Russia advocates world return to gold standard
Red professor criticizes Lord Keynes plan for endless credits and no metal exchange
…
Gen. MacArthur wades when boat stalls
Morotal, Halmahera Islands (UP) – (Sept. 16)
An unscheduled stop in the trip ashore to inspect the new beachhead meant nothing to Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
When his landing boat stalled on a small reef 50 yards from shore, Gen. MacArthur perched his gold-braided cap jauntily on the back of his head, jumped in the waste-deep water and waded to the beach.
U.S. State Department (September 17, 1944)
500.CC/9–1744
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State to President Roosevelt
Washington, September 17, 1944
Subject: PROGRESS REPORT ON DUMBARTON OAKS CONVERSATIONS – TWENTY-FIFTH DAY
In the morning I checked with Ambassador Gromyko to ascertain whether he had received official instructions from his Government indicating that the possible compromise voting formula was unacceptable. He confirmed that he had received such instructions.
A little before noon, as I have told you on the telephone, a small American group had a long discussion with Secretary Hull. Following that I called you on the telephone, at which time we agreed on a proposal for closing down the conversations at Dumbarton Oaks with the Soviets as soon as possible, holding conversations with the British and Chinese immediately thereafter, hoping to limit them to three or four days, and then to issue simultaneously in the four capitals releases indicating the progress made and explaining that there were certain open points which the Governments would have to study in more detail. The release would then explain that the delegations were going home to report to their Governments and that representatives of the three Governments would meet again not later than November 15 to prepare complete proposals which could serve as a basis of discussion at a full United Nations conference.
I attach a copy of the outline of this proposal which I made to Sir Alexander Cadogan and Ambassador Gromyko at a meeting at 4:00 p.m. They seemed to receive it favorably and agreed to wire home for instructions on it. The [American] Group then drafted two possible communiqués – one intended for issuance at the end of the British-Soviet talks and the other at the end of the British-Chinese talks – inasmuch as Ambassador Gromyko stated that he would have to tell his Government exactly what would be said publicly under this proposal. These are the communiqués which I read to you in our telephone conversation around 9:00 p.m. Copies are attached.
E S
[Annex 1]
U.S. proposal of possible procedure
Suspend the Soviet phase of the conversations.
Begin discussions with the Chinese.
At the conclusion of the Chinese discussions an identical communiqué would be issued by each government to the effect that:
a) Agreement has been reached on a wide range of subjects. The discussions at Dumbarton Oaks have been another instance of cooperation among the principal allies in this war, and a step forward in reaching agreement for the post-war period.
b) Before complete proposals can be placed before the other United Nations as a basis of discussion at a conference, it is necessary for each of the governments to give further consideration to the subject in all of its phases and implications.
c) In the meantime, in order to provide an opportunity for public study and discussion, there is made public a memorandum setting forth the substance of the document worked out at Dumbarton Oaks, except the section relating to voting in the Council. This document should be described as indicating the area of agreement reached so far.
d) Not later than November 15, after the governments have completed their further studies and sufficient time has been afforded for public discussion, representatives of the governments now represented at Dumbarton Oaks would meet again to complete the preparation of proposals which could then serve as a basis of discussion at a full United Nations Conference.
[Annex 2]
Draft Communiqué
Conversations between the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union delegations in Washington regarding the establishment of a World Security Organization have now been completed. The three delegations are making reports to their respective Governments who will consider these reports and will in due course issue a simultaneous statement on the subject.
[Annex 3]
Draft Communiqué
The Government of __________ has now received the report of its Delegation to the conversations held in Washington between August 21–September ____________ with the Delegations of ____________ on the subject of an international organization for the maintenance of peace and security.
There is annexed hereto a statement of the tentative proposals which have resulted from the conversations, indicating in detail the wide range of subjects on which agreement has been reached.
The Governments which were represented in the discussions in Washington have agreed that after further study of these proposals, and not later than November 15, they will take the necessary steps with a view to the preparation of complete proposals which could then serve as a basis of discussion at a full United Nations Conference.
Meanwhile the _____________ Governments, which are already directly and jointly engaged in the suppression of the forces that have disturbed the peace of the world, are resolved to work together for the future enforcement of the terms of surrender to be imposed on the common enemy.
Lot 60–D 224, Box 56: DO/ConvA/JSC Mins. 13–18
Informal minutes of Meeting No. 15 of the Joint Steering Committee
Washington, September 17, 1944, 4 p.m.
[Extract]
| Present: | Ambassador Gromyko of the Soviet group; |
| Sir Alexander Cadogan and Mr. Jebb of the British group; | |
| Mr. Stettinius, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Pasvolsky of the American group. | |
| Mr. Hiss also present, as secretary. |
In opening the meeting Mr. Stettinius said that he wished to apologize for having called a meeting on Sunday afternoon. He said, however, that he felt it was time for the Committee to take inventory of the situation. He went on to say that an appraisal of the situation reveals that an amazing amount of ground has been covered and that much in the way of agreement has been accomplished except for one obstacle, the question of the right of a state to vote when it is involved in a dispute. He said that as he understood the situation the position of the Soviet Government is that it cannot change its views on this matter.
