The Pittsburgh Press (November 26, 1944)
Yanks break into Cologne plain
Troops use bayonets to turn back Nazis, move nearer Rhine
By James F. McGlincy, United Press staff writer
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Steel pay raised 5 to 10 cents
WLB meets union’s ‘fringe’ demands, but denies full increase
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent
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Service journal says –
Short, Kimmel Pearl Harbor trials unlikely
Vindication hinted after latest probes
Washington (UP) – (Nov. 25)
The unofficial Army and Navy Journal said today that, “according to gossip in well-informed Washington circles,” the Navy Board which recently reinvestigated the Pearl Harbor disaster did not find cause for instituting any court-martial proceedings against RAdm. Husband E. Kimmel, who was the naval commander there Dec. 7, 1941.
The Journal also predicted that it was unlikely that Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short, the Army commander, would be court-martialed. If proceedings should be held in Gen. Short’s case, it said, his friends were confident he would be vindicated.
Roberts Commission findings supported
The Journal said the Navy Board, like the Roberts Commission which investigated Pearl Harbor immediately after the disaster, had found that it was the Army’s function to insure the base against attack. It was the Navy’s function to support the Army indirectly by operations at sea and directly with such equipment as it had ashore and afloat.
A new Army Board of Inquiry was said by the Journal to support the findings of the Roberts Commission that the War Department had failed to comment upon the measures which Gen. Short had reported he had taken to guard the base. These measures were reportedly in conformity with instructions given him not to take measures which would alarm the civilian population.
Army, Navy warned
Concerning Adm. Kimmel, the Journal said:
“Since the Army was responsible for the aircraft warning system, he assumed that it was in operation, which was not the case, and this point doubtless was fairly explored by the Army Board. The truth seems to be that both the Army and Navy command did not believe that an attack by the Japanese was in prospect, although warnings of its possibility had been communicated by the War and Navy Departments.”
The Journal said it was not known whether the Army and Navy boards commented on the charge that Adm. Kimmel and Gen. Short failed to consult frequently, though it was known the two officers consulted on Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, 2 and 3, 1941, especially with reference to the possibility of replacing Marine Corps planes with Army planes on Wake and Midway Islands.
The Journal continued:
However, the usage at that time tended to separate the Army and the Navy, a usage which was discarded immediately. Today there is complete cooperation and coordination between the services, and enabling it is the designation of an Army or a Navy officer in command.
The Journal said jealousies still exist between the two services but are suppressed by the High Command policy.
Should Adm. Kimmel be vindicated, he will expect to be restored to active duty, the Journal said.
Short retired
As Gen. Short retired two years ago, his vindication would not result in his return to active duty.
The reports of the separate Army and Navy boards were filed a few weeks ago with the Secretaries of War and Navy. Some official indication of the conclusions may be given soon.
Wave of suicides reported in Nazi Army and Gestapo
Many prefer that way out rather than to face what will happen in defeat
By Paul Ghali
Bern, Switzerland – (Nov. 25)
The “sin of self-destruction” is the universal theme of Germany’s military chaplains these days – probably on orders of the German Army High Command. The fatherland has broken out in suicide rash.
SS (Elite Guard) and Gestapo men, as well as soldiers whose families have been wiped out by bombardments or who fear a return to the front, are doing away with themselves rather than to face what they realize is coming to them when Germany is defeated.
Hatred of the brown-shirted regime is reported to be increasing daily not only among the German people but inside the German Army as everybody wonders just what has happened to Adolf Hitler. Der Führer’s continued “flight from publicity” has apparently had a catastrophic effect on the faithful, for his continued silence seems to confirm the rampant rumors as to his bad health or even death. The case of Marshal Erwin Rommel, whose recovery after injury on the Western Front had been reported, only to be contradicted weeks later by announcement of his death, is not forgotten.
Now the people ask, “was Hitler wounded more dangerously than we were told during the July 20 attempted assassination?”
Heinrich Himmler and his cohorts undoubtedly have their hands full these days, not only in attempting to deal with this rising hara-kiri mania but with widespread sabotage, which appears to mark the initial signs of active resistance against the Nazi empire.
The Oldenburg railway bridge on the Oldenburg–Bremen line has been destroyed. At the same place, on the same night, unknown enemies of the National Socialist Party lit up the railway station as a target for British fliers.
Sabotage is reported in the German Army and in the armaments industry. For many weeks the oval hand grenade No. 39 has been found to have construction faults which can only be laid to sabotage. This type of grenade explodes too soon, often killing the man who is throwing it. Submachine guns, too, are often found to be unusable owing to tiny technical faults invisible when they leave the factory.
“Vengeance on the SS” is now the common footnote on Volkssturm (People’s Army) posters.
