Yank ingenuity whips Nazi and Japs on air
Jamming gadgets quickly overcome
By Si Steinhauser
…
Petroleum agency to disband when war ends, Ickes reveals
Administrator outlines views on oil industry’s prospects, relations with government
By Marshall McNeil
…
U.S. State Department (September 18, 1944)
Lot 60–D 224, Box 55: DO/PR/25
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State to the Secretary of State
Washington, September 18, 1944
Subject: PROGRESS REPORT ON DUMBARTON OAKS CONVERSATIONS – TWENTY-SIXTH DAY
Meetings with Ambassador Gromyko and Sir Alexander Cadogan
After my telephone conversation with you at 9:45 this morning Ambassador Gromyko came to Dumbarton Oaks at my invitation. I emphasized to him, as you requested, the very serious consequences, both for the creation of an international organization and for the Soviet Union, which might result from terminating these conversations without having reached agreement on the question of voting procedure in the Council. I asked the Ambassador whether, in the light of these circumstances, his Government would be willing to consider a new formula with respect to voting in the Council. Ambassador Gromyko replied that the position of his Government on this question is final and would not be changed regardless of whether the conversations were prolonged a week or a year. He emphasized that the Soviet Government would never consider joining an organization in which a major power involved in a dispute did not vote.
The Ambassador stated that it was his personal view rather than the official view of his Government that the Soviet Union would not agree to the holding of a conference of the United Nations before agreement had been reached among the four powers on the vital question of voting procedure. He stated, however, that he would obtain the formal view of his Government on this question. The Ambassador asked whether I believed the British could be expected to change their position, and I replied that it was my personal opinion that no change was in prospect in the reasonably near future.
I later repeated to Sir Alexander Cadogan my conversation with Ambassador Gromyko. Sir Alexander stated that his Government also could never accept the plan to bring the draft proposals before a United Nations conference prior to agreement on all basic issues by the four powers. He subsequently agreed, however, to take up with his Government my suggestion that the four nations join in inviting other United Nations to a conference, leaving open the issue of voting procedure in the Council.
I stated to Sir Alexander in Ambassador Gromyko’s presence that if the proposals were published in their present form the Secretary or President would find it necessary to make a statement clarifying the position of this Government. Sir Alexander said that the same would go for his Government. Presumably, Ambassador Gromyko has reported these statements to Moscow.
Sir Alexander again asked whether it would be necessary to have an opening ceremony for the Chinese. I replied that we must do so and that it was our intention that you would be present and would speak. Sir Alexander said that he thought this whole procedure was absurd and that he did not wish to sit with the Chinese for more than three days.
Meeting of the American Group
At the meeting of the American group at 9:30 this morning I reported the developments of Saturday and Sunday and subsequent developments during the morning. The group discussed at length the probable consequences of adjourning the discussions with the Soviet representatives prior to agreement on the question of voting. There was a marked division of opinion which led to the drafting of two memoranda. The first of these expressed the view of Mr. Long and our military representatives that an adjournment of the discussions would have the most serious political and military consequences and proposed alternatives, extending to full acceptance of the Russian position, for the purpose of reaching agreement prior to adjournment. The second, prepared by other members of the American group, weighed the consequences of adjournment prior to agreement and suggested a new course of action.
Lot 60–D 224, Box 59: Stettinius Diary
Extract from the Personal Diary of the Under Secretary of State
Twenty-sixth Day, Monday, September 18, 1944
Meeting with Gromyko and then with Gromyko and Cadogan
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
… I told Gromyko that we felt failure to reach agreement on voting would seriously jeopardize the acceptance of the plan by the American people and ratification of it by our Senate. In elaborating on the possible consequences to the Soviet Union, I told him that in our judgment if their position became known there would be a serious attack on them by the small nations over the world and also considerable anti-Soviet discussion in the American press. I told him in view of our happy relations with his Government that we would like to see both avoided. Gromyko took the position that if there had to be a break among the big four on this issue they might as well have the break right now rather than at some later conference. The Ambassador assured me that not only he but his Government as well understood the serious implications of this situation and that the whole international organization was at stake. He repeated, however, that he saw no possibility of a change of position on the part of his Government. He asked me if I was familiar with the message Stalin sent to the President and I replied in the affirmative and he said that that was the final word and spoke for itself. I appealed to him to reexamine the ten or twelve different possible solutions which had been considered by the Formulation Group. He said, “This is useless. None of the alternate proposals would ever be considered by my Government”. I asked him personally as to whether he felt there was any chance at all of change on the part of his Government and he replied that he thought there was no chance whatsoever. I inquired how long he thought it would take to hear from his Government on the proposed procedure for winding up the talks and he thought certainly not before tomorrow and possibly not before Wednesday. He did not venture in answer to my inquiries any opinion as to whether this procedure would be acceptable or whether the date of November 15th would be acceptable. I sounded him out informally on whether he thought our Foreign Ministers or our Chiefs of State could find a way out and he received this suggestion rather negatively. He then said, “You can’t have an international organization without us. We can’t have one without you. And there has to be unanimity between us and the other powerful states. The moment this principle of unanimity breaks down there is war, and it seems to me in view of that realistic situation that all this discussion of one or another solutions to the voting question is purely academic.” I reported in full this conversation to Mr. Hull later in the day.
Telephone Conversation with the Secretary.
After talking with Gromyko and Cadogan, I promptly called the Secretary on the phone and reported to him in detail on it. He expressed astonishment that they would be willing to let this one point stand in the way of full agreement on the international organization. He came back to the point he had made on Sunday that this must go down to the bottom of a lot of things, a lot of grievances and be more significant than merely Dumbarton Oaks. In view of this, the Secretary is thinking along the line that the President should make another appeal to Churchill and to Stalin. He thought we should make an attempt to get Gromyko’s comments in writing. I told him that I thought that might be embarrassing to Gromyko and suggested that maybe he would want to call Gromyko in and ask him to repeat to him directly what he had told me. I stressed to the Secretary that I had told both of them that we would have to make the opposition on the question public and said in answer to a question that I thought Cadogan felt as we did on that point. The Secretary asked that the American Group continue to study this problem in order that they might find something to save the situation. I told him that the American Group had been in continuous session all morning for just that purpose. The Secretary raised the question as to whether it would be wise to say to Gromyko and Cadogan that unless agreement was reached on this point it might be the end of the whole idea of the international organization and I explained that I had almost gone that far in my conversations this morning. He instructed me to definitely ask them each for their best proposal to keep the subject alive, which I told him I had already done but that I thought Gromyko was not trying to find any other solution and was simply standing on the position that his Government had taken its one, only and final stand. The Secretary agreed that we would have to make the whole situation public. He again stressed the importance he attached to a prompt discussion of the whole matter with the President.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 Likes
what the fuck happened here?
1 Like
Address by New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey
September 18, 1944, 10:30 p.m. EWT
Delivered in Seattle, Washington
During the past ten days I have just renewed what is for every American a great experience. I have come across the broad sweep of this country of ours many tunes before but each time it’s a new and rich experience to talk with the people of America, to learn their problems face to face.
It is good to come again to the State of Washington and to have once more the thrill of seeing close at hand this vital, pulsating, growing West Coast which symbolizes the magnificent future of the United States. It’s good to find the state administration in the able hands of your constructive and forthright Republican Governor, my good friend Arthur Langlie.
It will be good, too, I am sure, when we read in November that you have retained Arthur Langlie as Governor and elected your very able public servant, Harry P. Kane, to the United States Senate.
Today, the first thoughts of all of us are on the war – the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific. It seems? already clear that this year will see the end of the war in Europe. Then, as we have so long wanted to do, we shall be able to throw all of our energies and all of our might into the war in the Pacific.
This year, also, we are called upon to hold a national election. Does that mean that there must be the slightest hesitation in our forward march to victory? It means exactly the contrary.
Our military leadership in this war has been superb. I have made it plain and I cannot emphasize it too strongly that a change in the national administration next January 20 will involve no change in the military leadership of the war.
What this campaign will do is to prove to our enemies that we can fight total war and speed final victory by changing and strengthening our national administration.
This campaign will drive home to Japan – and to Germany also should she still be in the war on November 7 – the bitter lesson that every day they delay their surrender will make more onerous by just that much the terms of their defeat.
This election will also bring an end to the quarreling and bickering and confusion in the nation’s capital. This confusion has hampered our war effort from the beginning of it to the very immediate present.
Among the things which have been holding us back here at home is an administration labor policy which has bred class division, hate and insecurity. I can say without qualification that the labor policy of this administration has been one of delays, bungling and incompetence. That policy has put untold obstacles in the way of labor’s effort to avoid wartime strikes. It has fostered strife between one labor group and another, between labor and business and between both and government.
