America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

8396

Führer HQ (July 8, 1944)

Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Der Feind setzte seinen Großangriff gegen den Westflügel des Landekopfes mit zusammengefassten Kräften fort und dehnte ihn auf die Abschnitte bis zur Vire aus. Südwestlich Airel und südwestlich Carentan konnte er nach starker Artillerievorbereitung in unsere Abwehrfront eindringen und geringfügig Boden gewinnen. Zwischen Le Plessis und La Haye-du-Pults wurde der Gegner unter besonders hohen Verlusten abgewiesen.

Bei der Säuberung des Waldgeländes östlich La Haye-du-Puits verlor der Feind in erbitterten Nahkämpfen über 300 Tote und 270 Gefangene. Vorübergehend in La Haye-du-Puits eingedrungener Feind wurde nach schweren Straßenkämpfen wieder geworfen.

Im französischen Raum wurden 213 Terroristen und mit Fallschirm abgesetzte feindliche Saboteure im Kampf vernichtet.

Kampf- und Schlachtflugzeuge griffen belegte Ortschaften und Flugplätze im Landekopf mit guter Wirkung an.

Über den besetzten Westgebieten und dem Landekopf wurden gestern 96 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 73 viermotorige Bomber, abgeschossen. Schnellboote torpedierten im Ostteil der Seinebucht einen feindlichen Zerstörer, der mit einer starken Explosion in die Luft flog. Ferner vernichteten sie ein feindliches Torpedoschnellboot und beschädigten ein weiteres schwer. Im gleichen Seegebiet schossen Sicherungsfahszeuge zwei britische Schnellboote in Brand und brachten einen Jagdbomber zum Absturz.

Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS vernichteten im ersten Monat der Invasionskämpfe 1059 feindliche Panzer und schossen 237 Flugzeuge ab. In Luftkämpfen und durch Flakartillerie wurden außerdem 1.418 feindliche Flugzeuge zum Absturz gebracht.

Im gleichen Zeitraum wurden durch Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Heeres- und Marineküstenbatterien 56 Handels- und Transportschiffe mit 348.600 BRT. und zahlreiche kleinere Nachschubschiffe und Landungsboote versenkt. Weitere 45 Handels- und Transportschiffe mit 269.000 BRT. wurden schwer beschädigt. An feindlichen Kriegsschiffen wurden 2 schwere Kreuzer, 4 weitere Kreuzer, 26 Zerstörer, eine Fregatte und 10 Schnellboote versenkt. Mehrere Schlachtschiffe, 22 Kreuzer, 25 Zerstörer, 13 Schnellboote und 28 Landungsspezialschiffe erhielten schwere Beschädigungen. Nicht eingerechnet sind die durch Minentreffer verursachten feindlichen Schiffsverluste.

Das schwere Feuer der „V1“ liegt unablässig auf dem Raum von London.

In Italien lag das Schwergewicht der feindlichen Angriffe gestern im Raum nordwestlich Siena, wo der Gegner trotz Einsatzes starker Infanterie- und Panzerkräfte keinen nennenswerten Erfolg erreichen konnte. Im westlichen Küstenabschnitt, im Raum südwestlich Arezzo, bei Mentone und Gubbio sowie an der Adriaküste führte der Feind ebenfalls starke, von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe, die von unseren Divisionen in harten Abwehrkämpfen bis auf geringe örtliche Einbrüche abgewiesen wurden.

Im Südabschnitt der Ostfront petzten die Sowjets ihre örtlichen Angriffe zwischen dem oberen Dnjestr und Kowel mit stärkeren Verbänden fort. Sie wurden blutig abgewiesen. Im Mittelabschnitt leisten unsere Soldaten den überlegenen feindlichen Kräften an allen Stellen verbissenen Widerstand. Im Verlauf der Abwehrschlacht wurden den Bolschewisten hohe Menschen- und Materialverluste zugefügt. Auch die eigenen Ausfälle sind beträchtlich.

