America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

3113

Führer HQ (October 22, 1944)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

In Holland verhinderten unsere seit Wochen ununterbrochen kämpfenden Truppen auch gestern tiefere Einbrüche im Brückenkopf an der äußeren Westerschelde, nachdem es dem Feind gelungen war, in den Ort Breskens einzubrechen. Nordöstlich Antwerpen setzte der Feind seine starken Angriffe fort. Neu herangeführte eigene Verbände sind zum Gegenangriff gegen die in unsere Stellungen eingedrungenen Kanadier angetreten. Nordwestlich Turnhout scheiterten feindliche Angriffe. 13 Panzer wurden abgeschossen.

Im Raum von Würselen geht der erbitterte Kampf um Bunkerstellungen weiter. Durch eigene Gegenangriffe wurde der Feind aus mehreren Bunkergruppen wieder geworfen, Gefangene eingebracht und eingeschlossene eigene Besatzungen wieder befreit. Die Räume östlich Lunéville und bei Bruyères am Westrand der nördlichen Vogesen sind weiterhin Brennpunkte schwerer Kämpfe. Angriffe feindlicher Regimenter konnten in einigen Abschnitten unsere Gefechtsvorposten zurückdrücken. Um einzelne Einbruchsstellen sind Gegenangriffe im Gange. Bei Cornimont wurde eine beherrschende Höhe zurückerobert. Bei einem Vorstoß im westlichen Vorfeld von Dünkirchen wurden kanadische Panzer abgeschossen, Gefangene und Beute eingebracht. Auch Lorient meldet erfolgreiche eigene Stoßtruppunternehmungen.

Der „V1“-Beschuss Londons dauert an.

Unsere Truppen in Italien haben wiederum sämtliche Angriffe der Nordamerikaner im Raum von Vergato zerschlagen. Auch feindliche Angriffe nördlich und östlich Loiano scheiterten. Britische Gegenangriffe gegen unsere neuen Stellungen beiderseits Cesena blieben im Abwehrfeuer liegen. Neun Panzer wurden vernichtet. Bei der Abwehr feindlicher Luftangriffe schoss Flakartillerie in Italien in den beiden letzten Tagen 25 anglo-amerikanische Flugzeuge ab. Vorpostenstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine versenkten in der Bucht von Rapallo ein britisches Schnellboot und beschädigten zwei weitere.

Eine starke deutsche Kampfgruppe hat die sowjetische Umklammerung südöstlich Belgrad gesprengt und die Verbindung mit unseren Linien westlich der Stadt wieder hergestellt. In Südungarn drangen feindliche Angriffsspitzen westlich der Theiß bis Baja an der Donau vor. Bei den erfolgreichen Angriffskämpfen im Raum östlich Szolnok haben deutsche und ungarische Truppen stärkere rumänische und sowjetische Kräfte eingeschlossen. Ihre Vernichtung ist lm Gange. Bisher wurden 4.300 Gefangene eingebracht, darunter der Kommandeur der 4. rumänischen Infanteriedivision mit seinem Stab. 270 Geschütze, 290 Fahrzeuge und mehrere Eisenbahnzüge wurden erbeutet oder vernichtet. Die blutigen Verluste des Feindes sind hoch. Zwischen der mittleren Theiß und dem Szamos dauern die schweren Kämpfe an. Angriffe der Bolschewisten westlich des Duklapasses wurden bis auf einen inzwischen abgeriegelten Einbruch abgewiesen.