Ambassador Gromyko replied that when this question had been asked of him at the last meeting of the Committee he had said that the Soviet position was a final one. Sir Alexander Cadogan stated that on the issue of voting in the Council there was no prospect at all of his Government changing its attitude.
Mr. Stettinius then said that he thought that for the benefit of all concerned the record should show clearly that the compromise proposal on this subject, which had recently been drafted and had been given consideration, was a tentative sounding of the respective Governments and had never been proposed or accepted by any of the three Governments.
Mr. Stettinius then went on to say that it seemed to him that there are three alternatives as to the procedure to be followed. He said that, first, the conversations could be terminated with a statement that the three groups have met and have found it impossible to reach agreement. He said that for his part that seemed to be an unthinkable solution. He said that, as he had remarked at the last meeting of the Committee, civilization as we know it and the entire future of the world depend upon the three powers remaining side by side in peace as in war. He said that he felt that means must be found for adjusting the positions of the three powers so that an international organization will be possible.
The second alternative procedure would be to publish the document as agreed to and to refer it to a general conference of the United Nations, leaving open the question of voting in the Council. He said he understood that Ambassador Gromyko could not agree to such an alternative.
Ambassador Gromyko said that he thought such a course would not be practicable, that it would be necessary to have prior agreement among the three powers. He said that he was expressing merely his own opinion. Mr. Stettinius asked whether his statement also represented the official view of the Soviet Government. Ambassador Gromyko replied again that he was simply stating his own view.
Mr. Stettinius then said that the third alternative would be to finish the conversations at Dumbarton Oaks, each group reporting to its own Government. The Governments could then study the results of the labors of the groups and a further meeting could be held thereafter. He said that he had a specific plan to this effect to propose but he wished first to inquire whether Ambassador Gromyko and Sir Alexander Cadogan had some other suggestion to make.
Mr. Pasvolsky suggested that it might be profitable to discuss the possibility of a general conference being held with the question of voting left open. Mr. Stettinius said that if such a course of procedure were possible he would like consideration to be given to it. Ambassador Gromyko said that he had no prepared proposal to make and that he would like to hear Mr. Stettinius’ specific plan.
Sir Alexander Cadogan said that he had just seen his Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary. He said that he felt sure that they would not like the first alternative, namely, a mere breaking up of the discussions. He felt that the impression which would be given by such a course of action would not be quite a true one in as much as there has in fact been agreement on a wide range of subjects. As to the second alternative, he said that he believed that his Government would not like that either. He did not feel it would be wise to go into a large conference without prior agreement. He felt that the third alternative is the preferable one. He said that we could say that the groups have not been able to reach full agreement and that they, therefore, were referring the difficulties which had arisen to their Governments for them to study. He said that still another alternative, which he proposed only to knock down, would be to terminate the conversations without making any statement. Mr. Pasvolsky thought that this last alternative would not give a fair impression in view of the fact that so much has in fact been accomplished by the conversations.
Mr. Stettinius said that he was prepared to distribute copies of a memorandum setting forth a specific plan of procedure but that first he wished again to emphasize that the world dream of partnership among the nations is of such overriding importance that a way must be found to accomplish it. He said that he felt that the plan of procedure which he was about to suggest is not itself too good. He said that there will be tremendous adverse speculation as a result even of that course, speculation to the effect that the groups have not been able to agree. He said that everything in his being tells him that some way must be found to reach agreement.
Ambassador Gromyko said that he also felt that it should not be said that the groups had conferred and had been unable to agree. He said that his personal view is that the best thing to say would be that agreement had been reached on many questions relating to a security organization but that consideration of some questions had not been completed. He would say that discussion of these questions would have to be continued among the Governments themselves. He would not say that there had been disagreement; he would say that these questions would be considered at some later time. He said that he was expressing merely a “raw idea” and was not expressing official views on this particular subject.
Mr. Stettinius then distributed copies of a memorandum entitled “Possible Procedure.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
840.50/9-1744
The Secretary of State to the President
Washington, September 17, 1944
Top secret
Memorandum for the President
I note from your record of conversation with the Prime Minister on September 14, 1944 that lend-lease aid during the war with Japan will exceed, in food, shipping, et cetera, the strategic needs of Great Britain in carrying on that war and will, to that extent, be devoted to maintaining British economy. Would it not be well to make clear to the Prime Minister at this time that one of the primary considerations of the Committee, in determining the extent to which lend-lease might exceed direct strategic needs, would be the soundness of the course adopted by the British Government with a view to restoring its own economy, particularly with regard to measures taken to restore the flow of international trade? My thought on this, which applies to financial assistance through lend-lease or in other forms, is developed in the last enclosure, of which a copy is attached, to my memorandum to you of September 8, 1944.
