America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

U.S. Navy Department (June 9, 1944)

Joint Statement

For Immediate Release
June 9, 1944

The following joint Anglo-American statement on submarine and anti-submarine operations is issued under the authority of the President and the Prime Minister:

During May, our shipping losses have been by far the lowest for any month of the war, and they have in fact been a fraction of the losses inflicted on enemy shipping by our warships and aircraft, although their merchant shipping is petty compared to that of the Allies.

There has been a lull in the operations of the U-boats which perhaps indicates preparation for a renewed offensive. The change which had come over the scene is illustrated by the fact that in spite of the few U-boats at sea, several are now sent to the bottom for each merchant ship sunk whereas formerly each U-boat accounted for a considerable number of merchant ships before being destroyed.

This is to be ascribed to the vigilance and to the relentless attacks of our Anglo-American-Canadian and other anti-U-boat forces, including the scientists who support them in a brilliant manner.


CINCPAC Press Release No. 438

For Immediate Release
June 9, 1944

Truk Atoll was bombed by 7th Army Air Force Liberators on the night of June 7 8 (West Longitude Date). Airfields were the principal targets. Anti-aircraft fire was meager and inaccurate.

Ponape Island was attacked by Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force on the evening of June 6 and at night on June 8. Airfields, plantation areas, and Ponape Town were bombed. Anti-aircraft fire was meager.

Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two bombed Pakin and Nauru Islands on June 6. Anti-aircraft batteries were hit at Pakin Island.

Enemy positions in the Marshalls were bombed and strafed by Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing and Navy Hellcat fighters on June 6 and 7. Runways, coastal gun emplacements, and anti-aircraft batteries were principal targets. A Corsair fighter was downed near Mille Atoll on June 7 and its pilot rescued by a destroyer.

U.S. State Department (June 9, 1944)

740.00116 Pacific War/6–944

The Chairman of the United Nations War Crimes Commission to the Secretary of State

London, 9 June 1944

Establishment of a Far Eastern and Pacific Sub-Commission

Sir: It has been contemplated from the outset that the execution of the United Nations’ policy of punishing war crimes might necessitate the creation, in addition to the main Commission in London, of regional branches or panels for the investigation of such crimes. The United Nations War Crimes Commission has now decided to establish such a branch at Chungking for the investigation of Japanese war crimes under the name of the Far Eastern and Pacific Sub-Commission.

I have been requested by the Commission to bring this decision to the notice of the member Governments which are directly affected by the war with Japan and to give the following further information regarding the Sub-Commission.

The United Nations War Crimes Commission has agreed that:
i) The Sub-Commission may sit at places other than Chungking as its work may require.

ii) Recommendations for modifications of the principles and rules adopted by the main Commission which may be required by local circumstances shall be reported to the main Commission for approval.

iii) Recommendations to the Governments must be made through the Commission.

iv) The expenses of the Sub-Commission shall be met in the same manner as those of the Commission, that is to say, that each Government will pay the expenses of its representatives and the cost of preparing and transmitting cases to it, and the expenses incurred in the operation of the Sub-Commission itself will be met out of the budget of the main Commission. His Excellency the Chinese Ambassador in London, Dr. Wellington Koo, has been so good as to promise that his Government will provide the Sub-Commission with premises in China as is done in London for the main Commission by His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom.

The question of bringing Japanese war crimes before the main Commission was left open, but some members envisaged the possibility of their Governments bringing certain cases before the Commission. It was also the view of the Commission that the establishment of the Sub-Commission does not preclude the creation of other branches of the Commission.

The first task of the Far Eastern and Pacific Sub-Commission will be to study the numerous Japanese war crimes which some Governments are understood to desire to bring before it – cases evidence of which is in their possession and ready for examination. While some other interested Governments may not at present be in a position to transmit cases to the Sub-Commission, it is the hope of the Chinese Government as expressed by its representatives and of the War Crimes Commission as a whole, that as many of those Governments as possible will appoint representatives on the Sub-Commission, and in this manner both demonstrate the common interest of the United Nations in the punishment of war crimes and cooperate in ensuring that all war crimes committed by the same enemy shall be dealt with in accordance with the same principles.

If, as is hoped, your Government intends to be represented on the Sub-Commission, the decision and eventually the name of the first representative should be notified to the Chinese Government and to the Secretary-General of the Commission.

The Commission has invited the Chinese Government to be so good as to arrange for the organizing meeting of the Sub-Commission at the appropriate time.

I beg to request that you will be so good as to bring the foregoing to the attention of your Government.

I am [etc.]

CECIL J. B. HURST

The Brooklyn Eagle (June 9, 1944)

McMillan: Finds liberated French strong for Gen. de Gaulle

By Richard D. McMillan

With Allied forces, France (UP) –
All the French people with whom I have talked in the countryside, in the villages and in the townships of the liberated area are surprised that there is any difference of opinion among the French on support of Gen. Charles de Gaulle.

They say:

We are all solidly behind our leader de Gaulle. He, as well as Great Britain and America, has been our constant hope through our darkest hours. He is the only leader for us.

