceeding as planned. In early morning hours reaction from shore batteries was sufficiently light that some of the naval spotting planes have returned awaiting call.
The weather yesterday which was original date selected was impossible all along the target coast. Today conditions are vastly improved both by sea and air and we have the prospect of at least reasonably favorable weather for the next several days.
Yesterday, I visited British troops about to embark and last night saw a great portion of a United States airborne division just prior to its takeoff. The enthusiasm, toughness and obvious fitness of every single man were high and the light of battle was in their eyes.
I will keep you informed.
DISTRIBUTION:
- SUPREME COMMANDER
- CHIEF OF STAFF
- SGS
4. Gen. Strong (G-2)
5. Gen. Bull (G-3)
Broadcast: Unconfirmed reports of invasion, June 6, 3:00 a.m. EWT (CBS):
London Calling With John Snagge: Communique No. 1, 3:30 a.m. EWT (BBC):
Broadcast, 3:30 a.m. EWT (CBS):
Broadcast, 3:32 a.m. EWT (NBC):
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (June 6, 1944)
Communiqué No. 1
Under the command of Gen. Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.
Broadcast, 4:00 a.m. EWT (NBC):
Broadcast, 4:15 a.m. EWT (CBS):
Broadcast, 4:15 a.m. EWT (NBC):
Broadcast, 5:00 a.m. EWT (CBS):
Broadcast, 5:40 a.m. EWT (CBS):
Broadcast, 6:00 a.m. EWT (CBS):
Innsbrucker Nachrichten (June 6, 1944)
BEGINN DER INVASION AN DER KANAL-KÜSTE
Sofortiges Einsetzen der Abwehr; Überraschungsmoment mißlungen; Luftlandetruppen teilweise bereits beim Absprung erfaßt; Viele Fallschirmeinheiten aufgerieben; Schwere Artilleriekämpfe mit feindlichen Schiffseinheiten
Unsere Gegner zum Opfergang angetreten
Berlin, 6. Juni –
Der seit langem erwartetem Angriff der Briten und Nordamerikaner gegen die nordfranzösische Küste hat in der letzten Nacht begonnen. Wenige Minuten nach Mitternacht setzte der Feind unter gleichzeitigen heftigen Bombenangriffen im Gebiet der Seine-Bucht starke Luftlandeverbände ab. Kurze Zeit später schoben sich, geschützt durch schwere und leichte Kriegsschiffseinheiten, zahlreiche feindliche Landungsboote auch gegen andere Abschnitte der Küste vor. Die Abwehr ließ sich an seiner Stelle überraschen. Sie nahm den Kampf sofort mit aller Energie auf. Die Luftlandetruppen wurden zum Teil schon beim Absprung erfaßt und die feindlichen Schiffe bereits auf hoher See wirksam unter Feuer genommen. Viele Fallschirmeinheiten wurden aufgerieben oder gefangen, andere von hochgehenden Minen zerrissen. Trotz fortgesetzter heftiger Luftangriffe und schweren Beschusses durch die feindliche Schiffsartillerie griffen die Geschütze des Atlantikwalls ebenfalls sofort in den Kampf ein. Sie erzielten Treffer auf Schlachtschiffeinheiten und den sich einnebelnden Landungsbooten. Der Kampf gegen die Invasionskruppen ist in vollem Gange.
Auf Moskaus Geheiß
Innsbruck, 6. Juni –
Der Invasionsversuch hat begonnen. Englische und amerikanische Truppen find an der nordfranzösischen Küste gelandet und auf unsere abwehrbereiten Verteidigungskräfte gestoßen. Der Kampf um Europa hat eingesetzt. Stunden und Tage der Entscheidung stehen bevor. Wir sahen sie herannahen. Je länger der Feind zögerte, sein ihm von Moskau aufgezwungenes Unternehmen zu beginnen, desto gründlicher konnte der Atlantikwall ausgebaut werden. Eine Überraschung bereitete der heutige Tag also nicht. Namen wie Rundstedt und Rommel bürgen für Wachsamkeit, für erfahrenen und schneidigen, in zwei Weltkriegen ruhmreich bewahrten Einsatz.