C H
The Secretary of State to the President
Washington, September 17, 1944
Top secret
Subject: CONSIDERATIONS WITH RESPECT TO POSSIBLE RECOGNITION BY PRINCIPAL ALLIED GOVERNMENTS OF A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF FRANCE
In my opinion the time has come to give serious consideration to the question of announcing this Government’s recognition of the de facto French authority as the Provisional Government of France. Of course, the word “provisional” would not be dropped until after general elections are held in France.
I believe that this step is not inconsistent with the policy which we have carefully followed, namely, to refrain from any action which might have the effect of impairing the opportunity of the French people freely to exercise their will in the choice of their leaders.
The following factors suggest the advisability of taking this step at this time.
-
There is every indication that General de Gaulle has been accepted for the initial period as the national leader in liberated France. This is fully corroborated by reports from our military authorities, who have been in touch with the local population in many parts of France. It likewise does away with the possibility of this Government ever being charged with imposing General de Gaulle on the French people.
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There are increasing indications that the resistance groups and others in France have no intention of permitting the establishment of a personal dictatorship under General de Gaulle. The base of the governing authority has already been broadened by the inclusion of numerous representatives of metropolitan resistance. General de Gaulle’s desire to maintain the thread of legal continuity and to work with democratic elements is likewise shown by the appointment of M. Jeanneney, President of the Senate.
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The Political Advisor on General Eisenhower’s staff (Eeber) reports that the Committee, with possible occasional changes of individual Commissioners, should be able to maintain control in France until such time as elections can be held.
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It will probably be many months before elections can take place owing to the absence of over a million prisoners-of-war and deportees in Germany.
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Lack of recognition will make it more difficult for the Committee to maintain the internal stability necessary for the prosecution of the war and orderly rehabilitation of the country.
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Our present popularity in France is high. It will suffer if we delay recognition unduly. Many Frenchmen undoubtedly understand and sympathize with our refusal to recognize the Committee when it was established in Algiers, but they will not understand this refusal now that France is largely liberated.
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General Eisenhower’s headquarters agree that there is no reason to delay a further degree of recognition from a military point of view.
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Recognition would greatly simplify the solution of a number of practical problems of an economic and financial nature.
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A number of Governments have already extended recognition to the Committee as the Provisional Government of France and there are indications that the British and Canadians may shortly take this action even if we do not. American prestige would suffer severely if we were to be the only major power withholding recognition.
If you agree to the desirability of taking this step, either of the following two possibilities would present a suitable occasion for the extension of recognition, after consultation and agreement with Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
-
The passage of a vote of confidence in General de Gaulle, and the de facto French authority as presently constituted, by the Provisional Consultative Assembly, established in Paris and broadened to include at least fifty percent of resistance membership.
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The setting up, with the approval of the Supreme Allied Commander, of zones of the interior, thereby emphasizing the change from a strictly military to a predominantly civilian administration.
C H
Draft of a suggested telegram to be sent by the President and the Prime Minister to Marshal Stalin
In the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers before Tehran, the Prime Minister of Great Britain submitted a draft proposing the local punishment of war criminals in the countries and, if possible, at the scenes where their atrocities had been committed. With some small amendments this document was approved and has been published to the world with general acceptance and approval. This document however did not attempt to deal with the cases of the major war criminals “whose offences have no particular geographical localization.” This matter was touched on in conversation at Tehran without any definite conclusion being reached. It has now become important for us to reach agreement about the treatment of these major criminals. Would you consider whether a list could not be prepared of say 50 to 100 persons whose responsibilities for directing or impelling the whole process of crime and atrocity is established by the fact of their holding certain high offices? Such a list would not of course be exhaustive. New names could be added at any time. It is proposed that these persons should be declared, on the authority of the United Nations, to be world outlaws and that upon any of them falling into Allied hands the Allies will “decide how they are to be disposed of and the execution of this decision will be carried out immediately.” Or alternatively, “the nearest General Officer will convene a Court for the sole purpose of establishing their identity, and when this has been done will have them shot within one hour without reference to higher authority.”
It would seem that the method of trial, conviction and judicial sentence is quite inappropriate for notorious ringleaders such as Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Goebbels and Ribbentrop. Apart from the formidable difficulties of constituting the Court, formulating the charge and assembling the evidence, the question of their fate is a political and not a judicial one. It could not rest with judges however eminent or learned to decide finally a matter like this which is of the widest and most vital public policy. The decision must be “the joint decision of the Governments of the Allies.” This in fact was expressed in the Moscow Declaration.
There would seem to be advantages in publishing a list of names. At the present time, Hitler and his leading associates know that their fate will be sealed when the German Army and people cease to resist. It therefore costs them nothing to go on giving orders to fight to the last man, die in the last ditch, etc. As long as they can persuade the German people to do this, they continue to live on the fat of the land and have exalted employments. They represent themselves and the German people as sharing the same rights and fate. Once however their names are published and they are isolated, the mass of the German people will infer rightly that there is a difference between these major criminals and themselves. A divergence of interests between the notorious leaders and their dupes will become apparent. This may lead to undermining the authority of the doomed leaders and to setting their own people against them, and thus may help the breakup of Germany.