Beiderseits Baranowicze dauern die Kämpfe in unverminderter Heftigkeit an. Die Trümmer des Ortes wurden dem Feinde kampflos überlassen. Nördlich Baranowicze wiesen unsere Truppen zusammengefasste Angriffe der Bolschewisten im Nahkampf ab. Der feindliche Druck auf Wilna verstärkt sich weiter. Südöstlich der Stadt sind erbitterte Kämpfe im Gange. Am Ostrand scheiterten von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe der Sowjets. An der Eisenbahn zwischen Wilna und Dünaburg wurden feindliche Angriffsspitzen in harten Kämpfen aufgefangen. Südöstlich Dünaburg und an der Düna nordwestlich Dzisna führte der Feind mehrere erfolglose Vorstöße. Nördlich Polozk brachen stärkere, von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe der Bolschewisten zusammen.

Kampf- und Schlachtfliegerverbände griffen laufend sowjetische Kolonnen an und vernichteten über 250 feindliche Fahrzeuge. In der Nacht wurde der Kampf gegen den feindlichen Nachschubverkehr fortgesetzt.

Ein starker nordamerikanischer Bomberverband flog gestern Vormittag nach Mitteldeutschland ein und warf Bomben auf mehrere Orte. Besonders im Stadtgebiet von Leipzig entstanden Gebäudeschäden und Personenverluste.

Weitere nordamerikanische Bomber griffen von Süden einfliegend einige Orte in Oberschlesien an.

Luftverteidigungskräfte vernichteten bei diesen Angriffen 92 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 71 viermotorige Bomber.

Die unter persönlicher Führung ihres Geschwaderkommodore Major Dahl kämpfende IV. Sturmgruppe, Jagdgeschwader 3, mit ihrem Kommandeur Hauptmann Moritz zeichnete sich durch Abschuß von 30 viermotorigen Bombern besonders aus.

In der Nacht warfen einzelne britische Flugzeuge Bomben auf Berlin und im rheinisch-westfälischen Raum. Zwei feindliche Flugzeuge wurden zum Absturz gebracht.

Damit verlor der Feind gestern über dem Reichsgebiet und den besetzten Westgebieten insgesamt 188 Flugzeuge, darunter 144 viermotorige Bomber.

8397

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 8, 1944)

Communiqué No. 65

In the CARENTAN sector, our troops advancing from the east have extended the bridgehead over the River VIRE. Further north other Allied units have pushed down the road from CARENTAN towards SAINT-JEAN-DE-DAYE. These two converging forces are now within two miles of the town.

Our air forces were active in close support of the land fighting yesterday afternoon and evening. Machine-gun nests and road junctions were under intermittent dive-bombing attacks throughout the period.

A strong force of heavy bombers effectively attacked a concentration of troops, tanks, guns, and strongpoints north of CAEN before darkness last night. Two thousand three hundred tons of explosives hit the target area.

Further damage was inflicted on the enemy’s transport system from SAINTES and ANGOULÊME, 200 miles south of NORMANDY, to MEAUX, east of PARIS. The TOURS LA RICHE railway bridge over the LOIRE was attacked by medium bombers, and fighter-bombers struck at railway yards, tracks, and motor convoys. An ammunition trains on the NIORT–SAUMUR Line exploded after a dive attack.

Early this morning, heavy night bombers attacked railway yards at VAIRES in the eastern outskirts of PARIS.

8398

U.S. Navy Department (July 8, 1944)

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 75

Before dawn on July 6 (West Longitude Date), several thousand Japanese troops launched a desperate counterattack directed against the left flank of our line on Saipan Island. In this attack, our lines along the western shore were penetrated up to 2,000 yards, and the enemy reached the outskirts of Tanapag Town. The counterattack was halted before noon, and our troops began to push the enemy back. In this assault, the fighting was very severe and numerous casualties were incurred. It is estimated 1,500 Japanese troops were killed. Meanwhile, on the right flank, our forces continued their advance and are now a little more than a mile from the airfield at Marpi Point.

Small groups of enemy planes raided our positions on Saipan before dawn on July 6 and on the night of July 6‑7. Bombs were also dropped near some of our ships but did no damage. One enemy plane was shot down. Isely Field on Saipan was shelled by shore batteries on Tinian Island before dawn on July 6, but the enemy batteries were quickly silenced by destroyer and artillery fire.

Supplementing Communiqué No. 72, it has been determined that 32 enemy aircraft were destroyed and 96 damaged on the ground by our carrier aircraft in attacks on Chichijima and Hahajima on July 3.

Nineteen of the aircraft destroyed and 34 of those damaged were two-engine bombers.

