America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

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U.S. Navy Department (June 29, 1944)

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 66

Organized resistance at Nafutan Point on Saipan Island ceased on June 27 (West Longitude Date). The entire point has been occupied by our forces. Small gains were made along the western shore into Garapan Town, and in the center of the island. Our advance northward is being made against severe enemy resistance. On the night of June 27, enemy aircraft dropped bombs in the area occupied by our forces. Two of the attacking planes were shot down by antiaircraft batteries.

Carrier aircraft attacked Pagan Island on June 27. Barracks and a water reservoir were hit. Only one plane was seen on the ground, and it appeared unserviceable. Several small craft badly damaged in previous strikes were hit by rocket fire.

Truk Atoll was bombed by 7th Army Air Force Liberators on June 27, and neutralization raids were made against objectives in the Marshall and Caroline Islands on June 26 and 27.

Naval aviators have destroyed more than 6,259 Japanese airplanes

For Immediate Release
June 29, 1944

Naval aviators have shot 5,521 Japanese warplanes out of the air since Pearl Harbor, while losing 1,260 planes in aerial combat. At least 65 percent of the U.S. Navy airmen shot down have been rescued.

In addition to the 5,521 Jap aircraft destroyed in the air, naval aviators have, in 1944 alone, destroyed at least 738 Jap planes on the ground. Only 17 Navy planes were lost in this way during the same period.

This 43–1 ratio in ground destruction partially explains the drop in ratio of U.S. air victories In the last three months from 4.7–1 to 4.4–1, according to RAdm. A. W. Radford, USN, Acting VCNO (Air). He explained that the accumulation of Naval strength in the Pacific, plus increasing effectiveness of Navy aerial recon­naissance, has made it possible for carrier task forces to surprise the Japanese and destroy their aircraft before they can become airborne to fight.

“As a result,” Adm. Radford said, “fewer Jap planes are available for us to shoot down. In addition, the Jap pilot is becoming less and less anxious to close with our pilots. So, the air ratio of victories has dropped slightly. This is more than compensated, however, by the 43–1 ground ratio. We don’t care where they are when we destroy them.”

Compilation of statistics in ground destruction of planes for 1942 and 1943 is being completed, but that phase of the aerial war during that period was relatively unimportant.

Combining the available figures not including ground losses of 1942 and 1943, the Navy enjoys a 4.8–1 advantage over Japan in the air war, having shot out of the air and destroyed on the ground a total of 6,259 planes, as against 1,277 planes lost. These figures for destruction of Jap planes do not include losses inflicted by antiaircraft fire. They cover the period from Decem­ber 7, 1941, through June 23, 1944. The figures for the period May 1 through June 23, 1944, are not final.

One reason for the increased air losses of Navy planes in 1944 over 1942 and 1943 is the loss of planes in the incessant bombing raids on Jap holdings, such as the Kurils, Truk and the Marshalls, where aerial opposition is rarely encountered any more, but where heavy anti-aircraft exacts a toll – a very small toll in relation to the frequency and intensity of the bombing raids carried out.

The record of air losses by years follows:

Year Japs Navy Ratio
1942 (including December 1941) 1134 384 3–1
1943 2212 351 6.3–1
1944 2175 525 4–1
TOTAL 5521 1260 4.4–1
1944 (ground) 738 17 43–1
GRAND TOTAL 6259 1277 4.8–1

All of the Navy’s planes have played a part in amassing the victory record. Naturally, it was the fighters – Grumman Hellcat and Wildcat and Vought Corsair – which scored the large majority of the victories, either while escorting the torpedo and dive bombers, or while defending American sea and land forces. The bombers – Grumman Avenger, Douglas Dauntless and Curtiss Helldiver, Consolidated Catalinas and Liberators, Lockheed Venturas – drove home the heavy blows while the fighters fended off the enemy’s air forces.

The Wildcat and Avenger are also built by General Motors’ Eastern Air­craft Division, the Corsair by Goodyear. The Helldiver is also built by Canadian Car and Fairchild of Canada, the Liberator by Ford and Douglas.

CINCPAC Press Release No. 464

For Immediate Release
June 29, 1944

Aslito Airfield on Saipan Island today was renamed Isely Field in honor of Cdr. Robert Henry Isely, USN, commander of VT-16, who was shot down June 12 by Japanese anti-aircraft fire as he was leading a bombing attack on the field.

The change in name was recommended by VAdm. Marc A. Mitscher, Commander, Fast Carrier Task Force, USPACFLT, and was made by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, CINCPACPOA. Aslito Airdrome was first attacked by carrier aircraft of Adm. Mitscher’s task force in February of this year.

A naval aviator since 1937, Cdr. Isely had taken part in attacks at Tarawa and other Gilbert Islands, at Kwajalein, Palau, Woleai and Truk. He flew aerial cover for Gen. MacArthur’s troops when they landed in Hollandia in New Guinea. Adm. Mitscher’s recommendation was based on Cdr. Isely’s gallant performance of duty during all of these Pacific actions.

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The Free Lance-Star (June 29, 1944)

ALLIED FORCES REPEL NINE NAZI COUNTERATTACKS
British widening breach in lines

Nazis send two armies into armored fight near Caen; Yanks mopping up

SHAEF, England (AP) –
The Germans were reported today to have thrown the bulk of their 15th and 17th Armies into the defense of Caen in an attempt to halt the British flanking thrust south of the inland port.

But Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery’s men smashed nine counterattacks in 24 hours and widened a breach in the enemy lines.

Supreme Headquarters announced British infantry and armor were streaming across the Odon River southwest of Caen in an ever-widening bridgehead.

Field dispatches said the German command had sent virtually the entire strength of the two armies into fierce armored fighting raging on three sides of the city.

The German communiqué said the British were attacking on a 17-mile front and had achieved a “minor break-in” in the bushy terrain southwest of Caen. One German tank formation destroyed 53 Allied tanks, the communiqué declared. The German Hitler Youth 12th Tank Division was said to have distinguished itself in the fighting.

‘Murderous barrage’

A field dispatch from Associated Press correspondent Roger Greene said hundreds of British guns laid down a “murderous barrage” against German armored forces moving up to attack the British right flank and quoted British officers as saying “German movement on the roads is being slaughtered by our planes.”

The Germans threw 150 tanks into flank attacks yesterday, the dispatch said, and much hand-to-hand fighting occurred in the woods where the British hunted down Germans in camouflaged nests.

Heavy fighting, including large-scale tank clashes, raged at distances of two to four miles from the strongly-defended German base in eastern Normandy. Little change, however, has occurred in the front positions in the past 12 hours.

While British tanks beat against the enemy in a flaming battle at points less than four miles southwest of Caen in an eastward thrust that would strangle the city’s communications, other forces battered the enemy from the north and northwest in fighting almost equally as bitter.

Americans mop up

Westward, the Americans on the Cherbourg Peninsula were mopping up isolated resistance in the Cap de la Hague, where it was unofficially estimated that about 3,000 Germans are still holding out.

The bag of prisoners taken there continued to increase. It was officially announced that Germans captured by U.S. forces in France from D-Day to Tuesday night totaled 28,849.

The fighting around Caen in the present stage is a typical big tank battle, with none knowing exactly where the frontlines are and towns being overrun, only to be retaken a few hours later.

The Supreme Command said:

Every British advance has been met with a most violent local counterattack. It is to be expected the Germans will make a coordinate major counterthrust.

It is considered unlikely that the battle for Caen will be decided before Marshal Erwin Rommel makes such an all-out bid.

Luftwaffe active

In the air, the long-dormant German Air Force sprang into life under a protecting cloak of clouds to support Rommel’s desperate bid to drive back the British, but 27 enemy planes were downed.

Indications that the Germans were moving strategic reserves from Germany into France to meet the Allies in Normandy was seen in a heavy RAF bomber attack last night on Metz, a railroad center near the German-French border. Improving weather gave promise the Allies would be able to bring mote strength into supporting air assaults.

A German report last night of a U.S. attack in the Saint-Lô sector in the western part of the Allied fighting zone lacked confirmation by Supreme Headquarters.

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Dewey to consult leaders in presidential campaign

Party platform approved by nominee; ‘biggest’ press conference held

Chicago, Illinois (AP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey told what he called the “world’s biggest press conference” today that he hopes to conference” today that he hopes to confer with all of the nation’s Republican leaders, including Wendell L. Willkie, on presidential campaign plans.

Declining to discuss Cabinet possibilities – if he wins the White House – the smiling GOP nominee gave speedy endorsement to many planks of the party’s platform, including those on foreign policy, the President’s Fair Employment Practices Committee, foreign trade and others.

One query was how he planned to reach the servicemen with campaign appeals. Dewey replied that had not yet been determined.

Dewey covered a wide range of issues in answer to questions. He said he had read the Republican platform only one – while he was en route here by plane – and that “it represents my views.”

Expresses satisfaction

The nominees expressed satisfaction with the foreign trade plank of the party platform. While stating that some persons thought it might have been better, Dewey said it should be recognized that the platform was drawn by persons with conflicting opinions, and that as a result there had to be some compromising.

Parts of the foreign trade plank may appear, at first blush, to be inconsistent, he said, recalling that the plank promised an “adequate protective tariff” on competitive products designed to assure American standards.

Dewey said:

The essence of the plank is to be found in the latter part. The party promises that this nation will work with other nations to promote greater trade. This is not inconsistent with the tariff part of the plank.

Foreign policy

Questioned closely about his views on post-war foreign policy, Dewey said he did not believe that the United States should surrender its “sovereign right to make war” to any international organization.

The nominee defended state regulations of insurance companies at length, and promised a Negro reporter that he would live up to his oath to enforce the 13th and 14th Amendments if he is elected.

More than 500 persons – reporters, delegates and just onlookers – were jammed into the conference room.

When Dewey was asked if he thought the GOP platform ruled out an international police force, he shot back at his questioner, “What do you mean by an international police force?”

The reporter said he meant a force to which the various nations would contribute troops. Dewey replied:

If you mean an army with American soldiers, directed by some disembodied spirit, as a world agency, I would say that was ruled out.

To consult Bricker

In discussing the campaign organization, Dewey made it clear that he will consult Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio, the vice-presidential candidate, before making final decisions.

Dewey also replied “certainly I will” when asked whether he would continue as Governor of New York while campaigning for the Presidency.

The nominee was asked to tell how he would carry out his acceptance speech promise to provide full employment.

“I will elaborate on that later,” he said.

