America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

8517

Ernie Pyle V Norman

Roving Reporter

By Ernie Pyle

In Normandy, France – (by wireless)
One of the favorite generals among the war correspondents is Maj. Gen. Manton S. Eddy, commander of the 9th Division.

We like him because he is absolutely honest with us, because he is sort of old-shoe and easy to talk with, and because we think he is a mighty good general. We have known him in Tunisia and Sicily, and now here in France.

Like his big chief, Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley, Gen. Eddy looks more like a schoolmaster than a soldier. He is a big, tall man but he wears glasses and his eyes have a sort of squint. He talks like a Middle Westerner, which he is. He still claims Chicago as home, although he has been an Army officer for 28 years. He was wounded in the last war. He is not glib, but he talks well and laughs easily.

In spite of being a professional soldier, he despises war, and like any ordinary soul is appalled by the waste and tragedy of it. He wants to win it and get home just as badly as anybody else.

When the general is in the field, he lives in a truck that used to be a machine shop. They have fixed it up nicely for him with a bed, a desk, cabinets, and rugs. His orderly is an obliging dark-skinned sergeant who is a native of Ecuador.

Some of his officers sleep in foxholes, but the general sleeps in his truck. One night, however, while I was with his division, it got too hot even for him. Fragments from shells bursting nearby started hitting the top of the truck, so he got out.

The general has a small mess in a tent separate from the rest of the division staff. This is because he has a good many visiting generals, and since they talk business while they eat, they must have some privacy.

Usually, he stays at his desk during the morning and makes a tour of regimental and battalion command posts during the afternoon. Usually, he goes to the front in an unarmed jeep, with another jeep right behind him carrying a machine-gunner and a rifleman on the alert for snipers. His drivers say when they start out: “Hold on, for the general doesn’t spare the horses when he’s traveling.”

Carries telephone in jeep

He carries a portable telephone in his jeep, and if he suddenly wants to talk with any of his units he just stops along the road and plugs into one of the wires that are lying on the ground.

Gen. Eddy especially likes to show up in places where his soldiers wouldn’t expect to see him. He knows that it helps the soldiers’ spirits to see their commanding general right up at the front where it is hot. So, he walks around the front with his long stride, never ducking or appearing to be concerned at all.

One day I rode around with him on one of his tours. At one command post, we were sitting on the grass under a tree, looking at maps, with a group of officers around us.

Our own artillery was banging nearby, but nothing was coming out way. Then, like a flash of lightning, here came a shell just over our heads, so low it went right through the treetops, it seemed. It didn’t whine, it swished. Everybody, including full colonels, flopped over and began grabbing grass. The shell exploded in the next orchard.

Gen. Eddy didn’t move. He just said: “Why, that was one of our shells.”

And since I had known Gen. Eddy for quite a while, I was bold enough to ask:

General, if that was one of ours, all I can say is that this is a hell of a way to run a war. We’re fighting toward the North, and that shell was going due South.

The general just laughed.

The general also likes to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning once in a while and go poking around into message centers and mess halls, giving the boys a start. It was one of these night meanderings that produced his favorite war story.

It was in Africa. They were in a new bivouac. It was raining cats and dogs, and the ground was knee-deep in mud. The tent pegs wouldn’t stay in and the pup tents kept coming down.

Holds light for soldier

As he walked, he passed a soldier trying to redrive the stake that held down the front of his pup tent. The soldier was using his steel helmet as a hammer, and he was having a bad time of it. Every now and then, he would miss the stake with the helmet and would squash mud all over himself. He was cussing and fuming.

The general was using his flashlight, and when the soldiers saw the light, he called out: “Hey, Bud, come and hold that light for me, will you?”

So, Gen. Eddy obediently squatted down and held the light while the soldier pounded and spattered mud, and they finally got the peg driven. Then, as they got up, the general said: “Soldier, what’s your name?”

The startled soldier gasped, leaned forward and looked closely, then blurted out: “Goddelmighty!”

8518

Völkischer Beobachter (July 11, 1944)

Unverblümte Kritik an den Invasionsstrategen –
‚Eine durchaus nicht zufriedenstellende Lage‘

dr. th. b. Stockholm, 10. Juli –
Als die Armeegruppe Montgomery in der Nacht zum vergangenen Samstag zum Großangriff antrat, da handelte sie nicht aus freiem Entschluss, sondern unter dem Zwang ihrer eingeengten Lage. Es galt und es geht ihr heute noch darum, eine „durchaus nicht zufriedenstellende Lage“ zu wenden. Der Ausdruck stammt von dem bekannten Militärkommentator der USA, Hanson Baldwin, der in der New York Times den bisherigen Verlauf der Invasion einer kritischen Prüfung unterzieht.

