America at war! (1941–) – Part 3

9026

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 23, 1944)

Communiqué No. 95

In the CAEN sector, east of the ORNE, Allied troops have cleared the enemy from the village of ETAVAUX. Our forces advanced southeast of ÉTERVILLE and MALTOT is in our hands.

North of PÉRIERS, we have crossed the SÈVES River in the vicinity of the village of SÈVES.

Fuel dumps at FORÊT DE CONCHES, MESSEI and CHÂTEAU DE TERTU were attacked by medium bombers early yesterday evening. Escorted night bombers attacked rail lines at BOURTH and military buildings near VANNES.

Bridges near BREST and CHOLET were hit by fighters and fighter-bombers. Locomotives were attacked, tracks severed and trucks destroyed in the areas of LORIENT, CHARTRES and ANGERS.

Two of our aircraft are missing.

Communiqué No. 96

Allied troops east of CAEN have cleared the enemy from the village of ÉMIÉVILLE. Enemy counterattacks were repulsed in the regions of yesterday’s advance near MALTOT and near SÈVES in the western sector.

Medium and light bombers, this morning, attacked six rail targets leading to the battle zone. Results were unobserved.

Other bombers, before dawn, harassed enemy communications at ROUEN, VIERZON and a number of SEINE crossings.

9027

U.S. Navy Department (July 23, 1944)

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 85

Substantial gains were made by our forces on Guam during the night of July 21 and during the day of July 22 (West Longitude Dates). In the northern area all of Cabras Island and Piti Town were captured. Attempts made by the enemy during the night of July 21‑22 to infiltrate our lines were repulsed. In the southern area Orote Peninsula has been nearly cut off by our forces. Aircraft and naval gunfire are closely supporting our troops. Our estimated casualties through July 22 are as follows: Killed in action 348; wounded in action 1500; missing in action 110.

Intense artillery and naval gunfire was directed against Tinian Island on July 21. Enemy gun positions and troop concentrations were principal targets. On the same day Thunderbolt fighters of the 7th Army Air Force attacked Tinian and Pagan Islands. At Tinian, gun emplacements and pillboxes were bombed. At Pagan, the airstrip was bombed and strafed. Intense anti-aircraft fire over Pagan damaged two of our aircraft.

Seventy‑five tons of bombs were dropped on airfields and dock areas at Truk Atoll on July 21 by 7th Army Air Force Liberators. Fires and explosions were observed. Two airborne enemy fighters did not attempt to intercept our force. Anti-aircraft fire was meager.

9028

The Pittsburgh Press (July 23, 1944)

Allies battling in morasses of French mud

British take half of Troarn stronghold
By Phil Ault, United Press staff writer

map.072344.up
Fighting through morasses of mud, British forces have seized commanding heights in Troarn (1) as torrential rains slowed fighting in Normandy. Two Nazi counterattacks were repulsed, by the British south of André-sur-Orne (2) and by the Americans on the Saint-Lô–Périers highway (3). The Yanks were two miles from Périers.

SHAEF, London, England – (July 22)
British troops, fighting through morasses of mud like those in the last war, have won commanding heights inside Troarn, German stronghold seven miles east of Caen, and 14 enemy tanks have been knocked out in scattered actions across the wind- and rain-swept front, it was disclosed today.

British troops ironed out the Nazi salient south of Caen by capturing Maltot and Etavaux. Maltot is three miles west of Saint-André-sur-Orne on the Caen–Aunay highway. Etavaux is one mile northwest of Saint-André. A number of Nazi counterattacks were turned back, Saturday night’s communiqué said, with the promising British offensive of last week bogged down in the worst weather of invasion.

Lone air attack

Bumping their way through storm clouds, a force of about 200 U.S. Marauder and Havoc bombers and RAF Billy Mitchells bombed three fuel dumps and one railway target south of the battle zone in the lone major air operation of the day.

The Germans launched two limited counterattacks Friday despite the soggy weather, one south of Saint-André-sur-Orne on the Caen front and the other on the Saint-Lô–Périers highway in the American sector. Both were thrown back with severe enemy losses.