Some of this total may have been damaged in previous strikes by our aircraft.

Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force dropped 43 tons of bombs at the Dublon Island Naval Base in Truk Atoll on July 6. Five of approximately 12 enemy fighters which attempted to intercept our force were shot down. Three of our aircraft received minor damage.

Nauru Island was bombed by Liberator and Mitchell bombers of the 7th Army Air Force on July 6. Incendiary bombs started fires visible for 30 miles.

Dauntless dive bombers and Corsair fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked Wotje and Maloelap Atolls on July 6, bombing and strafing remaining enemy defense installations.

8399

The Pittsburgh Press (July 8, 1944)

BRITISH ADVANCE INTO CAEN
Defenses cracking under all-out push

Americans also lunge forward in center of Normandy front
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

SHAEF, London, England –
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery hurled the full weight of the British 2nd Army at Caen along a seven-mile assault arc today and by evening his shock troops had advanced an average of one mile through at least seven outlying villages to within one-and-a-half miles of the heart of the city.

Front dispatches reported even more impressive gains in the new offensive aimed at blasting open the 120-mile road westward to Paris. They said advanced elements were within half a mile of the center of Caen and named two villages captured in addition to the seven announced at headquarters plus parts of two more.

Reports reached headquarters that the Germans were moving big guns and armor south and southeast of Caen and vehicular traffic was heavy along the only two of 14 roads radiating from the city which were still in Nazi hands.

The headquarters report of German movements, not amplified, appeared to hit at a Nazi flight from Caen under the drubbing impact of Gen. Montgomery’s full dress offensive to escape the threat of entrapment in the partially encircled city.

Zero hour at 4:20

Zero hour was 4:20 a.m. today. British and Canadian troops went over the top after the heaviest artillery bombardment of the Normandy campaign had softened the German positions in and around the great inland port of Caen. This evening, a headquarters spokesman said the day’s advances were “highly satisfactory.”

Officially reported overrun in the converging assault on Caen were the villages of Gruchy, Buron, Saint-Contest and Épron, while parts of Lébisey and Hérouville were in Allied hands. Other reports added Galamanche and La Bijude to the list of captured villages.

Headquarters spokesmen also announced the capture, in addition to the tight little knot of villages in suburban Caen, of Malon, four miles northwest of the center of the town; Bitot, three miles north-northwest, and Colombelles on the Caen Canal, two-and-three-quarters northeast.

Capture Saint-Jean

U.S. forces driving forward on the central front in Normandy captured the town of Saint-Jean-de-Daye, eight miles north of Saint-Lô, and the nearby village of Goucherie.

Driving on beyond Saint-Jean, U.S. forces who smashed across the Vire River joined another column pushing down from the north, and both forces are now well over six miles southwestward of Isigny, the hinge position at the southwest corner of the Seine Bay.

The Americans probably hold an important crossroad south og Saint-Jean, headquarters sources reported in describing the expansion of the bridgehead west of the Vire.

Seize high ground

Farther westward other U.S. forces seized all high ground southwest and southeast of La Haye-du-Puits, sealing the doom of that western anchor of the German defense line.

Making a small but important advance southwest of La Haye, the Americans reached the village of Lemont. A like advance in the Mont-Castre forest carried almost to the village of Gerville.

Headquarters reports indicated that Caen was under a grave threat from the north. British units battering through the thick-set defenses had advanced up to a mile-and-a-half to a point a quarter-mile below the Couvre-Chef rail station, about halfway from the takeoff line to the center of the city.

Canadians gain

At the same time, Canadian troops were attacking from the northwest with like success.

A commentator said that if the Germans resist strongly the battle of Caen might conceivably prove one of the decisive battles of the war.

Striking in the wake of a 2,300-ton aerial attack and one of the heaviest artillery barrages of the Normandy campaign, British and Canadian troops plunged into the burning suburbs of Caen on a broad front and began a showdown battle that may determine the length of the war in the west.

Battle hand-to-hand

Ronald Clark, United Press staff writer, reported from the front that fierce hand-to-hand fighting was raging at key points deep inside the enemy’s so-called Byron Line of fortified villages on the approaches to Caen, the Germans’ eastern anchor athwart the Cherbourg–Paris highway and railroad.

Mr. Clark said:

Progress was made in the first stages of the attack and a number of the enemy were wiped out. Our troops are sure and confident of the results.