I found the French ignorant of what the British people had suffered while holding out against German air raids, the submarine campaign and the constant threat of invasion following Dunkirk. The French were even surprised to learn Britain had rationing. They believed Britain was a land of plenty,


Canadian corvette finds U.S. craft at sea too

Off invasion coast, France (UP) –
Seeking a place to land her convoy, the Canadian corvette Prescott signaled a U.S. cruiser: “Do you know where the port authorities are?” The cruiser answered, “No, I’m a stranger here myself.”

Cherbourg lifelines cut by Allies

Nazis fear loss of port as we extend beachhead
By Virgil Pinkley

SHAEF, London, England (UP) –
U.S. armored forces driving westward against hard fighting into the base of the Normandy peninsula have cut and highway to Cherbourg, the two main Nazi lifelines to the great port, it was announced officially today.

A spokesman at Gen. Eisenhower’s headquarters revealed operations generally “continue satisfactorily, with the beachheads enlarging” on the fourth day of the Allied invasion of northwestern France.

The Germans reported a great naval armada of several hundred vessels sailed eastward past Cherbourg toward the assault area, early today, evidently to pour powerful reinforcements into the beachheads.

Nazi reports also said an armored spearhead was approaching Saint-Lô, 20 miles southwest of Bayeux and halfway across the peninsula, and the Germans might be forced to abandon Cherbourg in the face of the developing Allied drive to isolate it.

Front dispatches revealed Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commander of U.S. invasion forces, had gone ashore in France as his troops were battling their way into the vital transport network supplying the enemy garrison at Cherbourg.

At Supreme Headquarters here, it was revealed Bradley’s forces, battling hard and grimly, had struck across the 27-mile stretch of the Cherbourg-Carentan highway at several places.

Advance elements, pushing on beyond the highway, cut the broad-gauge railroad between Carentan and Saint-Mere-Église, seven miles to the north. An obscure German High Command reference to Allied troops striking out from the Saint-Mere-Église beachhead indicated the town might be in American hands.

British forces continued to edge forward in the Caen area against stiff German resistance and counterthrusts which had still not reached the proportions of a big-scale battle.

The main weight of Marshal Rommel’s counteraction was centered around Caen. It included considerable amounts of armor, which the Germans had moved up well forward.

German prisoners have been taken in sizable numbers, the spokesman said, the total now running into four figures.

The weather, one of the knottiest problems of the invasion, took a slight turn for the worse early today, the wind kicking in briskly from the southwest.

The word at Supreme Headquarters late in the day was that the invasion could be considered “making satisfactory progress.” But as Allied beachheads expanded, Nazi resistance stiffened. The weight of armor engaged by both sides was increasing, and the fighting was severe.

All enemy thrusts along the battle arc from the neighborhood of Caen to above Saint-Mere-Église were held and ground was gained afterward.

That statement from headquarters suggested the possibility, without clarification, that U.S. and British beachheads had been joined to form a continuous front.

A late report said the Americans were at Formigny, eight miles west-northwest of Bayeux, Wednesday evening, and presumably they had advanced since then. The capture of Bayeux by British forces was announced yesterday.

An advance unit of the U.S. 9th Air Force was revealed to have arrived in France, and front dispatches disclosed Royal Air Force squadrons were already established on the Normandy beaches to give the land armies short-range support.

A Berlin dispatch to the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet said German military authorities admitted their forces were retreating under the pressure of Allied reinforcements and may be forced to abandon Cherbourg, one of the principal harbors on the French coast and railhead of a trunk line to Paris.

U.S. tanks and infantry on the west flank battling fiercely in an effort to capture Carentan, hinge of the German line, and key points along the Carentan-Cherbourg highway, while British Empire forces were reported nearing the conquest of Caen, beleaguered communications hub 40 miles to the east, front reports disclosed.

Canadian forces alone were credited with capturing a dozen Normandy towns in a southward drive across the Bayeux-Caen stretch of the main Cherbourg-Paris railway and highway. Landing continued on both the U.S. and British-Canadian beachheads and bypassed enemy strongpoints were being reduced steadily.

The Berlin dispatch to the Stockholm Aftonbladet said the Germans feared a linking of the two beachheads – the American between Carentan and Cherbourg and the British Empire between Bayeux and a point west of the Orne estuary – was imminent.

Such a junction, the dispatch quoted the Germans as saying, would make the Nazi situation “very difficult” and perhaps force the abandonment of Cherbourg.

The German-controlled Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau, also in a Berlin dispatch, reported tank spearheads from Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s forces were approaching Saint-Lô, 20 miles inland, after violent battles six miles southwest of Bayeux and at the Suelle River, southeast of Bayeux.

A total of 10 German divisions – 150,000 men – have been identified in action, and reconnaissance reports indicated these were steadily being reinforced by railway and highway despite day-and-night Allied aerial attacks on enemy communications.

Diminishing winds speeded further the landing from ships of fresh troops, tanks, trucks and other equipment on both the U.S. and British-Canadian beachheads along 60 or more miles of the coastline between Cherbourg and Le Havre, the latter only a little more than 100 miles from Paris.