Von einem Besuche des Brückenkopfes nach London zurückgekehrt, schreibt er:

Das Vorrücken der Briten und Amerikaner in der Normandie war langsam und mühsam. Es kann nicht bestritten werden, daß der Verlauf der Kampfhandlungen eine Fehlrechnung für uns wurde. Die amerikanische Offensive, die am Montag begann und von der man sehr viel erwartet hatte, entwickelte sich mit einer niederschmetternden Langsamkeit. Es kann wenig Zweifel darüber herrschen, daß unsere Erwartungen nicht verwirklicht wurden und daß wir unseren Fahrplan nicht einhalten konnten. Und dabei liegt die für uns erfolgreiche Sommersaison bereits zur Hälfte hinter uns.

Es verdient festgestellt zu werden, daß Baldwin als ersten Grund für die unerfreuliche Entwicklung des Kampfverlaufs die erbitterte und geschickte Verteidigung der Deutschen bezeichnet. Erst an zweiter und dritter Stelle, so schreibt er, kämen das ungünstige Gelände und das Wetter. Als weiteren Grund nennt Baldwin die Unerfahrenheit der Offiziere bei den neu in den Kampf geworfenen amerikanischen und britischen Divisionen. Die Geschicklichkeit der Deutschen beim überraschenden Eindringen in die gegnerischen Linien und der Einsatz ihrer Scharfschützen haben diese Unerfahrenheit noch problematischer gemacht. Die Überlegenheit an Menschen und Material bilde eben keinen Ausgleich. Sie kann sich vor allem auch dann nicht geltend machen, wenn es, wie auch Baldwin erkannt hat, an der Weite des operativen Raumes fehlt.

Ist aber diese Weite durch die bisherige Taktik zu gewinnen? Baldwin antwortet mit Nein und fügt daran eine ziemlich unverblümte Kritik an Montgomery:

Bisher haben wir eine vorsichtige Taktik angewandt. Wir waren nicht Zeugen von Panzerkeilen und des Ausnutzens schwacher Punkte beim Gegner, die eine hervorragende Rolle bei den Kämpfen in Rußland spielten. Während der ersten Invasionswoche gab es mehrere Gelegenheiten, wo wir bereit sein mußten, unsere Panzerdivisionen ebenso zu riskieren, wie das die Deutschen und auch die Sowjets taten. Damit allein hätten wir militärische Ziele erreichen können. Bisher aber war der Krieg in der Normandie ein Krieg des Infanteristen und unser Vormarsch geschah in dem gleichen Tempo, wie ein Soldat zu Fuß marschiert.

Baldwin fordert, daß jetzt an die Stelle der Vorsicht Kühnheit treten müsse. „Die Zeit der Kühnheit ist gekommen und die. der Vorsicht vorbei,“ so schließt er seinen Artikel.

Die ersten 48 Stunden des feindlichen Großangriffs, die erbitterten Kämpfe um Caen und La Haye du Puits haben indessen gezeigt, daß – um mit Baldwin zu sprechen – der Krieg in der Normandie, jedenfalls was sein Tempo anbetrifft, dank der auch vom Gegner restlos anerkannten Tapferkeit des deutschen Grenadiers ein „Krieg des Infanteristen,“ des verbissen ringenden Einzelkämpfers geblieben ist. Auch wo dem Gegner ein Einbruch gelang, kann von einem raschen Vordringen nicht die Rede sein. Jedes Städtchen und jedes Dorf wurde, so lautet eine Meldung der Associated Press, „zu einem zweiten Cassino. Jede Hausruine wurde von den Deutschen zu einer Festung gemacht, gespickt mit Pak und Maschinengewehren, gesichert durch Minen und Scharfschützen.“ Der harte deutsche Widerstand wird den General Montgomery zwingen, noch mehr Truppen und Material in den Kampf zu werfen. Er wird alles daransetzen müssen, um aus seiner bisherigen Zwangslage herauszukommen.

8519

Standgerichte in Cherbourg –
Die demokratischen Freiheiten regieren schon!

vb. Berlin, 10. Juli –
Die unglückliche Normandie, deren schönes Land von dem Krieg verheert wird, den die Engländer und Amerikaner wieder nach Frankreich hineingetragen haben, erfährt neue Leiden durch ein brutales System rücksichtsloser Ausnutzung ihrer Bevölkerung.

In der von den Schiffsgeschützen und Bomben stark zerstörten Stadt Cherbourg war die erste Tätigkeit der feindlichen Eroberer, die gesamte männliche Bevölkerung zwischen 18 und 45 Jahren für wehrpflichtig zu erklären und sie rigoros zu den Söldnerscharen des Generals de Gaulle einzuziehen. Außerdem etablierte sich sofort ein Standgericht der sogenannten „freien französischen Regierung,“ das mit ungezählten Verhaftungen und bedenkenlosen Todesurteilen fieberhaft an der Arbeit ist.