Unsere Truppen brachten im Narew–Brückenkopf bei Seroc erneute feindliche Angriffe zum Stehen und beseitigten bei Rozan die am Vortage entstandenen Einbruchsstellen im Gegenangriff, in der Schlacht im ostpreußischen Grenzgebiet wurde beiderseits der Romintener Heide mit großer Erbitterung gekämpft. Einzelne durchgestoßene Panzer der Sowjets wurden bei Goldap und südlich Gumbinnen aufgefangen. Beiderseits Ebenrode scheiterten feindliche Durchbruchsversuche. Schlachtflieger und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe fügten den sowjetischen Angriffskolonnen hohe Ausfälle zu und schossen 40 Panzer ab. Beiderseits Tilsit setzten wir uns unter harten Kämpfen zur Frontverkürzung auf das Südufer der Memel ab. In Kurland scheiterten auch gestern alle örtlichen feindlichen Angriffe. Auf der Landenge zur Halbinsel Sworbe konnten die Bolschewisten nach wechselvollen Kämpfen geringen Geländegewinn erzielen.

Beiderseits der Eismeerstraße und im norwegischen Grenzgebiet dauern die Kämpfe an. Umgehungsversuche nachdringender sowjetischer Kampfgruppen wurden verhindert. Bei der Abwehr zahlenmäßig überlegener Kampf- und Schlachtflieger kam es dort zu heftigen Luftkämpfen, in denen unsere Jagdflieger 31 Abschüsse erzielten. In norwegischen Gewässern schossen Sicherungsfahrzeuge deutscher Geleite im Verlauf harter Gefechte ein feindliches Schnellboot in Brand und beschädigten mehrere andere.

Anglo-amerikanische Flugzeuge warfen in der vergangenen Nacht vereinzelt Bomben in Südost- und Westdeutschland.

Die 18. Flakdivision zeichnete sich in der Schlacht im ostpreußischen Grenzgebiet bei der Abwehr sowjetischer Panzerangriffe besonders aus.

In der großen Panzerschlacht bei Debrecen hat sich die thüringisch-hessische 1. Panzerdivision unter Führung von Oberst Thunert durch schwungvollen Angriffsgeist und zähen Widerstand besonders bewährt. In den gleichen Kämpfen haben sich Major Ruge, Kommandeur eines Panzergrenadierregiments, Major Rebentisch, Kommandeur eines Panzerregiments, Oberleutnant von Oechelhäuser in einem Panzerregiment und Leutnant Mobis, Führer eines Flak-Kampfsturms besonders ausgezeichnet.

3114

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (October 22, 1944)

FROM
(A) SHAEF FORWARD

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
221100A October

TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR (Pass to WND)

TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(2) FIRST US ARMY GP
(3) ADV HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) FWD ECH (MAIN) 12 ARMY GP
(5) AEAF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) ETOUSA
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM Z APO 871
(18) SHAEF MAIN

(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 197

In the Breskens area, Allied troops are fighting in the outskirts of the port. Fighter-bombers struck at the port installations there yesterday and attacked Fort Frederik Hendrik and other military buildings west of Breskens. Heavy bombers, one of which is missing, bombed gun batteries near Flushing. Medium bombers hit gun positions at Cadzand. Further good progress was made north of Antwerp. We have driven along the roads from Wuustwezel and Achterbroek to within three miles of Esschen. Enemy forces in the wooded area north of Withof were bypassed and later mopped-up. Fighters and fighter-bombers gave close support to our troops.

The enemy’s rail system serving the Dutch battle zone was again under attack. At Terheijden, a bridge carrying the Breda–Dordrecht line over the Mark River was destroyed by fighter-bombers. Other fighter-bombers ranged over the frontier into Germany to strike at targets near Haldern and Vreden. Last night, light bombers struck at road and rail targets in Holland and Germany. In Aachen, the commander of the German garrison surrendered the remainder of his forces at 1206 yesterday after our troops had fought their way through the city to its western edge. Minor fighting continued in parts of the city for some time after the formal surrender, but by midafternoon resistance had ceased.

Fighter-bombers, operating in the Aachen sector, attacked fortified villages and bombed and strafed enemy artillery. Other fighter-bombers struck at railway targets from points near Aachen to the area east of Nancy and also in the Rhine River Valley. Near Hermeskeil, a bridge was hit. House-to-house fighting is still in progress in Maizières-lès-Metz. East of Épinal, activity increased in the area of Brouvelieures and Bruyères. Our troops made further gains against stiffened resistance. In the Bruyères area, fighters swept over the battle zone and fighter-bombers attacked troop concentrations. East of the Moselotte River bend, a lull has followed the heavy fighting of the past few days. Enemy fighters in some strength were encountered yesterday over the Ruhr Valley and in combats, 21 enemy aircraft were shot down for the loss of three fighter-bombers.