Dewey expressed the opinion that federal aid will have to be given to bolster reemployment in the post-war transition period but said he believed the problem must be met chiefly by private enterprise.

He replied affirmatively to a question whether he believed the party platform presumes establishment of a world court after the war.

Promises able Cabinet

The 42-year-old former racket-buster, in his opening statement to the American electoral jury last night, promised that “next year our government will again have a Cabinet of the ablest men and women to be found in America.”

The task of achieving a lasting peace, he declared, “is no task to be entrusted to stubborn men, grown old and tired and quarrelsome in office.”

A middle of the road path was advocated by the shaggy-browed 1944 standard-bearer on the touchy foreign policy issue.

He said:

We are agreed, all of us, that America will participate with other sovereign nations in a cooperative effort to prevent future wars.

There are only a few who really believe that America should try to remain aloof from the world. There are only a relative few who believe it would be practical for America or her allies to renounce all sovereignty and join a superstate.

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Dewey to confer on GOP chairman

Chicago, Illinois (AP) –
The newly-elected Republican National Committee named a committee of six today to confer with Governor Thomas E. Dewey on his choice for a new national chairman to run his campaign for the Presidency. The full committee will meet again tomorrow morning.

Col. R. B. Creager of Texas was named ex-officio chairman of the six-member group. Other members: J. Russell Sprague of New York, Ezra R. Whitla of Idaho, Werner W. Schroeder of Illinois, Mrs. Horace A. Sayre of Oklahoma, and Mrs. Katharine K. Brown of Ohio.

Although the name of Herbert Brownell Jr., New York lawyer and Dewey’s gubernatorial campaign manager in 1938 and 1942, was the most prominently discussed for the national committee chairmanship, members said a definite decision is still up to Dewey.

Dewey told a news conference he wants to consult further with his running mate, John W. Bricker, before deciding upon a chairman.

“I want to make clear it will be a joint selection,” he said.

Harrison E. Spangler, present chairman who was elected in December 1942, would not say how he expected to figure in the coming campaign; many of his friends were urging his retention.

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U.S. forces approaching Fisa

Fifth Army pushes up coast to capture Castagneto

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Japs declare war at ‘serious stage’

New York (AP) –
The Tokyo radio told the Japanese people today that the U.S. thrust into Saipan Island in the Marianas, coupled with other U.S. offensive gestures over a wide area in the Pacific had brought the war to “a very serious stage.”

The broadcast, reported by the Office of War Information, said:

We, the 100,000,000 people of Japan, must realize now, if ever, that the outcome of the battle of the Marianas will exert a very serious influence upon the future war situation.

This is an offensive in which the enemy is prepared to make sacrifices, and even though there are times when there is no strategy whatever behind his actions as regards tactics, the seriousness lying deep in the heart of the enemy, the fierceness of the enemy’s fighting spirit, the enormous number of his ground troops, all are at their highest since the beginning of the war.

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U.S. bombers attack Germany

Aircraft centers and oil refineries are hit

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8209

Drive on Wewak traps Japanese

U.S. and British advance encircles island

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Mrs. Thomas Dewey is on platform beside husband

Chicago, Illinois (AP) –
Her brown eyes aglow, petite and pretty Mrs. Thomas E. Dewey stood with her husband on the klieg-lighted platform while he received thunderous ovations, last night.

Then, as is her custom, the wife of the New York Governor went to sit quietly to one side and watch and listen to her husband with unflagging attention. Her smile beamed above the white orchids pinned to her sheer black frock. Her only ornament was a double strand of pearls.

This was a far greater show than the Texas-born Frances Eileen Hutt of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, ever dreamed of when, as a chorus girl and music student in New York City, she met and married young Tom Dewey, voice student and struggling lawyer from Owosso, Michigan.

Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. O. T. Hutt, joined their son-in-law’s mother, Mrs. George M. Dewey, at Chicago’s bunting-hung stadium to witness Dewey’s acceptance of the presidential nomination.

In his speech, he promised that he would include the “ablest men and women” in his Cabinet if elected.

This opened the question of which leading women in the GOP might measure up to Dewey’s other specifications – “Experienced in the task to be done and young enough to do it.”

Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT), who addressed the convention Tuesday night, was spoken of, although her political experience is limited to 18 months in Congress.

Another possible Dewey choice might be Mary Donlon, whom he appointed chairman of the state industrial board and who has served this convention as vice chairman of the platform committee.

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Reports U.S. battle casualties

Washington (AP) –
U.S. casualties in the war, including the first two weeks of battle in Normandy, total 251,158. Of these, 55,206 are dead – 35,104 soldiers and 20,102 Navy, Marines and Coast Guard personnel.

Secretary of War Stimson reported today that through June 13, U.S. Army casualties were 179,923, of which 32,022 were killed, 73,638 wounded, 37,796 missing and 36,467 prisoners. These figures, he explained, did not include casualties in France because compilation of casualties from individual names transmitted from the field to the War Department lagged behind actual events.

To be added to them, however, was the report of Supreme Allied Headquarters that during the first two weeks of fighting in France, U.S. casualties totaled 24,162 with 3,082 killed, 13,121 wounded and 7,959 missing.

29th Infantry Division is led by Gerhardt

SHAEF, England (AP) –
Maj. Gen. Charles Hunter Gerhardt, son of a general and veteran of the last war, was revealed today as commander of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in action at Normandy.