However, clouds that descended from 1,000 to 1,500 feet seriously hampered air support of the ground forces this morning, reducing the early formations of daylight raiders to isolated task forces.

The outcome of the U.S. attack on Carentan. at the joint of the Normandy Peninsula, and the highway linking it with Cherbourg, 27 miles to the northwest, was expected to go a long way toward deciding the fate of Cherbourg itself, one of the best harbors on the French coast and with a direct trunk line to Paris.

Escape roads menaced

The loss of Carentan and the highway would leave the German garrison of Cherbourg only secondary roads over which to withdraw from the port and at the same time would pave the way for a U.S. thrust across the 20-mile neck of the peninsula to the west coast. Allied air and naval ascendancy were also expected to play a part in dooming Cherbourg, which would provide an ideal base for a full Allied offensive in France.

Though the Americans were hard-pressed for a time on their beachheads on the east coast of the Cherbourg Peninsula between Cherbourg and Carentan. a spokesman for Gen. Eisenhower said they were now receiving a regular stream of reinforcements.

It was learned some Americans pushed ashore in Cherbourg Bay, which stretches seven miles east and 10 miles west of the port, on D-Day, but the present location of these units was not disclosed. German broadcasts have reported U.S. troops near Saint-Pierre-Église, 11 miles east of Cherbourg.

Fight for Caen is tough

British Empire forces were finding Caen, midway between Cherbourg and Le Havre on the trunk railway and highway to Paris. tough nut to crack as street fighting raged on into its fourth day, but a correspondent at the front said the communications center should fall “within an hour, perhaps minutes.”

The British 6th Airborne Division was the first to drive into Caen, and it has since been joined by seaborne forces from the beachhead at the mouth of the Orne River, nine miles to the north.

Other British elements 15 miles to the west were reported well south of Bayeux, also on the Cherbourg-Paris railway and highway, in an apparent drive to cut the Normandy Peninsula in half.

Probe Canadian lines

Front dispatches said the Germans were probing the Canadian perimeter with 30-35 tanks at a time in preparation for a full-scale counterattack, but Canadian units and massed artillery firmly entrenched on slopes beyond Bayeux threw back each thrust. A three-hour tank battle was reported in one sector.

German reinforcements were revealed to be moving up steadily all around the Allied beachheads despite a rain of bombs, bullets and even rockets from thousands of Allied planes. Reconnaissance pilots said in some places the enemy was using horse-drawn vehicles, presumably because of a shortage of gasoline.

Though one of the original landings was known to have been made near Le Havre, there have been no further Allied reports from the area. A German broadcast claimed Allied forces in the Seine estuary area had been wiped out.

German retreat slows 50 miles north of Rome

Carts, horses seized in desperate effort to save strafed forces
By Robert Vermillion

WAR BULLETINS!

Invasion so far satisfies Roosevelt

Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt said at his news conference today that the invasion of Europe is making slow progress, but, he added, it is progress.

Mr. Roosevelt would not enter into an elaborate discussion of the Allied thrust into the coast of France except to say that his reports from the front today were essentially the same as those in the newspapers.

Asked whether the Allies had taken Caen yet, the President said he had not had any report of it.

Japs flee along Kohima-Imphal highway

Southeast Asia HQ, Kandy, Ceylon (UP) –
Allied tank-supported troops sent the Japanese fleeing southward along the Kohima-Imphal highway today as they drove a spearhead to a point 14 miles below Kohima.

Algiers to pray for invasion forces

Algiers, Algeria (UP) –
All churches and synagogues in Algiers will offer special prayers for the invasion forces this weekend. American, British and French chaplains will participate.

6-ton blockbuster rips Normandy rail cut

London, England (UP) –
The Royal Air Force dropped at least one six-ton super-blockbuster in a deep railway cut on a primary German reinforcement line in the Samur area south of the Normandy battlefront last night, it was announced today.

Gen. Bradley lands in invasion area

London, England (UP) –
A dispatch from Normandy said today that Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commander of U.S. ground forces in France, went ashore yesterday to get a first-hand picture of conditions in the invasion area.

Red troops attack along Romanian front

Moscow, USSR (UP) –
Red Army troops continued small-scale attacks along the Romanian front today after capturing the third important heights in two days north of Iași and seizing a series of enemy trenches south of Tiraspol on the lower Dniester River.

Refugees run into Nazi battle troops

London, England (UP) –
The Paris radio reported today that people fleeing from the battle zone in France were meeting endless columns of German motorized units.

‘Massive new landings’ reported by Vichy

London, England (UP) –
Allied gliders and paratroops have made “massive new landings” in the Falaise area some 22 miles below Caen on the Normandy Peninsula, Radio Vichy said today.

Light rain continues over Dover Straits

London, England (UP) –
A light drizzle continued over the Straits of Dover at 1:00 p.m. today following an all-night rain. A southwesterly wind increased, making the sea choppy. Clouds hung low and visibility was less than a mile at times.