COORDINATED WITH: G-2, G-3 to C/S

THIS MESSAGE MAY BE SENT IN CLEAR BY ANY MEANS
/s/

Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others

ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section

NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA Ext. 9

AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
3115

The Pittsburgh Press (October 22, 1944)

Yanks capture Leyte capital

MacArthur’s forces take two airfields, drive four miles inland
By William Dickinson, United Press staff writer

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3116

Nazis retreat to new line east of Aachen

Antwerp cleanup may bring victory soon
By James F. McGlincy, United Press staff writer

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3117

Grim tale of savagery told by Yanks freed from Japs

MacArthur reveals hardships endured by 83 Americans after Bataan fell

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3118

americavotes1944

Roosevelt asks free hand for U.S. delegate to League

Isolationists singled out as main targets of bitter criticism
By Merriman Smith, United Press staff writer

New York – (Oct. 21)
President Roosevelt, climaxing a rain-drenched campaign tour of New York’s major boroughs, tonight demanded in a speech before the Foreign Policy Association that the American delegate to the United Nations Council be given in “advance” power to act with other nations in enforcing peace even by force, if necessary.

The President said such authority must be granted if the post-war “world organization is to have any reality at all.”

And at the same time, he denied that any “secret treaties or any secret guarantees” had been developed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull or him. He added a promise that none would be developed.

In a lengthy analysis of this country’s international position as he sees it and particularly referring to keeping the peace after the present conflict ends, Mr. Roosevelt said:

It is clear that, if the world organization is to have any reality at all, our representative must be endowed in advance by the people themselves, by constitutional means through their representatives in Congress, with authority to act.

At the same time, the President restated the principle of unconditional surrender, saying that once Germany is defeated “we shall not leave them a single element of military power – or of potential military power.”

He said:

**As for Germany, that tragic nation which has sown the wind and is now reaping the whirlwind, we and our Allies are entirely agreed that we shall not bargain with the Nazi conspirators, or leave them a shred of control – open or secret – of the instruments of government.

Mr. Roosevelt said that the Allies had “rejected” the possibility of coming “to terms” with Germany and Japan because “the decision not to bargain with the tyrants rose from the hearts and souls and sinews of the American people. They faced reality; they appraised reality; and they knew what freedom meant.”

Isolationists assailed

Mr. Roosevelt was bitterly critical of the “isolationist” attitude of Republicans in Congress, saying:

If the Republicans were to win control of the Congress in this election, inveterate isolationists would occupy positions of commanding influence and power.

He singled out in this category Senator Hiram Johnson (R-CA) and Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-ND) and he went on to call the roll of ranking Republicans on the House side, asking his audience:

Can anyone really suppose that these isolationists have changed their minds about world affairs? Politicians who embrace the policy of isolationism – or who never raised their voices against it in our days of peril – are not reliable custodians of the future of America.

The President admitted there had been Democrats in the same isolationist camp, “but they have been few and far between, and they have not attained positions of leadership.”

There were several boos during the President’s speech, especially when he expressed thanks that his administration did not have the support of the “isolationist… McCormick- Patterson-Hearst-Gannett press,” and when he mentioned Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY).

Another vociferous boo came when Mr. Roosevelt mentioned Senator Nye.

Tours city in rain

Mr. Roosevelt spoke in the main ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria after touring Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan in an open car for more than four hours during the morning and getting himself thoroughly soaked in a driving rain that followed him throughout the day.

The President opened his address by citing the Republican record on international affairs.

He said:

The majority of the Republican members of the Congress voted against the Selective Service Law in 1940; they voted against repeal of the arms embargo in 1939; they voted against Lend-Lease in 1941 and they voted in August 1941 against extension of Selective Service, which meant voting against keeping our Army together – four months before Pearl Harbor.