Es wiederholt sich auf französischem Böden das gleiche Schauspiel, das der Welt überall geboten wurde, wo die sogenannten Verfechter der demokratischen Freiheiten ihren Fuß hinsetzten. Erinnern wir an Nordafrika, wo das von Moskau dirigierte Algier-Komitee ein Schreckensregiment errichtete, dem schon Tausende zum Opfer fielen, oder an Italien, wo unter den Augen und mit Förderung der anglo-amerikanischen Militärbehörden in Moskau ausgebildete italienische Kommunisten die innerpolitische Herrschaft an sich rissen und tatsächlich trotz hoher Kommissare aus London oder Washington, trotz der AMGOT und selbstverständlich ohne jede Rücksicht auf die Bonomi-Regierung das Heft in der Hand halten. Erinnern wir daran, daß die Engländer und Amerikaner entgegen allen großspurigen Versprechungen in jedes der angeblich „befreiten“ Länder nur Hunger, Elend und Krankheiten einschleppten, und daß von den versprochenen Weizenladungen und den Kühlschiffen mit Fleisch an den „befreiten“ Küsten Europas noch keines gesichtet wurde, während viele Transporter vollgeladen mit gestohlenen Gütern in umgekehrter Richtung über den Atlantik zurückfuhren.

Die Meldungen aus Cherbourg wirken deshalb besonders unerfreulich, weil dort die emigrierten Landsleute der ohnehin schon schwer genug leidenden französischen Bevölkerung sich schamlos dafür hergeben, die männliche französische Bevölkerung in den Dienst der Armeen zu pressen, die Frankreich zu einer Wüste zu machen beabsichtigen, und die Heimattreue der Einwohner mit der Gewalt ihrer unrechtmäßigen Terrorjustiz zu bestrafen.

In diesen Maßnahmen kommt einmal die ganze Wut der Invasoren über die Stellungnahme der französischen Bevölkerung zum Ausdruck, die keineswegs ihren Befreiern mit Jubel um den Hals fiel, sondern ihre Ablehnung an den englischen und amerikanischen Kriegsgefangenen deutlich bewies, während sie sich durch spontane Hilfeleistung für die deutschen Soldaten unmissverständlich auf die Seite der Verteidiger ihres Heimatlandes stellten. Zum anderen verraten die Aushebungen aber auch den dringenden Bedarf der Invasionstruppen an der Auffrischung ihrer oft ausgebluteten und schwer zusammengeschlagenen Verbände.

Die Franzosen aber, die von den Urteilen des Standgerichts in Cherbourg betroffen oder zum Waffendienst gegen ihre eigenen Landsleute, oft gegen ihre eigenen Verwandten gepresst wurden, mögen von der so oft angekündigten Befreiung ihres Vaterlandes durch die Soldaten des General Eisenhower eine andere Vorstellung gehegt haben. Viele hundert Personen sind in Cherbourg bereits in den kurzen Tagen seit der Einnahme durch die Anglo-Amerikaner eingekerkert worden und harren ihrer Aburteilung, die in vielen Fällen nach den Ankündigungen der rachsüchtigen Emigrantenfranzosen das Todesurteil bringen wird.

Wenn eine amtliche Verlautbarung der Invasoren die Verhaftungen als notwendig kennzeichnet, „weil die betreffenden Personen für die allgemeine Sicherheit und die alliierten Operationen gefährlich sind,“ so wird damit die Einstellung weiter französischer Kreise in der Normandie deutlich genug erklärt und zugegeben, daß die Franzosen von allen vielleicht gehegten Hoffnungen auf ihre „Befreiung“ gründlich geheilt sind, sobald sie mit den englischen und amerikanischen Truppen und den in ihrem Gefolge daherkommenden feindlichen Verwaltungsbehörden erst einmal in Berührung geraten sind.

Ganz gegenteilig verhalten sich weite Landstrecken im Operations- und Aufmarschgebiet der deutschen Armeen zu unseren Truppen. Die Bevölkerung unterstützt unsere Soldaten durch großzügige Bereitstellung ihrer vorhandenen Mittel. Sie liefert ihnen Lebensmittel, steht bei der Betreuung unserer Verwundeten hilfreich zur Seite und benimmt sich überhaupt so kameradschaftlich, daß mehrfach der ausdrückliche Dank der deutschen Militärbehörden ausgesprochen werden konnte.

8520

Die ‚Befreiung‘ in der Normandie –
Antijüdische Gesetze aufgehoben

Paris, 10. Juli –
Mit Billigung der anglo-amerikanischen Militärbehörden hat ein Vertreter de Gaulles bekanntgegeben, daß alle von der legalen französischen Regierung seit dem Waffenstillstand erlassenen Gesetze in dem besetzten Teil der Normandie aufgehoben sind. Dabei wurde unterstrichen, daß sich diese Maßnahme vor allem gegen die antijüdische und antifreimaurerische Gesetzgebung Vichys richte. Etwas anderes war nicht zu erwarten. Dieser Krieg ist der Krieg des Judentums und deshalb werden die ersten Maßnahmen der Feinde immer zugunsten der Juden verhängt.

Außerdem wurde in London eine neue französische Zeitung gegründet, mit welcher der besetzte Küstenstreifen der Normandie beliefert werden soll. Ihr Hauptschriftleiter heißt Louis Lewy. Die meisten seiner Mitarbeiter sind auch Juden.