Im Lichte des heutigen Tages erhellt sich noch einmal der Gedanke, der den deutschen militärischen Maßnahmen seit Jahr und Tag zugrunde liegt: kein Masseneinsatz im Osten, keine Verwicklung in größere Schlachten in Süditalien. Die deutsche Führung hat sich nicht verleiten lassen, ihre Nerven waren stark und fest. Niemals wurde die Überschau verloren. So beginnt der Invasionsversuch zu einem Zeitpunkt, in dem das bewährte deutsche Heer gewissermaßen ausgeruht zur großen Schlacht antritt. Wie sicher die deutsche Führung die Stunde herannahen sah, ging am Montag aus der Meldung hervor, die das Führerhauptquartier zur Zurückziehung aus Rom herausgab: „Das Jahr der Invasion wird dem Gegner an der entscheidendsten Stelle eine vernichtende Niederlage bringen.“
Die Ausflüchte und Verzögerungen hatten Roosevelt und Churchill nichts genützt. Moskau hat darauf bestanden, dass die Alliierten nicht länger zusehen und ihre Truppen und Kriegsmaterialien schonen. Bereits die Konferenzen von Moskau und Teheran standen im Zeichen des bolschewistischen Befehls. Aber immer wieder hatten sich die Engländer und Amerikaner dem Geheiß zu entziehen versucht. Sie versprachen die zweite Front in Italien. Aber der Versuch, die deutschen Verbände dort zu binden, misslang völlig. Viele Reden wurden von Churchill und Eden, von Roosevelt und Hull gehalten, nur um den pflichtgemäßen Angriff auf den Atlantikwall aufzuschieben. Es hat ihnen nichts genützt. Die Mahnungen Stalins steigerten sich zu Drohungen. „Keine Ausflücht mehr!“ rief der Moskauer Rundfunk.
So erweisen sich die anglo-amerikanischen Verbände, die in das mörderische Feuer der deutschen Verteidigungslinien gejagt werden, als ein Opfer bolschewistischer Befehlsgebung. England wollte andere für sich bluten lassen und leistet jetzt selbst den bittersten Blutzoll an einem Wall aus Stahl.
Eisenhowers Kommuniqué
Stockholm, 6. Juni –
Ein vom Hauptquartier des US-Generals Eisenhower am Dienstag ausgegebenes Kommuniqué besagt:
Unter dem Kommando von General Eisenhower haben Marinestreitkräfte mit Unterstützung starker Luftstreitkräfte mit der Landung alliierter Armeen an der Nordküste von Frankreich am Dienstagmorgen begonnen.
Der Reichspressechef zur Invasion
Berlin, 6. Juni –
Auf Anfrage des deutschen Nachrichtenbüros gab Reichspressechef Doktor Dietrich am Dienstagmorgen folgende Äußerung zum Beginn der Invasion:
Heute früh find unsere Gegner im Westen zu ihrem blutigen Opfergang, vor dem sie so lange sich gescheut haben, auf Befehl Moskaus angetreten. Der so oft angekündigte Angriff der westlichen Helfer des Bolschewismus aus die Freiheit Europas hat begonnen. Wir werden ihnen einen heißen Empfang bereiten. Deutschland ist sich der Bedeutung der Stunde bewußt. Es wird mit ganzer Kraft und mit leidenschaftlicher Entschlossenheit kämpfen, um Europa, seine Kultur und das Leben seiner Volker vor dem Ansturm der Barbarei zu bewahren.
Harte Kämpfe zwischen Le Havre und Cherbourg
Feindliche Angriffe bei Rom zusammengebrochen – Bandenzentrum Titos zerschlagen
Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 6. Juni –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:
In der vergangenen Nacht hat der Feind seinen seit langem vorbereiteten und von uns erwarteten Angriff auf Westeuropa begonnen.
Eingeleitet durch schwere Luftangriffe auf unsere Küstenbefestigungen, setzte er an mehreren Stellen der nordfranzösischen Küste zwischen Le Havre und Cherbourg Luftlandetruppen ab und landete gleichzeitig, unterstützt durch starke Seestreitkräfte, auch von See her. In den angegriffenen Küstenstreifen find erbitterte Kämpfe im Gange.
In Italien führte der Gegner aus Rom heraus mehrere vergebliche Vorstöße gegen unsere Sicherungen westlich und nördlich der Stadt. Östlich der Stadt brachen die mit zusammengefassten Kräften während des ganzen Tages geführten feindlichen Angriffe bei und westlich Tivoli nach erbittertem Ringen zusammen.
Jäger und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe schossen über dem oberitalienischen Raum acht feindliche Flugzeuge ab.
Im Osten kämpften sich die deutsch-rumänischen Truppen, wirksam unterstützt durch starke deutsch-rumänische Fliegerverbände, nordwestlich Iassy gegen zähen feindlichen Widerstand in harten Kämpfen weiter vor und wiesen wiederholte Gegenangriffe der Bolschewisten ab. 39 feindliche Flugzeuge wurden in Luftkämpfen vernichtet.
Von der übrigen Ostfront wird nur örtliche Gefechtstätigkeit aus dem Kampfraum von Witebsk gemeldet.