Council for peace described

In discussing the pattern of the United Nations Council to keep the peace, the President said “peace, like war, can succeed only where here is a will to enforce it, and where there is available power to enforce it.”

He added:

The Council must have the power to act quickly and decisively to keep the peace by force, if necessary.

The President assured the American people that he and Secretary of State Hull were “thoroughly conversant with the Constitution” and knew they could not “commit the nation to any secret treaties or any secret guarantees in violation of that Constitution.”

‘No secret agreements’

He asserted that “no secret agreements” had been made and that the issue involving agreements of this sort – as put forth by Governor Dewey – was “between my veracity and the continuing assertions of those who have no responsibility im the foreign field – or, perhaps I should say, a field foreign to them.”

Mr. Roosevelt, discussing the fate of a completely defeated Germany, said “we bring no charge against the German race, as such,” but “there is going to be stern punishment for all those in Germany directly responsible for this agony of mankind.”

He said flatly “the German people are not going to be enslaved, because the United Nations do not traffic in human slavery.” But he said, “It will be necessary for them to earn their way back into the fellowship of peace-loving and law-abiding nations.”

Mr. Roosevelt charged that in the years following 1920, Republican foreign policy was “dominated by the heavy hand of isolationism;” and that “much of the strength of our Navy was scuttled – and some of the Navy’s resources were handed over to friends in private industry – as in the unforgettable case of Teapot Dome.”

The President went on to recall his record and the record of Secretary Hull, “against Republican opposition,” to prepare the country for an international emergency and improve its foreign relations.

3119

americavotes1944

New Yorkers line streets in rain to cheer Roosevelt

An estimated three million see President as he makes 50-mile tour of city

New York (UP) – (Oct. 21)
President Roosevelt toured the rain-soaked streets of New York amid a wet but enthusiastic crowd today in an open bid for the state’s 47 electoral votes for his fourth-term campaign.

Mayor F. H. LaGuardia said that Deputy Police Inspector John J. O’Connor estimated that about three million persons had seen the President during his tour.

In his first stop on the four-borough swing, the President stood bareheaded under dripping skies in Ebbets Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ ballpark, where he urged an estimated 16,000 persons to return Senator Robert F. Wagner (D-NY), to the U.S. Senate.

Crowds six-jeep

Bad weather, sent inland by a sea-riding hurricane, failed to take the edge off the occasion, as the 50-car flag-draped procession wound through New York’s streets in a four-hour procession.

As the parade wheeled from 110th Street into Upper Broadway on the last lap of the tour the crowds were six-deep along both sides of the city’s more famous streets.

The President’s ride down Broadway, particularly m the theater district and on down Fifth Avenue, was made under a floating canopy of ticker tape, torn-up paper, serpentine and confetti.

His hand was in the air all the time waving to the crowd that was heavy from the Bronx down to Washington Square.

A real Dodger ovation

The Ebbets Field crowd gave the President a regular Dodger ovation as he stood by his open car – bareheaded and without his customary cane – “to pay a little tribute to my old friend, Bob Wagner.”

He said:

We were together in the Legislature some thirty-odd years ago. We’ve been close friends ever since, largely because we have the same ideals of being of service to our fellow men.

Mayor La Guardia accompanied the President on the first leg of his trip. Other municipal and party officials were in the parade, and various municipal politicos alternated in the presidential car, flanked by alert Secret Service men. The President had one constant companion, Fala, his dog, who took a somewhat aloof interest in the crowd.

Navy Yard workers enthusiastic

Arriving at the Navy Yard, the President was greeted by a noisy, unabashed crowd that yelled: “Hi, yah, Frankie. Give ‘em hell.”

Ten thousand policemen – vacations and leaves had been canceled – were stationed along the motorcade’s route. Rooftops were ordered cleared of spectators, and the Secret Service and probably the FBI were on the job.