RAF established on Normandy beaches

London, England (UP) –
Front dispatches disclosed today that RAF “squadrons” were now established on Normandy beaches.

Nazis: 240,000 Allies on beachheads

London, England (UP) –
The German DNB Agency said today that reinforcements landed in Normandy during the night boosted Anglo-American strength on the beachheads to 15 or 16 divisions – perhaps 240,000 men.

Nurses in battle blouses off for France

London, England (UP) –
A party of U.S. nurses, en route to France, embarked from a coast town aboard a transport yesterday. The nurses wore battle blouses, breeches and gaiters and marched aboard carrying duffle bags.

80,000 Japs attack Chinese at Changsha

Chungking, China (UP) –
A military spokesman said today that 80,000 Japanese troops were attacking the last Chinese defense lines on the northern edge of Changsha, the main Chinese base in Honan Province and a key junction on the Canton-Hankow railway.

Roosevelt: 1,000 war refugees coming here

Group now in Italy will go Upstate; Middle East camps to take 40,000

Invasion boat shot full of holes, but Brooklyn sailor, 30 others escape

An invasion port – (June 8, delayed)
Coast Guard Spc. Thomas Conk of 800 Rogers Avenue, Brooklyn, returned today in an infantry landing craft full of holes. The crew of 31 was unhurt despite the fact a German 88mm shell had made an 18-inch hole in the ship’s armor and exploded on the deck.

The crew stuffed blankets in cracks in inner compartments and bailed furiously all the way back.

Conk said:

We almost sank a dozen times. How we made it, I’ll never know. I guess our number just wasn’t up.

Prayers answered, says mother

Mrs. Mary Conk, the sailor’s mother, who has been praying at mass daily for the safety of her three sons in service, said today she was “positive” her prayers were answered in the miraculous escape of her son. “I attend 9:00 a.m. mass every day at Holy Cross Church,” she said, “to pray for all boys in addition to my three sons.”

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De Gaulle to visit Roosevelt soon


Jim Stewart made lieutenant colonel

americavotes1944

Battle lines form as GOP meets to name candidates

Battle lines for the Kings County political campaign were being drawn this afternoon as Republican leaders went into session to name the first of their candidates for the 1944 elections.

Leaders of 24 Assembly districts, headed by County Chairman John R. Crews, assembled at GOP headquarters, 32 Court Street, to begin shaping their ticket.

Their first move was slated to be the designation of Judge Nicholas Howard Pinto, now serving as Governor Dewey’s temporary appointee on the County Court bench, as the GOP candidate for election the full 14-year term in November.

The Democrats, out to recapture the judgeship which their party lost when Dewey chose Judge Pinto to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Democratic Judge Peter J. Brancato, named Senator Carmine J. Marasco as their designee yesterday.

Meanwhile, as the vanguard of the leaders trooped into the GOP headquarters strong suggestions began emanating from usually well-informed quarters that a political surprise would be sprung at the leaders’ session. None of the leaders would comment.

Like the Democratic organization, the Republicans will name nine candidates for Congress, nine for the State Senate and 24 for the Assembly at Albany. It was indicated that the complete slate would not be filled immediately, but that further time would be allowed for the consideration of designees before primary petitions are filed June 27.

U.S. air fleet batters Munich area from Italian bases

Planes slash through air lines of foe

Former grid star rescues survivors of mined U.S. ship

By William R. Higginbotham

Aboard U.S. transport, off France – (delayed)
Navy Lt. John Tripson, former Detroit Lions football star, commanded a landing boat which helped rescue survivors from a small U.S. craft blown up by a mine 400 yards offshore.

We had started across the lines of ships through a shell-filled strip of channel from this transport, bound for the mainland beach when we saw the ship go up in a geyser of water.

Big John of Mission, Texas, ordered the landing boat around to help pick up survivors. While the stricken ship smoked and three other vessels larger than ours moved in to aid, we hauled from the water six oil-smeared survivors, two of whom were crying piteously for help. Big John scooped one out of a wave with one hand.

In the midst of the rescue, an officer on a bridge of a ship yelled: “Watch out. German planes overhead.”

“Twist her tail, coxswain,” ordered Tripson and we raced away from the concentration of ships with our survivors crouched on the deck.

One man who pulled away the stricken vessel in a rubber boat was stripped naked. Others had been blown at least 30 feet.


McMillan: Nazi retreating so fast they fail to bury their dead

By Richard D. McMillan

With the Allied invasion army, France (UP) - (June 8, delayed)
The Germans got out of here so fast they didn’t even stop to bury their dead.

On D+2 – 48 hours after the invasion assault – the biggest phenomenon of the battle of Western Europe is still the amazing lack of Nazi resistance in this large slice of French soil around Bayeux, which the Allies have liberated.

By letting us grab off Bayeux, a vital point on the Bayeux-Caen highway, his troops farther out on the Normandy Peninsula have been placed in grave danger.

Why didn’t the enemy try to hold out? One theory expressed by officers here is that we succeeded in landing so much material – tanks, anti-tank guns and other armor – the Germans are withdrawing their isolated panzer units to mass them for a resounding counterattack.