Dispatches several days ago placed the division in the vicinity of Isigny.

Gerhardt, 49, took command of the division in July 1943 after it reached England.

He is a crack shot, great believer in physical fitness and filled with competitive spirit. He issued open challenge during training to any man in his division to a shooting match with either pistol or rifle for a two-dollar side bet.

Gerhardt is a rugged disciplinarian and a great individualist and believes in being with his fighting men.

He graduated from West Point in 1917, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He served with the 89th Infantry Division in the last war and participated in the Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives.

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Gains are scored on Saipan Island

Assaults on Japanese mainland declared pending

USPACFLT HQ, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (AP) –
While U.S. warships and planes attacked half a dozen Japanese bases along a 3,300-mile ocean-spanning arc, U.S. forces on Saipan Island scored gains of up to two miles, headquarters announced.

From Washington came the promise of impending blows at Japan itself. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal said at a press conference:

The final occupation of Saipan will enable us to protect surface and air operations that will include the mainland of Japan, the Philippines and a greater part of the Dutch East Indies.

One Pacific fleet task force ventured amongst the Kuril Islands to shell Kurabu Zaki, main air base on southern Paramushiru.

Another gave Tinian Island, next door to Saipan in the Marianas, its daily working-over.

Carrier planes swept Guam and Rota, south of Tinian. Land-based Army bombers struck at Paramushiru and Shumushu in the Kurils, and at Yap and Truk, in the distant Carolines.

Japanese hurled torpedo planes and bombers against Allied carriers and transports near the Marianas. The attacks were unsuccessful.

U.S. Marines and infantrymen, already possessing the southern half of Saipan, occupied two villages in a two-mile push up the east coast. On the west coast, they blasted the Japanese street by street, block by block, from Garapan, Saipan’s largest town.

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Editorial: It’s been terrible

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Editorial: Forbidding future

Allied intelligence is picking up more and more evidence of internal rifts and disorders behind the German fighting lines in France. It makes very pleasant reading.

For example, there is the report, as relayed by Maj. Gen. E. R. Quesada, commander of the U.S. 9th Air Force, that German ground forces are feuding with the Luftwaffe and stealing its fuel and other supplies. According to Gen. Quesada, ground troops needing gasoline for their hard-pressed mechanized units may operate a little longer but the ground troops have to get along without air support.

Then there is the growing activity of French patriot guerrillas and saboteurs. They are cutting communications and transportation facilities right and left. In the mountains of southeastern France, the Maquis are fighting in such strength that they have repelled several German punitive expeditions.

The Germans are particularly annoyed by operations of guerrilla bands in the south because Berlin regards that area as the likely spot for another Allied invasion of France, in which case the guerrillas would be of immediate and direct assistance to the invaders.

Naturally, the Germans do not relish the prospect of fighting against enemies in front of them and at their backs, too, but there doesn’t seem to be much they can do about it outside the borders of their own country. As long as they are in France, they face growing Allied armies in front and strengthened French patriot operations behind.

And even when they retire eventually behind the frontier defenses of Germany, there is no guarantee that the German people will view with complaisance the prospect of being on the receiving end of invasion for a change. Furthermore, there are millions of enslaved foreign workers in Germany who can be counted on for increasing acts of sabotage as the tide of liberation sweeps closer.

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What war bonds mean –
Weapons make the Nazis run

By Wes Gallagher

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Vets to be given job preferences

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The Pittsburgh Press (June 29, 1944)

Ernie Pyle V Norman

Roving Reporter

By Ernie Pyle

On the Cherbourg Peninsula, France – (by wireless)
The American soldiers here are impressed by the loveliness of the Normandy countryside. Except for swampy places, it is almost a dreamland of beauty. Everything is so green and rich and natural looking.

There are no fences as such. All the little fields are bordered either by high trees or by earthen ridges built up about waist high and now, after many centuries, completely covered with grass, shrubbery, ferns and flowers.

Normandy differs from the English landscape mainly in that rural England is fastidiously trimmed and cropped like a Venetian garden, while in Normandy the grass needs cutting and the hedgerows are wild and everything has less of neatness and more of the way nature makes it.

The main roads in Normandy are macadam and the side roads gravel. The roads are winding, narrow and difficult for heavy military traffic. In many places we’ve made roads one-way for miles at a stretch.

The average American finds the climate of Normandy abominable, even in June. We have about one nice day for every three bad ones. On nice days, the sky is clear blue and the sun is out and everything seems wonderful, except that there is still a hidden chill in the air, and even in your tent or under a shade tree, you’re cold.

And on the bad days, the whole universe is dark and you need lights in your tent at noontime, and it drizzles or sprinkles, and often a cold wind blows, and your bones and your heart, too, are miserable.

Most everybody has on his long underwear. I wear four sweaters in addition to my regular uniform. Overcoats were taken away from our troops before we left England, and there are a lot of our boys not too warmly clad.

There is a constant dampness in the air. At night you put your clothes under your bedroll or they’re wet in the morning. All this dampness makes for ruddy cheeks and green grass. But ruddy cheeks are for girls and green grass for cows, and personally I find the ordinary American is happiest when he’s good and stinking hot.