It has affronted the wage earner by reducing his basic rights to the level of political reward. It has made the wage-earner’s pay envelope and his hours and conditions of work a football of politics. The labor policies, the labor policies of this administration are another reason why it’s time for a change.
Now where are we today in the field of labor? We are adrift. There is no course, no chart, not even a compass. We move, when we move at all, to the shifting winds of the caprice of one man.
Now is that the fault of the law – of the National Labors Relations Act; not for one minute. The National Labor Relations Act was the work of a bipartisan majority of both Houses of Congress. A majority of the members of my party voted for it. That act was modeled on the Railway Labor Act of 1926, a measure which was written, passed and approved by a Republican administration.
The National Labor Relations Act is a good and a necessary law. It acknowledges the trend of our times and will continue to be the law of the land. But that law has been working badly.
It has failed to secure the industrial harmony we sought. It has failed because under the present administration then whims of bureaucrats have taken the place of government by law. Why, even on the railroads, where an orderly system of mediation had been painstakingly created over these many years, we stood last December on the brink of a paralyzing strike. That was only because one-man government could not keep its hands off established, previously successful, legal processes.
There is another reason why the National Labor Relations Act hasn’t worked as it should. Our labor relations right down the line have been smothered under a welter of agencies, boards, commissions and bureaus. Let me give you a list of just some of them.
There’s the War Manpower Commission, the War Labor Board, the Office of Labor Production, the Wage-Hour and Public Contracts Division, the National Labor Relations Board, the Conciliation Service, the Retraining and Reemployment Administration, the War Production Drive Division, the National Mediation Board, the Shipbuilding, Lumber, and Other Special Industry Commissions. In addition, there are Labor Sections of OPA, WPB, OES, OWM, WSA, SS, and too many others.
That towering confusion of agencies has marked a very serious backward step for the working people of our country, It was a Republican, President Taft, who was the first to recognize that labor’s problems were of Cabinet importance in our government. Under him the Department of Labor was created. That new department was soundly administered under four national administrations. Neither labor nor the nation had any quarrel with its operation.
But for twelve straight years of New Deal bungling the Department of Labor has been left in the hands of an estimable lady who has been Secretary of Labor in name only. For all practical purposes we have today neither a Secretary of Labor nor a Department of Labor. We need a Secretary of Labor. We need a Department of Labor. Twelve years is too long to go without them, and sixteen years would be intolerable.
Let me give you a concrete example of what has been going on in every part of our country. A while ago an election was held to decide the collective bargaining agency ins an important industry engaged wholly in critical wartime production. A dispute arose and both workers and employer! found themselves forced to deal with the following agencies in that one dispute:
- The United States Conciliation Service.
- The shipbuilding commission of the National War Labor Board.
- The regional office of the National War Labor Board.
- The Washington office of the National War Labor Board.
- The regional office of the labor division of the Wars Production Board.
- The Washington headquarters of the labor division of the War Production Board.
- The labor division of the regional office of the procurement agency of the United States Maritime Commission.
- The Washington headquarters of the procurement agency of the United States Maritime Commission, labor division.
- The regional office of the National Labor Relations Board.
- The Washington office of the National Labor Relations Board.
Ten different government offices, all presuming to settle one labor dispute!
There were four formal hearings down in Washington, both sides had to file seven different briefs and, I may add fifteen copies of each. Finally, one year and five days after a union was certified by the National Labor Relations Board, there was a final order issued by the War Labor Board. At last things seemed clear and the agreement was actually sent to the printer.
But before the printer’s proof was received back, both sides were notified by the National Labor Relations Board that a new petition had been granted for a new election, and they were right back where they started from.
Is it any wonder, in the face of that record and thousand others like it, that the leaders of organized labor have found their jobs very nearly impossible? Is it any wonder that the working men and women of this country felt they had just grievances? With more than twenty-five federal agencies pulling in opposite directions, we have been yanked from crisis to crisis in the field of labor right in the middle of a war.
So, Democratic Congressman Smith and Democratic Senator Connally produced the Smith-Connally Act which they promised would solve all problems. Honest men were willing to believe that nothing could make the situation any worse. So the statute was passed. It hasn’t solved the problem. In the twelve months before the passage of that act there were 3,300 strikes. In the twelve months following the passage of that act there were 4,400 strikes. In other words, the number of strikes after the Smith-Connally Act was passed increased by one-third.
That law – the Smith-Connally Act – will expire with the termination of the war, and it should. The provisions of that law and the other New Deal interferences with free collective bargaining should never be renewed.
The right of workers to leave their jobs individually or together – the right to strike – is one of the fundamental rights of free men. It has sometimes been abused. But what has caused the abuse?
Let’s get the answer to this one straight right here and now on the record. What has caused the abuses? The New Deal is exclusively responsible for most of the serious wartime strikes. The chief blame goes directly into the White House and to its agency created at the top of all this chaos of agencies, the War Labor Board.
That board has supreme power over the vital matters of wages and conditions of employment. Whether by design or sheer incompetence, its practice has been to stall – to stall for weeks, months, and sometimes years – before issuing decisions. For that reason, too, the working man and the working woman and their families have had to suffer.
One month ago today, on August 18, the War Labor Board had pending before it, still undecided, 22,381 cases. One of the oldest of these, one of the very oldest, involved the rights and wages of 600,000 workers. Another one directly affected half a million wage earners. The other 22,379 cases involved literally millions of working people living in every industrial center of this nation. That’s why it’s time for a change.
Now who gains by this planned confusion? The workers don’t gain. The public is always in the middle. The war effort has been constantly hampered. Who does gain by this planned confusion? There can’t be any doubt of the answer.
This policy of delay, delay and more delay, serves only the New Deal and its political ends. It puts the leaders of labor on the spot. It makes them come to the White House hat in hand. It makes political loyalty a test of a man getting his rights.
Personal government instead of government by law, politics instead of justice, prevails in the labor field in this country and I am against that kind of administration and always will be.
This strategy of delay sets the stage for a great gesture – a big favor to labor before Election Day – a gesture carefully designed to make labor believe that something to which it is justly entitled is a special gift from on high from the New Deal.
I refuse to believe that the workers in this country will play the role of supplicants to any throne. I refuse to believe that any man or group of men can deliver any section of our people by holding the power of government over their heads as a club.
I do believe that the American people when they go into the secrecy of the voting booth will insist on government by law and not by special favor and political extortion.
I propose that we shall have government by law after January 20, 1945. Here is the first thing to be done. We must have an able Secretary of Labor from the ranks of labor.
Second, the functions of the Department of Labor must be put into the Department of Labor. It will not be necessary for the working men and women of America to knock on door after door and sit in waiting room after waiting room to find out what their rights are. Third, we shall abolish many of these wasteful, competing
bureaus filled with petty officials quarreling for jurisdiction while American citizens stand and wait. We shall put their powers and their duties into one place, where they belong, in the Department of Labor.
We shall establish the Fair Employment Practices Committee as a permanent function and authorized by law.
Finally, just as we shall abolish unnecessary bureaus and agencies, we shall abolish privilege for one group over any other group of our people. We shall see that every working man and woman stands equally in that department created to serve him, and not to rule him. There will be no backdoor entrance to special privilege by one group over any other group of Americans.
There is no question where we want to go during these peacetime years for which we are electing a new President.
We must establish equality between business, labor and agriculture. We must have full employment. It must be at a high wage level. We must have protection of the individual from loss of his earning power through no fault of his own. We must have protection of the individual against the hazards of old age. We must have these things within the framework of free – and I mean free – collective bargaining.
To reach these goals we must increase, not decrease, our standard of living. We must increase, not decrease our production.
If there be those who would turn back the course of collective bargaining, they are doomed to bitter disappointment. We are not going back to anything, not to bread lines, not to leaf raking, not to settling labor disputes with gun fire and gas bombs, not to wholesale farm foreclosures, not to another New Deal depression with ten million unemployed.
We are going forward. The American working man and his family can go forward. They will go forward in the size of their pay envelope, in the improvement of working conditions, in their possession of more and more of the good things of life.
We are going to establish fair, evenhanded government with competent, orderly administration.
American working people know that with the restoration of freedom they will have their greatest opportunity to build better and stronger free labor unions. They will have unprecedented opportunity to bring genuine freedom to the members of the labor movement.
They know that with such freedom the working men themselves will drive both the racketeers and the Communists from positions of power in the labor movement. That is why the racketeers and Communists are against a change of administration. And that’s another reason why it’s time for a change.
The all-out peacetime effort of your next administration will be to encourage business, both large and small, to create jobs and opportunity. We shall establish conditions which will make it not only possible but good business for management to join hands with the great, free labor movement of this country in bringing about full employment at high wages.