Third time in Troarn

The British entered Troarn for the third time Saturday and won the western half of the town before a torrential downpour caused a half-hour suspension of fighting. Smashing across the wooded rise just outside Troarn against fierce machine-gun and light arms opposition, they won high ground dominating the remaining German positions in the eastern half of the town.

Otherwise, the battle had bogged down, but German broadcasts said that Allied guns in the Caen area were drumming out a preparatory barrage for “a large-scale attack in the near future.”

For nearly eight hours, the weather had clamped a stalemate on the battlefields and there was no prospect of its lifting.

British rush stopped

The first great rush of British armor through the Caen gap had ended, because the Germans were once more in wooded terrain after being driven across the rolling farms just east of Caen. The infantry now faced the job of digging them out of one strongpoint after another.

Behind every grove, the Germans had concealed 88mm guns which pinned down the infantry until Allied infantry could get a bearing on the enemy batteries. Rocket-firing Typhoon fighters gave invaluable support Friday until the weather forced them down.

Two miles from Périers

On the American sector, doughboys huddled in foxholes where water was up to their armpits and their supply traffic was interrupted by the impassibility of all except the hardest surfaced roads.

Before the mud made further advances impossible, the Yanks had driven within two miles of Périers, strongpoint of the broken Saint-Lô–Lessay line, and taken positions 1,500 yards west of the Vire southwest of Saint-Lô.

Allied headquarters reversed itself on three towns reported captured Friday – raids on the Carentan–Périers highway, Berigny on the Saint-Lô–Bayeux highway, and Saint-Martin-de-Fontenay, just below Saint-André-sur-Orne. All three are still in German hands, the report of their capture being due to “mistaken map-reading.”

Hill 112, key height just northeast of Esquay in the Caen sector, is still in British hands, although the Germans are once more in possession of Esquay itself as well as Maltot to the north.

German broadcasts again asserted that strong reserves of an Allied army group commanded by Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. had been observed in the Caen area and that a new Allied offensive will not long be delayed. More than 10 British divisions are concentrated in the area, the Germans said.

A Berlin broadcast of a German communiqué said that the British launched “major attacks” Friday and broke into the main German line at several points, but were thrown back by counterattacks. An entire Allied battalion was wiped out, the communiqué asserted.

9029

Yanks on Guam repel attacks, expand inland

Strategic heights, roads captured
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer

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9030

Jap Cabinet vows fight to finish

Ex-Premier Tōjō is political obscurity
By the United Press

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9031

Ploești pounded by 1,500 planes

750 heavy bombers in raid on oil center
By Walter Cronkite, United Press staff writer

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9032

americavotes1944

May spend $6 million –
CIO throwing big war chest to Democrats

Hillman and Murray come out for Truman

Chicago, Illinois – (July 22)
Sidney Hillman, political spokesman of the CIO, three to the Democratic Roosevelt-Truman ticket today the support of two independent political committees, which have a potential campaign war chest of $6 million.

Mr. Hillman, chairman of the CIO Political Action Committee, disclosed at a press conference that the Political Action committee would take an active part in the 1944 campaign despite earlier indications that it would remain dormant until after Nov. 7. Mr. Hillman also heads the National Citizens’ Political Action Committee, an organization established under CIO leadership to embrace groups outside the labor movement.

Both can contribute

Under the Hatch Act ceiling on expenditures of political committees, the CIO-PAC and the new group apparently could spread $3 million each during the campaign.

He told a press conference that the PAC would continue its work soliciting voting registrations and would “see that people come to vote for Roosevelt and Truman.” Its activity henceforth will be financed by voluntary contributions from CIO members, Mr. Hillman said.

Voluntary contributions

The CIO first announced it would seek voluntary contributions of one dollar from CIO members in connection with plans to establish a new “National Citizens’ Political Action Committee.” It also announced that funds of the CIO-PAC – contributions from union treasures – would be frozen until after Nov. 7 to comply with the Smith-Connally Act’s prohibition on union contributions in connection with political campaigns.

Those CIO announcements then were interpreted to mean that the one-dollar contributions would go to the new committee, which includes representatives from outside the labor movement although it is also under the chairmanship of Mr. Hillman.