Face 1,400 tanks

Gen. Montgomery unleased his climatic offensive against the strongest-held sector of the whole Normandy front, defended by nearly seven crack enemy panzer divisions, 1,400 tanks and 84,000 men at full strength.

But Gen. Montgomery never makes a full-scale effort unless he believes he has a better-than-even chance of success, and he has had nearly five weeks in which to build up his forces.

More than 450 huge four-engined Halifax and Lancaster bombers of the RAF struck the first blow of the long-expected offensive at dusk last night when they roared over the frontlines

Like at El Alamein

Flame and smoke still belched from Caen and its northern defenses early today as massed British artillery began a bombardment reminiscent of the mighty barrages that cleared the way for Gen. Montgomery’s breakthroughs at El Alamein and the Mareth Line in Africa.

United Press staff writer Samuel D. Hales reported from Normandy:

No cannonading like that during the first half-hour had been heard on this front since the assault on the beaches D-Day.

The barrage shifted to provide a creeping curtain of protective shells bursting a few hundred yards in advance as the infantry rose from their trenches and moved toward the German lines with Tommy guns, bayonets and grenades.

Dock area empty

Lt. Gen. Sir Miles C. Dempsey’s 2nd Army held positions two to four miles east, north, west and southwest of Caen, but the disclosure that the mighty RAF bomber force struck principally north of the town indicated the main weight of the attack was also concentrated there.

British patrols thrust into the dock area of Caen yesterday and found it empty of Germans, but Allied authorities were cautious about interpreting this as a sign that the enemy has decided to pull out of the town without a finish fight.

Nevertheless, German broadcasts belittling the importance of Caen and contending that the Allies, if they capture the town, will find only ruins was taken as a sign that they will not make a costly or protracted defense before they fall back to less exposed defenses.

The new offensive put the Allies on the march along the entire 111-mile front in Normandy.

Powerful U.S. outflanking columns were approaching the enemy’s only escape road south of La Haye, however, and the garrison soon must choose between abandoning the town or encirclement.

Advancing along the 363-foot wooded Mont-Castre plateau on the eastern flank, one column reached a point two-and-a-quarter miles southeast of La Haye, while the western force seized the village of Biémont, two-and-a-half miles southwest of La Haye.

U.S. columns converging on Périers, nine miles southeast of La Haye and 11 miles southwest of Carentan, advanced to points only five-and-a-half miles away from the north and northeast.

Gain high ground

One, advancing along the Carentan–Périers road, captured high ground 800 yards east of Sainteny, while the other pushed down the Saint-Jores road to the village of Le Plessis, two miles south of Saint-Jores.

The Americans were encountering increased German artillery and mortar fire, as well as extensive minefields and inundations in their advances along the two highways but pressed on without pause.

8400

SUPERFORTRESSES RIP CHINA BASES
All B-29s come back from 5-pronged raid on Japan, continent

Hankow, coal port and three war centers in enemy’s homeland pounded by Yanks
By Sandor S. Klein, United Press staff writer

…

8401

U.S. fliers lash enemy at Caen

U.S. heavies hammer Vienna oil plants
By Walter Cronkite, United Press staff writer

London, England –
U.S. heavy and medium bombers pounded German troop concentrations and gun batteries at Caen and robot bomb installations in the Pas-de-Calais area today as more than 500 Italy-based Fortresses and Liberators fought their way through heavy flak and fighter opposition to hit oil refineries at Vienna and targets in Hungary.

The fleet of 500 bombers, escorted by Lightnings and Mustangs, struck at three oil refineries in the Vienna basin, three fighter fields covering Vienna, and a Hungarian airdrome at Veszprem, 65 miles southwest of Budapest.

Refineries hit

Among the targets was the Floridsdorf oil refinery in the northern suburbs of Vienna, which is Austria’s largest crude oil distillation plant. The Creditul Minier refinery at Korneuburg, seven miles north of Vienna, and the Fanto Vösendorf refinery six miles south of Vienna, were also hit.

Meanwhile, 8th Fighter Command Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings stalked the Luftwaffe on airdromes throughout France and dive-bombed railroad targets during the day.

Wreck 21 planes

At least 21 German planes were destroyed on the ground by bombing and strafing fighters.