The old Roosevelt smile was very much in evidence, and he acknowledged bursts of applause with a wave of his hat or by clasping his hands over his head. Mrs. Roosevelt, wearing a dark red fur-collared coat and a felt hat, smiled and nodded to crowds standing three-deep along the curb.

3120

americavotes1944

Willkie undecided, his widow says

None could speak for him, she adds

Rushville, Indiana (UP) – (Oct. 21)
Mrs. Wendell L. Willkie said today in a formal statement that the 1940 Republican presidential nominee had not made a decision at the time of his death as to how he intended to vote in the November presidential election.

The statement, apparently ending speculation as to how the candidate four years ago would have voted this time, said:

I am distressed because many people are saying that they knew how Wendell Willkie intended to vote in the coming election. He had not made his decision. No one could speak for him while he was living; and I ask, out of respect for his memory, that no one should attempt to speak for him now.

The statement was issued by Mrs. Lem Jones, secretary to Mrs. Willkie, while the latter remained in Rushville following burial services earlier this week for her husband.

3121

americavotes1944

Soldier votes may decide presidential election

If civilian balloting is close, results may not be known for sometime after Nov. 7
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer

New York – (Oct. 21)
Ballots from the armed services counted on or after Election Day in pivotal states could be the determining factor in this year’s presidential contest between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Thomas E. Dewey.

If President Roosevelt and Governor Dewey come to the stretch in a photo-finish the result might be in doubt for days or weeks after Nov. 7.

An unofficial United Press compilation shows that upward of four million ballots have been sent to servicemen and women – a figure not far under the popular vote margin by which Mr. Roosevelt led Wendell L. Willkie, the Republican candidate, in 1940.

Exact figures lacking

The figure is not complete and in many instances is based on estimates, state officials more often than not being unable to give precise figures.

But the potential service vote is large enough to determine the outcome in a close contest which many persons are convinced next month’s election will be.

The 1916 election between Woodrow Wilson and Charles Evans Hughes was determined with final returns from the town of Eureka, California. If California again should be the determining state, the outcome might not be known until Dec. 16 when armed service votes are counted there. It is estimated that 175,000 California servicemen and women have received absentee ballots.

Pennsylvania watched

If Pennsylvania is the key state in this election – and many persons expect it to be – final returns from that state will not be available until sometime after Nov. 22 because counting of the servicemen’s ballots will not be started until then. And there are 620,000 armed-service ballots out from that state. A dozen or more states may count service ballots after Election Day.

None knows, of course, what percentage of service men and women will vote. But if their participation is large, percentagewise, they will control the result in many a close state.

This election campaign is primarily a contest for 11 big states where the vote in 1940 was close. Of those 21, Mr. Roosevelt won nine and Mr. Willkie two. Mr. Dewey probably must hold those two and reverse the trend in the others to win. At the least he must reverse the trend in most of them.

There is a persistent and quite persuasive Democratic argument that Mr. Roosevelt will have a majority of the armed service vote. The argument becomes considerably sharper on the question of how great a majority.

But it is pointed out that fighting men and service women are from the younger brackets of the electorate where the administration counts itself strongest.

On the other hand, it is argued that these young people are likely to be strongly influenced by what their own families intend to do on Election Day.

But, however the armed service vote may divide, its potential impact on the outcome is indicated by some pertinent figures relating to the 11 close states where Mr. Dewey must cut deeply into Democratic positions to win as well as hold the two states which went Republican in 1940.

Figures which follow show the margin by which these states were won in 1940. The first two, Indiana and Michigan, went Republican. The rest cast their electoral votes for Mr. Roosevelt.

For comparison with the 1940 margin, the unofficial estimates of outstanding armed service ballots which may be cast this year are given:

1940 margin Estimated 1944 service ballots
Indiana 25,000 150,000
Michigan 7,000 200,000
Illinois 102,000 250,000
Massachusetts 137,000 450,000
Minnesota 48,000 124,000
Missouri 87,000 80,000
New Jersey 71,000 331,118
New York 224,000 523,816
Ohio 147,000 241,273
Pennsylvania 282,000 620,000
Wisconsin 25,000 No estimate

Outstanding Wisconsin ballots may be assumed to be in excess of the 1940 margin by which Mr. Roosevelt won the state.