To meet Aug. 5

Mr. Hillman said today, however, that the CIO members’ contributions would go to the CIO-PAC and that the NCPAC would make its appeal to persons outside the labor movement. Under questioning of reporters, he insisted he had never said the PAC would be dormant between the national conventions and the general election but that he had said only that the funds from union treasuries would be frozen.

Mr. Hillman said the executive committee of the Citizens’ Committee would meet in New York about Aug. 5 to plan its campaign and that the new organization must determine its relationship with the CIO-PAC.

CIO President Philip Murray interrupted at one point to assert that the committee “certainly will be operating within the law.” When a reporter said he was interested in the CIO’s interpretation of the law, Mr. Murray suggested such questions should be left to the committee and its counsel.

He held the Citizens’ Committee had been created in response “to the call of public-spirited groups,” but that it would set up its own organization and the CIO could not speak for it.

Although the CIO leaders had been active in efforts to renominate Vice President Henry A. Wallace, Mr. Murray said they were “eminently satisfied” with the nomination of Senator Harry S. Truman for the Vice Presidency.

He said:

We are deeply conscious of the fact that the liberal elements of the Democratic Party made splendid progress in the convention. The party is presenting two liberal candidates. It is the avowed purpose of the CIO to give every possible degree of support to President Roosevelt and Senator Harry Truman.

9033

americavotes1944

Democrats bank on big mass vote

Door-to-door drive asked by Hannegan
By John L. Cutter, United Press staff writer

Chicago, Illinois – (July 22)
The Democratic Party tonight pitched its campaign to reelect President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the keynote that mass voting is the secret to success in November.

That was the theme of Chairman Robert E. Hannegan’s final instruction to the closing meeting of the Democratic National Committee. It was the essence of a brief speech to the committee by Senator Harry S. Truman (D-MO), new vice-presidential nominee.

Mr. Hannegan, reelected unanimously, predicted ultimate victory for the Roosevelt-Truman ticket but warned that it would not be easy.

‘Get the vote out’

He said:

People are not registered. The Republican Party is not interested in doing anything about it. The more voters cast the better it is for us. We must wage a vigorous campaign of registration. The only way to do it is a door-to-door campaign.

Mr. Truman, a product of the once-powerful Kansas City Pendergast machine, reminded the committee that, “I am a practical politician and I know what I talk of” when he warned them, “This campaign is not just words. Let’s get the vote out.”

Truman endorsed by CIO

They drew confidence from the unqualified endorsement of Senator Truman by Chairman Sidney Hillman of the CIO Political Action Committee, who had supported renomination of Vice President Henry A. Wallace in the bitter vice-presidential contest.

DNC Treasurer Edwin W. Pauley reported, however, that he was closing the convention with a cash balance on hand of only $116,000 and a warning that “it’s a very small amount to have on hand for a campaign year.”

Despite the intensity of the vice-presidential contest, the meeting closed on a note of harmony with Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago absolving Mr. Hannegan of charges that he used his high office to scuttle Mr. Wallace in favor of Senator Truman, his personal friend and political mentor.

Wallace sends telegram

Mr. Kelly told the committee:

Bob Hannegan never mentioned the name of Senator Truman at the start of this convention. He didn’t put him in the race but he got behind him when it became evident that it would be to the benefit of the party.

Mr. Wallace, the defeated candidate, telegraphed Senator Truman his congratulations on “your enlarged opportunity to help the President and the people” and pledged that “both of us will do our maximum for Roosevelt and what Roosevelt stand for.” Senator Truman told a press conference that Mr. Wallace is still his friend.

President Roosevelt telegraphed Senator Truman that he was happy to have you run with me.” Senator Truman replied that he was happy too, was “at your command and I want to see you soon.” Meanwhile, he left for his Independence, Missouri, home to remain until Congress reconvenes Aug. 1.

Disputes are settled

A dispute between rival Texas factions was solved amicably by seating Mrs. Hilda H. Weinert of Seguin (representing the anti-Roosevelt delegates) as the new National Committeewoman. Mrs. Clara Driscoll of Corpus Christi, retiring committeewoman (sponsored by the pro-Roosevelt group), will be appointed to a position of honor within the committee.