We should be very glad to have your views upon this proposal at your earliest convenience. It is of course without prejudice to the great mass of German war criminals who will be handed over for the judgment of the countries where their crimes have been committed.
17.9.44
Log of the President’s Visit to Canada
Sunday, September 17
We crossed the International Border at Rouse’s Point, NY, at 12:15 a.m. At Rouse’s Point we dropped off our Royal Canadian Mounted Police escort, and also transferred over to the lines and facilities of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad for the continuation of our journey to Hyde Park.
We arrived in Albany, NY, at 6:45 a.m., where our train was turned over to the New York Central Railroad (West Shore Division).
We arrived at Highland, NY, at 9:15 a.m. Mrs. Roosevelt met the President on his arrival here. The President detrained at 9:20 a.m. and motored to Hyde Park. He was accompanied to Hyde Park by Mrs. Roosevelt, Admiral Leahy, Lieutenant Commander H. G. Bruenn, Medical Corps, U.S. Naval Reserve – who had joined our party at Quebec – Miss Tully and Mrs. Brady. Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill were to join the President and Mrs. Roosevelt at Hyde Park on Monday, September 18, for a brief visit.
Admiral Mclntire, General Watson, Lieutenant Rigdon, Chief Yeoman Hoying, Mr. Jack Romagna and Mr. Dan L. Moorman proceeded on to Jersey City with the President’s train. The others of the party remained at Poughkeepsie. At Jersey City one car of the special train was detached and hitched on to the Baltimore and Ohio’s “Capitol Limited,” so that Admiral Mclntire, General Watson, Lieutenant Rigdon, Chief Yeoman Hoying, Mr. Romagna and Mr. Moorman arrived in Washington at 5:10 p.m.
The President, Admiral Leahy, Lieutenant Commander Bruenn, Miss Tully, Mrs. Brady and all other members of the party stopping off at Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park returned to Washington at 8:00 a.m., Thursday, September 21.
Oberdonau-Zeitung (September 18, 1944)
Gesteigerte erfolgreiche deutsche Abwehr an allen Fronten!
Der Mob beherrscht ganz Frankreich
Massenerschießungen und furchtbare Folterungen der Opfer genau nach bolschewistischem Vorbild – Die „Vierte Republik“ ausgerufen – In Paris bereits Zehntausende öffentlich abgeurteiltund auf Straßen und Plätzen erschossen
…
Japanische Truppen stehen nach einem Tschungking-Bericht 15 Kilometer vor der Hauptstadt Kiangsis, Kweilin, die als Stützpunkt für die US-Luftwaffe und als Verkehrsknotenpunkt für Tschungking-china gleich wichtig ist.
Führer HQ (September 18, 1944)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Im holländischen Raum setzte der Feind gestern mittags nach vorausgegangenen starken Luftangriffen Fallschirmjäger und Luftlandetruppen hinter unserer Front mit Schwerpunkt im Raum von Arnheim, Nimwegen und Eindhoven ab. Am Nachmittag trat er dann zwischen Antwerpen und Maastricht zum Angriff an, um die Verbindung mit seinen abgesprungenen Verbänden herzustellen. Besonders im Raum von Neerpelt entwickelten sich dabei heftige Kämpfe, in deren Verlauf der Feind geringen Geländegewinn nach Norden erzielen konnte. Gegen die feindlichen Luftlandekräfte sind konzentrische Gegenangriffe angesetzt.
Zwischen Maastricht und Aachen sowie im Raum von Nancy stehen unsere Truppen weiterhin in schwerem Abwehrkampf mit starken feindlichen Kräften. In den übrigen Abschnitten der Westfront wurden zahlreiche schwächere Angriffe des Feindes zerschlagen.
In Lunéville eingedrungener Feind wurde geworfen. Südlich der Stadt ist unser Gegenangriff im guten Fortschreiten.
In den Trümmern von Brest behauptet sich die heldenhafte Besatzung, auf engem Raum zusammengedrängt, immer noch gegen schwerste feindliche Angriffe. Auch um die Festung Boulogne toben schwere Kämpfe. Hier konnte der Feind nach stundenlangen Luftangriffen von Westen her einen Einbruch erzielen, der abgeriegelt wurde. Gegen Dünkirchen geführte feindliche Angriffe scheiterten.
Das „V1“-Vergeltungsfeuer auf London wurde fortgesetzt.
An der italienischen Front blieben feindliche Angriffe im Abschnitt Lucca-Pistora erfolglos.
Unter starker Artillerie- und Luftwaffenunterstützung griff der Gegner den ganzen Tag über nördlich Florenz und an der adriatischen Küste in immer neuen Wellen an. In verlustreichen Kämpfen wurden alle seine Durchbruchsversuche vereitelt.
An der serbisch-bulgarischen Grenze kam es zu mehreren örtlichen Gefechten, in deren Verlauf zehn bulgarische Panzer abgeschossen wurden.
