Frankreich von drei Seiten terrorisiert –
De Gaulle verkauft französisches Blut
Von unserem Berichterstatter
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Frankreich von drei Seiten terrorisiert –
Führer HQ (Oktober 23, 1944)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Auf Südbeveland wiesen unsere Grenadiere Vorstöße des Feindes aus seinem Brückenkopf heraus ab und zerschlugen erneute Landungsversuche. An der Westerschelde halten südlich Roosendaal die Durchbruchsversuche der Engländer und Kanadier an. Eigene Gegenangriffe sind im Gange. Im Raum von Tilburg gehen die schweren Kämpfe mit dem an einigen Stellen in unsere Front eingedrungenen Feind weiter. Auf dem Westteil von Herzogenbusch liegt feindliches Trommelfeuer. In der Zeit vom 20. bis 26. Oktober wurden in diesen Kampfabschnitten 180 feindliche Panzer vernichtet oder erbeutet.
Vor der niederländischen Küste versenkten Sicherungsfahrzeuge der Kriegsmarine ein britisches Schnellboot.
Nach Zuführung von Verstärkungen setzten die Nordamerikaner in den Vogesen ihre hartnäckigen Angriffe zum Überwinden der Waldhöhen westlich der oberen Meurthe fort. Nach harten Kämpfen liefen sie sich vor unseren Waldstützpunkten fest oder wurden durch unsere Gegenangriffe geworfen. Im Quellgebiet der Mortagne schlugen unsere Truppen stärkere feindliche Angriffe ab und verbesserten ihre Stellungen.
In Mittelitalien ließ die Kampftätigkeit nach. Einzelne feindliche Angriffe nördlich Loiano scheiterten. Im adriatischen Küstenabschnitt wurde nördlich Meldola ein Brückenkopf des Gegners über den Ronco zerschlagen und mehrere hundert Gefangene eingebracht.
Nach fünftägigen harten Abwehrkämpfen verhinderten unsere Divisionen auf dem Balkan die Durchbruchsversuche starker feindlicher Kräfte auf Skopje in Mazedonien und auf Kraljevo Im westlichen Moravatal. Der Feind verlor über 1.000 gezählte Tote und 30 Geschütze.
Der Aufstand in der mittleren Slowakei, von den Sowjets ausgelöst und durch Banditen verschiedener Länder, die aus der Luft abgesetzt wurden, genährt, ist im Zusammenbrechen. Unsere Kampfgruppen drangen in das Zentrum des Aufstandsgebietes im Raum Altsohl–Neusohl ein und eroberten die beiden Städte. 2.000 verschleppte Deutsche wurden befreit, bevor der von den Banditen schon gegebene Befehl, sie zu erschießen, ausgeführt werden konnte.
An der unteren Theiß wehrten deutsche und ungarische Truppen zahlreiche Übersetzversuche des Gegners ab. Bei den an Heftigkeit zunehmenden Kämpfen im Raum von Debrecen und Nyíregyháza fügten die deutschen und ungarischen Verbände den Bolschewisten schwere Verluste zu. Unsere Panzerkräfte säuberten Nyíregyháza vom Feind und befreiten ungarische Gefangene.
Bei Munkacs, das planmäßig geräumt wurde, sind Kämpfe mit dem nachdrängenden Gegner im Gange. Eigene Schlachtfliegerverbände griffen sowjetische Kolonnen erfolgreich an und vernichteten 167 feindliche Fahrzeuge.
Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS wehrten beiderseits des Bug und am Narew heftige, von Schlachtfliegern unterstützte Angriffe der Sowjets ab. Die harten Waldkämpfe mit dem südlich Augustow vorgedrungenen Gegner dauern an.
