America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

7428

SHAEF Order of the Day
June 6, 1944

Broadcast audio:

580px-SHAEF_Shoulder_Patch.svg

SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

Dwight_D_Eisenhower

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Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.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.

7429 
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:

  1. SUPREME COMMANDER
  2. CHIEF OF STAFF
  3. 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):

7430

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.

7431
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):

7432

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.

7433

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.

7434

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.

7435

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.

7436

Bekannte US-Gangster werden nach Süditalien geschickt

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7437

Nordamerikanerin mit 15 Ehegassen

Ungewöhnlicher Fall von Bigamie in USA

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7438

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.

7439

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

image
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.

7440

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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7441

Parade of planes carried invaders

Witness says first parachutists met only light fire when they landed in France

The first eyewitness account of the Allies’ invasion of Europe was given in a pool broadcast from London this morning by Wright Bryan of NBC, who accompanied the airborne troops in their landings.

His account said the first spearhead of Allied forces landed by parachute in northern France to the first hour of D-Day.

Mr. Bryan said:

In the navigator’s dome in the flight deck of a C-47, I rode across the English Channel with the first group of places from the United States 9th Air Force Troop Carrier Command to take our fighting men into Europe.

He added that just before he left French soil for the return trip, he saw 17 U.S. paratroopers, led by a lieutenant colonel, “jump with their arms, ammunition and equipment into German-occupied France.”

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7442

PURSUIT ON IN ITALY
Allies pass Rome, cross Tiber as foe quits bank below city; planes join in chase

1,200 vehicles wrecked; 8th Army battles into more towns

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7443

Roosevelt: Rome’s fall marks ‘one up and two to go’ among Axis capitals

Warns way is hard; asks world to give the Italians a chance for recovery
By Charles Hurd

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7444

Pope gives thanks Rome was spared

Voices appreciation to both belligerents in message to throng at St. Peter’s

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Italy’s monarch yields rule to son, but retains throne

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7445

Federal law held ruling insurance

Supreme Court, 4–3, decides business is interstate and subject to Trust Act

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Conferees accept cabaret tax cut

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7446

2 flanking drives in Italy expected

One to east along highway to Pescara and another to north are predicted
By Drew Middleton

…

Gen. Clark sees 2 armies beaten

Foe’s 10th smashed, 14th unable to give effective battle, he says in Rome

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7447

Washington waits three hours for flash

Pershing sees victory is ‘like war of liberation’ fought by sons of 1918 troops

Washington –
Washington learned officially of the invasion of Europe at 3:32 a.m. ET today when the War Department issued the text of the communiqué issued by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces.

This flash was the climax of three hours of tense waiting that followed the first German radio reports that hostilities off France had begun. Before that both the War Department and the Office of War Information said they had no information to confirm or deny the German reports.

The communiqué was handed newspapermen in the War Department by Maj. Gen. Alexander D. Surles, chief of the Army Bureau of Public Relations. With the communiqué was issued a statement by General of the Armies John J. Pershing which declared the sons of the American soldiers of 1917 and 1918 were engaged in a “like war of liberation” and would bring freedom to people who have been enslaved.

The capital awakened rapidly after the initial broadcasts. Lights flashed on and radios began to blare. Newspapermen hurried to their offices. Everybody was demanding to know whether it was “official.”

If the White House was aware of the report, there was no outward indication. Only a few lights glowed there and the customary guards patrolled up and down monotonously.

Only a few hours earlier – at 8:30 p.m. – Mr. Roosevelt had addressed the world for 15 minutes on the fall of Rome.

By 1:45 a.m., almost the entire public relations staff at the War Department had reported for duty.

Elmer Davis, director of the OWI, met about half a dozen newsmen in his office about 4:00 a.m. and told them the OWI had no assurance that the invasion was coming off this morning but thought that it might be. He said that OWI did not put out any of the German broadcast reports prior to official confirmation from Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters.

Between the official flash and the time Gen. Eisenhower began his talk, the OWI was transmitting the text of the communiqué.

The OWI director added that ABSIE, the agency’s foreign radio, had broadcast Gen. Eisenhower’s speech in about 20 languages.

Pershing sees patriots rising

Washington (UP) –
Gen. Pershing, in a statement headed “American troops have landed in Western Europe,” said today that he had “every confidence” that the invasion would succeed.

The statement was released by the War Department.

The aged general said:

The overwhelming military might of the Allies advances. It will be joined by the men of the occupied countries, whose land has been overrun by the enemy but whose spirit remains unconquered.

Twenty-six years ago, American soldiers, in cooperation with their Allies, were locked in mortal combat with the German enemy. Their march of victory was never halted until the enemy laid down his arms in defeat. The American soldiers of 1917-1918, fighting in a war of liberation, wrote by his deeds one of the most glorious pages of military history.

Today the sons of American soldiers of 1917-18 are engaged in a like war of liberation. It is their task to bring freedom to peoples who have been enslaved.

I have every confidence that they, together with their gallant brothers-in-arms, will win through to victory.