The principal remaining discordant note involved the possibility of a bolt by Southerners to form a new “Jeffersonian Democratic Party” in the hope of seizing the balance of power in the Electoral College.

Former Mississippi Governor Mike Conner conceded that there had been “a great deal of informal discussion” of such a maneuver but said there had been no final decision

Senator James O. Eastland (D-MS) issued a statement, however declaring that the Roosevelt-Truman ticket is a sure winner and should receive the votes of Mississippi presidential electors.

No Missouri man ever Vice President

Washington (UP) – (July 22)
If the Roosevelt-Truman ticket wins the election in November, it will be the first time in American history that one President had served “over three different Vice Presidents.

If the Democrats win this year, it will also be the first time that the state of Missouri has ever had a Vice President. No man from Missouri has ever been President, either.

GOP ‘landslide’ in Missouri forecast

Washington (UP) – (July 22)
A Republican “landslide” in Missouri and the farm belt in the November presidential election was assured by the Democrats’ nomination of Senator Harry Truman for the Vice Presidency, Rep. Martin T. Bennett (R-MO) said today.

Mr. Bennett said:

Our people will never accept national leadership from a Pendergast machine politician. His carefully conceived publicity whitewash with the headline-grabbing Truman Committee will avail him nothing when the rest of the country finds out what we from Missouri already know.

Chairman Robert R. Reynolds (D-NC) of the Senate Military Affairs Committee said he was “very pleased with the nomination of Senator Truman” and described him as “one of the finest men I have ever known.”

Senator Charles O. Andrews (D-FL) said he was “very enthusiastic” over Senator Truman’s nomination and “I am sure the people of Florida are too.”

Truman is called ‘poison to Negroes’

Washington (UP) – (July 22)
Director Edgar G. Brown of the National Negro Council today denounced Democratic vice-presidential nominee Harry S. Truman and the party platform as “poison to the Negro citizen.”

Mr. Brown declared in a statement that the “dumping” of Vice President Henry A. Wallace and the failure of the Democrats’ Chicago convention to support a permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee “leaves the Negro deserted.”

Mr. Brown said Mr. Truman and his committee have “defeated every attempt to secure just consideration for the Negro worker.” The nominee’s refusal to hear “united and militant pleas” on behalf of Negroes in industry has “weakened” their morale, he declared.

The Democratic planks on equal voting rights and a permanent FEPC were “doubletalk,” Mr. Brown said.

9034

Butter back up to 16 points

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9035

It’s a new twist –
Company asks closed shop, but union opposes plan

Right of AFL unit to segregate Negroes into ‘Jim Crow’ group is at stake

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Strike halts plane turret production

42 men cause walkout of 2,000

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9036

85,000 sailors may face sea duty

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Alien caught spying on New York Navy Yard

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9037

Sub hero of daring exploit in Manila Bay lost at sea

Trout slipped in under very noses of Japs to deliver ammunition, remove gold

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Ship to be named for woman journalist

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9038

King, Nimitz predict new blows at Japs

Back from Saipan, admirals optimistic
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer

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9039

Losses on Guam moderate; Jap infiltration tricks fail

By Al Dopking, representing combined Allied press

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9040

Yanks four miles from Nazis’ ‘Gothic Line’

Doughboys near Pisa; Allies aim at Florence
By Reynolds Packard, United Press staff writer

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9041

Up to Congress, parliaments now –
Conference passes momentous post-war world money setup

$17-billion plan, including trade fund and international bank, approved
By Elmer C. Walzer, United Press financial editor

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9042

americavotes1944

Dewey talks with Johnston about Russia

Long-term credits discussed at meeting
By Kirtland I. King, United Press staff writer

Pawling, New York – (July 22)
Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential candidate, studied a report on post-war trade with Russia today after a five-hour conference with Eric A. Johnston, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who recently returned from a trip to Moscow.

Mr. Johnston, who conferred with Governor Dewey before the Governor left for a weekend at his farm, said Governor Dewey received the report with “great interest” but refrained from expressing an opinion at this time.

Discussing many things

Mr. Johnston said:

I submitted a report on my trip to Russia. We discussed foreign trade, especially trade with Russia, long-term credit and all other things essential to discussion if we are going to do business with the Soviets.