That may be, but meanwhile the Allies are consolidating their grip on the very considerable hunk of territory we’ve already sliced off and it seems unlikely the Nazis would be able to resist the steel jaws we are closing upon them.

Everyone was asking, “Where is the Luftwaffe?” Back on the beaches, thousands of supply vessels are disgorging infantry divisions, stores, munitions, gasoline and food with the regularity of an English port in peacetime. It all seems very mysterious.

U.S. ‘Fighting First’ joins British 50th on French coast

SHAEF, England (UP) –
Two famous infantry divisions – America’s Fighting First and Britain’s 50th Division – were revealed today to be fighting together on the Allied beachhead in France.

Comprising men from every state in the Union, the 1st Infantry Division went into its latest action with a one-time private as its commander.

The presence of the two divisions, both veterans of World War I, in the invasion forces was announced last night by Allied headquarters.

Acclaimed as the “epitome of an infantry-artillery team,” the Fighting First has one of the most enviable records of the Army. In World War I, it was the first U.S. Army division to reach France, one of the first to meet the enemy and the first to attack.

In this war, the Fighting First came to England in August 1942, and later joined the invasion off Africa, where it distinguished itself at Gafsa, El Guettar and in the final Tunisian drive around Mateur.

From there, the men of the 1st Division went to Sicily, landing at Gela, where they added to their achievements.

The British 50th Division, known as the “Geordies,” established an exceptional record in the last war and in this conflict joined the 8th Army in Africa when the Germans were thrusting toward Cairo. At Mareth, it was given the job of frontal attack, and although it suffered heavily, the 50th Division’s fighting played a big part in holding Marshal Erwin Rommel’s forces while New Zealanders smashed the right flank, sending the Germans fleeing into North Tunisia.


Bayeux mob beats up, ‘crowns’ a Quisling

Townsfolk go temporarily berserk, shove collaborationist through streets
By Alan Moorhead

Bayeux, France (UP) –
The French of this town have gone temporarily berserk with the joy of freedom after four years of pent-up hatred for the Germans and welcomed the opportunity to punish the collaborationists.

The chief collaborationist of Bayeux, who is also the head of the “Anti-Bolshevist League,” has just been shoved through the main street by a hilarious and demonstrative crowd.

A gray-haired squat figure, blood was running down the side of his head. His shirt was half torn off, his right leg was scratched and a wreath of roses crowned his head in an ironical takeoff of a ceremonial.

His eyes were filled with fright and he stared wildly as he tried to dodge blows aimed at him. A young French guerilla armed with an Allied rifle tried to keep the people back, but they kept surging forward.

A while ago, the crowd grabbed one of the collaborationist policemen and he was being beaten by the screaming townspeople.

Thus France was observing her liberation.

The delight of the people was mingled with a sudden outburst of four years’ pent-up hatred of the Germans and their followers. This was different from Tunisia and Italy. Hatred of the Germans overshadowed all else here.

For the moment, the people were too dazed to celebrate. Their main thought was to grab the enemies who have repressed them since 1940.

A similar dispatch filed by John Hetherington said the townspeople of Bayeux started a roundup of pro-Vichy residents, but that most of them had fled with the German armies.

americavotes1944

Farley resignation seen as prelude to 4th term fight

May enter race for nomination

Democratic and Republican leaders today agreed in interpreting the surprise resignation of James A. Farley as State Democratic chairman to mean that he intends to take an active part in attempting to prevent a fourth-term nomination for President Roosevelt, even if his own name has to be entered as a contender for the nomination.

Farley’s announcement, based on his claim that “business duties and obligations” would prohibit him from giving to the campaign the time he felt would be necessary to its success, had a hollow ring to most political experts, who said they saw in the explanation a literal warning to the President that his former staunch ally was preparing to fight a fourth-term nomination more vigorously than he opposed a third term for Franklin Roosevelt.

After the former Postmaster General released his prepared statement announcing the resignation in his Hotel Biltmore office yesterday, newsmen piled him with questions, but he refused to be pinned down. The only query he answered for the record concerned his future interest in politics.

“It is only natural for a fellow who has always been a Democrat to be interested in the success of the Democratic Party,” he said. Beyond that, he would not go.

Farley said he will attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, July 19, as a delegate. But he flatly refused to say if he would be a candidate for the presidential nomination.

It was reported that President Roosevelt knew in advance of the resignation, but that the information did not come from Farley himself.

Farley called a meeting of the state committee for July 11, just a week before the national conventions opens, at which his successor will be chosen, but he made it clear he had made no recommendations to the committee or any of its members.

Kelly’s name mentioned

Although Frank V. Kelly, Kings County Democratic leader, announced that he is not a candidate to succeed Farley as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, Rudolph Reimer, former Commissioner of Immigration, said today he believes the committeemen should urge the election of Mr. Kelly to that post.