In der Schlacht im ostpreußischen Grenzgebiet entlasteten unsere Panzerkräfte und die eingreifenden deutschen Schlachtflieger südöstlich Gumbinnen die schwerringenden Grenadiere. Der wieder mit zahlreichen Panzern und Schlachtfliegern angreifende Feind blieb nach geringfügigen Einbrüchen liegen. Der Kommandierende General eines Armeekorps, General der Infanterie Prieß, fand im Brennpunkt der erbitterten Abwehrkämpfe den Heldentod. Ein schneidig geführter Gegenangriff warf den in Schlossberg eingedrungenen Feind wieder zurück.
In Kurland verbesserten Volksgrenadiere gegen zähen Widerstand des Feindes ihre Stellungen. Sowjetische Angriffe im Raum Doblen scheiterten unter hohen Verlusten für den Gegner.
Die Verteidiger der Halbinsel Sworbe zerschlugen Bereitstellungen der Sowjets.
Im hohen Norden vereitelten unsere Truppen in dreiwöchigen ununterbrochenen Kämpfen alle Versuche der Bolschewisten, die an der Eismeerfront stehenden deutschen Kräfte in umfassenden Angriffen zu vernichten. Grenadiere, Gebirgsjäger des Heeres und der Waffen-SS, Verbände der Kriegsmarine sowie Jagd-, Kampf- und Flakverbände der Luftwaffe erwehrten sich in vorbildlicher Waffenbrüderschaft des Ansturms von 12 sowjetischen Schützendivisionen, die mit Unterstützung von Panzern und starken Luftstreitkräften angriffen. Der Feind erlitt hohe blutige Verluste. Petsamo und Kirkenes wurden geräumt.
Die Anglo-Amerikaner führten wiederum Terrorangriffe auf Münster, Hannover, Bielefeld und rheinisches Gebiet.
Budapest war das Ziel eines nächtlichen sowjetischen Luftangriffes.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (October 27, 1944)
FROM
(A) SHAEF FORWARD
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
271100A 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. 202
Most of ‘s-Hertogenbosch is in Allied hands and progress has been general in the whole sector from there to the sea. The enemy defenses between ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Tilburg have been deeply penetrated. After hard fighting, our troops are within 4000 yards of Roosendaal and the enemy has been forced to withdraw all along the line from there to Tilburg. Our units are in the eastern and southern outskirts of Tilburg. Further gains have been made in the neck of the Beveland Peninsula. In the Sint-Leenarts Canal area, our troops are fighting in Oostburg. We have bypassed Groede on the north and south.
In the area north of Aachen, our units have made minor gains against stubborn resistance. South of Monschau, patrol activity continues. In the Moselle River Valley, we encountered sporadic enemy artillery fire. Northeast of Lunéville, we cleared the Germans from the Forêt de Moncourt and the high ground north of the forest. Several counterattacks were repulsed in the Lunéville sector. Northeast of Épinal, we made gains against strong resistance. Further slight progress was made in the Vosges sector and counterattacks were repulsed.
Yesterday, more than 1,200 heavy bombers escorted by over 650 fighters, attacked industrial targets at Bielefeld, Münster, Hanover and elsewhere in Germany. Other heavy bombers, also escorted by fighters, attacked the I.G. Farbenindustries chemical works at Leverkusen. Fighter-bombers hit rail targets in the Rhineland and in the Metz area. A rail bridge at Rheinbach, a railway yard at Mönchengladbach, west of Düsseldorf, and a roundhouse and locomotives in the Metz area were attacked. Rail tracks were cut in many places west of the Rhine. Two enemy aircraft were shot down and six of ours are missing.
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/U.S. Navy Department (October 27, 1944)
Communiqué No. 551
According to latest information received, the following U.S. naval vessels, in addition to the USS PRINCETON (CVL-23), have been sunk during the recent operations in the Philippines:
- 2 escort carriers
- 2 destroyers
- 1 destroyer escort
No details have been received.
Next of kin of casualties aboard the above vessels will be notified as soon as possible.