The Chamber of Commerce president said he told Governor Dewey that the conclusion of the war would open many new avenues of trade with Russia, but that we must be prepared to extend long-term credits. By long-term credits, he said, he believed Russian means from 15 to 30 years.

Capital goods trade

Mr. Johnston added that the trade with the Soviets “would not be so much for consumer goods but for capital goods – farm implements and machinery for the factories.”

He said:

There will be a tremendous opportunity for trade. The Soviet government wants to do business, but we will have to be willing to extend long-term credit.

Asks about Stalin

Mr. Dewey was particularly interested in Mr. Johnston’s three-hour conference with Joseph Stalin. Mr. Johnston informed Governor Dewey, wanted to know who was going to be the Republican presidential candidate and when Johnston said he believed it would be the New York Governor, the Marshal wanted to know all about him.

Mr. Johnston said that, prior to the Republican National convention, he said he would support the party’s choice for President and added, “I am a Republican. Of course, I will support Mr. Dewey, not only as a Republican but as a businessman.”

Mr. Dewey planned a weekend preparing for a trip to the Republican Governors Conference at St. Louis. He declined to comment on the ticket nominated by the Democrats in Chicago.

North Carolina seeks speech from Dewey

Lexington, North Carolina (UP) – (July 22)
An invitation will be extended to Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential nominee, within the next two weeks to speak at some city in North Carolina “in early September,” Sim A. Delapp, chairman of the State Republican Executive Committee, said today.

Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (R-CT) will also be invited to come to the state and speak during the current campaign.

9043

americavotes1944

Speaker Sam Rayburn faces tough fight in primary

Light voting reported in Texas election as Negroes are give vote for first time

Dallas, Texas (UP) – (July 22)
House Speaker Sam Rayburn, making his bid for his 17th term in Congress, faced one of the toughest battles in his long political career today as Texas voters balloted in a primary election.

Mr. Rayburn, “the Pride of Bonham,” was opposed principally by State Senator G. C. Morris of Greenville, a youthful, active campaigner.

Despite the fact that Mr. Rayburn and several other ling-termers in Congress staked their political future on today’s balloting, and it was the first primary in which Negroes were permitted to vote, only mild interest has been shown in the election.

Vote is very light

Voting proceeded slowly. Reports to the United Press from all sections of the state mostly were that “voting is light.”

In the Lubock area, fairly heavy balloting was reported. Rains had puddled fields and freed farmers from their chores so they could cast ballots.

In Bonham, Mr. Rayburn cast his vote early and then went to his ranch to spend the day.

The Negro vote was reported extremely light. There were no reports of trouble at any polling place.

Few Negro voters

Approximately 900,000 of the state’s 1,570,000 eligible voters were expected to ballot. Very few of those were expected to be Negroes, despite the recent Supreme Court ruling which extended them the right to vote in primaries. Few Negroes had paid the necessary poll tax and a large portion had already cast absentee ballots in an effort to avoid friction at the polls.

There was no senatorial contest in Texas this year and no torrid state issues to enliven the interest of voters. All Texas Congressmen are up for renomination except Rep. Martin Dies of Orange, who announced some time ago he would not run again.

In addition to Mr. Rayburn, Congressmen facing the stiffest opposition and possible runoffs in the second primary next month included Rep. Wright Patman of Texarkana in the 1st district, Rep. Hatton Summers of Dallas in the 5th, Nat Patton of Crockett in the 7th, Rep. J. J. Mansfield of Columbus in the 9th, Rep. Ed Gossett of Wichita Falls in the 13th, and Rep. Sam Russell of Stephenville in the 17th.

9044

americavotes1944

Defiant Texas group still a headache

DNC has problem to solve
By Gordon K. Shearer, United Press staff writer

Chicago, Illinois – (July 22)
One angle of the situation created by rival Texas delegations to the Democratic National Convention remained to be straightened out here today by the Democratic National Committee.

Both Texas state conventions nominated Myron Blalock of Marshall, Texas, to continue as committeeman from Texas. The state convention which claimed to be “Regular” proposed Mrs. H. H. Weinert of Seguin for National Committeewoman. The other chose Mrs. Clara Driscoll of Corpus Christi, who had resigned as committeewoman.