As a result of all this recalcitrance, the Gestapo is reported to be tightening its iron grip and the army its punishment measures.
Sent to Eastern Front
Any soldier guilty of the slightest fault is either shot or sent to the “punishment company,” where treatment is said to be so bestial that the men prefer death. Some are sent instead to the Eastern Front, thus carrying their death sentences with them, for they are placed in positions where escape is impossible. These punishment squads are known as “companies of death.”
On the home front, death seems to have lost its horror. Visitors to Switzerland, who have seen bombarded German towns, have been impressed by the indifference with which the people apparently regard bodies lying in roads for days on end “because nobody claims them.”
“Do what you like with the dead, we’re fed up with them,” is the reply now when survivors of Allied bombings request municipal aid, according to accounts reaching here.
135 dining car workers held in $200,000 theft
Indictment charge stewards and waiters with pocketing money paid for meals
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Mother of war prisoner finds comfort, new friends
Woman learns son is safe and well from letter read at meeting of captives’ kin
By Joseph Williams
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1% security tax may be retained
Roosevelt may veto ‘freezing’ bill
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Freeport to honor World War II hero
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U.S. churches begin fight on conscription
Delay in legislation until after war urged
New York (RNS) – (Nov. 25)
Protestant and Roman Catholic organizations are marshalling their forces for active opposition to wartime passage of any legislation to provide permanent peacetime military conscription in the United States.
It is expected that measures calling for compulsory military training of the nation’s youth will be considered when the new Congress convenes in January, and it is certain that the Christian churches will raise a united voice of protest at public hearings on the proposal.
Strong pronouncements urging postponement of action on the question while the country is at war have been issued by the Federal Council of Churches, and by the Roman Catholic hierarchy of the United States.
Careful study urged
Most of the opposition expressed in religious circles has requested that consideration of the matter be delayed in order that complete and careful study may be made before a decision is reached. Groups that have taken this stand include the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church in the USA, Northern Baptist Convention, United Lutheran Church, Disciples of Christ, and the National Commission on Christian Higher Education of the Association of American Colleges.
Several other groups have adopted vigorous statements against the principle of compulsory military training, including the Religious Society of Friends, the Church of the Brethren, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the United Council of Church Women, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the National Council of Catholic Women, the Catholic Central Verein of America, and the National Catholic Women’s Union.
Pacifists in forefront
Most active in combating conscription legislation are the recognized pacifist organizations, five of which, it was recently announced. Have already sent staff members to Washington to lobby against such measures. Leading these forces is the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the War Resister’s League, the National Council for the Prevention of War, and the International League for Peace and Freedom.
President Roosevelt recently issued a statement in which he called on Congress for early action on the proposal, and the War and Navy Departments, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are also advocating its adoption.
Prohibition drive to be renewed
Washington (UP) – (Nov. 25)
Rep. Joseph R. Bryson (D-SC) said today that he would redouble his efforts early in the 79th Congress for approval of a national wartime prohibition measure.
Mr. Bryson said it was too late to do any good in the present Congress which expires Jan. 3, but added “We will get an early running start in the next Congress.”
His bill calls for national prohibition for the duration of the war and six months afterward to reduce absenteeism and aid in the prosecution of the war.
Chinese member of WASPS killed
Hazel Y. Lee
Detroit, Michigan (UP) – (Nov. 25)
Authorities at Romulus Army Air Base reported that Hazel Y. Lee, 31, American-born Chinese member of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots, died today at Great Falls, Montana, of injuries suffered Thursday when a fighter plane she was ferrying crashed near the city.
She began flying in 1932, and spent six years in China as an employee of the Chinese Air Force. She enlisted in the WASPS in February 1943 and had been stationed at Romulus since August of that year.
Her husband, Maj. Yin Cheung Louie, is a flier with the Chinese Army.
Patricia cheered by dad’s arrival
Seabee visits child dying of leukemia
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AFL to seek 100,000 extra war workers
Critical industries will get support
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House leader backs more to raise Congress’ story
McCormack cites higher living costs and maintenance of two residences
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Senate may probe Biddle dispute
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British in Italy drive to road hub outskirts
Eighth Army breaks Faenza stalemate
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17 Congressmen reach London
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Fighters receiving ‘em –
Noncombatants may get no smokes for 60 days
By Edward P. Morgan
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Kirkpatrick: Plenty of American smokes in France
By Helen Kirkpatrick
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Cigarette shortage probe underway
Senate group seeks full-dress study
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Playboy faces prison sentence
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‘We’ll do it or die’ –
‘Let’s get to hell out,’ major says – and Yanks do
Doughboys wield bayonets, fight, and die, but the objective is obtained
By Henry T. Gorrell, United Press staff writer
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