Big votes cast

Although the Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania margins were large in themselves, it must be remembered that those states cast an enormous vote.

Ohio cast well over three million votes last time, Illinois 4,200,000, Massachusetts two million, New York 6,270,000 and Pennsylvania more than four million. Those contests were close.

The aggregate electoral vote of those 11 states is 237, only 29 short of the bare Electoral College majority necessary to elect. In 1920, those states cast an aggregate of 15,613,807 votes for Mr. Roosevelt and 13,522,386 for Mr. Willkie.

Mr. Roosevelt’s 11-state popular vote margin was 2,091,521 votes. Those states have outstanding 2,823,207 ballots sent to the armed services.

3122

Blast death toll may exceed 100

Debris still searched for victims’ bodies

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Dock blast kills 5 and injures 50

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3123

New Yorkers back Ohio-to-Erie canal

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Italy’s great need for aid stressed

Threats of famine, chaos emphasized

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3124

americavotes1944

Cheers for Roosevelt cost woman her teeth

New York (UP) – (Oct. 21)
A woman Democrat in Queens leaned out of her fourth-floor apartment window today to cheer lustily when President Roosevelt’s motorcade passed by.

At the peak of her efforts, her false teeth – uppers and lowers – popped out and fell on the heads of spectators on the sidewalk.

3125

6 coal strikes cost 14,000 tons a day

U.S. Conciliator acts to settle disputes

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3126

americavotes1944

Labor factions split on campaign

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (UP) – (Oct. 21)
The Pennsylvania Federation of Labor “Committee to Elect Roosevelt,” in a circular to the state AFL union membership, today took issue with the campaign arguments of the new “Labor’s Non-Partisan Committee of Pennsylvania For Dewey and Bricker,” headed by David Williams, deputy State Labor and Industry secretary and former State AFL, secretary-treasurer.

The circular, signed by committee chairman and state AFL president James L. McDevitt of Philadelphia, said members of the Dewey-Bricker group “speak now as individuals,” whereas the Federation’s committee is acting under authorization and direction of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor.

The letter pointed out that some members of Mr. Williams’ committee were delegates to the Federation convention in April, “but did not speak or vote in opposition to the Roosevelt endorsement.”

Mr. McDevitt charged the “nonpartisan committee” with using “the scare technique with respect to their comments concerning Communists.”

Mr. McDevitt said:

We have led the fight against all persons and organizations that have identified themselves with Communistic ideologies, and have not hesitated to expel them from the ranks of our movement, in accordance with the provisions of our constitution, whenever we were able to secure creditable evidence.

3127

Wildcat strike halts output of B-25 bombers

Kansas company fires 127 workmen

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Nightclub fire charges dropped

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3128

americavotes1944

Dewey preparing farm speech

Minneapolis address set for Tuesday night

Albany, New York (UP) – (Oct. 21)
Governor Dewey tonight began working on a major farm speech which he will deliver on a whirlwind campaign through the Midwest next week.

Governor Dewey, who returned to the New York capital after a campaign speech in Pittsburgh lasts night, started work on the farm address with Elliott Bell, his chief advisor. They planned to devote most of the weekend to whipping into shape the material the GOP nominee obtained at conferences with farmers in all sections of the country.

The Governor’s Midwest itinerary calls for a nationwide address from Minneapolis Tuesday night and Chicago the following night, with a three-hour stopover for conferences at Milwaukee in between.

Governor Dewey will leave Albany Monday morning for Minneapolis.

3129

MacArthur warns Japs on prisoners

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3130

Cuban cargo ship adrift; crew gone

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Tug survivors washed ashore

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3131

americavotes1944

Editorial: ‘Alphabet soup’

Do you know the initials of the bureaus that control your lives?

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3132

Miss Perkins plans larger department

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