Some stay behind

Mrs. Weinert remained in the convention with former Governor Dan Moody, chairman of the delegation, and some others of the “Regular” group when others walked out in protest over having the vote divided. She remained in Chicago when most of the delegation left for Texas this morning, to be present for a possible contest of her designation as National Committeewoman.

Honors were about even between the rival factions when the final convention score was added. The “rump” delegation won recognition and half of the Texas vote in the convention. The other delegation wad first to get on the Truman bandwagon and voted 21 of its 24 votes for the winning vide-presidential candidate while the rival delegation cast its entire 24 votes for Mr. Wallace. Later, the state’s entire 48 votes were given to Mr. Truman.

Sat at opposite ends

The rival delegations sat at opposite ends of the Texas section during the balloting.

The faction headed by Herman Jones of Austin passed on the first vice-presidential ballot. Its caucus, before the convention opened, had voted for Speaker Sam Rayburn and when Mr. Rayburn did not want his name presented the group “sat out” the first round.

The Moody group gave 21 of its 24 votes to Senator John H. Bankhead (D-AL) on the first ballot, one to Senator Truman, one to Senator Alben W. Barkley (D-KY) and one to Bascom Timmons (a former Texan and now a well-known Washington correspondent). Three of that faction voted for Mr. Wallace on the second ballot.

Pendergast aid boosted Truman

Obscure judge gains Senate in one leap

Chicago, Illinois (UP) – (July 22)
Senator Harry S. Truman of Missouri, nominated for Vice President by the Democratic National Convention, sprang in one leap from an obscure county judgeship to U.S. Senator in 1934 with the support of the political machine of Thomas J. Pendergast.

Senator Truman, attacked by his foes for his connections with the corrupt Pendergast machine, gained places on important committees during his first term in the Senate, however, and eventually won national recognition through his work in investigating war expenditures.

Senator Truman, 60, hardly looks the part of an investigator, his manner toward witnesses appearing before his committee seems almost apologetic, yet he pulls no punches in his reports, and once went so far as to threaten John L. Lewis with a subpoena.

Farmer until war years

Mr. Truman was born on a farm near Lamar, Missouri, May 8, 1884. His parents were natives of Kentucky. He attended Independence High School and graduated in 1901, there ending his formal education. He became a bank clerk, but was finally persuaded to return to the farm.

He remained on the farm from 1906 until 1917. Prior service in the National Guard won him a first lieutenancy when he enlisted at the outbreak of the war. He attended service schools here and in France, and rejoined his regiment as commander of Battery D, 129th Field Artillery, in 1918.

truman.worldwarartillery.up
Lt. Harry Truman, World War I artillery officer

Senator Truman’s company fought in the Saint-Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and other battles. He was discharged as a major in 1919, and later had a rating of colonel in the reserve. After the war, he returned to the Missouri farm and was not to leave until 1922.

Senator Truman is a Baptist.

He was 38 years old when he won his first office, judge of the county court of Jackson, Missouri. Missouri does not require its judges to be lawyers but in 1923, the year after his election, Mr. Truman enrolled in the Kansas City Law School and studied for two years.

He was defeated for reelection in 1924, but two years later became presiding judge of the Jackson County court, and in 1930 was reelected.

Throughout these years, Mr. Truman was a faithful worker for the Pendergast machine in Kansas City. The machine supported him in a three-cornered race for the Senate in 1934, and he won easily.

Rebelled only once

During his early days in the Senate, Mr. Truman was overshadowed by Senator Bennett Champ Clark. He rebelled against the Roosevelt administration only once. That was when he denounced the President’s nomination of Maurice M. Milligan for another term as U.S. District Attorney for Western Missouri.

Mr. Milligan had obtained numerous indictments against scores of Pendergast’s men for illegal election practices, and Senator Truman paid his political debt to the machine when he opposed the nomination. He lost the fight, however.

He married Miss Bess Wallace, his schoolboy sweetheart, June 28, 1919. They had one daughter, Mary Margaret, born in 1924.

The Trumans live in a 14-room, gabled house in Independence. Missouri.

9045

Poll: Few voters heed party platform

Only a small number ever read them
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion

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