Im Südteil Siebenbürgens scheiterten auch gestern feindliche von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe. Ebenso wurden bei Sanok und Krosno erneute heftige Angriffe der Bolschewisten abgewiesen, Einbruchsstellen im Gegenangriff abgeriegelt.
In Lettland und Estland wird mit äußerster Härte gekämpft. Der Großangriff der Bolschewisten, der sich auch auf den Raum von Dorpat ausdehnte, wurde in schweren Kämpfen aufgefangen. Schlachtfliegerverbände unterstützten erfolgreich unsere Abwehrkämpfe im baltischen Raum. In der Nacht griffen Kampf- und Nachtschlachtflugzeuge sowjetische Truppenansammlungen mit guter Wirkung an. In Luftkämpfen und durch Flakartillerie wurden am gestrigen Tage 75 sowjetische Flugzeuge abgeschossen.
Auf dem Peipus-See versenkten Marineartillerieleichter ein sowjetisches Kanonenboot und beschädigten ein weiteres.
Nordamerikanische Bomber führten am gestrigen Tage einen Terrorangriff gegen Budapest.
In der Nacht warfen feindliche Flugzeuge Bomben auf Bremen, im Raum von Dortmund und auf Debrecen in Ungarn.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (September 18, 1944)
Communiqué No. 163
Allied airborne troops were landed in HOLLAND yesterday after powerful air preparation in which the Allied air forces operated in great strength. First reports show that the operation is going well.
Our ground forces near the BELGIAN-DUTCH frontier are continuing to make progress.
Further south, we have mopped up pockets of resistance on the outskirts of AACHEN. Heavy fighting continues in the city. Elements pushing on east of the town are encountering determined resistance. Advances have also been made across the LUXEMOURG-GERMAN frontier.
In the MOSELLE Valley, our troops are clearing the area west of the river of isolated enemy troops. North of NANCY, progress has been made and enemy counterattacks near PONT-À-MOUSSON were repulsed.
The Germans are fighting hard in the BELFORT GAP. Our troops have occupied the town of SAINT-LOUP-SUR-SEMOUSE and cleared LURE of the enemy. North of LURE, the enemy used tanks in resisting the advance. Local engagements took place in the area of PONT-DE-ROIDE.
Striking in advance of our airborne forces yesterday, heavy, light and fighter-bombers in very great strength attacked anti-aircraft batteries, gun positions, communications, troops and transport through a wide area of HOLLAND while fighters swept a path for the aerial transports and gliders, and provided umbrella cover for the landing. As the enemy’s guns opened fire, our fighters and fighter-bombers dived to silence them in low-level strafing and bombing attacks.
Many motor vehicles, locomotives, railway cars and barges were destroyed or damaged, and bridges and supply dumps were hit. According to reports so far received, nine enemy aircraft were shot down in combat by our fighters.
Later in the day, gun positions and troops on the island of WALCHEREN were attacked by a strong force of heavy bombers. Coastal aircraft struck at shipping off the FRISIAN Islands.
Fortified positions and garrison troops at BOULOGNE were bombarded for four hours by other heavy bombers which dropped more than 3,500 tons of high explosives. Intense anti-aircraft fire was encountered at time, but there was no opposition in the air.
Strongpoints at BREST were attacked during the day by small forces of fighter-bombers. Other fighter-bombers hit locomotives and railway cars in western GERMANY.
NOTE: NO CONTRIBUTIONS TO COMMUNIQUE RECEIVED FROM 21 AND 12 ARMY GROUPS.
White House Statement on the Entrance of Allied Troops into Holland
September 18, 1944
For four long years the Netherlands has suffered under the heel of German oppression. For four long years its liberties have been crushed, its homes destroyed, its people enslaved. But the spark of freedom could never be extinguished. It has always glowed in the hearts of the Netherlands people. It now emerges as an avenging flame.
The armies of liberation are flowing across the borders of Holland. A gallant Queen is returning to her gallant people. The Netherlands again stands on the threshold of her ancient liberties.
But the fight will not end with the restoration of freedom to Holland. It will not end with the inevitable defeat of Germany. The people of the Netherlands know, as the people of the United States know, that final victory cannot be achieved until Japan has likewise been vanquished.
Only then can peace and freedom return to the world.
U.S. Navy Department (September 18, 1944)
Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 18, 1944
Coast Guard lightship believed lost in hurricane
The 123‑foot Coast Guard lightship VINEYARD SOUND is missing from her position off the tip of Cuttyhunk Island in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, and is presumed to have been lost with 11 officers and men in Thursday’s hurricane. All next of kin have been notified.
CINCPAC Communiqué No. 122
During the night of September 16‑17 (West Longitude Date), the enemy counterattacked the western flank of our forward lines on Peleliu Island, but was thrown back. An attack launched by the 1st Marine Division in the early morning of September 17 resulted in further gains to the north, and the occupation of Asias Town. Meantime mopping-up operations in the southern sector progressed and Ngarmoked Island off the southern tip of Peleliu was captured. Two enemy aircraft bombed our positions on September 17, but caused no casualties. Seabees are at work rebuilding the Peleliu Airfield. Heavy fighting continues.