It is the custom throughout our Army, as you doubtless know, for soldiers to paint names on their vehicles. They have names on airplanes, tanks, jeeps, trucks, guns and practically everything that moves.

Sometimes they have girls’ names, and often they are trick names such as Sad Sack, or Invasion Blues or Hitler’s Menace.

Well, the boys have already started painting French names on their vehicles. I saw a jeep named Biento, which means “soon,” and a motorcycle named Char de Mort, which means “Chariot of Death.”

Pretty soon we will be seeing jeeps named Yvonne and Ma Petite Chérie.

The names of a lot of the French towns in our area are tongue twisters for our troops, so the towns quickly became known by some unanimous application of Americanese. For instance, Bricquebec is often called Bricabrac. And Isigny was first known as Insignia but has now evolved into Easy Knee, which is closer to the French pronunciation.

I heard a funny story of one of our young fighter pilots who had to bail out one day recently high over the English Channel.

It seems the pilots carry a small bottle of brandy in their first-aid kits, for use if they are in the water a long time or have been hurt in landing.

Well, this young pilot, once he was safely out of his plane and floating down, figured he might as well drink his before he hit the water. So, he fished it out of his pocket and drained her down while still many thousands of feet in the air.

At high altitude, liquor hits you harder than at sea level. Furthermore, this kid wasn’t accustomed to drinking. The combination of the two had him tighter than a goat by the time he floated down into the channel.

A destroyer had spotted him coming down, and it fished him out almost as soon as he hit the water. Even the cold plunge didn’t sober him up. He was giddy and staggering around and they couldn’t keep him in one spot long enough to dry him off.

The captain of the destroyer sensed what had happened, and being afraid the kid would take cold wandering around the deck, he came up and said with affected harshness, “What the hell are you doing here? Get below where you belong.”

Whereupon the wet young lieutenant drew himself up in indignation and, with all the thick-tongued harshness of a plastered guest who’s been insulted by his host, replied: “I assure you I don’t propose to remain where I am not wanted.”

And forthwith he jumped overboard. The destroyer had to rescue him again.

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Völkischer Beobachter (June 30, 1944)

‚Deutschland ist der wahre Freund‘

Die finnische Presse zum gemeinsamen Kampf

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Um Negerstimmen und Judengeld –
Wahlparolen-Allerlei in den USA

Von unserer Stockholmer Schriftleitung

Stockholm, 29. Juni –
Der Gouverneur von Neuyork, Thomas Dewey, wurde am Mittwoch auf dem republikanischen Parteikonvent in Chikago zum republikanischen Präsidentschaftskandidaten ernannt nachdem der Gouverneur von Ohio, John W. Bricker, seinen Verzicht erklärt hatte. Dewey vereinte alle Stimmen auf sich bis auf eine, die General MacArthur zufiel. Das Abstimmungsergebnis lautete 1056: 1. Dewey erklärte vor dem Parteikonvent, ein Wechsel in der Präsidentschaft im Jänner nächsten Jahres würde keinen Wechsel in der Kriegspolitik der USA mit sich bringen.

Die Aufstellung des demokratischen Präsidentschaftskandidaten steht noch aus.

Der Gouverneur des Staates Neuyork, Thomas Dewey, hat seiner Nominierung zum Präsidentschaftskandidaten zugestimmt, nachdem feststand, daß er die meisten republikanischen Stimmen auf sich vereinigen wird. Am Mittwoch begab er sich im Flugzeug nach Chikago, um vor dem großen Parteikongress zu sprechen.

Der Kongress selbst wurde im Stadion in Anwesenheit von 15.000 Personen mit dem in den USA üblichen Rummel – Feuerwerk, allgemeines Singen, Girlparaden usw. – eröffnet. 1.057 Abgeordnete aus den einzelnen Bundesstaaten haben sich versammelt, darunter auch ein waschechter Indianer aus Norddakota im vollen Schmuck seiner Federkrone. Die meisten Abgeordneten tragen eine Plakette am Rockaufschlag, T. W., die sie als Anhänger Dewey erkennen lassen.

Der Veröffentlichung des Wahlprogramms hatte man mit großer Spannung entgegengesehen, vor allem seine außenpolitische Formulierung bereite den Führern der Republikanischen Partei erhebliche Kopfschmerzen. Wenn auch der Isolationismus alten Stils nur noch über wenige Anhänger verfügt, so ist doch auch die Zahl der republikanischen, aber auch demokratischen Politiker gering, die Roosevelt auf seinem Wege zu einem verschwommenen Weltimperialismus folgen wollen. Man spürt instinktiv, daß dieser Weg mit einem dritten Weltkrieg enden muß. Und wiederum war es Wendell Willkie, der Roosevelt die Steigbügel hielt. Nach Einsicht in den Entwurf des Wahlprogramms trommelte er die Pressevertreter zusammen und erklärte, daß dieses „keine wirksame internationale Macht für die Unterdrückung eines Angriffes“ vorsehe. Dieser Angriff Willkies war für die republikanische Parteiführung insofern unbehaglich, als Willkie noch immer eine Figur ist, mit der man rechnen muß. Seiner Erklärung, daß er nur denjenigen Kandidaten unterstützen werde, der seine außenpolitische Auffassung teile, mußten die Republikaner, ob sie wollten oder nicht, entsprechen.