Farley’s political career began when he was elected town clerk of Stony Point when he was only 22. He rose through a succession of posts, including assemblyman, member of the State Athletic Commission, Postmaster General and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. His success in the party’s top position led Franklin Roosevelt to choose him to run his campaign for nomination in 1932. It was during the President’s second term that the rift between them began to make itself noticeable. Farley had never been a full New Dealer. He opposed the President’s Supreme Court “packing,” the purge of anti-New Dealers and the third term.

Heffernan: The miracle of Rome’s salvation

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (June 9, 1944)

Communiqué No. 8

U.S. troops are across the CARENTAN-VOLOGNES road in several places and have cut the broad-gauge railway to CHERBOURG. Further gains have been made west and southwest of BAYEUX.

Fighting is severe in the area of CAEN where the enemy is making a determined effort to stem the advance. The weight of armor on both sides in increasing and heavy fighting continues in all areas. The enemy strongpoints previously bypassed have now been eliminated. The whether has deteriorated but our beachheads are being steadily developed.

Poor visibility and stormy weather reduced Allied air activity to a minimum over the battle area today.

Before dawn this morning HMS TARTAR (Cdr. B. Jones, DSO DSC RN), with HMS ASHANTI (LtCdr. J. R. Barnes, RN), HM Canadian ships HAIDA (Cdr. H. G. de Wolf, RCN) and HURON (LtCdr. H. S. Rayner, DSC RCN), ORP BŁYSKAWICA, HMS ESKIMO (LtCdr. E. N. Sinclair, RN), ORP PIORUN and HMS JAVELIN (LtCdr. P. E. N. Lewis, DSC RN) in company, intercepted a force of German destroyers which had previously been reported off Ushant by coastal aircraft.

The enemy were sighted and our ships turned towards them, avoiding their torpedoes. In the course of the action, at times conducted at point-blank range, HMS TARTAR passed through the enemy’s line. One enemy destroyer was torpedoed and blew up. A second was driven ashore in flames. Two others escaped after receiving damage by gunfire.

HMS TARTAR sustained some damage and a few casualties, but continued in action and has returned safely to harbor.

Unsuccessful attempts were again made after dawn by E-boats to enter the assault area both from east and west. They were intercepted and driven off by light coastal forces. Off the Pointe de Barfleur in a short gun action hits were observed on two of the enemy before they escaped.

During the night destroyers under the command of RAdm. Don Pardee Moon, USN, intercepted a force of heavily armed enemy craft between the mainland and the Îles Saint-Marcouf, and drove them off.

During the 24 hours to 0800 this morning, 46 targets were engaged by Allied warships. Spotting for these shoots was carried out both by aircraft and military Forward Observer Officers, who had been landed with the assault troops.

HMS BELFAST (Capt. F. R. Parham, DSO RN) wearing the flag of RAdm. F. G. H. Dalrymple-Hamilton, CB, and HMS FROBISHER (Capt. J. F. W. Mudford, RN) have done considerable execution on enemy concentrations. This morning, HMS FROBISHER neutralized two enemy batteries and destroyed an ammunition dump.

Völkischer Beobachter (June 10, 1944)

Die Westmächte zum äußersten Einsatz gezwungen –
In der Hölle der deutschen Abwehr

vb. Berlin, 9. Juni –
Jahrelang haben sich die Westmächte bemüht, den Krieg möglichst ohne Risiko zu führen. Sie haben Hilfsvölker vorgeschickt, zuerst die Franzosen, dann die Norweger, Belgier und Holländer, dann die Griechen und Serben. Sie haben sich selber so wenig wie möglich der Gefahr gestellt. Wenn sie in den Kampf gingen, haben sie möglichst jede Unsicherheit auszuschalten gesucht, sie sind dem gefährlichen Wagnis aus dem Wege gegangen, sie haben lieber auf die Möglichkeit eines großen strategischen Erfolges verzichtet, als sich zugleich damit in die Möglichkeit zu begeben, eine Niederlage von nicht übersehbarem Ausmaß auf sich zu laden. Auch dadurch ist der Luftterror zu erklären. Sie haben endlich, in diesem Sommer, erkennen müssen, daß diese Art der Kriegführung nicht länger aufrechtzuerhalten war. Sie hätten sicherlich sehr gern noch weiter den Krieg so geführt wie bisher, aber sie haben einsehen müssen, daß sie von dieser Methode abzuweichen gezwungen sind. Aus politischen und militärischen Gründen blieb ihnen nichts anderes übrig als die Invasion, blieb ihnen nichts anderes übrig, als sich zum Entscheidungskampf mit den Hauptstreitkräften zu stellen.

Die Engländer und Amerikaner tun also gegenwärtig etwas, was ihrer Auffassung von Kriegführung eigentlich nicht liegt. Sie begeben sich in ein ungewisses Feld, in dem es viele Risiken gibt. Schon darin lag, bevor noch ein erster Schuß gefallen war, eine bedeutsame Wandlung der Kriegsentwicklung. Die Engländer und Amerikaner können sich nicht mehr mit halben Maßnahmen am eigentlichen Schicksal kriegführender Völker vorbeidrücken. Sie müssen dieses Schicksal mit voller Wucht auf sich nehmen. Niemand von uns unterschätzt, was dies bedeutet. Es bedeutet die starke Entschlossenheit des Gegners, alles zu tun, um den Sieg zu erzwingen. Aber dies bedeutet auch, daß er nun gezwungen ist, sich für die Entscheidungsschlacht zu stellen, die er solange vermieden hat.