Those who come home from the war and those who have produced for war – all our people – have earned a future with jobs for all. Nothing less can be considered victory at home to match our victory abroad.
We must build a just and a lasting peace. We must go forward, a courageous and united people, determined to make good the limitless promise of America.
1 Like
Komsomolskaya Pravda (September 19, 1944)
Военные действия в Западной Европе
Лондон, 18 сентября (ТАСС) –
В сообщении штаба верховного командования экспедиционных сил союзников говорится:
17 сентября после мощных операций крупных военно-воздушных сил в Голландии высадились союзные авиадесантные войска. Судя по первым сообщениям, эта операция развивается успешно.
Союзные войска, действующие вблизи бельгийско-голландской границы, продолжают продвигаться. Южнее уничтожены очаги сопротивления противника в предместьях Аахена. В городе продолжаются тяжелые бои. Союзные части, продвигающиеся к восточным окраинам города, встречают упорное сопротивление против вика.
Войска союзников продвинулись также в районе люксембургское-германской границы. В долине реки Мозель союзные войска очищают район западнее реки от изолированных групп противника. К северу от Нанси части Союзников продвинулись перед. Отбиты контратаки противника вблизи Понт-а-Муссона.
Немцы продолжают ожесточенно сражаться в районе коридора у Бельфора. Союзные войска заняли город Сен-Лу-сюр-Семуз и очистили от противника Люр Севернее Люра неприятель, сопротивляясь продвигающимся войскам, использовал танки. Столкновения местного значения произошли в районе Пон-де-Руада. В Верхних Альпах союзные войска после занятия Модана продвинулись на несколько миль в долине реки Морьенн и после ожесточенных боев достигли Ланслебура.
17 сентября весьма крупные соединения тяжелых и легких бомбардировщиков, а также истребителей-бомбардировщиков наносили удары по зенитным и артиллерии ским батареям, коммуникациям и транспорту противника на широком пространстве в Голландии, в зоне операций авиадесантных войск союзников. Истребительная авиация расчищала путь для транспортных самолетов и планеров и прикрывала опера ци по высадке авиадесантных частей. В воздушных боях сбито 9 вражеских самолетов.
К концу дня 17 сентября крупные соединения тяжелых бомбардировщиков совершили валет на батареи и войска противника на острове Вальхерен. Самолеты береговой авиации атаковали вражеские суда у Фризских островов. Тяжелые бомбардировщики в течение четырех часов подвергали бомбардировке укрепленные позиции и войска противника в Булони, сбросив свыше 3.500 тонн бомб. Время от времени противник вел интенсивный огонь из зенитных орудий, однако не оказывал сопротивления в воздухе. Вчера небольшие группы истребителей-бомбардировщиков совершали налеты на опорные пункты противника в Бресте.
Лондон, 18 сентября (ТАСС) –
В сообщения штаба вооруженных сил союзников на средиземноморском театре военных действий говорится, что 17 сентября английские военные корабли Лоял и Лукаут, поддерживая операции наземных войск в районе Римини, эффективно обстреляли огневые позиции и колонны войск противника. Береговая батарея противника обстреляла минные тральщики союзников, действовавшие в этом районе. Лоял своим огнем заставил замолчать два вражеских орудия.
16 сентября самолеты морской авиации с бреющего полета атаковали мототранспорт противника на острове Крит. 23 машины были уничтожены и многие повреждены. У берегов Милоса, примерно на 80 миль севернее, самолеты морской авиации потопили три больших и два малых парусных судна и напасли повреждения транспортному судну. Все самолеты союзников вернулись на свои базы.
В Италии, на левом фланте адриатического сектора части 8-Й армии значительно продвинулись вперед в гористой местности и удерживают предмостное укрепление на реке Марано на фронте протяжением в 8 миль. Американские, английские, индийские и бразильские част американской 5-й армии продолжают вести, ожесточенные бон с противником на позициях «Готской линии».
На остальных участках фронта положение без существенных перемен.
Войска союзников заняли Виареджо
Рим, 18 сентября (ТАСС) –
Части американской 5-й армии заняли итальянский порт Виареджо, расположенный к северу от Ливорно.
Высадка крупного авиадесанта союзников в Голландии
Лондон, 17 сентября (ТАСС) –
Штаб верховного командования экспедиционных сил союзников сообщает, что крупные силы 1-Й авиадесантной армии союзников сегодня после полудня высадились в Голландии.
Лондон, 18 Сентября (ТАСС) –
Английское министерство информации передает, что в высадке союзных авиадесантов в Голландии принимало участие свыше 1 тысячи планеров и самолетов-буксировщиков. Авиация поддерживала действия авиадесантных войск, атакуя вражеские позиции, аэродромы, зенитные батареи как до, так и после высадки десантов. В налетах на вражеские позиции в Голландии участвовало около 750 «Летающих крепостей» в сопровождении истребителей. Они не встретили никакого сопротивления в воздухе.
На подступах к Аахену
…
К конференции в Квебеке
Совместное заявление Рузвельта и Черчилля
Квебек, 16 сентября (ТАСС) –
Рузвельт и Черчилль сделали следующее совместное заявление о результатах квебекской конференции:
Президент н премьер-министр, а также начальники объединённых штабов провели ряд совещаний, на которых обсуждались все виды войны против Германии н Японии. В очень короткое время они достигли решений по всем вопросам, касающимся как завершения войны в Европе, приближающейся теперь к своей Финальной стадии, так и разгрома варваров на Тихом океане Наиболее серьезная трудность, с которой встретились участники квебекской конференции, заключалась в том, чтобы найти способ и возможность использования против Японии огромных сил, которые каждая из заинтересованных стран в отдельности и все они вместе стремятся использовать против врага.
На состоявшейся сегодня пресс-конференции Рузвельт заявил, что союзные руководители не делают никаких предсказаний относительно точной даты полного поражения Германии, но они надеются достигнуть быстрого окончания войны в Европе, а затем перебросить все силы западных держав против Японии, чтобы вынудить ее к безусловной капитуляции. Рузвельт заявил, что руководители заполных держав разработали на квебекской конференции планы совместных усилий Соединенных Штатов, Великобритании и доминионов для проведения решающей кампании на Дальневосточном театре военных действий.
Рузвельт заявил далее, что союзники не будут создавать единого командования на Тихом океане, а сохранят три раздельных командования, а именно: генерала Маунтбэттена – в Юго-Восточной Азии, генерала Макартура – в юго-западной части Тихого океана и адмирала Нимица – на море.
Выступая на той же пресс-конференции, Черчилль заявил, что быстрое развитие военных событий сделало крайне необходимым для руководителей союзных стран созывать частые совещания для обсуждения «их великих дел». Величайшие победы союзников, особенно в Европе, были предначертаны в союзных планах, разработанных на предыдущих конференциях в Каире н Тегеране.
Черчилль сделал оптимистический обзор военного положения в настоящее время, указав, что квебекская конференция собралась в тот момент, «когда большая часть нашей задачи близится к выполнению». Черчилль заявил, что Великобритания не намерена отступать от своих обязательств после поражения Германии. Великобритания, так же как н доминионы, настаивает на необходимости взять на себя огромную долю участия в операциях на Тихом океане и не возлагать на Соединенные Штаты «слишком большую тяжесть».
Немедленно после достижения победы в Европе – сказал Черчилль – вся огромная сила западных держав, сконцентрированная в настоящее время в Европе, будет обращена против Японии. Указывая, что союзные операции в. Европе Проводились «с точностью часового механизма», он выразил уверенность, что действия против Японии будут проводиться с той же точностью.
Касаясь присутствия Идена на квебекской конференции, Черчилль заявил, что обсуждение различных вопросов на конференции не могло строго ограничиться вопросами военного характера и, естественно, были затронуты различные проблемы, касающиеся Экономических, финансовых и дипломатических сторон.
В заключение Черчилль указал, что за последний год «фортуна так благоприятствовала» Объединённым нациям и они достигли таких решающих успехов в победе над врагом, «что за их будущее можно Ее беспокоиться».
Отъезд Черчилля из Квебека Возвращение Идена в Лондон
Лондон, 18 сентября (ТАСС) –
Как передает корреспондент агентства Рейтер, чернядь выехал поездом из Квебека.
Югославская печать в США о советско-польских отношениях
…
Völkischer Beobachter (September 19, 1944)
Die Aktionen im niederländischen Raum –
Konzentrische Angriffe gegen die Luftlandeverbände
Berlin, 18. September –
Für die Verteidigung des niederländischen Raumes und damit der niederrheinischen Tiefebene hatte die deutsche Führung drei Maßnahmen ergriffen.