US-Imperialisten gieren nach französischem Besitz

Berlin, 10. Juli –
Der Londoner Korrespondent der Tat berichtet über einen Misston, den in den Tagen vor de Gaulles Ankunft In Washington einige amerikanische Kongressmitglieder in die amerikanisch-französischen Diskussionen gebracht haben, indem sie die delikate Frage amerikanischer Marine- und Luftstützpunkte auf französischem Territorium anschnitten. Senator Reynolds verlangte seit Tagen Stützpunkte im Karibischen Meer, zum Beispiel auf Martinique, und fand auch, die beiden Inseln St. Pierre und Midriken im Nordatlantik würden ausgezeichnete Stützpunkte für die US-Flotte abgeben. Er regte an, daß Frankreich diese Besitzungen an die USA als Zahlung für die Kriegsschulden von 1914/18 (!) abtreten solle. Ein demokratischer Abgeordneter im Repräsentantenhaus meldete zudem amerikanische Ansprüche auf Neu-Caledonien im Pazifik und auf Dakar an, dessen Beherrschung den Amerikanern seit langem „für ihre Sicherheit“ lebenswichtig scheint.

Franzosen als britisches Kanonenfutter

Paris, 10. Juli –
Über das Schicksal ehemaliger französischer Soldaten, die von den Westmächten gezwungen wurden, an den Invasionskämpfen teilzunehmen, berichtete der Franzose Robert Haquin nach seiner Flucht aus der Normandie. Haquin war in einer Metzgerei des normannischen Dorfes Salenelles beschäftigt. Er wurde von den Engländern aufgegriffen. Diese „Befreiung“ geschah in der Weise, daß man ihn sofort in eine Uniform steckte. Er mußte dann beim Ausladen der Schiffe helfen. Später gelang ihm die Flucht zu den Deutschen.

Haquin berichtete, daß an dem ersten Angriff auf die Ornemündung auch etwa 500 französische Soldaten teilnahmen, die vor vier Jahren von den Engländern bei ihrer Flucht aus Dünkirchen mit nach England genommen worden waren. Diese Soldaten standen unter dem Befehl eines englischen Offiziers. Sie gerieten in ein Minenfeld, wobei 300 getötet wurden. Die übrigen weigerten sich, weiter am Kampfe teilzunehmen, und die französische Bevölkerung verhalft manchem von ihnen zur Flucht.

8521

Stillwell wieder auf dem Plan –
Aufleben der Kämpfe in Burma

…

8522

Innsbrucker Nachrichter (July 11, 1944)

Abwehrschlacht in der Normandie

Beispielhafte Tapferkeit unserer Truppen – Bei Kowel starke Sowjetangriffe abgeschlagen

map.071144.dnb

dnb. Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 11. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

In der Normandie ist nunmehr auf großen Teilen der Front des feindlichen Brückenkopfes die Abwehrschlacht im Gange. Unter stärkstem Einsatz von Artillerie, Panzern und Luftstreitkräften versuchen die Anglo-Amerikaner immer von neuem, unsere Front aufzureißen, um dann in die Tiefe des französischen Raumes stoßen zu können. In beispielhafter Tapferkeit halten unsere Truppen dem feindlichen Ansturm stand. Die Verluste des Feindes sind sehr groß. Am 8. und 9. Juli wurden im Raum von Caen 102 feindliche Panzer abgeschossen.

Am gestrigen Tage trat der Feind östlich der Orne zum Angriff nach Osten an und wurde abgewiesen. Südwestlich Caen konnte der Gegner dicht hinter unserer vorderen Linie den Ort Maltot nehmen. Ein Gegenangriff unserer Panzergrenadiere warf daraufhin die feindlichen Angriffsgruppen wieder zurück. Westlich davon wurde um eine beherrschende Höhe erbittert gekämpft, die im Laufe des Tages mehrmals den Besitzer wechselte, bis sie am Abend endgültig in unserer Hand blieb. Bei Tessel-Bretteville wurden mehrfach wiederholte feindliche Panzerangriffe zerschlagen. Beiderseits der Straße Carentan–Périers griff der Feind in breiter Front an. Nach schweren Kämpfen wurde er dicht südwestlich unserer alten Stellungen abgefangen. Auch im Raum von La Haye-du-Puits wurde erbittert gekämpft. Unsere Truppen behaupteten dort überall ihre Stellungen.

Im französischen Raum wurden gestern über 50 Terroristen im Kampf niedergemacht.

Die „V1“ belegt den Raum von London weiterhin mit schwerem Vergeltungsfeuer.

In Italien setzte der Feind in den alten Schwerpunkten seine Durchbruchsversuche fort. Trotz Einsatzes starker Panzerkräfte blieb ihm jedoch jeder größere Erfolg versagt.