Es ist ganz offenbar, daß er seit diesem Frühjahr einige grundsätzliche Hoffnungen abgeschrieben hat. Er kann weder erwarten, daß Soldaten anderer Völker für ihn gegen die deutschen Schützengräben anstürmen und damit den Krieg gewinnen würden, noch kann er hoffen, daß allein mit dem Einsatz der Terrorbomber, also mit einem verhältnismäßig geringen Aufwand von Mannschaften und von Blutopfern, der Sieg zu erringen sei. Er muß seine großen Landheere in das deutsche Feuer jagen. Er hat geglaubt, das vermeiden zu können, aber er sieht, daß er es doch nicht ändern kann. Er hat es zugleich selber – wenn auch gewiß nicht freiwillig, sondern unter ehernem Zwang der Lage – heraufbeschworen, daß diesmal eine Niederlage nicht nur einfach eine Schlappe, sondern eine entscheidende Wendung des Krieges zu seinen Ungunsten werden kann. Er hat mit diesem Schritt ins Ungewisse genau das getan, was die deutsche Führung erhofft hat.

Die Lage am Ende des dritten Angriffstages wird dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß der Gegner weitere Verstärkungen in seine Landeköpfe geworfen hat und damit bis über Bayeux hinaus vorgedrungen ist, daß aber zugleich die Wirkungen des Eingreifens der deutschen Reserven sich weiter fühlbar machen. Ein endgültiges Urteil über die Entwicklung gerade in diesem Landekopf wird erst nach einiger Zeit möglich sein. Es muß wiederholt werden, daß es sich beim Gegner wie bei den Deutschen hier um zeitraubende Operationen handelt, die ihre Bedeutung erst nach Tagen zeigen können. Vorläufig darf festgestellt werden, daß die Kämpfe von Stunde zu Stunde härter werden. Erst ein Teil der deutschen Panzerdivisionen hat in den Kampf eingegriffen, aber schon sind Panzerkämpfe von beträchtlichem Ausmaß entbrannt. Man darf sicher sein, daß diese Kämpfe in den nächsten Tagen an Umfang noch zunehmen werden. Inzwischen haben um die anderen Landeköpfe die Gegner unter dem von Stunde zu Stunde anwachsendem Feuer der deutschen Gegenwehr ein schweres Schicksal zu erleiden. Über die außerordentlichen Verluste, die der Gegner bisher an der Küste hat erleiden müssen, besteht auch bei den nüchternsten Beurteilungen kein Zweifel. Die Briten und Nordamerikaner haben auch zur Luft viele Truppen und Material herangeführt, aber gerade bei den Luftlandetruppen sind die meisten Verbände unter dem fürchterlichen Feuer der deutschen Gegenwehr aufgerieben worden. Auch die zur See gelandeten Truppen haben in manchen Verbänden bis zu zwei Drittel ihrer Bestände verloren.

Die deutschen leichten Seestreitkräfte stoßen immer wieder vor und ihre Torpedos halten unter den dichten Schiffsansammlungen reiche Ernte. Wenn einmal die Invasionsschlachten vorbei sind, wird man sich dankbar auch neigen vor den Soldaten auf diesen kleinen Schiffen, die durch ihre Kühnheit und Geschicklichkeit das Äußerste getan haben, den Sieg zu erringen.

Gedämpfte Feindberichte –
‚Verluste viel größer als angenommen‘

Von unserer Stockholmer Schriftleitung

dr. th. b. Stockholm, 9. Juni –
Immer wieder sind es Vergleiche mit den Landungen bei Salerno und Anzio, die sich vor allem den amerikanischen Truppen aufdrängen, die an der normannischen Küste landeten und dabei ungewöhnlich schwere Verluste erlitten; und immer wieder treffen sie dabei die Feststellung, daß ein Vergleich überhaupt nicht möglich sei.

Realistische Schilderungen, wie sie noch am zweiten Tage der Invasion von der feindlichen Militärzensur freigegeben wurden, liegen kaum noch vor. Wahrscheinlich befürchtet man ihre abschreckende Wirkung. Immerhin werden stärkere Andeutungen zugelassen, um die Öffentlichkeit darauf vorzubereiten, daß die Verluste viel größer sind als man vorher angenommen hatte. So erklärt ein hoher amerikanischer Offizier in Washington. daß die amerikanischen Soldaten für jeden Meter Boden auf den jetzt errichteten Brückenköpfen schwer bezahlen müßten. Es handelt sich dabei ausschließlich um die von See aus an Land gesetzten Truppen. Bei den Luftlandetruppen sind die Ausfälle noch stärker. Doch sind die bei Ihnen befindlichen Berichterstatter bisher nicht in der Lage, mit ihren Zeitungen und Agenturen in Verbindung zu treten.