Gegen feindliche Landeversuche von See her wurde ein breiter Küstenstreifen überschwemmt. Angriffen von Land aus sollten unsere Truppen in dem von zahlreichen Kanälen durchzogenen nordbelgischen Raum begegnen. Sie erfüllten diese Aufgabe in so eindeutiger Weise, daß der am Albertkanal und Maas-Schelde-Kanal angreifende Feind trotz Zusammenballung von mehr als zwölf Divisionen auf schmalem Raum die Sperrlinie bisher nicht zu durchbrechen vermochte. Gegen den Einfall aus der Luft wurden bestimmte Verteidigungszonen geschaffen.
Als nun die Anglo-Amerikaner am Sonntag versuchten, durch Absetzen von Luftlandetruppen und Fallschirmverbänden ihre in Nordbelgien seit Tagen stockenden Operationen wieder in Fluss zu bringen, nahmen unsere Truppen den Kampf mit ihnen schlagartig auf. Schon beim Überfliegen der Küste wurden zahlreiche Lastensegler abgeschossen oder zu Notlandungen im Überschwemmungsgebiet gezwungen. Marineartilleristen, die bereits von Küstenstützpunkten aus den anfliegenden Transportflugzeugen beschossen, machten die ersten Gefangenen, und zwar die Restbesatzung eines heruntergeholten Flugzeuges in Stärke von einem Offizier und 13 Mann.
Die weit verstreuten Landeplätze der unter starkem Jagdschutz anfliegenden Lastensegler wurden von unseren Jagdkommandos und Sicherungsverbänden umstellt, um die Bildung größerer geschlossener Kampfgruppen zu verhindern. Die abgesprungenen Kräfte versuchten ihrerseits zwei Flugplätze in die Hand zu bekommen und durch Sperrung von Brücken die angelaufenen Gegenmaßnahmen zu verzögern.
Daß das Luftlandeunternehmen, wie dies auch sonst in der Regel der Fall ist, in engem Zusammenhang mit den Vorgängen an der eigentlichen Front steht, beweisen die fast gleichzeitig begonnenen Infanterie- und Panzerangriffe der 2. britischen Armee am Maas-Schelde-Kanal. Die Landungen im Rücken unserer nordbelgischen Verteidigungslinien und die gleichzeitigen Frontalangriffe sollen demnach vor allem unseren Riegel am Maas-Schelde-Kanal aufbrechen. Auch gegen den bei Neerpelt in unsere Stellungen eingebrochenen Feind wurden sofort Gegenangriffe angesetzt.
Im Zusammenhang mit dem neuen Ansturm der Briten am Maas-Schelde-Kanal verstärkten die Nordamerikaner ihren Druck beiderseits Aachens ebenfalls. Im Maastrichter Zipfel suchten sie unsere Sperrriegel im Bereich des Gealflüsschens einzudrücken. Unter hohen Verlusten konnten sie im Feuerschutz schwerer Waffen zwei kleine Brückenköpfe bilden, deren Ausweiten unsere Truppen aber durch Gegenstöße verhinderten. Angriffe gegen unsere Stützpunktlinie am Südrand von Aachen scheiterten; im Raum von Stolberg gingen die hin und her wogenden Kämpfe weiter. In erfolgreichen Gegenangriffen entrissen unsere Panzer dem Feind zwischen Aachen und Stolberg Teile des in den letzten Tagen unter hohen Verlusten gewonnenen Geländes und brachten Gefangene ein. Südlich Stolberg dauern die Kämpfe mit dem örtlich vorgedrungenen Gegner noch an. Westlich der Eifel und im Dreieck zwischen Sauer und Prüm machten unsere Truppen in wechselvollen Kämpfen Fortschritte und hinderten den Aufmarsch des Feindes durch Wegnahme von Stützpunkten und Höhenstellungen.
Auch im lothringischen Grenzgebiet wurde hart gekämpft. Am Nordrand des Einbruchsraumes von Nancy versuchten die Nordamerikaner ihre an den Vortagen durch unsere Gegenangriffe aufgerissene Nordflanke wieder aufzubauen. Sie benutzten ihre bei Château-Salins abgezogenen Kräfte, um die Einbruchslücken zu stopfen und die Verbindung zu ihren nordwestlich Pont-à-Mousson stehenden Verbänden herzustellen. Gegenstöße verhinderten die Durchführung der feindlichen Absichten. Der zweite östlich Nancy aufgefangene Keil drehte mit Teilkräften gegen Lunéville ein. Der in die Stadt eingedrungene Feind wurde aber von unserem in breiter Front angelaufenen Gegenangriff gefasst, der ihn wieder aus Lunéville herauswarf und gleichzeitig auch der zweiten gaullistischen Panzerdivision das zäh verteidigte Städtchen Châtel an der Mosel entriss.
Unsere Gegenangriffe haben somit im Raum östlich Nancy das Vordringen des Feindes gegen Lothringen abgebremst. Die Schlacht zwischen Nancy und Épinal hat aber ihren Höhepunkt offenbar noch nicht erreicht. Beide Parteien versuchen weiter Ausgangsstellungen für neue Operationen zu gewinnen, wobei unsere Truppen dadurch einige Vorteile erzielt haben, daß sie feindliche Positionen an der Mosel Stück für Stück zusammenschlugen.
An dem der Burgundischen Pforte vorgelegten Sperrriegel zwischen Épinal und der Schweizer Grenze beschränkten sich die Kampfhandlungen auf Stoßtruppgefechte. Zahlreiche Unternehmen des Feindes nordöstlich und östlich Vesoul scheiterten.
Harte Luftschlachten
…
Nordamerikaner wollen neue Flugplätze –
Die neuen US-Landungen im Pazifik
Wie aus Tokio gemeldet wird, haben die Nordamerikaner im Pazifik zwei neue Landungsoperationen unternommen, die sie näher an die Philippinen heranbringen sollen. Man hat darin wohl eine Begleitmusik zu den Besprechungen von Québec zu sehen. Zum erstenmal wurden die Operationen des Generals MacArthur und des Admirals Nimitz am gleichen Tage und zur gleichen Stunde unternommen.
Am 15. September, 8 Uhr früh, landeten amerikanische Seesoldaten und Heerestruppen des Admirals Nimitz auf der Palaugruppe, während nordamerikanische und australische Truppen des Generals MacArthur auf der Insel Morotai der Molukkengruppe an Land gesetzt wurden. Die japanische Gegenwehr ist erbittert, wie auch von nordamerikanischer Seite eingestanden werden muß.
Damit haben sich die nordamerikanischen Operationen im Pazifik in der Richtung entwickelt, die nach den Kämpfen auf den Marianen und auf Neuguinea erwartet worden ist. Von den Marianeninseln Saipan und Guam aus hatten die Nordamerikaner zwar mit Flugzeugträgern zahlreiche Luftangriffe auf die weiter nördlich in Richtung Japan liegenden Bonininseln durchgeführt, die auch von See her beschossen wurden. Sie hatten auch von China aus weiteren Luftangriffen mit Fernbombern gegen das japanische Mutterland gestartet. Aber es war doch deutlich, daß die nächsten Absichten des US-Admirals Nimitz in die Richtung der Philippinen zielten.
Dies wurde durch zahlreiche Bombenangriffe auf die Westkarolinen, insbesondere Jap und die Palauinseln, unterstrichen. Die Palaugruppe besteht aus 26 meist schmalen Inseln, die zusammen nur 450 Quadratkilometer groß sind. Es handelt sich teils um Koralleninseln, teils um vulkanische Inseln, die stark bewaldet und von Riffen umgeben sind. Babelthuap, die größte der Palauinseln, nimmt allein zwei Drittel der Fläche ein. Auf den Palauinseln befindet sich die Verwaltung der japanischen Mandatsgebiete.
Der Angriff der Nimitz-Streitkräfte ist nach den vorliegenden Meldungen auf die Inseln Peleliu und Angaur erfolgt. Vorher wurden die Landeplätze tagelang bombardiert und dann durch ein Schlachtschiffgeschwader beschossen, zu dem Schiffe des modernsten Typs gehören. Trotzdem stießen die Landungstruppen auf heftige Gegenwehr, nachdem 30 Landungsboote und ein Kreuzer bereits vorher durch Minentreffer untergegangen waren. Weitere 30 Landungsboote wurden zusammengeschossen, ehe die US-Truppen einen Brückenkopf im Süden von Peleliu bilden konnten. Nach japanischen Feststellungen hatten die Nordamerikaner dort am ersten Tag bereits 3.500 Tote zu beklagen. Ihr Ziel ist die Eroberung des Flugfeldes. Die Palauinseln sind etwa 1.000 Kilometer von den Philippinen entfernt.