Im Raum von Kowel haben Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS in viertägigen harten Abwehrkämpfen den Ansturm von zehn sowjetischen Schützendivisionen, einem Panzerkorps und zwei Panzerbrigaden abgeschlagen und dem Gegner dabei erhebliche Verluste an Menschen und Material beigebracht. Bei diesen Kämpfen wurden im Zusammenwirken aller Waffen vor der Front und im Hintergelände 295 feindliche Panzer vernichtet. Die rheinisch-moselländische 342. Infanteriedivision unter Führung von Generalmajor Nickel, die rheinisch-westfälische 26. Infanteriedivision unter Führung von Oberst Fromberger und eine Kampfgruppe der 5. SS-Panzerdivision „Wiking“ unter Führung von Obersturmbannführer Mühlenkamp haben sich durch beispielhafte Standfestigkeit ausgezeichnet.

Im Mittelabschnitt der Ostfront stehen unsere Truppen bei drückender Hitze in auch für uns verlustreichen Kämpfen mit starken feindlichen Kräften.

Die heldenmütige Besatzung von Wilna schlug gestern in verbissenem Kampf den von allen Seiten angreifenden Feind blutig zurück. An der Stadt vorbei dringt der Gegner weiter nach Westen und Südwesten vor. Westlich der Eisenbahn Wilna–Dünaburg wurden zahlreiche An­ griffe der Bolschewisten abgeschlagen.

Südlich Dünaburg sind heftige Kämpfe mit schweren bolschewistischen Schützendivisionen und Panzerverbänden im Gange. Nördlich Polozk wiederholte der Feind nach den hohen blutigen Verlusten der Vortage seine Durchbruchsversuche gestern nicht mehr. Dagegen gelang dem Gegner südöstlich Nowoschew ein örtlicher Einbruch. Kämpfe sind dort noch im Gange.

Schlachtfliegergeschwader unterstützten in zahlreichen Einsätzen unsere schwer ringenden Truppen, besonders im Raum von Wilna. Sie vernichteten zahlreiche Panzer und Geschütze sowie über 200 Fahrzeuge der Sowjets.

Einzelne britische Flugzeuge warfen in der vergangenen Nacht Bomben auf Berlin.

8523

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 11, 1944)

Communiqué No. 71

Fighting has been particularly severe in the front of the ODON bridgehead where our advance to the high ground overlooking the river ORNE was hotly contested.

South of the VIRE bridgehead, Allied troops pushed forward towards PONT-HÉBERT, in the direction of SAINT-LÔ.

Further west, on the road to PÉRIERS an advance of more than a mile was made in the face of determined resistance.

South of LA HAYE-DU-PUITS, local gains were made. The enemy has not repeated his counterattacks in this area.

Yesterday fighter-bombers and rocket-firing fighters attacked targets south of CAEN, including tank and troop concentrations and motor transport. One aircraft is missing from these operations.

Last night, light bombers attacked enemy transport facilities in northeastern FRANCE.

8524

U.S. Navy Department (July 11, 1944)

Press Statement

For Immediate Release
July 11, 1944

Submarine lost in Pacific during training exercises

The U.S. submarine S‑28 recently was accidentally lost in the Pacific while engaged in training exercises.

The depth of water makes it impossible to salvage the submarine and hope has been abandoned for the recovery of the missing personnel.

An investigation is now in progress to determine the available facts in the case.

There were no survivors. The next of kin of casualties have been notified.

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 78

Mopping-up operations continued on Saipan on July 9 (West Longitude Date). Small segments of enemy troops continued to make futile attacks against our forces and were killed or driven into temporary refuge to be hunted down later. Many of the enemy survivors who had been driven into the sea on the night of July 8 were found in the hulks of ships wrecked offshore and killed or captured. A number of the enemy found swimming in the sea were made prisoners.

Light surface units of the Pacific Fleet shelled Guam Island on July 9.

Our shore‑based fighters attacked Pagan Island in the Marianas on July 7. Anti-aircraft fire was intense. The enemy made no attempt to intercept our force.

Paramushiru and Shumushu Islands in the Kurils were bombed by Ventura search planes of Fleet Air Wing Four before dawn on July 10. Several fires were started. Anti-aircraft fire was light, and all of our planes returned without damage.

Truk Atoll was bombed by 7th Army Air Force Liberators before dawn on July 10. Anti-aircraft positions on Moen Island were bombed. Anti-aircraft fire was meager and no interception was attempted. Mitchell bombers of the 7th Army Air Force, Dauntless dive bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted further neutralization raids against enemy positions in the Marshall Islands on July 9.

8525

Letter Asking if President Roosevelt Will Accept a Fourth Term Nomination
July 11, 1944

robhannegan

Dear Mr. President:

As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, it is my duty on behalf of the Committee to present for its consideration a temporary roll of the delegates for the National Convention, which will convene in Chicago on July 19, 1944.

The National Committee has received from the State officials of the Democratic Party certification of the action of the State conventions, and the primaries in those States, which select delegates in that manner.

Based upon these official certifications to the National Committee, I desire to report to you that more than a clear majority of the delegates to the National Convention are legally bound by the action of their constituents to cast their ballots for your nomination as President of the United States. This action in the several States is a reflection of the wishes of the vast majority of the American people that you continue as President in this crucial period in the Nation’s history.

