House glamor battle draws big audience
But Mrs. Luce and Mrs. Douglas deny race for attention in Congress
By George Kennedy, North American Newspaper Alliance
…
Aboard the USS Bennington –
Mighty airplane carrier is city in itself with everyone working as a team
Accidents come few and far between, but men are ready when Dame Fortune frowns
By Max B. Cook, Scripps-Howard staff writer
…
Gracie Allen Reporting
By Gracie Allen
Hollywood, California –
Well, it looks like Congress is back at the old stand, with a few familiar faces and relatives missing from the payroll.
From the woman’s standpoint, the most interesting thing will be to see if the pen is mightier than the makeup box. In this corner, ladies and gentlemen, is Clare Boothe Luce, on the Republican elephant, representing literature; in that corner Helen Gahagan Douglas, on the Democratic donkey, representing the drama.
I think it is just wonderful that each of our great parties has such a beautiful member to represent it, and I’m sure when they cross swords in oratory you won’t be able to see the speaker’s rostrum for newsreel cameras. Requests for gallery seats are so heavy some people have suggested staging the whole thing in Madison Square Garden.
Goodness, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the Luce-Douglas debates went thundering down into history alongside the Lincoln-Douglas ones.
B-29 output may be cut by aluminum
Labor shortage hits sheet production
…
Government’s suit against railroads hit
Action disregards law of land, official says
…
Völkischer Beobachter (January 6, 1945)
Volksopfer für Wehrmacht und Volkssturm
Aufruf zur Sammlung von Kleidung und Ausrüstung
Berlin, 5. Jänner –
In der Zeit vom 8. bis 31. Jänner wird eine Sammlung von Kleidungs- und Ausröstungsgegenständen für die Wehrmacht und den Deutschen Volkssturm durchgeführt Zu diesem „Volksopfer“ erlassen der Leiter der Parteikanzlei M. Bormann, Reichswirtschaftsminister W. Funk, Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda, Reichspropagandaleiter der NSDAP Dr. Goebbels und der Reichsführer-SS und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres H. Himmler den nachstehenden Aufruf:
Deutsches Volk!
Das Jahr 1944 hat uns schwere Prüfungen auferlegt. Mit der geballten Kraft dreier Weltreiche hat es der Feind in einem Massenansturm ohnegleichen nicht vermocht, uns in die Knie zu zwingen. In einem heroischen Kampf, wie ihn die Weltgeschichte selten kennt, hat der deutsche Soldat die Angriffe unserer Feinde an allen Fronten abgewehrt.
Die Heimat hat sich des Heldentums ihrer Soldaten würdig erwiesen. Trotz des feindlichen Bombenterrors ist sie unerschüttert, kampfentschlossen und siegesbewusst wie nie zuvor. Die Rufe zur kompromisslosen und totalen Führung des Krieges ist das ganze deutsche Volk einmütig und entschlossen gefolgt. Frauen und Mädchen haben in Fabriken und Kontoren zu Hunderttausenden die Männer abgelöst und damit die Aufstellung zahlreicher neuer Volksgrenadierdivisionen ermöglicht. Die deutschen Rüstungsarbeiter und -arbeiterinnen geben diesen Soldaten die besten Waffen in die Hand.
Nunmehr beginnen die ersten Früchte der totalen Kriegführung zu reifen. Es müssen jedoch immer neue Volksgrenadierdivisionen und Marscheinheiten zur Aufstellung kommen und der Front zugeführt werden. Auch die Männer des Deutschen Volkssturms befinden sich in Tausenden von Bataillonen in der Ausbildung und teilweise schon im Einsatz. Für die Aufstellung dieser neuen Verbände werden dringend Bekleidungs- und Ausrüstungsgegenstände benötigt. Im Aufträge des Führers rufen wir deshalb alle deutschen Männer, Frauen und unsere Jugend zu einem Volksopfer auf. Die Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei wird mit ihrer bewährten Tatkraft die Trägerin dieser Aktion sein.
Vom 8. bis 31. Jänner werden für die Wehrmacht und den Volkssturm gesammelt: Uniformen und Uniformteile der Partei, ihrer Gliederungen und Verbände, der Wehrmacht, Polizei, Feuerschutzpolizei, Reichsbahn, Reichspost usw. Tragfähiges Schuhwerk und Ausrüstungsgegenstände für die kämpfende Truppe, wie Zeltbahnen und Zeltzubehör, Woll- und Felldecken, Brotbeutel, Rucksäcke, Kochgeschirre, Koppel, Schulterriemen, Spaten, Stahlhelme und alles andere, was der Soldat braucht. Ferner werden Kleidung, Wäsche und Spinnstoffe jeder Art gesammelt, um hieraus neue Bekleidungs- und Ausrüstungsgegenstände herzustellen.
Jeder Volksgenosse muss von diesen Dingen alles das abgeben, was er nicht unbedingt benötigt. Gebt alles Entbehrliche der kämpfenden Front. Unsere Soldaten sollen sich auch diesmal wieder auf die Heimat verlassen können.
M. BORMANN
Leiter der ParteikanzleiW. FUNK
ReichswirtschaftsministerDR. GOEBBELS
Reichspropagandaleiter der NSDAP und Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und PropagandaH. HIMMLER
Reichsführer-SS und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres
Ränkespiel mit dem italienischen Hunger –
Unbarmherzigkeit unter dem Mantel der Großmut
Von unserem Berichterstatter in der Schweiz
…
Führer HQ (January 6, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Die schweren Kämpfe an den Flanken des Frontbogens zwischen Maas und Mosel dauern an. Die 1. amerikanische Armee, die mit starken Kräften gegen unsere Nordfront anstürmte, blieb unter hohen Verlusten im Abwehrfeuer/liegen. Im Raum von Bastogne warfen unsere Panzerverbände, von Norden und Osten angreifend, den Gegner in Richtung auf die Stadt zurück und machten über 400 Gefangene.