In Kroatien haben Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS unter dem Oberbefehl des Generalobersten Rendulic, unterstützt durch starke Kampf- und Schlachtfliegerverbände, das Zentrum der Bandengruppen Titos überfallen und nach tagelangen schweren Kämpfen zerschlagen. Der Feind verlor nach vorläufigen Meldungen 6.240 Mann. Außerdem wurden zahlreiche Waffen aller Art und viele Versorgungseinrichtungen erbeutet. In diesen Kämpfen haben sich die 7. SS-Gebirgsdivision „Prinz Eugen“ unter Führung des SS-Oberführers Kumm und das SS-Fallschirmjägerbataillon 500 unter Führung des SS-Hauptsturmführers Rybka hervorragend bewährt.
Einige feindliche Flugzeuge warfen in der letzten Nacht Bomben auf Osnabrück. Zwei Flugzeuge wurden abgeschossen.
US-Flugzeugträger im Atlantik versenkt
Stockholm, 6. Juni –
Die US-Marine gibt bekannt, dass der nordamerikanische Geleit-Flugzeugträger Block Island durch Feindeinwirkung im Atlantik im Mai versenkt wurde.
Feindlicher Kreuzer und Zerstörer im Pazifik versenkt
Tokio, 6. Juni (DNB) –
Aus dem Südpazifik wird gemeldet, dass die japanische Luftwaffe am 2. Juni feindliche Schiffsziele südlich der Insel Biak angriff. Ein feindlicher Kreuzer und ein Zerstörer wurden versenkt.
Die japanischen Flugzeuge kehrten alle unversehrt zu ihrem Stutzpunkt zurück.
U.S. Navy Department (June 6, 1944)
Memorandum to the Press
For Immediate Release
June 6, 1944
The following was given to the press by Adm. Royal E. Ingersoll, USN, CINCLANT, at the press conference of Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal today:
Recently on a brilliant moonlight night one of our destroyer escorts sighted a submarine, fully surfaced, silhouetted against the moon. The destroyer escort immediately rang up full speed and headed for the submarine, opening fire with all her guns. The submarine elected to fight it out and opened fire with her deck guns and machine guns, tracers passing high over the bridge of the destroyer escort. The submarine maneuvered at high speed and fired a torpedo. The destroyer escort closed the range rapidly, following the sub’s evasive maneuvers and burying the sub under a withering fire at point blank range, machine guns and three-inch forecastle guns. The range finally closed until the submarine was only 20 yards away. All fire on the submarine having ceased at this point the destroyer escort rode up on the forecastle of the submarine where she stuck. Men began swarming out of the submarine and up onto the destroyer escort’s forecastle. The destroyer escort opened up on them with machine guns, Tommy guns and rifle fire. Ammunition expended at this time included several general mess coffee cups which happened to be at the gun stations. Two of the enemy were hit on the head with these. Empty cartridge cases also proved effective for repelling the boarders. During this heated encounter the destroyer escort suffered her only casualty of the engagement, when a husky seaman bruised his fist knocking one of the enemy over the side.
At this stage of the battle the boatswain’s mate in charge forward with a .45 Colt revolver and a Chief Fire controlman with a Tommy gun accounted for a number of those attempting to board. The destroyer escort then decided to back off to stop any more enemy trying to board her. Again the running battle was resumed, hits falling like rain on the sub’s topside. Even shallow depth charges were used against the submarine. The destroyer escort rammed a second time and then the submarine rolled slowly over.
Personnel on the escort’s deck had a clear view into the conning tower which was ablaze. A torpedoman threw a hand grenade which dropped through the sub’s conning tower before exploding. The submarine finally sank with her diesel engines still running, and the conning tower hatch open, fire blazing from it.
The commanding officer of the destroyer escort was a young Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve, who came on active duty in 1941.
CINCPAC Press Release No. 434
For Immediate Release
June 6, 1944
Truk Atoll was bombed during the night of June 3-4 (West Longitude Date) by Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force. The airfields at Moen and Param Islands were hit. Four enemy fighters were airborne but did not attack our force. Anti-aircraft fire was meager and inaccurate.
Ponape Island was attacked on the night of June 3 by 7th Army Air Force Liberators and on June 4 by 7th Army Air Force Mitchells. Installations on Langar Island and anti-aircraft batteries were hit.
Lauru Island was bombed by 7th Army Air Force Mitchells during daylight on June 3, and by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two on June 5. Gun positions were the principal targets. Anti-aircraft fire was intense.
Enemy positions in the Marshalls were bombed and strafed on June 3-4 by search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Two, Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, and Navy Hellcat fighters. Gun positions and runways were hit. Anti-aircraft fire was meager.