Remarks by President Roosevelt
October 27, 1944
Delivered at Wilmington, Delaware
This is like a homecoming. As a matter of fact, I think I am a little superstitious. Eight years ago, I came here, on the way to Philadelphia, and I said a few words; and four years ago, I came here and said a few words. The results go by threes.
Somebody tells me that we are holding a national election, but remember that we are holding a national election while the nation is at war – and this is the first time that an election has been held under these conditions since 1864 – 80 years ago.
And that recalls to my mind a remark made by Abraham Lincoln – and I think I quoted him here the last time, or the time before – when Lincoln was campaigning against Stephen A. Douglas – a remark that I think is particularly timely and applicable in this campaign.
Lincoln said, about something that Douglas had said, “In every way possible he tried to prove that a horse chestnut is a chestnut horse.”
It seems to me that that applies very neatly to some of the Republican political oratory that has lately been agitating the airwaves.
I do not believe that this oratory is really disturbing the progress of events here in Wilmington, or in the State of Delaware. You have shown the way before, what to believe and what not to believe.
I think you all know the difference between a chestnut horse and a horse chestnut.
You know a great deal about the size and the quality of the effort that has gone into the performance of our great job of production.
The products of Wilmington have made quite a lot of noise around the world.
I myself – being, I might say, “amphibious-minded” – am particularly interested in the landing ships that you have built right here along the Delaware River.
Remember that those landing ships – built in your backyards, so to speak – and all the various types of landing craft, have played a tremendous part in the winning of this war.
In the Pacific and eastern seas, and the European seas, we have had to send our troops thousands of miles, across both oceans, to land on beaches held by the enemy. We had to have entirely new kinds of vessels to do the final and the toughest job of all – Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy, the Marshalls, the Gilberts, the Marianas, and now, thank God, the Philippines – all of those historic operations have been made possible by the brilliant work of our Navy and our Army in developing new methods of amphibious attack.
And the workers – the shipbuilders, the industrial engineers, the chemists – and the plain citizens of this State of Delaware have contributed mightily to the victories that we have won.
And when I mention the word “workers,” I want to make it clear that I include all kinds of work. For example, there are the white-collar workers, who do jobs that are unspectacular but are of vital importance in our war effort and our whole American life.
In this national election, held in wartime, I hope that every citizen of Wilmington and of Delaware – every man and woman who is qualified to vote – will step up to the polls on election day and cast his or her ballot – in this state two ballots. I don’t want to advise you to vote early and often, because I might go to jail.
But a big vote in this state, in this city, and every state in the Union this year will speak powerfully for the cause of democracy all over the world.
The Pittsburgh Press (October 27, 1944)
Jap fleet losses mount; six U.S. warships sunk
Toll of enemy vessels blasted reaches 37 as planes push attack
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer
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Allies clearing Germans from Schelde isles
Amphibious thrust may trap 11,000
By J. Edward Murray, United Press staff writer
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Early meeting of Big Three powers urged by Churchill
Last lap of European War here but present stage is dour and hard, Commons told
London, England (UP) –
Prime Minister Churchill today expressed earnest hope that Premier Stalin, President Roosevelt and he may meet again within two months, presumably after the U.S. election, and revealed Russia and Britain have proposed a temporary “united government” for the Balkan countries to aid in prosecuting the war against Germany.
Mr. Churchill told the House of Commons that his Moscow consultations with Stalin achieved “highly satisfactory” results, including full agreement on the Balkans and Hungary, progress on the thorny Polish question and a review of military problems arising in the “last lap” of the war.
He said:
But I am quite sure that no final result can be obtained until the heads of the three governments have met again together as I earnestly trust they may do before this year is at its end.
Mr. Churchill said the Allies believed they were on the “last lap” of the European war, but warned that “this is a race in which failure to exert the fullest effort to the end may protract that end.”
He said:
The present stage of the war is dour and hard, and fighting must be expected on all fronts to increase in scale and intensity.
Premier Churchill emphasized his strong feeling that responsibility for peace in the post-war era rests with the three great powers – Britain, America and Russia. “Other countries will be associated,” he said, “but the future depends on the union of the three most powerful allies.”