Die Molukkeninsel Morotai, auf der die Landung MacArthurs erfolgte, liegt 500 Kilometer von Mindanao, der südlichsten Insel der Philippinen, wo der japanische Stützpunkt in der letzten Zeit schon häufige Luftangriffe von Fernbombern erlebt hat. Die Molukken sind die östlichste Inselgruppe von Niederländisch-Indien, dessen Bewohnern die japanische Regierung vor kurzem die Unabhängigkeit zugesagt hat. Deshalb hat die Landung auf Morotai auch für die Lage in Südostasien ihre Bedeutung, Die Molukken sind seit Jahrhunderten als die „Gewürzinseln“ bekannt, da auf ihnen der Gewürznelken- und Muskatnussbaum in großen Kulturen angebaut wird.
Morotai ist wirtschaftlich weniger wichtig, aber die Wahl dieses Landeplatzes im Norden der Gruppe unterstreicht, daß es den Nordamerikanern darum geht, eine möglichst nahe Absprungbasis gegen die Philippinen zu erhalten. Auch auf Morotai sind die Kämpfe außerordentlich heftig. Die feindliche Luftwaffe richtet gleichzeitig starke Angriffe gegen die japanischen Flugfelder auf anderen Inseln der Molukken und auf Celebes.
Auch die neuen englisch-amerikanischen Landungen im Pazifik sind überholend erfolgt, so daß sich nun weitere japanische Stützpunkte im Rücken des Feindes befinden. Alle diese japanischen Stützpunkte von den Salomonen über Neuguinea, das Bismarck-Archipel und die Karolinen bis zu den Marshallinseln und den Marianen sind trotz teilweise bis zu siebenmonatiger Abschnürung nach wie vor sehr aktiv. Sie machen den Nordamerikanern erheblich zu schaffen. Wenn Admiral Nimitz es auf sich genommen hat, weitere solche gefährlichen Fremdkörper in seinem Operationsraum zu belassen, so ist dies nicht nur ein Ausdruck der Risikofreudigkeit, sondern sehr wesentlich mit der Zeitnot zu erklären, von der seine gegen die chinesische Küste zielenden Operationen beherrscht sind.
Während die Japaner das pazifische Inselvorfeld zwar örtlich außerordentlich heftig, aber in der Gesamtstrategie hinhaltend verteidigen, haben sie in China große offensive Operationen mit bedeutenden Erfolgen durchgeführt. Die Besetzung des Hafens Wentschau und die Ausschaltung mehrerer US-Flughäfen auf chinesischem Boden sind Beispiele, wie die Japaner auf dem Festlande schön frühzeitig den Nimitz-Plänen entgegenwirken. Aber auch im Raum der Philippinen und Indonesiens werden die Japaner zweifellos weitreichende Gegenmaßnahmen gegen die nordamerikanische Offensive getroffen haben.
Die Stimmen aus Tokio besagen, daß man sich dort über die verstärkte Drohung gegen die Seeverbindungen nach Südostasien im Klaren ist, die von den neuen Landungen ausgeht, Japanische Marineschriftsteller, wie der frühere Flottenchef Admiral Takahashi und der Admiral Yamamoto, erklären, daß es noch nicht an der Zeit sei, von der zurückhaltenden Flottenstrategie abzugehen, die durch die augenblickliche nordamerikanische Luftüberlegenheit bestimmt ist. Aber es ist bekannt, daß die Japaner ihre Luftzeugproduktion erheblich vergrößert und auch bereits neue Flugzeugtypen bereitgestellt haben, die von US-Sachverständigen als sehr hochwertig anerkannt werden. Mit zunehmender Heftigkeit der Pazifikkämpfe ist also zu rechnen.
E. G.
Québec-Konferenz beendet
Stockholm, 18. September –
Die Besprechungen in Québec zwischen Roosevelt und Churchill haben ihren Abschluß gefunden. In einer bemerkenswert kurzen amtlichen Verlautbarung heißt es: Der Präsident und der Premierminister und die vereinigten Staatchefs hielten eine Reihe von Konferenzen, in deren Verlauf alle Probleme des Krieges gegen Deutschland und Japan erörtert wurden. Die ernsteste Schwierigkeit, so wird weiter ausgeführt, der sich die Konferenz in Québec gegenübersah, war die Aufgabe, Platz und Möglichkeit der besten Ordnung für jene Streitkräfte zu finden, die alle davon betroffenen Nationen gegen den japanischen Feind einzusetzen begierig sind.
Beim Zusammentritt der Québec-Konferenz haben wir bereits festgestellt, worauf es Roosevelt bei diesem Treffen mit Churchill vor allem ankam: Die Briten auf eine vollgültige Teilnahme am Kampf gegen Japan festzulegen, den bis jetzt die Yankees fast ausschließlich zu bestreiten hatten, und damit angesichts des heranrückenden Wahltermins der populären Meinung entgegenzukommen, daß der Krieg im Pazifik für die USA die Hauptaufgabe sei. Daß sich die Briten in Québec auf diese Linie festlegen ließen, ergibt sich aus der Erklärung Churchills: „Wir werden uns an diesem Krieg im Pazifik mit Streitkräften beteiligen, die im guten Verhältnis zu unserer nationalen Stärke stehen.“ Er stellt also dem englischen Volke vor Augen, daß es außer den hohen Blutopfern, die ihm das Ringen auf dem Kontinent abfordert, auf einen weiteren langfristigen Einsatz in Ostasien gefasst sein muß, wenn es überhaupt in diesem Raum noch eine Mitbestimmung ausüben will.
Was den Gang der Dinge in Europa angeht, so enthält die Verlautbarung von Québec darüber nichts Genaues. Die Haltung der beiden Mächte gegenüber den Völkern des Kontinents beschränkt sich nach wie vor darauf, sie den Bolschewisten ins Netz zu treiben. Diesen Tatbestand konnten die Roosevelt und Churchill nicht in Abrede stellen oder auch nur ansprechen da er für sie alles andere als rühmlich ist und nur ihre Mitschuld an der Ausbreitung des bolschewistischen Machtbereichs beweist Hingegen wird man erwarten dürfen, daß sie dem deutschen Volk mit ähnlichen Einflüsterungen zu nahen versuchen, wie sie bei leichtgläubigen und weniger standfesten Nationen Gehör finden und diese veranlassten, mitten im Strom die Pferde zu wechseln. Das Ergebnis liegt bei Italien und auf dem Balkan offen zutage. Es wiegt schwerer als alle Drohungen und Verheißungen, deren man sich drüben bedienen könnte um die militärische durch eine politisch-propagandistische Offensive zu unterstützen deren Misserfolg von vornherein feststeht, weil starke und stolze Völker nur der Stimme ihres eigenen Gewissens folgen.
vb.
‚Typisches Agitationsbeispiel‘
Tokio, 18. September –
Die Erklärung Roosevelts und Churchills zum Abschluß der Québec-Konferenz über Japan wurde von dem Sprecher der japanischen Regierung als ein typisches Agitationsbeispiel bezeichnet.
Der Sprecher verwies auf die Erklärungen des japanischen Premierministers und des Marineministers vor dem Reichstag, in welcher festgehalten wurde, daß die See- und Landstreitkräfte völlig intakt seien und nur auf eine Großoffensive des Gegners warteten, um ihm dann den entscheidenden Schlag zu versetzen.
Die Kämpfe in den südlichen Niederlanden
Berlin, 18. September –
Seit Tagen sieht sich der Feind im nordbelgischen Raum durch den zähen Widerstand unserer Truppen im Brückenkopf an der Esterschelde und durch energische, am Sonntag fortgesetzte Gegenangriffe am Maas-Schelde-Kanal gefesselt. Auch seine starken Angriffe zwischen Maastricht und Aachen nach Norden brachten ihm nur unbedeutende örtliche Vorteile. Zwischen Aachen und Stolberg wurde der Gegner durch Gegenangriffe unserer Panzer weiter zurückgedrängt und südlich Stolberg blieben die Fortschritte der Nordamerikaner infolge unserer in die feindliche Angriffsfront getriebenen Keile auch am Sonntag minimal. Der starke Ansturm dreier feindlicher Armeen im belgisch-niederländischen Grenzgebiet ist somit seit Tagen ohne greifbare Erfolge geblieben.
Um diesen starken Riegel aufzubrechen und seine Bewegungsfreiheit zurückzugewinnen, begann der Feind in den frühen Nachmittagsstunden des Sonntags, im niederländischen Raum Luftlandetruppen abzusetzen. Das Unternehmen hatte sich durch heftige Luftangriffe auf Flugplätze und Verkehrsanlagen in den Absprunggebieten angekündigt. Ab 14,30 Uhr erschienen mehrere hundert Lastensegler und Transportflugzeuge.