I feel, therefore, Mr. President, that it is my duty as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee to report to you the fact that the National Convention will during its deliberations in Chicago tender to you the nomination of the Party as it is the solemn belief of the rank and file of Democrats, as well as many other Americans, that the Nation and the world need the continuation of your leadership.

In view of the foregoing, I would respectfully request that you send to the Convention or otherwise convey to the people of the United States an expression that you will again respond to the call of the Party and the people. I am confident that the people recognize the tremendous burdens of your office, but I am equally confident that they are determined that you must continue until the war is won and a firm basis for abiding peace among men is established.

Respectfully,
ROBERT E. HANNEGAN

Letter from President Roosevelt Agreeing to Accept a Fourth Term Nomination
July 11, 1944

Rooseveltsicily

Dear Mr. Hannegan:

You have written me that in accordance with the records a majority of the delegates have been directed to vote for my renomination for the office of President, and I feel that I owe to you, in candor, a simple statement of my position.

If the Convention should carry this out, and nominate me for the Presidency, I shall accept. If the people elect me, I will serve.

Every one of our sons serving in this war has officers from whom he takes his orders. Such officers have superior officers. The President is the Commander in Chief and he, too, has his superior officer – the people of the United States.

I would accept and serve, but I would not run, in the usual partisan, political sense. But if the people command me to continue in this office and in this war, I have as little fight to withdraw as the soldier has to leave his post in the line.

At the same time, I think I have a right to say to you and to the delegates to the coming Convention something which is personal – purely personal.

For myself, I do not want to run. By next Spring, I shall have been President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces for twelve years – three times elected by the people of this country under the American Constitutional system.

From the personal point of view, I believe that our economic system is on a sounder, more human basis than it was at the time of my first inauguration.

It is perhaps unnecessary to say that I have thought only of the good of the American people. My principal objective, as you know, has been the protection of the rights and privileges and fortunes of what has been so well called the average of American citizens.

After many years of public service, therefore, my personal thoughts have turned to the day when I could return to civil life. All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River, to avoid public’ responsibilities, and to avoid also the publicity which in our democracy follows every step of the Nation’s Chief Executive.

Such would be my choice. But we of this generation chance to live in a day and hour when our Nation has been attacked, and when its future existence and the future existence of our chosen method of government are at stake.

To win this war wholeheartedly, unequivocally, and as quickly as we can is our task of the first importance. To win this war in such a way that there be no further world wars in the foreseeable future is our second objective. To provide occupations, and to provide a decent standard of living for our men in the armed forces after the war, and for all Americans, are the final objectives.

Therefore, reluctantly, but as a good soldier, I repeat that I will accept and serve in this office, if I am so ordered by the Commander-in-Chief of us all – the sovereign people of the United States.

Very sincerely yours,
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

8526

The Pittsburgh Press (July 11, 1944)

ROOSEVELT ‘WILL ACCEPT’
’Have as little right to quit as a soldier,’ President asserts

Chief Executive leaves way clear for party to drop Wallace from Vice Presidency
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer

…

8527

NAZIS FALL BACK IN FRANCE
Yanks driving on transport hub of Saint-Lô

Canadians reach Orne below Caen
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

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Yanks opened a new offensive in Normandy today as the Canadians drove to the Orne River below Caen. The British fell back from Maltot but continued to advance toward the Orne in other areas as a big tank battle raged (1). The new U.S. offensive toward Saint-Lô (2) gained several hundred yards. South of La Haye-du-Puits, the Americans cleared out a forest on the road to Lessay and to the east advance from captured Sainteny (3).

SHAEF, London, England –
U.S. troops hit the center of the Normandy line today and plunged to within two miles of the big transport hub to Saint-Lô, field dispatches reported, and to the east, the Canadians drove an armored spearhead to the Orne River below Caen.

Pressure by U.S., British and Canadian forces on Marshal Erwin Rommel’s do-or-die line was beginning to bear fruit, and the Germans were slowly giving ground at both ends and in the middle.

Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley sent his U.S. assault forces over the top north of Saint-Lô in a new attack aimed at the core of the transport network below the Cherbourg Peninsula, and was reported in dispatches to have scored initial gains of several hundred yards.

Beginning to sag

At numerous points between La Haye-du-Puits and Caen, the Nazi line was beginning to sag, but the fighting everywhere was extremely fierce and the enemy was yielding ground only when he had no alternative.

U.S. forces captured six towns and villages scattered along the western part of the Normandy front, and at the eastern end of the line, the British and Canadians seized two more to bring the prongs of the arc thrown around the area of captured Caen to within four miles of junction below the big inland port.

Early this morning, British forces east of Caen hammered out a “most satisfactory” advance of about one mile, capturing the industrial suburbs of Colombelles and coming within four miles of the Canadian spearhead driven through Louvigny to the west bank of the Orne.

Desperate Nazi thrusts

“Extremely fierce and bitter fighting” was still going on below Caen. The Germans counterattacked repeatedly in the Orne–Odon corridor, throwing everything they had into futile attempts to recapture vital Hill 112 and the road junction a mile to the northeast.