The Lightning group shot up 11 locomotives, 50 railroad cars and a flak tower. While these attacks were carried out, more than 250 Flying Fortresses and Liberators of the 8th Air Force attacked enemy robot bomb installations in the Pas-de-Calais area, and U.S. medium bombers joined the furious fight for Caen.

Escorted by Thunderbolt fighters, the flying artillery laid a barrage before Caen with the loss of one Marauder from flak. They encountered no enemy aircraft over the immediate battle area.

Stream over straits

The attack in support of ground troops came as Southeast England coastal observers reported a steady procession of heavy and medium bombers crossing the straits toward the continent. Their destination was not known immediately.

RAF heavy bombers just before dawn today laid 2,300 long tons of bombs on the defenders of Caen, and the U.S. mediums continued the pressure by daylight. The tonnage dropped on the embattled Germans in the first eight hours of the offensive was probably already near the 3,000 figure.

Other Marauders during the morning corked two more German transportation bottlenecks. They reached inland to smash one railway bridge at Nogent-le-Roi, which crosses the Eure 70 miles southwest of Paris, and another over the Loire River at Saumur.

Today’s attack on the robot bomb installations near Pas-de-Calais came after it was revealed that Lancaster bombers had smashed one of the enemy’s largest flying bomb supply depots, at Saint-Leu-d’Esserent, near Paris, and that RAF Mosquito bombers hit Berlin and a synthetic oil plant in Germany’s Ruhr Valley with two-ton blockbusters.

Strong forces of Thunderbolts, Mustangs and Lightnings escorted the heavy U.S. bombers as they pounced at least seven bomb sites in northern France. Most of the targets were visible, although some formations encountered bad weather over the area.

Meet strong opposition

The British bombers, which carried out the night raid on robot bomb bases at Saint-Leu-d’Esserent, north of Paris, encountered strong aerial opposition from German fighters and intense ground fire.

Although the individual losses were not listed, the Air Ministry announced that 33 bombers were missing from the raids on Saint-Leu-d’Esserent, the Ruhr and Berlin.

As the weather cleared over the Channel, more than 1,000 planes headed across the coast after hundreds of four-engined Lancasters struck into the outskirts of Paris before dawn in another attack on German communication lines.

Hit railyard

The railyard at Vaires in the eastern outskirts of Paris was singled out by the Lancasters for the pre-dawn operations and returning pilots said the whole target area was covered with thick smoke.

Another RAF contingent hit flying bomb installations in northern France last night, as the Germans continued sending the robot weapons into southern England. Although Allied aerial attacks on the bomb bases have been reported in northern France, the Daily Herald reported the Germans were also launching the pilotless planes from Belgium.

1,100 heavies attack

The U.S. Strategic Air Force disclosed that more than 1,100 Flying Fortresses and Liberators were used in the raids on synthetic oil plants, aircraft factories and other important targets in 11 localities in the Leipzig area yesterday.

The heavy bombs and escorting fighters shot down 114 German planes during the attacks, the largest bag of enemy aircraft since May 19 when 125 were downed over Berlin. The Americans lost 36 bombers and six fighters.

It was announced at Rome that 51 German planes were shot down yesterday by Italian-based heavy bombers and fighters during raids on synthetic oil refineries at Blechhammer and Silesia.

Other Allied planes also hit the railyards at Zagreb, in Yugoslavia, and carried out widespread raids throughout northern Italy. In all the operations yesterday, 24 Allied bombers and three other planes were lost.

8402

Jap force pinned in Saipan pocket

Enemy squeezed in 6-square-mile area
By William F. Tyree, United Press staff writer

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii –
U.S. Marines and Army troops continued their drive today against the Japs squeezed into a six-square-mile area on the northern edge of Saipan, where the enemy defenses were cut off from escape or rescue.

Artillery along the American line across the island was trained on the northern coast, behind the Jap rear. It has already frustrated one enemy attempt to evacuate some of its forces from Saipan.

A communiqué from Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said that about 200 Japs tried to flee the island Tuesday night but either were killed, drowned or swam ashore when artillery shattered their barges.

8,914 Japs buried

Adm. Nimitz also reported that a total of 8,914 Japs had been buried by the Americans, or nearly half the estimated enemy forces on Saipan when it was invaded.