Ein weiters Dilemma, mit dem sich die Republikaner, allerdings auch die Demokraten herumschlagen mußten, war die Negerfrage. Bereits in der vergangenen Woche war ein Negerabgeordneter an den Vorsitzenden des republikanischen Wahlprogrammausschusses, Senator Taft, mit der Forderung herangetreten, daß sich die Republikanische Partei für das volle Wahlrecht der Neger, das vor allem in den Südstaaten nicht bestehe, einsetzen solle. In diesem Falle, so wurde Taft zu verstehen gegeben, würden die Neger republikanisch stimmen. Aber vor allem auf einen Einbruch in die traditionellen demokratischen Südstaaten hatte man im republikanischen Lager spekuliert. Unter den Demokraten war seit langem eine „Revolte“ im Gange, die sich gegen die Entscheidung des obersten Richters, des Juden Frankfurter, richtet, wonach es ungesetzlich sei, bei den Vorwahlen zur Präsidentschaft nur die Stimmen der Weißen zu zählen. Setzen sich aber die Republikaner für das volle Wahlrecht der Neger ein, so laufen sie Gefahr, in den Südstaaten die erhofften Stimmen nicht zu gewinnen.

Das am Mittwoch von Senator Taft schließlich vorgelegte und einstimmig angenommene Wahlprogramm umgeht daher auch peinlich die beiden strittigen Probleme. Die Negerfrage findet überhaupt keine Erwähnung, während das außenpolitische Thema nur sehr sanft angeschlagen wird. Das Ziel der Partei, so heißt es in dem Programm, sei „eine schnelle Erweiterung des Beistandes und der Hilfe für die befreiten Länder.“ Die jetzige Regierung wird beschuldigt, diese Hilfe durch Bürokratisierung verschleppt zu haben. Die Republikaner als Partei von „big business“ treten dafür ein, daß den „befreiten Ländern direkte Kredite eingeräumt werden, damit sie die notwendigen Waren in den USA kaufen können.“ Wenn auch in der Entschließung jede Festlegung in der Nachkriegspolitik vermieden wird, so kann man einer Äußerung Tafts doch entnehmen, daß die Republikaner den Plan einer internationalen Polizeitruppe ablehnen und überhaupt für eine große Distanzierung von „internationaler Seite“ eintreten.

Da sich die Republikaner in der Negerfrage nicht festlegen wollten noch konnten, haben sie stattdessen bei den Juden Unterstützung gesucht. Ihr Wahlprogramm tritt ausdrücklich für die uneingeschränkte Einwanderung der Juden nach Palästina ein und fordert die restlose Erfüllung der Balfour-Erklärung von 1917 – Zwischen Demokraten und Republikanern dürfte diesmal ein wenig edler Wettstreit um die Stimmen, vor allem aber um das Geld der Juden einsetzen.

8219

Die Weissagung von Caen

pk. Sagen und Märchen haben in dieser Zeit scheinbar ihren Sinn verloren. Wie lange ist es her, daß wir kein Buch mehr gelesen, daß wir in keiner Frontbuchhandlung mehr geständen haben? Wo sind die Werke, die wir zurücklassen mußten, weil wir unser Gepäck immer und immer wieder verkleinern mußten? Heute geht mir eine Geschichte nicht aus dem Sinn, eine dunkle Ballade, eine alte Volkssage, die hier im Angesicht der Normandie, vor der zerstörten Stadt Caen, doppelte Bedeutung erhält.

Es war einige Monate vor der Invasion, als ich diese herrliche Stadt, die mehr noch als Rouen Haupt und Herz der Normandie genannt werden kann, zum letzten Mal besucht hatte. Ich stand vor der Kirche Sainte-Trinité, welche die Gemahlin Wilhelms des Eroberers, Mathilde von Flandern, gestiftet hat, ich stand in Saint-Étienne, wo der Eroberer Englands selber begraben liegt. Auf der Empore stand ich neben der Orgel und hatte wirklich manchmal das Gefühl, zu fahren, wie einst die alten Ritter, die dort hinten im Chor mit ihrem Herzog sich Verewigt hatten, wenn ihre Geschlechterwappen im Gestänge des Gitters hingen und in ihren bunten Farben mit den Kirchenfenstern um die Wette leuchteten.

Neben mir stand ein Mann aus Caen, der ebenso gut ein Bauer wie ein Lehrer sein konnte und der mit seinen fünf Knaben ebenfalls auf den Orgelboden hochgestiegen war, um ihnen das Kleinod ihrer Heimat zu zeigen. Ich kam mit dem Mann in ein Gespräch, das sich um die angekündigte Invasion drehte und um das Schicksal, das dieser Stadt dann vielleicht drohen könnte. Nein, er glaube nicht an die Invasion, sagte jener Mann damals, und er wolle auch nicht, daß die Engländer kommen würden. Caen zu zerstören, sei ein Wahnsinn, den er sich niemals vorstellen könne. Und dann erzählte er mir die Sage von seiner Vaterstadt und der Geschichte des englischen Weltreiches, das auf geheimnisvolle Weise mit dem Schicksal dieser Stadt verbunden wäre. Wenn Caen einmal zerstört werden solle, dann sei auch das Ende des britischen Reiches nicht mehr fern, mit seinen Domen stürze auch das Gebäude des englischen Königreiches zusammen, das sich dann endgültig soweit von der Gründung Wilhelms des Eroberers entfernt hätte, daß es reif zum Untergang sei.