After capturing Louvigny, two miles southwest of Caen, the Canadians consolidated their positions along the west bank of the Orne to a point northeast of Maltot.

To the west, the Americans made “substantial advances” in expanding their bridgehead across the Vire above Saint-Lô, headquarters reported. No word was forthcoming here on the new attack by the Americans, aimed at Saint-Lô from two directions, according to reports from the front.

In the Vire bridgehead sector, the Americans captured the villages of Hauts du Verney and Le Mesnil-Angot, as well as the hamlet of La Raoulerie, about three miles north of Saint-Lô. They had been unable to advance beyond Le Désert and Pont-Hébert, northwest of Saint-Lô, according to the latest advices here.

Dougald Werner, United Press staff writer at a Thunderbolt base in Normandy, reported that 9th Air Force fighter-bombers broke up two concentrations of German tanks moving northward toward the battlefront in the Saint-Lô area.

One squadron assigned to attack a strongpoint northwest of Saint-Lô spotted a number of tanks and destroyed 13 and damaged three.

Southwest of Carentan, U.S. forces widened their positions to the west and south, reaching a point a mile beyond Sainteny. East of the Carentan–Périers road, the Americans were held up south of a woods known as the Bois de Grinot and the village of La Corbinière.

On the western flank, the Americans completed the conquest of high ground in the Mt. Castre Forest below La Haye-du-Puits, reaching the southern slopes.

They pushed some 800 yards down the road from La Haye to Lessay and captured the village of Mobecq, two and a half miles southeast of La Haye.

German Marshal Erwin Rommel threw nearly 100 German tanks, including some 60-ton Tigers, into futile attempts to smash the British threat to his flank below Caen yesterday and all signs indicated that he was using his reserves at a rate that may cost him the Battle of France.

The Nazi-controlled Vichy radio said British patrols reached the Orne River, but later withdrew. The fighting south of Caen has developed into a “great battle which is now raging with fury,” the broadcast said.

15 towns captured

Though stiff German resistance slowed the British advance, the U.S. 1st Army captured 15 towns and villages in advances of up to a mile and a half yesterday on the central and western sectors of the 111-miles Normandy front.

The Americans seized Pont-Hébert and La Meauffe, four miles northwest and five miles north of Saint-Lô, advanced down the Carentan–Périers highway to within 4¾ miles northwest of Périers, and gained a mile and a half on a half-mile-wide front south of La Haye-du-Puits.

A dispatch from 1st Army headquarters in Normandy said the Americans were meeting little or no resistance in their advance west of the La Haye–Lessay road, the first report of a voluntary enemy retreat since the start of the American phase of the offensive a week ago yesterday.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s communiqué said the fighting was “particularly severe” between the Odon and Orne rivers south and southwest of Caen with the enemy “hotly contesting” the British advance to high ground overlooking the Orne.

Determined Nazi attack

Samuel D. Hales, United Press staff writer with the 2nd Army, said the British pulled out of Maltot, captured only yesterday, and took up a new line along the Esquay–Caen road during the night in the face of determined enemy counterattacks.

The British held firmly to Hill 112 overlooking the Orne, however, and Ronald Clark, another United Press staff writer with the 2nd Army, reported that Lt. Gen. Sir Miles C. Dempsey’s forces were working their way down the slopes of the hill toward the river despite a hail of enemy artillery and mortar shells from the opposite bank.

Another front dispatch said waves of German infantry attacked Hill 112 last night and, in some sections, reached Allied gun positions, but were finally driven off after an hour and a half of close-quarters fighting. Many German dead remained on the slopes of the hill.

Murky weather continued to ground the Allied air forces, preventing air support that might turn the tide of battle if unleashed in full fury.

8528

2,000 planes pound Munich; Toulon ripped

U.S. bombers defy weather and flak
By Walter Cronkite, United Press staff writer

Bulletin

London, England –
Twenty bombers and two fighter planes were listed as missing in today’s raid over Munich, Germany, the U.S. 2nd Tactical Air Force announced.

London, England –
U.S. warplanes estimated at more than 2,000 strong defied bad weather and violent anti-aircraft fire today to invade southern Germany and smash at targets in the Munich area, while Liberators based in the Mediterranean area struck at big port of Toulon on the southern French coast.

More than 1,100 Fortresses and Liberators were in the task force, surrounded by an escort of 70 Thunderbolt, Mustang and Liberator fighters, which flew through bad weather to lay their bombs by instruments through a solid blanket of clouds over Munich.

Escorted by Mustangs

The Mediterranean-based Liberators, meanwhile, flew with an escort of Mustangs through heavy flak to bomb naval installations at Toulon. Returning crew members reported they encountered no enemy fighters and saw a good pattern of bombs fall on the target area.

The new two-way raids came as SHAEF announced that Allied aircraft had flown 158,000 sorties during the first month of the invasion, with a total loss of one percent. The announcement listed 1,284 planes lost as against a destruction of 1,067 enemy planes.