Mr. Churchill said he and Stalin achieved “very good working agreement” on policies relative to Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Hungary.
He said:
We have invited them to come together and form a united government for the purpose of carrying on the war. But these workaday arrangements must be looked upon as temporary expedients to meet an emergency. All permanent arrangements await the presence of the United States who have been constantly informed on what is going forward.
Understanding on Balkans
Mr. Churchill indicated strongly that he and Stalin achieved an understanding on spheres of Balkan influence.
The Prime Minister discussed the Polish issue, choosing his words with great care. He said it involved “two crucial issues” – the question of Polish frontiers and the relations of the London and Lublin Polish governments.
He said:
I wish I could tell the House that we had reached a solution of these problems. It certainly was not for want of trying. I am quite sure, however, that we have got a great deal nearer to it. I hope that Mikołajczyk [Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk] will soon return to Moscow and it will be a great disappointment to all sincere friends of Poland if a good arrangement cannot be made which will enable him to form a Polish government on Polish soil.
Frontier changes conceded
Mr. Churchill said of the frontier issue that it was hoped this “though it may not entirely coincide or correspond with the pre-war frontier of Poland will nevertheless be adequate for the needs of the Polish nation and not inferior in character and in quality, taking the picture as a whole, to what they had previously possessed.”
These are critical days and it would be a great pity if time were wasted in indecision or protracted negotiations. If the Polish government had taken the advice we tendered them at the beginning of this year, the additional complication produced by the formation of the Polish National Committee of Liberation at Lublin would never have arisen.
Mr. Churchill said that France would now resume “her rightful historic role upon the world stage” and that “France can by no means be excluded from discussions of the principal Allies dealing with the problem of the Rhine and the fate of Germany.”
Roosevelt speaks tonight in Philadelphia
President parades through city
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania –
A damp, chill wind greeted President Roosevelt as he arrived in Philadelphia today for a motorcade sweep of the historic city and adjacent Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River.
Immediately after his arrival, the President entered his open car for a 30-mile parade under heavily overcast skies, in a bid for Pennsylvania’s 35 electoral votes.
The parade will be climaxed by a major political speech to the nation’s business men tonight at Shibe Park – the start of a five or six-state political swing.
WCAE and WJAS will broadcast the speech at 9:00 p.m. EWT.
Guffey, Lawrence there
In the open car with the President were Secretary Stephen Early, Attorney General Francis Biddle and Postmaster General Frank Walker.
A Secret Service car led the parade, and behind Mr. Roosevelt’s car – the second – came autos loaded with Democratic leaders, including U.S. Senator Joseph F. Guffey, Democratic State Chairman David Lawrence and candidates for various state offices.
The motorcade passed Philadelphia’s old city hall, passing under a street-wide banner of Governor Thomas E. Dewey hanging from the city headquarters of the Republican Women of Pennsylvania.
500,000 line crowd
Police Capt. Vincent L. Elwell estimated 500,000 persons lined Broad Street for three blocks below City Hall as the motorcade headed for the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Two accidents marred the early Stages of the parade. Marine Col. A. E. Randall died of a heart attack while waiting with a group of naval officers at the main gate of the Navy Yard. At City Hall, the tail end of the motorcade was delayed for a few minutes when a police horse was knocked to the pavement by a car.
Mr. Roosevelt’s entrance into the Navy Yard was greeted with the traditional ruffles and flourishes, played by the Navy Yard band, and followed by the national anthem.
Welcomed by admiral
Welcomed at the main gate by RAdm. M. F. Draemel, Navy Yard commandant, Mr. Roosevelt was sped through the yard as thousands of workers braved the damp weather to cheer him all along the route.
A brief pause was made before the USS Olympia, the preserved flagship of Adm. Dewey and relic of the Battle of Manila Bay, before the tour continued.