On Angaur Island, several enemy counterattacks have been repulsed and good progress has been made by the 81st Infantry Division. The northern half of the island excepting some strongpoints along the western shore is under our control. Through September 17, our forces had wiped out 5,495 enemy troops on Peleliu and 48 on Angaur.
CINCPAC Press Release No. 559
For Immediate Release
September 18, 1944
Major General Francis P. Mulcahy, USMC, has been designated Commanding General of Aircraft, Fleet Marine Force, succeeding Major General Ross E. Rowell, USMC, it was announced today by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, CINCPACPOA.
The change in designation for Marine aviation in the Pacific from Marine Aircraft Wings Pacific to Aircraft, Fleet Marine Force, was announced simultaneously.
U.S. State Department (September 18, 1944)
PR 10 Foreign Relations of U.S./8-20-71: Telegram
Prime Minister Churchill to the British Foreign Secretary
Hyde Park, September 18, 1944
Personal and top secret
Following for Foreign Secretary from Prime Minister.
My immediately preceding telegram.
Following is text of message for Marshal Stalin.
We are sending a full account of the conclusions which we have reached in our Conference here. We both much regretted that circumstances which we well understood made it impossible for you to be present with us and thus to repeat the historic precedent of Tehran.
In sending you our account of this essentially military conference we feel that we should be less than frank if we did not also express to you certain anxieties which are much in our minds about political developments in Europe. With the defeat of the enemy’s armies, political problems will arise in all parts of Europe. It is essential that we should work together to solve these. We mention in particular the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece, in both of which countries there has been, and in the former of which there still is, the danger of civil war. There is also the position in Poland, which causes us much anxiety. We were all much encouraged by the success of the visit of Monsieur Mikołajczyk, the Polish Prime Minister, to Moscow, and we hope that the conversations which were there opened can be carried to a successful conclusion with your help. It would be gravely embarrassing to the smooth working of our affairs if events should so fall out that we were left recognizing Monsieur Mikołajczyk and his Government while you supported some other authority in Poland.
These and all other matters which affect our relations towards other powers we are at all times ready to discuss with you, in order to seek agreement through the diplomatic channel or by any other means. As you know we think it extremely important that we should meet on this and other important topics as soon as the war situation allows.
W S C
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom to the President
London, 18 September 1944
Secret
To the President from Winant.
Immediately following your directive that a mission to drop supplies on Warsaw was authorized clearance was obtained from Moscow and the project organized. Bad weather has delayed the mission. I thought you would like to know that I just received a message which was flashed back stating that one hundred and seven ships today in clear weather had dropped supplies over Warsaw.
The Pittsburgh Press (September 18, 1944)
SKY TRAINS RAIN MORE MEN BEHIND ENEMY IN HOLLAND
Nazis evacuate 13 Dutch villages
Germans hurl troops against Yank wedge beyond Siegfried Line
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Airborne invasion of the Netherlands by U.S. and British troops reached the rear of German forces defending the northern route into the Reich. The British 2nd and the 1st Canadian Armies drove north from Belgium. On the U.S. 1st Army front, troops absorbed several German counterattacks east of Aachen and drove toward Cologne. The U.S. 3rd Army neared the German border in Luxembourg and joined the 7th Army in an assault on the Belfort Gap.
Bulletin
London, England –
A dispatch from U.S. 1st Army headquarters said that counterattacks along the entire front inside Germany had virtually halted the American advance today, but said that all German attempts to push back the Yanks were repulsed.
SHAEF, London, England –
Allied sky trains totaling 285 miles in length today poured reinforcements and supplies down to Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton’s airborne army, which achieved, in heavy fighting, its initial objectives in a bold attempt to turn the Siegfried Line and open the way to Berlin.
A front dispatch apparently written last night said the Germans were fleeing from the Allied invasion by air, and had evacuated at least 13 Dutch towns and villages.
The security blackout still concealed from the German High Command and the world the details of the descent on Holland – details of which the Nazis obviously had not been able to patch into a pattern for use in the defense of northwestern Germany.
Crack German troops shifted westward from the Russian front counterattacked the tip of the U.S. 1st Army wedge which Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges had driven through the Siegfried Line east of Aachen, but the Yanks absorbed the impact handily without the loss of a single pillbox.
United Press writer Jack Frankish, in a 1st Army front dispatch reporting the German counterattack, said it was launched on a small scale than one yesterday.
Counterattacks pushed the Americans back two miles yesterday in the Luxembourg frontier area, but the ground was retaken during the night.
Resistance was stiffening along the entire front within Germany. Artillery and air activity had increased greatly.
U.S. patrols penetrated Germany as far as two miles east of Stolberg, which is five miles east of Aachen, but it was not clear at headquarters exactly how far east of Stolberg the main forces were operating.
Lt. Gen. Sir Miles C. Dempsey’s British 2nd Army smashed forward across the Dutch frontier in a full-scale advance after nearly two weeks of comparative lull. Armor moved from the De Groote bridgehead across the Escaut Canal in the direction of Eindhoven.