The number of enemy planes listed as destroyed did not include those destroyed or damaged in attacks on airfields, airfield factories or assembly plants, the report said.

Crewmen returning from the raid on Munich today said they did not encounter any interference from enemy fighters, but that flak directly over the target was very heavy.

Berlin battered

Berlin radio, acknowledging the attack, said the raiders encountered “powerful opposition,” but in early broadcasts made no specific mention of fighter interception.

The raid on Munich area targets followed an attack on Berlin during the night by Royal Air Force Mosquito bombers.

Second Tactical Air Force Mosquitoes ranged over northeastern France to attack road and rail transport along the German supply lines to the battlefields last night, despite bad flying conditions.

The Seine River ferries were assaulted: six troop trains bombed and strafed together with several focal points for troop movements. The raids were carried out in the area bounded by Paris, Amiens, Lille and Saint-Quentin by RAF, Australian and New Zealand squadrons.

Attack Nazi tanks

Supreme Headquarters announced that fighter-bombers and rocket-firing fighters attacked German tank and troop concentrations and motor transport south of Caen yesterday in direct support of Allied troops.

Two Mosquito fighter pilots staged a private 30-minute blitzkrieg on long camouflaged German freight trains south of Poitiers. As the trains entered a tunnel, the pilots shelled the rear cars, then swung around and caught the front end with machine-gun bullets as it emerged from the tunnel, blowing up the engine.

8529

De Gaulle to rule liberated areas

French group backed as authority by U.S.

Washington (UP) –
President Roosevelt said today that the United States has decided to accept Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s French Committee on National Liberation as the actual working authority for civilian administration of the liberated areas of France.

Mr. Roosevelt told his news conference, however, that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander in Europe, would continue to have complete and clear-cut authority over all military questions in France and would decide when any given part of France is ready for civilian government.

Tells about parleys

Telling about his talks last week with Gen. de Gaulle, the President explained that this country was accepted the French Committee as the de facto authority for government of France. De facto recognition means that a condition is accepted as existing, but it does not carry the complete legal and diplomatic acceptance, which is called de jure recognition.

President Roosevelt said the United States was prepared to use as a basis for further relations with the French National Committee the recent drafts for restoration of civil administration which have been worked out by the French and British. Those drafts, according to Gen. de Gaulle, were worked out on a “technical” level and require further negotiation.

The President said those agreements were being redrafted. Asked whether the United States would sign an agreement or a memorandum, he replied that it probably would be a memorandum.

Asked whether his announcement meant that all recent difficulties between the United States and the French Committee of National Liberation had been ironed out during the conferences with the French leader, the President replied that if a time limit were put on the question, the answer would be yes.

Gives example

He emphasized repeatedly that the plans call for Gen. Eisenhower to have the final word and to determine what would be classified as civilian areas.

Asked whether Gen. Eisenhower would be able to deal with French groups other than the French Committee of National Liberation, the President said that the best way to describe that would be by example.

After the Allies have captured a town in France and moved in, he said, members of Gen. de Gaulle’s committee would appear before a committee on civil administration set up by Gen. Eisenhower and suggest names of people to run the city – mayors, councilmen, and so forth.

Discusses currency

Other groups may appear before the same committee, the President said, and it will be up to Gen. Eisenhower’s committee and Gen. Eisenhower himself to determine in such cases who shall administer the area.

Mr. Roosevelt said there is some talk at present about letting the French National Committee issue a new currency. He emphasized that the question had not been decided but added that he could see no reason why the committee should not be granted authority to issue a new temporary currency.

8530

Yanks outflank Italian stronghold

Drive northwestward against Livorno
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

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8531

Task force hits Japs in Marianas

Guam, Rota rocked five straight days
By William F. Tyree, United Press staff writer

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8532

U.S. sub lost in accident

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8533

I DARE SAY —
The imponderables

By Florence Fisher Parry

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8534

Loses 60 pounds in 4 hours –
Captain bakes to death in car as heat dehydrates body

Unaware of fate as he drives along in 130-degree heat on desert trail

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8535

Steel needs grow, while output drops

Industry unaffected in reconversion plan
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent

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8536

54,000 Nazis taken prisoner in Normandy

Invasion going well, Montgomery says
By the United Press

Allied forces in Normandy have captured more than 54,000 prisoners and are “developing our offensive operation in accordance with our plans,” Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, commander of ground forces in France, said today in his first message to his troops in a month.

Gen. Montgomery’s message, broadcast by the London radio, said the first month of the invasion has given “good ground for satisfaction.”

He said:

The pace has been hot and it was clear that someone would have to give ground sooner or later. It was equally clear that Allied soldiers would see it through to the end and would never give up, and so the Germans have been forced to give ground, which is very right and proper…

We have given the enemy forces a tremendous pounding and we know from prisoners what great losses they have suffered. We have enlarged and extended our lodgment area and, in that area, we are very firm and secure…

And so, to every Allied soldier in Normandy, I said, “Well done!” Well done, indeed! You have done a great task in a manner which is fully in keeping with the great traditions of the fighting stock of which we all come!