In the campaign to neutralize Japan’s other defenses in the Marianas, carried-based planes raided he airstrips and ground installations on Rota and Guam, south of Saipan, Wednesday and Thursday.

A Tokyo radio broadcast said 60 U.S. bombers and fighters also raided Guam yesterday.

Two U.S. planes lost

The Japs on the two islands failed to put up aerial opposition, but two U.S. planes were lost, apparently to anti-aircraft fire.

Army Liberators raided Truk Atoll; in the Carolines Wednesday, hitting Moen Island with 32 tons of bombs, while other bombers and fighters attacked Wotje, Jaluit and Taroa in the Marshalls, all without loss.

8403

3 Nazi outposts seized in Italy

Yanks closing on Florence, Livorno
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

…

8404

Noemfoor Island virtually occupied

Yanks take third Jap airfield unopposed
By Don Caswell, United Press staff writer

…

8405

More face arrest in circus fire

Police head hints criminal neglect

…

8406

I DARE SAY —
Immortal clown

By Florence Fisher Parry

…

8407

Two children die in fire; mother fights for her life

Funeral to be held today with their parent thinking they escaped from circus

…

Nazi general reported arrested

London, England (UP) –
Marshal Karl Gerd von Rundstedt, former commander-in-chief of the German anti-invasion forces in the West, has been placed “under house arrest” at Adolf Hitler’s orders, a Radio Moscow broadcast said today.

Von Rundstedt was recently relieved of his command and was succeeded by Marshal Günther von Kluge.

8408

americavotes1944

Vice Presidency still studied

Democrats completing convention plans

Washington (UP) –
Democrats were completing final plans today for their forthcoming National Convention in Chicago July 19 with the question of who should be the candidate for the Vice Presidency reportedly still undecided.

It is generally believed that President Roosevelt will be offered, and will accept, the presidential nomination and that he consequently will have the determining voice in choosing a running mate.

There has been considerable objection within the party to the renaming of Vice President Henry A. Wallace, and the names of War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas are being prominently mentioned for the post.

Democratic National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan spent an hour with the President yesterday and was close-mouthed when he emerged. He wouldn’t even admit politics had been discussed.

It is presumed, however, that they discussed final plans for the convention.

8409

Roosevelt and de Gaulle conclude business talks

Atmosphere so harmonious officials hope U.S. will approve British-French agreements
By R. H. Shackford, United Press staff writer

…

8410

Sick, tired and hungry –
Jap civilians on Saipan stream through U.S. lines

Vanguard of plain people forms procession which eventually will lead to Tokyo
By Richard W. Johnston, United Press staff writer

Aboard joint expeditionary force flagship, off Saipan –
Trapped Jap soldiers on Saipan still fought bitterly from the caves of Marpi Point today, but Jap civilians – sick, tired and hungry – streamed down a designated road into our lines, forming a procession which eventually will lead to Tokyo.

They were the vanguard of the Japanese people – plain people capable of recognizing defeat and not imbued with the Bushidō spirit of immolation. They were people who, though half-dead, still wanted to live.

The response to our invitation to surrender distributed by leaflets surprised military leaders, who feared many Jap civilians would either elect or be forced to remain with the enemy troops in the constantly diminishing area of the northern tip of the island.

Make hopeless counterattack

While civilians of all ages and sexes were moving down a specially designated road on which it was forbidden to fire, elsewhere the remnants of the Jap defenders attempted a hopeless, desperate counterattack not unlike those at Attu and Makin.

Hundreds of enemy soldiers died in an assault against U.S. Army lines and those penetrating safely were mopped up in cane fields and ditches along the western coast.

From a series of observation point, it is possible for our troops to see the Marpi Point airstrip. This airstrip has been the object of frantic night aerial activity for three days and it was believed the Japs are making desperate efforts to land at least one or two planes there to evacuate high-ranking officers.

Second attempt fails

Another Jap escape effort was foiled when barges launched from the northwest coast apparently in the hope of sneaking to Tinian under cover of darkness were discovered by our troops.

While our ships near Saipan were blacked out during an enemy air raid, the barges began to move out. Our artillery fire blew them out the water.

Army and Marine units thus far have buried 8,914 Jap soldiers and that by no means represents all that have been killed. Many Jap bodies are still inside caves and others are strewn over rocky cliffs and jungles where they have escaped the notice of burial parties.