A biting and intermittent rain followed the presidential tour through the Navy Yard. Witnesses caught no sight of Mr. Roosevelt’s dog, Fala, and it was not learned whether the President’s pet had been left behind because of the inclemency of the weather.
Stops at Wilmington
On his rain-swept tour through New York City last Saturday, Fala accompanied the President.
Mr. Roosevelt’s arrival in Philadelphia followed a brief stop at Wilmington, Delaware, where he told the station crowd that the Republicans were trying to prove “that a horse chestnut is a chestnut horse.”
Lincoln quoted
The President said at Wilmington:
A big vote in America this year will speak powerfully for the cause of democracy all over the world, the President said at Wilmington. We are holding a national election while the nation is at war – and this is the first time an election has been held under such conditions since 1864 – 80 years ago.
Which calls to mind a remark made by Abraham Lincoln when he was campaigning against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln said, “In every way possible, he tried to prove that a horse chestnut is a chestnut horse.”
It seems to me that applies very neatly to some of the Republican political oratory which has lately been agitating the air waves.
…I think we all know the difference between a horse chestnut and chestnut horse.
Mr. Roosevelt will speak at Chicago’s Soldier Field, returning to Washington Sunday.
Chicago Democratic leaders said the advance demand for tickets indicated that 110,000 persons would crowd into Soldier Field to hear Mr. Roosevelt and it was estimated that 50,000 more would stand outside listening over a loudspeaker system.
One more major trip
The President has at least one more campaign journey scheduled in this extraordinarily bitter and personal contest with Governor Dewey to determine who shall be President for the next four years.
The President will pause for 15 minutes tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for a short speech. Reportedly on the schedule is a train-end appearance either at Akron or Youngstown, Ohio, one purpose of which – if it takes place – will be to blast the reelection prospects of Senator Robert A. Taft (R-OH), a standout adversary of administration policy, both domestic and foreign.
In New York, Robert E. Hannegan, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Mr. Roosevelt will stop briefly at Clarksburg, West Virginia, on his return trip.
Despite announcement of the Sunday return to Washington, there remained the possibility that the President would pack up early enough next week to speak in Cleveland, Detroit or Buffalo, New York, before an officially announced engagement in Boston on Nov. 4. That is the Saturday before Election Day.
Poll: Five big states hold key to election with race neck-and-neck
Pennsylvania still 50–50; 21 states too close to be certain for either candidate
By Dr. George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
How civilian vote stands today
Definitely for Roosevelt today
Roosevelt Dewey South Carolina 87% 13% Mississippi 87% 13% Georgia 80% 20% Louisiana 78% 22% Alabama 77% 23% Florida 71% 29% Arkansas 70% 30% North Carolina 69% 31% Virginia 64% 36% Tennessee 64% 36% Texas 64% 36% Arizona 58% 42% Utah 57% 43% Rhode Island 56% 44% Montana 54% 46% Nevada 54% 46% California 54% 46% Washington 54% 46% 179 electoral votes
Definitely for Dewey today
Roosevelt Dewey Nebraska 37% 63% Kansas 37% 63% South Dakota 37% 63% North Dakota 40% 60% Iowa 44% 56% Colorado 45% 55% Vermont 45% 55% Indiana 46% 54% Wisconsin 46% 54% 66 electoral votes
Pivotal states
Roosevelt Dewey Kentucky 53% 47% Connecticut 52% 48% Maryland 51% 49% Massachusetts 50% 50% Pennsylvania 50% 50% Delaware 50% 50% Oklahoma 50% 50% Oregon 50% 50% Missouri 49% 51% West Virginia 49% 51% New Hampshire 49% 51% New York 49% 51% New Mexico 49% 51% New Jersey 48% 52% Illinois 48% 52% Idaho 48% 52% Ohio 47% 53% Michigan 47% 53% Maine 47% 53% Wyoming 47% 53% Minnesota 47% 53% 286 electoral votes
With Election Day little more than a week away, latest figures in the Institute’s state-by-state poll show Roosevelt-Dewey sentiment almost equally divided.