Sie klinkten über den südlichen Niederlanden und dem Rheindelta aus. Noch während der Feind seine Landungen durchführte, gingen bereits eigene starke Kräfte zum Gegenangriff über. Zahlreiche Lastensegler wurden von der Flak abgeschossen, andere durch das Abwehrfeuer zu Notlandungen in den Überschwemmungsgebieten gezwungen. Zur Abwehr der feindlichen Fallschirmspringer und Luftlandetruppen riegelten unsere Truppen die verstreut auseinanderliegenden Landeplätze ab und verhinderten zunächst die Bildung großer geschlossener Kampfgruppen. Weitere Gegenmaßnahmen sind angelaufen.
Um die Verbindung mit seinen im Raum Eindhoven abgesetzten Kräften herzustellen, griff der Gegner gegen Abend am MaasSchelde-Kanal aus Neerpelt heraus nach Norden an. Die auch an dieser Stelle sofort einsetzenden Gegenangriffe unserer Truppen führten zu harten, die ganze Nacht über anhaltenden Kämpfen, die auch in den heutigen Morgenstunden noch im Gange sind.
Im mittelbelgischen, luxemburgischen und lothringischen Grenzgebiet waren die Kämpfe vom Sonntag örtlich begrenzt, erfolgreiche Gegenangriffe drückten den Feind im Prümabschnitt und in seinem Brückenkopf am Sauer zurück. Im Raum Pont-à-Mousson–Nancy–Lunéville gingen die wechselvollen Kämpfe weiter. Hierbei drang der Gegner mit starken Kräften von Süden in Lunéville ein, doch wurde er wieder hinausgeworfen und musste südlich davon auch die Stadt Châtel-sur-Moselle vor deutschen Gegenangriffen wieder aufgeben. Am Sperrriegel vor der Burgundischen Pforte blieb die Lage unverändert. An einigen Stellen verbesserten unsere Truppen ihre Frontlinie, an anderen schlugen sie angreifende feindliche Kräfte blutig zurück.
Unsere Soldaten kapitulieren nicht
Reuters Sonderkorrespondent Louis Wulf gibt folgenden Bericht über die heldenmütigen Verteidiger von Brest, der in ausdrucksvoller Weise den nicht zu brechenden Widerstandsgeist deutscher Soldaten offenbart.
Ein US-Oberst ging am Donnerstag in die deutschen Linien, um General Ramcke, den Kommandanten der deutschen Besatzung, die jetzt bereits drei Wochen lang belagert wird, zur Übergabe aufzufordern. Der Oberst befand sich in Begleitung eines anderen Obersten und eines Leutnants als Dolmetsch. Sein kleiner Wagen führte eine weiße Flagge an der Seite.
Er wurde von einem deutschen Posten angehalten, gerade in dem Augenblick, wo er in die deutschen Linien fuhr, worauf die drei Offiziere ausstiegen und zu Fuß gingen. Als sie den Zweck ihres Besuches auseinandergesetzt hatten, wurden ihnen die Augen verbunden. So mußten sie dann einen Weg von mehreren hundert Yards zurücklegen, bis ein deutscher Major sie empfing. Sie mußten warten, bis ihr Auftrag an General Ramcke übermittelt und von diesem beantwortet worden war. Die Antwort bestand in einer unzweideutigen Weigerung. Die Offiziere konnten dann nicht in ihre eigenen Linien zurückkehren, da die amerikanische Artillerie, die ihr Feuer eingestellt hatte, nunmehr wiederum die Stadt heftig beschoss. Sie blieben mehrere Stunden bei den Deutschen und mußten sich vor dem Feuer ihrer eigenen Geschütze so gut wie möglich schützen.
Führer HQ (September 19, 1944)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
In Mittel-Holland verstärkte der Gegner seine im rückwärtigen Frontgebiet abgesetzten Kräfte durch neue Luftlandungen. Eigene Angriffe gegen die Absetzstellungen gewinnen gegen zähen Feindwiderstand langsam Boden. Aus dem Brückenkopf von Neerpelt griff der Feind mit starken Panzerkräften nach Norden an und drang in Eindhoven ein. In erbitterten Nahkämpfen wurden 43 Panzer vernichtet Nordwestlich Aachen konnte der Gegner trotz starken Einsatzes von Artillerie und Panzern nur geringen Bodengewinn erzielen. Westlich und südlich der Stadt wurden alle Angriffe abgewiesen. Im Raum von Lunéville verlaufen die eigenen Gegenangriffe weiterhin erfolgreich.
Von den übrigen Frontabschnitten werden nur örtliche Kampfhandlungen gemeldet.
Unter starkem Einsatz von Artillerie und Fliegern griff der Feind auch gestern Boulogne und Brest an. In Boulogne konnte er nach schweren Kämpfen in die Stadt eindringen, wurde aber aus mehreren Batteriestellungen wieder geworfen. Stadt und Hafen von Brest sind nur noch rauchende Trümmer. Die überlebende Besatzung hat sich auf die Halbinsel Le Crozon zurückgezogen und kämpft dort weiter. Feindliche Vorstöße gegen Lorient und Saint-Nazaire scheiterten. Aus einem Stützpunkt an der Gironde-Mündung führte ein Bataillon einen Ausfall auf die Stadt Sanjon und vernichtete dort große Kraftstoff- und Munitionslager des Feindes.
In Italien halten die schweren Abwehrschlachten im Raum nördlich Florenz und an der Adria in unverminderter Stärke an. Im Verlaufe der Kämpfe konnte der Gegner Einbrüche in unsere Stellungen erzielen, die abgeriegelt wurden. Der beabsichtigte Durchbruch wurde auch gestern verhindert. Die harten, beiderseits verlustreichen Kämpfe dauern weiter an.
An der Nordwestgrenze Rumäniens warfen Gegenangriffe ungarischer und deutscher Verbände den Feind bis in den Raum von Temeschburg, östlich Arad und südöstlich Großwardein, zurück.
Bei Torenburg und lm Nordteil des Szekler Zipfels scheiterten alle Angriffe mehrerer sowjetischer Schützendivisionen.
Auch bei Sanok und Krosno wurde der erneut angreifende Feind im Gegenangriff abgewiesen. An einer Stelle wurden 24 durchgebrochene sowjetische Panzer vernichtet.
Nordöstlich Warschau blieben sowjetische Angriffe erfolglos.
Südwestlich Mitau schossen unsere Truppen bei der Abwehr feindlicher Gegenangriffe 29 Panzer ab. In Lettland und Estland verhinderten unsere zäh kämpfenden Divisionen auch gestern feindliche Durchbrüche und vernichteten in den beiden letzten Tagen 149 Panzer.
Feindliche Bomber führten Terrorangriffe gegen Wesermünde und Budapest sowie andere Orte im ungarischen und serbischen Raum. Jäger und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe schossen 19 feindliche Flugzeuge ab.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (September 19, 1944)
Communiqué No. 164
The landing of Allied airborne troops in Holland continued yesterday. Supplies were also landed and positions were consolidated and strengthened. Operations are proceeding, and in one area our ground forces have already linked with the airborne troops.
In advance of the airborne operations, fighters and fighter-bombers attacked flak boats and positions, troops and transport. Other fighters maintained patrols and provided escort and cover for the transport aircraft and gliders. More than 70 flak boats and positions were put out of action. Many motor and horse-drawn vehicles were destroyed and an ammunition dump was blown up.
Opposition to the advance of our ground troops was stubborn. In the area west of ANTWERP, Allied troops, now fighting on Dutch soil, are advancing in spite of stiff opposition.
Fighting continues in BOULOGNE where we have made further progress into the town.
In Southern HOLLAND, our troops have advanced northeast of MAASTRICHT against stiff resistance from enemy infantry, artillery and dug-in tanks.
Elements further east have reached UBAGSBERG and SIMPELVELD against moderate resistance. In AACHEN, hard fighting continues. Southeast of the city, we have cleared the town of BÜSBACH and units to the northeast have met strong opposition.
Mopping-up of German elements is in progress east of ROETGEN, across the border from EUPEN, and we have captured HÖFEN. East of ST. VITH, our troops in Germany are meeting stiffening resistance and increasing artillery fire. BRANDSCHEID has been taken and we have advanced to HONTHEIM, six miles east of the border.
Armored units moving across the LUXEMBOURG-GERMAN frontier have taken the town of HÜTTINGEN.
In the MOSELLE Valley, we have further reinforced our troops to the east of the river.
West of BELFORT GAP, our troops, in an advance of more than five miles eastward from SAINT-LOUP-SUR-SEMOUSE, have entered the town of FOUGEROLLES. An enemy attack near PONT-DE-ROIDE was repulsed.
According to reports so far received, 32 enemy aircraft were destroyed in yesterday’s overall air operation. Thirty-three of our fighters are missing.
U.S. Navy Department (September 19, 1944)
Communiqué No. 543
Central Pacific.
The USS PERRY (DMS‑17) was sunk as the result of enemy action during the present operation in the Palau Islands.