Jap air attacks light

Although Jap raiders are overhead every night, taking advantage of the full moon, their efforts have come to naught so far. They are always in small force, thanks to the constant hammering of the Rota and Guam airfields by our carrier-borne planes.

Organization of the conquered section of the island is proceeding rapidly. Work details and Seabees equipped with giant bulldozers are leveling off the wreckage of Garapan – almost shelled to the ground – while other groups are widening and surfacing the primitive roads which apparently served the Japs as “military highways.”

The battle for Saipan is not yet over – but there is no longer any doubt in anybody’s mind, including the Jap soldiers and civilians, as to the outcome.

8411

Weather more of problem than enemy in invasion

If D-Day had been delayed two weeks, Allied fleet would have faced disaster
By Edward V. Roberts, United Press staff writer

Allied advanced command post, France – (July 7, delayed)
The weather is still more of a problem to the Allied navies in the invasion operations than enemy activities, a high naval sources indicated today.

He disclosed that if D-Day had been postponed two weeks, which would have been necessary if the June 6 plan had not functioned, Allied initial heavy landings would have been caught in a gale and almost certainly would have faced destruction.

The four-day gale came at a high-tide period and carried some craft so high on the beaches that refloating was a major problem, he said.

Some lost in storm

He revealed that a large number of Thames River barges, equipped with motors, were sent to the beaches for unloading tasks and a few of them were lost in the storm.

He said German naval units were no longer a threat in the invasion area, pointing out that the “Germans have only a few destroyers left. They have had a pretty shattering time.

After D-Day, he said, the Germans made no effort to send naval reinforcements to the Atlantic area, other than E-boats for harassing attacks.

Threat reduced

The torpedo boats have caused some trouble, he acknowledged, but Allied anti-E-boat activities have gradually reduced this threat. However, he stressed the threat was by no means gone, but pointed out that the situation was aided materially by the capture of Cherbourg.

Naval officials expect to have the Cherbourg Harbor, which the Nazis blasted, mined and booby-trapped, in service at an early date.

It was disclosed that repairs to the French port were going forward under the direction of Cdr. William A. Sullivan, naval salvage expert, who reconstructed the ports at Bizerte and Naples.

The project at Cherbourg is “almost 100% American,” the source said, with the British contributing only certain salvage gear.

8412

Pre-war garment –
Model wants girdle back (held as shooting evidence)

…

8413

americavotes1944

Editorial: Dewey and the British

Our British allies are not at all disturbed by Governor Dewey’s nomination and possible election, William Philip Simms recently reported from London. The normal American reaction to that would be: Why should they? But remembering the astonishing British statement in the spring, craving a Roosevelt fourth term, London’s second-thought wisdom is welcome.

Nothing could be more disastrous to Anglo-American friendship than London interference in an American presidential election. At first, the Churchill government did think that only Roosevelt’s reelection could guarantee American war effort and post-war international cooperation. Though it had the good sense not to publicize that absurd myth, some British citizens and journals were less discreet.

Two things, apparently, cause intelligent Britons now to observe the possibility of Mr. Dewey’s election without worry – if not with pleasure. One is the Republican attitude: The Mackinac Declaration, the vote on the Connally Resolution, and the Dewey pledges. The other is fear – born of Woodrow Wilson’s experience – of what a hostile Congress might do to a Roosevelt treaty, compared with the chance that Mr. Dewey and a friendly Congress could accomplish more.

Doubtless also the Dewey and Chicago platform praise of the present Chiefs of Staff, and emphasis on political noninterference with military conduct of the war, have clarified some muddy thinking abroad as well as here at home.

Since the blundering British cracks of some months ago, and the London government’s effective efforts to prevent repetition by any responsible spokesman, there probably has been little danger of even the appearance of English meddling in American politics. But more than meddling is involved; there is also the matter of British confidence in us,

The British have a right – as any ally – to absolute assurance that America is determined to do its full share in winning the war and winning the peace. Any doubts of that, however unfounded, could have a cruel effect on those who have fought so long and suffered so much. So for their sake, as well as outs, we are happy they understand that our basic policy is neither Democratic nor Republican but American; that no change in administration will change this policy.

8414

Editorial: Communiqué language

…

8415

Editorial: Ssh-h-h – it’s radar

…