The New York Times (June 6, 1944)
ALLIED ARMIES LAND IN FRANCE IN THE HAVRE-CHERBOURG AREA; GREAT INVASION IS UNDERWAY
Eisenhower acts; U.S., British, Canadian troops backed by sea, air forces; Montgomery leads
Nazis say their shock units are battling our parachutists
By Raymond Daniell
First Allied landing made on shores of Western Europe
Gen. Eisenhower’s armies invaded northern France this morning. While the landing points were not specified, the Germans said that troops had gone ashore near Le Havre and that fighting raged at Caen (1). The enemy also said that parachutists had descended at the northern tip of the Normandy Peninsula (2) and heavy bombing had been visited on Calais and Dunkerque (3).
SHEAF, England –
The invasion of Europe from the west has begun.
In the gray light of a summer dawn, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower threw his great Anglo-American force into action today for the liberation of the continent. The spearhead of attack was an Army group commanded by Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery and comprising troops of the United States, Britain and Canada.
Gen. Eisenhower’s first communiqué was terse and calculated to give little information to the enemy. It said merely that:
Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.
After the first communiqué was released, it was announced that the Allied landing was in Normandy.
Caen battle reported
German broadcasts, beginning at 6:30 a.m. London Time (12:30 a.m. EWT) gave first word of the assault.
The Associated Press said Gen. Eisenhower, for the sake of surprise, deliberately let the Germans have the “first word.”
The German DNB Agency said the Allied invasion operations began with the landing of airborne troops in the area of the mouth of the Seine River.
Berlin said the “center of gravity” of the fierce fighting was at Caen, 30 miles southwest of Le Havre and 65 miles southeast of Cherbourg, the Associated Press reported. Caen is 10 miles inland from the sea, at the base of the 75-mile-wide Normandy Peninsula, and fighting there might indicate the Allies’ seizing of a beachhead.
DNB said in a broadcast just before 10:00 a.m. (4: 00 a.m. EWT) that the Anglo-American troops had been reinforced at dawn at the mouth of the Seine River in the Le Havre area.
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Invasion leaders of Allied forces
‘Thumbnail’ sketches of men who are directing blows against Hitler’s West Wall
By the Associated Press
SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower, 53, Texas-born, Kansas-reared; previously Allied commander of the forces in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.
DEPUTY SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Air Chf. Mshl. Sir Arthur Tedder, 52, Briton who turned to the air after having been wounded as an infantryman in World War I; successful commander of Middle East and Allied Mediterranean Air Forces.
ALLIED NAVAL COMMANDER: Adm. Sir Bertram Home Ramsay, 61, the man who brought the British Army home from Dunkerque, planner of sea participation in North African and Sicilian campaigns.
ALLIED AIR FORCES COMMANDER: Air Chf. Mshl. Trafford Leigh Leigh-Mallory, 52, career airman, son of British clergyman, formerly commander of all British-based RAF fighters.
BRITISH GROUND FORCES COMMANDER: Gen. Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, 56, another clergyman’s son, hero of 8th Army victory at El Alamein and push across Africa and Sicily into Italy.
SENIOR U.S. GROUND FORCES OFFICER: Lt. Gen. Omar Nelson Bradley, 51, Missouri-born, quiet-mannered hero of U.S. victory at Bizerte, called “Doughboys’ General.”
COMMANDER, U.S. STRATEGIC AIR FORCES: Lt. Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, 53, Pennsylvania Dutch, endurance flier, founder of 8th Air Force and commander of U.S. Air Forces in Mediterranean victories.
CHIEF OF STAFF TO GEN. EISENHOWER: Lt. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, 48, native of Indiana, Gen. Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff for North African invasion.
COMMANDER, U.S. 8TH AIR FORCE: Lt. Gen. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, 47, one of the world’s most noted pilots, “the man who bombed Tokyo.”
COMMANDER, U.S. 9TH TACTICAL AIR FORCE: Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, 54, Pennsylvania-born, went to Annapolis but joined Army after graduation, was air commander in the Philippines, Java, India and the Middle East; noted for driving energy.
COMMANDER, RAF BOMBER FORCE: Air Chf. Mshl. Sir Arthur T. Harris, 52, took over present post in 1942 and has since been trying to bomb Germany out of the war by mass “saturation” technique which he organized.
COMMANDER, BRITISH 2ND TACTICAL AIR FORCE: Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham, 49, veteran of all kinds of air fighting, scored great success with RAF Desert Air Force and then commanded all Allied tactical operations in Tunisian and Sicilian campaigns; was cavalryman and fighter pilot in World War I.
Allied warning flashed to coast
People told to clear area 22 miles inland as soon as instructions are given
London, England –
The BBC began its 8:00 a.m. news bulletin this morning with quotations from a Supreme Headquarters’ “urgent warning” to inhabitants of the newly-occupied countries living near the coast.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower has directed that whenever possible in France a warning shall be given to towns in which certain targets will be intensively bombed.
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