The next of kin of casualties (which were small) have been informed.
Communiqué No. 544
Pacific and Far East.
U.S. submarines have reported the sinking of 29 vessels, including three combatant ships, as a result of operations against the enemy in these waters as follows:
- 2 destroyers
- 1 large cargo transport
- 11 medium cargo vessels
- 9 small cargo vessels
- 2 medium cargo transports
- 1 escort vessel
- 3 medium tankers
These actions have not been announced in any previous Navy Department communiqué.
Communiqué No. 545
The submarine USS FLIER (SS-250) was lost in recent operations against the enemy.
The next of kin of officers and crew have been informed.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
September 19, 1944
USS NOA lost in Pacific
The USS NOA (DD-343) was recently sunk in the Pacific as the result of a collision with a U.S. destroyer. There were no casualties to personnel.
CINCPAC Communiqué No. 123
First Marine Division troops on Peleliu Island scored further gains in a northeasterly direction during September 18 (West Longitude Date), securing Ngardololok Town and bringing most of the eastern coastal area under control. There was no significant change in our positions in the center and along the west coast. The enemy, fighting from pillboxes, trenches and other prepared fortifications, supported by mortars and artillery, continues to offer stubborn resistance. Found in badly damaged condition on the Peleliu Airfield were 77 single‑engine fighter aircraft, 28 medium bombers, eight light bombers, and four transport planes.
On Angaur Island, further southward advances have been made and two thirds of the island is in the hands of the 81st Infantry Division. The enemy now occupies only two isolated pockets of the island. During September 1, Saipan Town and Middle Village were occupied.
A landing craft equipped as a gunboat (LCI‑459) struck a mine while firing rockets in close support of our troops on Peleliu on September 17, and sank in about 20 minutes. Two of the crew were wounded, but all are safe.
Shumushu Island in the Kurils was bombed by 11th Army Air Force Liberators during the night of September 16. Anti-aircraft fire was inaccurate and all our planes returned to their base. Shumushu and Paramushiru were attacked on September 17 by search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing Four. Buildings were set afire. A small boat, loaded with enemy personnel, and a warship, thought to be a destroyer, were strafed off the east coast of Paramushiru. Several enemy fighter planes intercepted and one was shot down. One of our planes was damaged.
Iwo Jima was attacked on the night of September 16 (West Longitude Date) by a single plane. There was no anti-aircraft fire.
Seventh Army Air Force Liberators bombed Marcus Island on September 17. Anti-aircraft fire varied from meager to intense. On the same day,7th Army Air Force Mitchells flew through moderate anti-aircraft fire to bomb runways, bivouac areas, and gun emplacements on Nauru Island.
Further neutralization raids were carried out against Wotje in the Marshalls on September 16 and 17. Both attacks were directed at storage areas and encountered meager anti-aircraft fire. On September 16, 7th Army Air Force Liberators bombed Jaluit.
The Pittsburgh Press (September 19, 1944)
Air army over Rhine; Dutch city captured
Brereton’s men turn Siegfried Line; Brest reported in U.S. hands
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Bulletin
With U.S. 1st Army on German-Luxembourg frontier –
U.S. armored units knocked out 26 German tanks in repulsing two counterattacks northwest of Trier today, boosting their bag in one sector to 50 in 36 hours.
Gaining in Holland, the 1st Allied Airborne Army was reported in position across the Rhine River at Arnhem to turn the German Siegfried Line and drive to Berlin. Meanwhile, the U.S. 1st Army crossed the German border at new points above and below Aachen. The British 2nd Army drove into Holland to join the 1st Airborne Army, the U.S. 3rd Army advanced from Nancy, and the 7th Army closed on the Belfort Gap. Far to the northwest, the 1st Canadian Army battled to clean up the Channel and North Sea coasts.
SHAEF, London, England –
Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton’s airborne army turned the northern end of the Siegfried Line today in the Arnhem area of eastern Holland beyond the Rhine while other Allied forces captured the Dutch transport hub of Eindhoven.
Elated spokesmen said the aerial invasion of Holland was going exactly as planned on its third day and the commanders were highly pleased with its progress.
Front dispatches said the paratroopers and the British 2nd Army were wheeling through Holland at a lively clip, and the entire Nazi defense system for the country appeared to be falling apart.
Again today, an armada of Allied planes flew a supply mission to Holland, reinforcing the army which landed in the areas of Arnhem, Nijmegen and Eindhoven as well as other unspecified localities.
**The concerted onrush of the British 2nd Army and the airborne forces which brought them together in the Eindhoven area toppled the defenses of that big industrial city, and Lt. Gen. Miles C. Dempsey’s armor raced on in a fanout through a number of towns to the north and east.
Besides Eindhoven, the Allied seized Veghel (15 miles to the north), Esp (four miles to the north), Geldrop (four miles to the east), Wilreit and Luyksgestel (four miles north of Lommel) and Broek (one miles north of the Escaut Canal) where the British forced a new crossing in the Lille–Saint-Hubert area.
Far to the west, the battered German garrison of Brest, big French port famous for its role in World War I, had withdrawn to the Le Crozon Peninsula, Berlin said. The Nazi command said the city had been reduced to “smoking ruins” before it fell to the Americans who raced across Brittany early in August.
U.S. tanks and armor of Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges’ 1st Army resumed their advance east of Aachen, breaking a stalemate brought about by brisk German counterattacks, and reached the outskirts of Stolberg, industrial city which had been bypassed in the drive which breached the Siegfried Line.
United Press writer Henry T. Gorrell reported from the region of Stolberg that the Germans had not counterattacked for 24 hours. Allied bombers were plastering the Nazi positions along a wide arc curving deep into Germany east of Aachen.
Can open path into Reich
With the Siegfried Line turned, if the airborne forces dropped in the Arnhem and Nijmegen areas can link up with the armored spearheads advancing north from Eindhoven, they will open a path for a fast dash into Northwest Germany.
The northern end of the Siegfried Line is at Kleve, 18 miles southeast of Arnhem. Arnhem is on the north bank of the Rhine branch which flows to the North Sea through Rotterdam. The landing forces were operating north of Arnhem and thus established north of almost all the main water barriers standing between the British 2nd Army and Northwest Germany.
The force in the Nijmegen area 12 miles south of Arnhem comprised an intermediary link between the Eindhoven and Arnhem forces. A quick junction will erect a great barrier behind an unofficially estimated 70,000 Germans in western Holland.
Make excellent headway
All available reports indicated that the Allied forces were making excellent headway and firmly holding the key positions they had seized.
United Press writer Ronald Clark reported from the 2nd Army front:
It appears that the German hope of fighting successfully for Holland or evacuating all troops from the Rotterdam and Amsterdam coastal areas is fading fast. Already the possibility appears of another gigantic bag closing around a big section of the Wehrmacht.
Strong British forces were moving swiftly northward across the first series of water crossings where the Germans hoped to defend the approaches to the Lower Rhine, Mr. Clark reported.
Claim some captured
The DNB News Agency said attempts by the airborne forces who landed in the Nijmegen area to gain a foothold in the town itself or the bridges which lead across the Waal River into it were frustrated.
The agency said single paratroop units landed in German territory next to the frontier, but claimed they were encircled and forced to surrender after a short fight.
A Brussels broadcast said the British 2nd Army was two miles from Nijmegen and crossed the Wilhelmina Canal at 5:30 a.m. CET.
Headquarters revealed that the airborne forces had already captured several hundred prisoners, most of them second-rate troops.
Mr. Clark revealed that the third wing of the 1st Allied Airborne Army had joined forces with armored spearheads of the British 2nd Army around Veghel.
The British 2nd Army was across the Belgian frontier into the Netherlands in great strength at three points above the Escaut Canal – north of Gheel, Lommel and Hechtel.
Front dispatches said the hard-hitting paratroops were spreading panic and confusion through the enemy rear, raising the possibility of a British march into the Ruhr similar to Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s whirlwind drive across eastern France.
Battle for month
There was no immediate confirmation of the capture of Brest, where one of the bloodiest battles of the French campaign has been raging for more than a month.
About 20,000 Germans, including landlocked U-boat sailors and other naval personnel, dug into the city when the Americans broke into the Breton Peninsula and held out stubbornly under heavy attack from land, sea and air to prevent the Allies from obtaining the use of the first-rate port facilities.
Gen. Patton’s U.S. 3rd Army broke the stalemate on the Moselle River with a powerful eastward thrust toward the German frontier that carried at least 20 miles beyond Nancy and tightened the ring around Metz.
Close in Belfort
Simultaneously, the U.S. 7th Army squeezed in closer to the Belfort Gap against stiffening opposition, and 1st Canadian Army troops on the French Channel coast fought into the streets of Boulogne at bayonet point.