So sprach der normannische Bauer, oder was er sonst gewesen ist, und ich erinnere mich erst heute wieder all seiner Worte und der Geste, mit der er seinen blonden Söhnen über die Scheitel strich, als wenn er sie behüten müsse vor einem dunklen Schicksal, das ihnen auferlegt werden könnte. Vielleicht lebt der Mann mit seinen fünf Söhne heute schon nicht mehr, der mir dort an einem Sonntag das Geheimnis seines Landes anvertraut hat. Vielleicht liegt er schon unter den Trümmern seines Hauses begraben wie Tausende seiner Mitbürger, vielleicht irrt einer oder der andere der Knaben jetzt vater- und mutterlos durch das Land, weil anglo-amerikanische Luftgangster ihre Heimat zur Wüste und ihre Stadt zu einem Schutthaufen gemacht haben. Caen, die herrliche, die Gründung Wilhelms des Eroberers, ist nicht mehr. Wie zahllos andere normannische Städte, wie Coutances, Avranches, Lisieux und Bayeux, die keine andere militärische Bedeutung hatten, als daß sie in jenem Küstenstreifen lagen, den die Engländer für ihre Invasion ausersehen hatten, ist es sinnlos zerstört worden. Längst blieb kein Stein mehr auf dem anderen, Flammen züngeln aus Tor und Gebälk. Rauch steigt auf, eine süße, stickige Luft erfüllt den Himmel, Krähenschwärme ziehen darüber, hinter endlosen grauen Weiten sucht das Auge vergebens den Horizont.

Und dennoch kann so ein Ereignis, kann ein einzelnes Menschen- oder Städteschicksal nicht ohne Zusammenhang sein mit dem großen Geschehen. Der Mann aus Caen hatte schon recht, wenn er die alte Volkssage erzählte und die Weissagung wieder aufleben ließ, daß auch ein Weltreich nicht bestehen kann, wenn es auf solchen Methoden der Völkerunterdrückung und des Mordes aufgebaut ist. Es gibt eine höhere Gerechtigkeit, auch wenn sie nicht immer im Leben der-Völker gleich sichtbar in Erscheinung treten sollte. Einmal kommt die Stunde, in der Weltgeschichte zum Weltgericht wird!

Sagen und Märchen haben nur scheinbar in diesen Tagen ihren Sinn verloren. In Wirklichkeit sind sie nach wie vor geheime wurzelhafte Kräfte, die das Leben der Völker aus den unerkannten Tiefen speisen. Aus Dichtung und Mythus wird auch die lauteste und unmittelbarste Gegenwart gestaltet. Und wenn dieser Kampf einmal zu Ende sein wird, der heute an den Küsten Europas tobt und der uns ohne Gepäck und ohne Ballast, lediglich auf uns selbst und die Kraft unserer Herzen gestellt, gegen eine Hölle von Bomben und Flugzeugen stehen heißt, dann werden auch die Stimmen der Dichter und der Weissagung wieder laut, die wir vergessen haben und für welche auch die Sage von der Stadt Caen, die Geschichte von der Schuld und dem Untergang eines Weltreiches, nur ein Beispiel ist.

Kriegsberichter KURT KOELSCH

8220

Innsbrucker Nachrichten (June 30, 1944)

900 Feindpanzer bisher an der Invasionsfront vernichtet

Ansturm des Feindes gegen Caen – Erbitterte Kämpfe in Italien und an der Ostfront – Erfolge unserer Unterseeboote

dnb. Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 30. Juni –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

In der Normandie setzte der Feind seine gewaltigen Anstrengungen fort, um die Stadt Caen von ihren Versorgungslinien abzuschneiden und von Südwesten her zu nehmen. Unter stärkstem Einsatz von Artillerie und Luftwaffe konnte der Gegner seinen Einbruchsraum in erbitterten Kämpfen zunächst erweitern, bis ihn ein starker deutscher Gegenangriff in der Flanke traf und ihm einen großen Teil des gewonnenen Geländes wieder entriss. Zahlreiche Panzer des Feindes wurden vernichtet. Die Kämpfe dauern an.

An der übrigen Front des Landekopfes scheiterten erneute, von starker Artillerie unterstützte Vorstöße des Gegners östlich der Orne und südwestlich Tilly. Nordöstlich Saint-Lô eingebrochene nordamerikanische Truppen wurden im Gegenangriff wieder geworfen.

Im Kampfraum von Cherbourg trat der Feind auf breiter Front nunmehr auch gegen unsere Kampfgruppen auf der Nordwestspitze der Halbinsel zum Angriff an. Der Ansturm des weit überlegenen Gegners brach am Widerstand der tapferen Verteidiger unter Führung von Oberstleutnant Keil verlustreich zusammen.

Seit 6. Juni wurden an der Invasionsfront über 900 feindliche Panzer abgeschossen.

Beim Kampf im Raum von Cherbourg zeichnete sich der Kommandant eines Stützpunktes der Luftnachrichtentruppe, Oberleutnant Daimling, besonders aus.

Marinebatterien der Kanalinseln nahmen wiederholt feindliche Kriegsschiffverbände unter Feuer und zwangen sie zum Abdrehen.