Radio Berlin said the 2nd Army and the airborne troops were within five miles of a juncture in the Eindhoven area of southern Holland.
While the geography of the airborne onslaught remained obscure, it was evident that the British were pressing northward for a junction with Gen. Brereton’s forces. A dispatch from the airborne front said the thunder of battle was audible to the south, obviously heralding the approach of the British.
Again at 1:00 p.m. CET today, the hour of action yesterday, the mighty array of planes rained men and material down to the forces in Holland which by Nazi account were in position to push past the north end of the Siegfried Line above the Rhine and into Germany.
All of central England was covered by the sky trains carrying out the reinforcement mission today, while bombers of the U.S. 8th Air Force dropped food, ammunition and fuel in small parachutes called “canopies.”
The airmen expected less danger from anti-aircraft fire today because of the Airborne Army’s gains against enemy positions.
More than 3,000 planes of all types were revealed to have taken part in the airborne attack yesterday. Their losses were described officially as “slight.”
That all was going well was indicated by revelation that one divisional commander radioed from the field today that the parachute missions were “absolutely superb.”
Canadian forces cleaning up the Channel coast were reported in a front dispatch to have fought their way into the main part of Boulogne and the port area. Both infantry and armor were in the southwestern part of the town and were also established on Mont Lambert, the key to the defenses of Boulogne.
Near neck of Channel
Other Canadian forces advanced closer to Cap Gris Nez, at the narrowest neck of the Channel, and only two German defense points, including the Lighthouse, still held out in that area.
Senior officers of the 1st Allied Airborne Army said the D-Day landings in Normandy were small in comparison with the attack on Holland. Originally scheduled for yesterday morning, the air attack was delayed a few hours.
The first reports were so encouraging that senior officers said the Allies can drop behind the Siegfried Line, across the Rhine, or anywhere else they like.
The U.S. 1st Army cut into the German border city of Aachen and drove beyond the breached Siegfried Line to within 20 miles of Cologne, while U.S. 3rd Army troops swung up north of Metz in a sudden strike across Luxembourg that carried up to the Nazi frontier.
Join 7th Army
Other 3rd Army forces thrust down to join with the 7th Army in a frontal assault on the Belfort Gap leading into southwestern Germany, and unconfirmed reports said the Americans reached Belfort itself.
Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, in a message to the British, Canadian and Allied troops under his command, said almost 400,000 Germans have been captured in Western Europe.
“It is becoming problematical how much longer the enemy can continue the struggle,” he said.
In a single giant stride, the airborne army had crossed the flood barrier the Nazis relied upon to protect Germany from invasion through the Netherlands.
Seek knockout
Allied spokesmen, jubilant at the initial success of the hazardous aerial invasion, made it clear that they were playing for the highest stakes – a quick knockout of the German Army.
Gen. Brereton declared flatly that upon the success of the airborne landing “rests the difference between a quick decision in the west and a long, drawn-out battle.”
Berlin admitted the gravity of the Allied threat and warned the people of Holland that the German Army intended to turn their homeland into a battleground and hold it at all costs.
The Nazis said the main Allied concentrations had landed around Eindhoven, Tilburg and Nijmegen, the latter north of the Rhine and only five miles from the German frontier.
At the same time, they hinted that further paratroop and glider landings are expected, as well as a possible seaborne attack on the Dutch coast.
Coast landing reported
One unconfirmed report broadcast by the Vichy radio said Allied sky troops made a new landing today on the seacoast nine miles north of The Hague.
United Press correspondents who flew over Holland with the invading Army reported that Gen. Brereton’s men, mostly American veterans of the Normandy landing but including strong British, Dutch and Polish contingents, were meeting relatively weak opposition from the disorganized Nazis.
Aided by a massive aerial bombardment that temporarily swept the Nazi Air Force from the skies and knocked out virtually every German battery in the landing areas, the sky attack yesterday liberated a number of Dutch villages within an hour and seized scores of vital bridges, canal crossings and rail and highway junctions.
Units of the 1st Canadian Army also moving in on the Netherlands from their positions on the Leopold Canal, on the British left flank.
4000 planes attack
The sudden air strike behind the Nazi lines came on the heels of a 15-hour aerial bombardment during which more than 4,000 U.S. and British warplanes ripped almost continuously at the invasion-marked sector with bombs and gunfire.
The RAF’s heavyweights set the attack In motion before midnight Saturday, and at daybreak Sunday the U.S. 8th Air Force sent its Flying Fortresses and fighter-bombers into action, Even as the first paratroops were tumbling down, U.S. fighter-bombers were swooping in beneath them, uncovering the Nazi gun positions and splattering them with fragmentation bombs.
In all, more than 7,500 tons of bombs were dropped across the Netherlands and nearby enemy airfields in Germany where the Nazi Air Force was known to have concentrated planes to meet Gen. Brereton’s 1,000-plane glider and transport fleet.