Twenty-one pivotal states, in which sentiment is too close to list them in either candidate’s column, are the big battleground.
Pennsylvania is still equally divided – neither candidate showing the slightest advantage.
The results in this poll, it must be remembered, are obtained from civilian voters only. Service voters cannot be polled under the law, and the service vote may determine the outcome if the civilian vote is as close as now indicated.
Dewey shows strength
Any advantage which the Democrats may have gained through heavy registration in large industrial centers has been offset in the last two weeks by increased evidence of Dewey strength.
The situation is substantially the same as it was when the last nationwide poll was printed on Oct. 15.
With an estimated voter turnout of 47 million civilians, President Roosevelt is found polling 51 percent of the popular vote and Governor Dewey 49 percent. This does not include any votes of men and women in the armed services.
Indications are still that the decision as to the winner will rest in five large industrial states which are still hovering near the 50-50 line — Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut.
122 electoral votes in doubt
The electoral votes of these very important states total 122. If Mr. Roosevelt gets all of them his electoral vote would assume landslide proportions. If, on the other hand, Mr. Dewey got them he would win with a comfortable majority.
State-by-state analysis shows 18 states with 179 electoral votes definitely in the Roosevelt column and nine states with 66 electoral votes definitely in the Dewey column.
The remaining 21 states with 286 electoral votes are pivotal areas where the lead for either candidate is less than 54 percent.
Among the pivotal states, Mr. Dewey has the advantage at present in 13 and Mr. Roosevelt in three.
Roosevelt improves total
Compared to the poll published Oct. 15, Mr. Roosevelt has improved his total of states definitely for him and Mr. Dewey has lost ground; but of pivotal states leaning to one candidate or the other, Mr. Dewey has gained ground and Mr. Roosevelt lost ground.
The comparison is as follows:
| Today | Oct. 15 | |
|---|---|---|
| Definitely for Roosevelt | 119 | 158 |
| Definitely for Dewey | 66 | 121 |
| Leaning toward Roosevelt | 27 | 85 |
| Leaning toward Dewey | 189 | 107 |
Adding the states leaning toward Dewey to the states definitely for him gives him 255 electoral votes; adding the definite Roosevelt states to those leaning toward him gives him 206 votes.
The remaining 70 electoral votes are in the five states dividing evenly.
It takes 266 electoral votes to win.
Aside from the normal margin of error in all polling operations, an error which in this country and four foreign countries amounts to between three and four percent, information is not available on one important segment of the voting population – voters in the Armed Forces.
Military regulations forbid the polling of these voters, and the readers therefore must take this tact into account in interpreting the results shown here. No one knows how the soldiers will vote in any specific state, but it is believed that in some states the soldier vote may add as much as one percent to the Roosevelt figure.
In a state which on the basis of poll samples is found to be evenly divided, the vote of the Armed Forces can obviously be the deciding factor.
Final figures on political sentiment in the 48 states, based on polling which will be going on this week and next, will be reported Monday, Nov. 6.
Hillman tactics called disturbing
Washington (UP) –
Labor, weekly publication of 15 railway brotherhoods, predicted today that “the largest labor vote in the history of America” would be cast Nov. 7.
Claiming that the brotherhoods started the voter registration drive more than a year ago and that other labor groups followed their lead, Labor said:
There is just one disturbing factor. The unfortunate tactics of Sidney Hillman and his Communist-controlled CIO committee have aroused an immense amount of resentment particularly among residents of the rural districts. Democratic and Republican leaders are agreed on that.
Labor said President Roosevelt will receive “80 percent of the labor vote and progressive candidates for the House and Senate in industrial areas will probably get record-breaking majorities.”
Simms: Austria called new test for United Nations
Choice of democracy for nation urged
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor
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Rains bog down Yanks in Italy
Eighth Army patrols cross Ronco River
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Cleveland death toll reaches 134
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