Fernkampfbatterien der Kriegsmarine beschädigten unter der englischen Küste einen großen Tanker, der auf Strand gesetzt werden mußte.

Das schwere Vergeltungsfeuer der „V1“ wird fortgesetzt.

An der italienischen Front wurde an der Küste des Ligurischen Meeres und im Abschnitt südwestlich und südöstlich Siena erbittert gekämpft. Der Gegner griff hier, unterstützt von starken Panzerkräften und unter Zusammenfassung seiner Artillerie, während des ganzen Tages an, konnte aber nur wenig Boden gewinnen. Beiderseits des Trasimenischen Sees setzte der Feind seine Durchbruchsversuche infolge der an den Vortagen erlittenen hohen Verluste, die ihn zu erneuten Umgruppierungen zwangen, gestern während des Tages nicht fort. Erst gegen Abend nahm er seine Angriffe wieder auf, die noch im Gange sind.

In der Mitte der Ostfront wird weiter erbittert gekämpft. Zwischen Ssluzk und Bobruisk wurden feindliche Angriffsspitzen an einigen Stellen auf­ gefangen. Bei Borissow und südwestlich Polozk kam es zu heftigen Kämpfen mit feindlichen Angriffsgruppen. Schlachtfliegerverbände griffen wiederholt in die Erdkämpfe ein und zersprengten feindliche Infanterie- und Kraftwagenkolonnen. Südöstlich Polozk brachen auch gestern alle Angriffe der Bolschewisten blutig zusammen. Hier hat sich die norddeutsche 290. Infanteriedivision unter Führung von Generalmajor Henke besonders ausgezeichnet.

In Weißruthenien wurde ein Bandenunternehmen von Sicherungsverbänden des Heeres und der Polizei unter Führung des SS-Obergruppenführers und Generals der Polizei von Gottberg erfolgreich beendet. In vierwöchigen Kämpfen wurden 342 Bandenlager und 936 Bunker zerstört. Die Bolschewisten hatten schwerste blutige Verluste. Außer 7.700 Toten verloren sie 5.300 Gefangene, zahlreiche Waffen und umfangreiche Lebensmittelvorräte wurden erbeutet.

Im hohen Norden wiesen unsere Gebirgstruppen mehrere Angriffe der Bolschewisten ab.

Ein starker nordamerikanischer Bomberverband griff gestern Vormittag Orte in Mitteldeutschland an. Besonders in Magdeburg und Wittenberg entstanden Gebäudeschäden und Verluste unter der Bevölkerung.

Einzelne feindliche Flugzeuge warfen in der Nacht Bomben im Raum von Wien.

Über dem Reichsgebiet und den besetzten Westgebieten wurden bei Tage und in der Nacht durch Luftverteidigungskräfte 34 feindliche Flugzeuge zum Absturz gebracht.

Unterseeboote vernichteten drei Schiffe mit 13.000 BRT und einen Bewacher. Im Kampf gegen die feindliche Seeüberwachung schossen sie zehn feindliche Flugzeuge ab.

8221

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (June 30, 1944)

Communiqué No. 49

The Allied bridgehead over the river ODON has been extended on both flanks.

Elsewhere the situation remains generally unchanged.

Fighting continued north of ÉVRECY, where the enemy brought up fresh troops.

The forts in the CHERBOURG breakwater have surrendered, and mopping up continues in the CAP DE LA HAGUE area.

Rail and road transport, bridges, railway tracks and crossings behind the battle line were attacked by our aircraft yesterday afternoon and evening.

Fighter-bombers, on armed reconnaissance in the DREUX, CHARTRES, and ARGENTAN areas, destroyed more than 100 railway cars. Other fighter-bombers strafed junctions and rolling stock near PARIS, at ÉVREUX and at BOLBEC, 20 miles east of LE HAVRE. The rail line at VITRY, 100 miles east of PARIS, was severed.

Medium and light bombers attacked the viaduct between SAINT-HILAIRE and VITRÉ, and bridges in the RENNES area.

Coastal batteries on the CAP DE LA HAGUE were attacked by medium bombers.

Communiqué No. 50

Allied forces, driving their salient towards the ORNE River in the CAEN sector, have completed the enemy to throw in strong armored reserves in an effort to halt our advance. In spite of repeated counterattacks by these formations, our positions have not only been held, but improved.

Farther west, ground has been gained near SAINT-JEAN-DE-DAYE.

Resistance in the CAP DE LA HAGUE area of the CHERBOURG Peninsula has continued.

Weather severely restricted air operations between midnight and mid-morning, but improving conditions over the battle area, and southward, permitted Allied forces to complete some 1,000 sorties by early afternoon.

Flying through clouds or under low ceilings, small forces of medium bombers before dawn attacked main thoroughfares in use by the enemy in the VILLERS-BOCAGE area.

From first light, fighter-bombers and fighters, based both in BRITAIN and NORMANDY, harassed enemy movements in the area bounded by DREUX, CHARTRES, ALENÇON and ARGENTAN, and carried out armed reconnaissance as far south as TOURS.

Small forces of medium bombers attacked road and rail junctions between MÉZIDON and FALAISE. Fighter-bombers hit large warehouses at ARVILLE, east of LE MANS, and an important bridge at BEAUGENCY, as well as rail lines and machine-gun emplacements in the ORLÉANS area.

One of our fighters is missing.