Nazis counterattack
The attack promised immediate and serious repercussions on the fighting front south of the Netherlands, where Gen. Hodges’ 1st Army troops were across the German frontier in force along an almost continuous line from Aachen to the Trier sector.
Gen. Hodges’ men were through the Siegfried Line beyond Aachen and striking across open country toward Cologne where the Nazis were reported digging anti-tank trenches and burying tanks in preparation for a full-scale stand on the Rhine. Headquarters had no comment on German reports of fighting at Duran, 20 miles west of Cologne.
Capture 1,000 a day
The Americans met strong opposition farther south in the Monschau area, and around Bollendorf and Echternach, where the Germans counterattacked savagely after falling back from their main Siegfried fortifications.
Despite the sudden stiffening of enemy opposition, German prisoners were still being taken by the 1st Army at the rate of 1,000 a day, including many who discarded their uniforms in a vain attempt to ship through the American lines.
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s U.S. 3rd Army forces south of the 1st Army pushed up across Luxembourg at an undisclosed point, north of Metz and United Press writer Robert Richards said they were approaching the German frontier.
Drives on Metz
Gen. Patton’s troops also cut slowly through the ring of forts protecting Metz, where the Germans were reported digging in for last-ditch fight, and cleared both banks of the Moselle River virtually all the way south from Pont-a-Mousson to Charmes.
On Gen. Patton’s right flank, the U.S. 7th Army wheeled an against the Belfort Gap, capturing Montbéliard (10 miles southwest of Belfort), Lure (18 miles west of Belfort) and four other towns on the approaches to the gap.
Other 7th Army troops along the Italo-French border farther south fought their way 11 miles northwest of Modane through the Maurienne Valley to Lanslebourg, where they ran into stiff opposition from German mountain troops.
Radio France in Algiers said the German garrison at Brest had surrendered, but there was no confirmation of the report at headquarters.
20,000 Nazis surrender to 24 Americans
Germans ask for ‘token battle’ first
By Collie Small, United Press staff writer
Beaugency, France – (Sept. 16, delayed)
Twenty thousand Germans who surrendered to 24 brash Americans arrived at the Loire River and turned in their arms to the U.S. 83rd Infantry Division.
Though technically prisoners, they had been permitted to march in a group, fully armed, for 200 miles. Twenty-four Americans had been insufficient to protect them from the vengeance of the French Maquis. Only at the Loire River were there enough Americans to protect them.
It was one of the strangest military capitulations on record. The French didn’t like it. They thought the Americans were a little crazy to let 20,000 armed men march 200 miles without guard or direction. But it turned out as it had been planned. The Germans were more afraid of the French than the French distrusted the Germans. They wanted to keep their arms only for their own protection.
Led by general
They were led by Maj. Gen. Botho Elster, their commander. He and his staff formally handed their swords to Maj. Gen. Robert C. Mason, commander of the 83rd Infantry Division. Two and a half miles behind them were their men, three columns of weary and disheartened Germans who stacked arms on the river bank and marched across pontoon bridges to prison camps.
For weeks there have been reports of large numbers of Germans in southern France wanting to surrender if only they could find some Americans to accept their surrender – Germans who didn’t want to surrender to the French Forces of the Interior. Now, for the first time, is told the authentic story of a remarkable footnote to the history of the war.
Elster, formerly commander at Biarritz, was ordered on Aug. 26 to regroup all German troops along the Spanish border and the Bay of Biscay and taken them 600 miles back to the Reich. They included 6,000 regular soldiers, 6,000 Luftwaffe personnel and 7,000 marines. They had 400 stolen civilian autos, 500 trucks and 1,000 horse-drawn vehicles.
Never fought real battle
This force never fought a real battle but for weeks it was harassed by the Maquis and the planes of the U.S. 9th Air Force. It met a patrol of 24 Americans led by Lt. Samuel W. Magill, 24, of Ashtabula, Ohio, and promptly surrendered.
The platoon had been sent out on an intelligence and reconnaissance mission into enemy territory. On Sept. 8, two Maquis told Lt. Magill there was a German general farther south who wanted to talk terms.
Asks token fight
Lt. Magill told me:
The Maquis said the German escape route almost was closed and that instead of going back to defend the French ports, the Germans might be willing to surrender.
I sent word to the Germans, hinting I might be agreeable. The commander answered that he was willing if we would send two battalions to the village of Decize for a token battle to make it look good.
Hell, I didn’t know of two battalions within a million miles, so I used another angle. I arranged a meeting and asked our air force for planes. I told the air force I would have a smoke signal at a certain crossroads and if I laid a red panel on the ground they should bomb and strafe the German troops as a convincer but if I put down a white panel just to fly around looking menacing.
Before the planes arrived, I felt pretty optimistic so I placed the white panel and sent two French officers to talk to the Germans. The Germans got a look at all those planes and agreed right away to an armistice. Gen. Elster agreed to come to the village of Issoudun with one of his staff officers for a conference with Gen. Mason.
After that I didn’t do much but the Germans agreed to surrender at the Loire if they could march there with their arms for protection against the Maquis who had been scaring them.