The U.S. 1st Army drove across the Dutch border into Germany east of Simpelveld, seven miles north of Aachen, a second spearhead striking beyond captured Maastricht neared the border in the area of Sittard, 17 miles northwest of Aachen.
Aachen itself was closely enveloped and official reports indicated some doughboys had fought into the streets of the city.
Beat off attacks
Southeast of Aachen, Gen. Hodges’ men beat off desperate counterblows by German tanks and shock troops, losing some ground under the enemy assault and then coming back to capture several towns well inside the border, including Höfen and Büsbach.
Farther south, the Americans also expanded their salient inside Germany above Prüm and made a new penetration of the Reich at Hüttingen, 20 miles below that town.
United Press writer Robert Richards reported from the 3rd Army front that Gen. Patton’s men were on the move toward Germany again after a long stalemate imposed by supply difficulties.
30 miles from border
One armored spearhead pushed beyond Nancy to within about 30 miles of the German border, apparently aiming at Strasbourg, while other units crossed the Moselle River in force below Metz, threatening to outflank that fortress.
Below Nancy, another U.S. infantry column, spearheaded by French armor, advanced 15 miles northeast of Charmes.
At one point, fanatical Nazi SS troops launched a wild bayonet charge against the American vanguards, only to be slaughtered by Yank machine-gunners and riflemen, Mr. Richards said.
Nazis surrendering to Dutch civilians
By Walter Cronkite, United Press staff writer
With U.S. Airborne Army in Holland –
German soldiers, no longer supermen but just strangers in a foreign country who want to get home, are giving themselves up to unarmed Dutch civilians and waiting for American paratroopers to come to take them to prisoner of war pens.
The prisoners, for the most part poor specimens of soldiers, are dribbling in in crowds of 10 to 20. Their standard answer to the question of age is – 18 years.
Dutch men, women and children are holding them prisoner for the Americans and the biggest job now is getting around to all the houses where there are three or four Nazis under guard by irate Dutch housewives.
The Dutch, too, were greeting the Americans with a welcome which some veterans who saw the liberation of Paris said was even more hysterical than the celebration by the French.
Marines slay half of Japs on Palau Isle
Americans expand invasion of area
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer
Bulletin
Aboard expeditionary flagship, Palau –
The 1st Marine Regiment today captured “Bloody Nose” Ridge after a vicious fight and tonight the battle for Peleliu appeared to have passed the crisis point.
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii –
The bloody battle for Peleliu in the Southern Palaus was believed near its culmination today as U.S. forces wiped out more than half of the garrison, seized nearly half of nearby Angaur Island and occupied tiny Ngarmoked Island off Peleliu.
A Tokyo broadcast said approximately 50 U.S. planes, including Liberators and Lightnings, raided Davao, in Southwest Mindanao, yesterday, while some 100 carrier-planes attacked Koror Island in the Palaus north of Peleliu.
The intensified strikes in the Palaus came simultaneously with the opening of a new phase of the Southwest Pacific campaign by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who will lead victorious Allied armies back to the Philippines.
Announced by Nimitz
For the first time of the war, Gen. MacArthur sent carrier-based planes against Halmahera’s airdromes Saturday to prevent attacks on American-held Morotai Island at the north end of the Halmahera group and 250 miles south of the Philippines.
Selection of Gen. MacArthur to command the campaign to reconquer the Philippines was announced last night by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, in a radio broadcast to the American Legion convention in Chicago.
The invasion of the Palaus, 560 miles east of the Philippines, by his own Pacific forces will provide a base “from which to cover and support Gen. MacArthur’s Philippines campaign,” Adm. Nimitz said.
5,495 killed
It was the first official confirmation that Gen. MacArthur will have full command of the reconquest of the Philippines, which he left more than two years ago resolutely pledging himself to return.
Despite severe losses which totaled 5,495 men killed by American count, the Japs fought fiercely on Peleliu’s difficult terrain and even attempted counterattacks which slowed the Marine drive northward from their southern beachhead.
Adm. Nimitz’s communiqué disclosed that the town of Asias, about a half mile north of captured Peleliu, fell to the 1st Marine Division, which also seized tiny Ngarmoked Island off the southern tip of the island to remove a potential threat from the rear.
Army troops of the 81st Infantry Division turned back several Jap counterattacks on Angaur, south of Peleliu, and continued their advance to gain control of the northern half of the island except for several strong pockets on the western shore. A total of 48 Jap bodies was counted on Angaur.
Battle from caves
Front dispatches said the Japs on Peleliu were fighting bitterly from caves and concrete pillboxes built in the sheer coral cliffs.
United Press writer Richard W. Johnston said they were dying by the hundreds in these escape-proof holes. The Marines were also suffering casualties, though not comparable with those at Tarawa or Saipan.
Mr. Johnston disclosed that the heaviest fighting was taking place on “Bloody Nose” Ridge, which overlooks the island. The Marines silenced Jap artillery which rained shells on the newly-captured airstrip.
A front dispatch from Leif Erickson, representing the combined Allied press, revealed that while the bitter ridge battle raged, U.S. planes were using the Peleliu Airdrome, less than a mile to the south.
Japs shackled to posts
Mr. Erickson reported that desperate Jap commanders shackled their soldiers’ hand and foot to their observation posts inside small caves, and made booby traps of the bodies of dead officers.
Warships and planes continued the unrelenting bombardment of the remaining Jap positions on Peleliu and Mr. Johnston said the combined forces have hurled “thousands of tons” of shells and bombs into the enemy defenses.
He said:
It appears likely that better than one half of the garrison has been wiped out or made ineffective. The stench of decaying bodies is already heavy on the beachhead.
Victory near
Although the Japs probably will fight to the end, observers believed that because of Peleliu’s small area – six by two miles – the Marines soon would be in full control.
Peleliu is the main eastern anchor of the Allied line around the Southern Philippines.
Gen. MacArthur’s troops were consolidating their positions and rapidly completing an airfield on Morotai Island, the southern anchor.
The carrier planes which attacked Halmahera airdromes also made sweeps over Wasile Bay. Thirteen barges were wrecked, three planes shot down and “many” planes destroyed on the ground. The assault came only a week after naval task force units made a three-raid attack on the Philippines.
Gen. MacArthur’s land-based bombers, meanwhile, hit nearby Celebes Island with 146 tons of bombs, concentrated on Kendari Airdrome. Two of eight Jap interceptors were shot down.
Speaks again tonight –
Dewey blames Roosevelt for strikes
Governor Dewey delayed after train wreck
Seattle, Washington (UP) –
Governor Tom E. Dewey’s special campaign train left Seattle several hours behind schedule today because of a freight train wreck near Castle Rock, Washington, but railroad crews were expected to have the roadway repaired in time to get the Dewey train into Portland, Oregon, by early afternoon.
Aboard Dewey campaign train (UP) –
Governor Thomas E. Dewey makes his second campaign speech from the West Coast tonight with a direct attack on President Roosevelt’s fourth-term bid, a follow-up to last night’s address at Seattle when he appealed to American labor to desert the present administration.
Governor Dewey’s theme tonight in Portland, Oregon, will be: “Is There An Indispensable Man?”
Governor Dewey’s speech will be broadcast over KDKA at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The Republican presidential nominee told a nationwide radio audience last night that the Roosevelt administration was responsible for wartime strikes and said it seeks to make labor a political pawn.
Five-point program
Before an overflow crowd of some 6,000 persons in Seattle’s Civic Auditorium, Governor Dewey outlined a five-point program he would inaugurate if his White House bid is successful. He called for:
- An able Secretary of Labor from the ranks of labor;
- Return to the Labor Department all the functions of each a department;
- Abolition of “wasteful, competing bureaus filled with men quarreling for jurisdiction;
- Establishment of a Fair Employment Practice Committee as a permanent government function;
- Abolition of “privilege for one group over any other.”
Governor Dewey defended the right to strike as “one of the fundamental rights of free men,” but he charged that it has been abused and laid blame for such abuse directly with the Roosevelt administration. He said:
The chief blame goes directly into the White House and to its agency created at the top of all this chaos of agencies – the War Labor Board.
That board has supreme power over the vital matters of wages and conditions of employment. Whether by design or sheer incompetence, its practice has been to stall – weeks, months, sometimes years – before issuing decisions.
He charged:
This policy of delay, delay and more delay serves only the New Deal and its political ends. It makes the leaders of labor come hat in hand to the White House. It makes political loyalty the test of a man getting his rights…
Governor Dewey summed up his estimation of the Roosevelt administration’s labor policy as one of “delays, bungling and incompetence,” which has bred class division, hate and insecurity, placed obstacles in the way of labor’s efforts to avoid wartime strikes, and fostered strife among labor groups as well as between labor and business.