Der militärische Mitarbeiter Hanson Baldwin von der New York Times bezeichnet die deutschen Küstenstellungen als „sehr, sehr stark“ und strafte damit gleichzeitig gewisse englische Berichterstatter Lügen, die den Atlantikwall als „Bluff“ abzutun versuchen, wahrscheinlich um der englischen Öffentlichkeit Mut zu machen. Baldwin erklärte weiter, daß den Anglo-Amerikanern die Hauptaufgabe ja noch bevorstünde, nämlich dann, wenn die deutschen Armeen an den Schwerpunkten aufmarschiert seien.


Sowjetische Befriedigung

Stockholm, 9. Juni –
Es ist kennzeichnend für die Einstellung der englischen und amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit daß sie mit stärkster Betonung den Eindruck hervorhebt, den die Invasion bei den Sowjets gemacht hat. Die Presse Englands und der USA ist sichtbar erleichtert, daß man in Moskau den Invasionsversuch als Hilfeleistung anerkennt.

Der Korrespondent der Yorkshire Post meldet, daß bei den Sowjetrussen eine freudige Stimmung und ein seit Kriegsbeginn nie dagewesenes Gefühl der Erleichterung herrsche. Paul Winterton drahtet dem News Chronicle, daß das Interesse und die Begeisterung der Sowjets an der Invasion im Zunehmen begriffen sei. Dabei schreibt er den merkwürdigen Satz, die Freude komme nicht in jubelnden Demonstrationen zum Ausdruck, sondern „eher in einer Wiederaufrichtung der Lebensgeister bei jedem Sowjetrussen.“

Yankees in Italien

Hohe feindliche Schiffsverluste –
Heftiger Panzerkampf südöstlich Bayeux

dnb. Aus dem Führer-Hauptquartier, 9. Juni –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

An der Küste der Normandie gelang dem Gegner, wenn auch unter hohen Verlusten durch die Angriffe der deutschen Seestreitkräfte und der Luftwaffe, die Verstärkung seines Landekopfes, östlich der Orne gewann unser Gegenangriff weiter an Boden. Aus dem Landekopf westlich der Orne griffen feindliche Panzerkräfte Bayeux umfassend an und stießen weiter nach Westen und Südwesten vor. Sie wurden etwa zehn Kilometer westlich der Stadt aufgefangen. Unsere aus dem Raum von Caen zum Gegenangriff angetretenen Panzerspitzen stehen nunmehr südöstlich Bayeux in heftigem Kampf.

Aus dem Brückenkopf Ste. Mère Église nach Norden und Süden vorstoßender Feind konnte gegen unsere hartnäckigen Widerstand leistenden Truppen nur wenig Boden gewinnen.

Vor der Ostküste der Halbinsel Cherbourg versenkten Schnellboote in der Nacht zum 8. Juni einen feindlichen Kreuzer und einen Zerstörer. Ein weiterer Zerstörer und ein Panzerwagenlandungsboot wurden durch Torpedotreffer schwer beschädigt.

In der letzten Nacht versenkten unsere Schnellboote im gleichen Seegebiet aus einem feindlichen Verband zwei große Landungsschiffe mit zusammen 9.200 BRT. Durch unsere Minensperren erleidet die feindliche Landungsflotte laufend weitere schwere Verluste.

Auch die Luftwaffe setzte mit Kampf- und Schlachtfliegerverbänden ihre Angriffe gegen die feindliche Landungsflotte mit gutem Erfolg fort. Sie versenkte am 7. und in der Nacht zum 8. Juni sechs Transporter mit insgesamt 38.000 BRT und ein Landungsfahrzeug. Außerdem wurden vier Transportschiffe mit über 30.000 BRT und acht Speziallandungsschiffe schwer beschädigt. Ein schwerer und zwei leichte Kreuzer erhielten Bombentreffer.

Jäger und Flakartillerie schossen 45 feindliche Flugzeuge ab.

An der italienischen Front hielt der starke feindliche Druck gegen unsere Sicherungstruppen westlich des Tiber, im Küstenabschnitt und beiderseits des Vicosees während des ganzen Tages an, ohne daß der Feind nennenswerte Erfolge erzielen konnte. Die Stadt Tarquinia wurde von unseren Truppen aufgegeben.

Von der übrigen Front werden keine besonderen Kampfhandlungen gemeldet.

Bei der erfolgreichen Abwehr eines feindlichen Bandenunternehmens gegen die vor der dalmatinischen Küste gelegene Insel Brac hat sich ein Bataillon einer ostmärkisch-bayerischen Jägerdivision unter Führung von Hauptmann Thörner besonders bewährt.

Der englische Oberstleutnant Tom Churchill, Kommandant der Insel Lissa, wurde gefangengenommen.

Im Osten blieben auch gestern wiederholte Gegenangriffe der Sowjets nordwestlich Jassy erfolglos.

Nordwestlich Tarnopol kam es zu örtlichen Kämpfen. Unsere Grenadiere und Panzergrenadiere vernichteten dort ein sowjetisches Bataillon und ein Panzerabwehrregiment.