In Lothringen wie im Elsass sind unsere Truppen im Vormarsch. Bei der Verfolgung des Feindes wurde das gesamte Gebiet zwischen Weißenburg und Selz am Rhein von den Amerikanern gesäubert, zahlreiche Ortschaften zurückerobert. Nördlich Straßburg erzwangen unsere Truppen in überraschendem Vorstoß an mehreren Stellen den Übergang über den Rhein.
Im Westen wurden gestern 35 feindliche Panzer vernichtet oder erbeutet.
Starke Stoßtrupps der Festungsbesatzung von Gironde-Nord sprengten die Bahnlinie nach Saujon auf sechs Kilometer Breite und zerstörten die dort gelegenen feindlichen Feldstellungen.
In Mittelitalien wiesen unsere Truppen nördlich Faenza feindliche Angriffe ab. Am Südufer des Comacchiosees kamen die dort angreifenden britischen Verbände vor einer neuen Abwehrfront zum Stehen.
Auf dem Balkan verlor der Gegner südlich Vukovar an der Drau in den Kämpfen der letzten Tage über 850 gezählte Tote. Auf der Flucht vom Kampffeld ließ der Feind seine gesamten Waffen, darunter 96 Maschinengewehre und 22 Panzerabwehrkanonen, in unserer Hand. Auf deutscher Seite sind in den gleichen Kämpfen zehn Mann gefallen.
Die deutsch-ungarische Besatzung von Budapest behauptet sich weiter gegen die Angriffe der Bolschewisten, die gestern vor allem an der Ostfront geführt wurden. An der Südgrenze der Slowakei hält der feindliche Druck zwischen dem Gran und Groß-Steffelsdorf an. Die Mehrzahl der sowjetischen Angriffe scheiterte bereits im Abwehrfeuer vor unseren Stellungen.
Grenadiere und Panzer brachen im ostpreußischen Grenzgebiet nordwestlich Filipow überraschend in ein tiefgegliedertes Grabensystem der Bolschewisten ein. Nach Vernichtung von 15 Panzern und 29 Geschützen kehrten sie mit zahlreichen Gefangenen und Beutewaffen in die eigenen Steilungen zurück. Der Feind erlitt bei diesem Unternehmen besonders hohe blutige Verluste.
Am Tage waren der westdeutsche Raum und das Rhein-Main-Gebiet Ziele des anglo-amerikanischen Bombenterrors. In den Abendstunden führten die Briten zwei Terrorangriffe gegen das Stadtgebiet von Hannover. Gleichzeitig warfen britische schnelle Kampfflugzeuge Bomben auf die Reichshauptstadt. Durch Nachtjäger wurden 28, durch Flakartillerie weitere 21 feindliche Flugzeuge, fast ausschließlich viermotorige Bomber, abgeschossen.
In den schweren Abwehrkämpfen nordöstlichsten Plattensees hat die II. Abteilung des Kavallerieregiments 5 „Feldmarschall von Mackensen“ unter Führung von Rittmeister Bulliner besondere Standhaftigkeit bewiesen.
Nach einer durch Radio Moskau am 31. Dezember 1944 verbreiteten amtlichen sowjetischen Erklärung sollen am 29. Dezember 1944 mittags zwei sowjetische Offiziersparlamentäre vor Budapest trotz deutlicher Kennzeichnung von deutschen Truppen beschossen und getötet worden sein.
Vor der deutschen Hauptkampflinie sind nicht sowjetische Parlamentäre, sondern vier zu Parlamentären gepresste deutsche Kriegsgefangene erschienen, die die Kapitulationsaufforderung an die Besatzung von Budapest überbringen sollten. Sie stellten sich selbstverständlich sofort bei den deutschen Truppen und erklärten, dass sie den Auftrag nur übernommen hätten, um der Gefangenschaft zu entrinnen.
Die hasserfüllten und von einer widerlichen Berufung auf das Völkerrecht triefenden sowjetischen Zwecklügen bedürfen keiner weiteren Erwiderung.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (January 6, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
061100A January
TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR
(2) NAVY DEPARTMENT
TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(3) TAC HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) MAIN 12 ARMY GP
(5) SHAEF AIR STAFF
(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) UNITED KINGDOM BASE
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM ZONE
(18) SHAEF REAR
(19) NEWS DIV. MINIFORM, LONDON
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 273
Allied patrols were active yesterday along the Maas River.
Our attack from the northern flank of the Ardennes salient continued in the face of stiff and determined opposition. Progress has been slow but gains up to 1,000 yards have been made in several sectors, notably southwest of Stavelot, where several enemy counterattacks were beaten off.
On the southern flank of the salient, heavy enemy pressure consisting of tank and infantry counterattacks continues.
A small enemy thrust was repulsed in the area two miles west of Tillet. A strong counterattack by a force including 15 to 20 enemy tanks resulted in heavy fighting two miles west of Mande.
Our forces made a withdrawal from the Michamps area to high ground about two miles northeast of Bastogne. Southeast of Bastogne, a strong counterattack by infantry and tanks was repulsed by our artillery in the vicinity of Wardin and a smaller counterattack was beaten off at Harlange.
Communication and supply lines in the area of St. Vith and in and behind the Ardennes salient were the targets for fighter bombers which struck at road junctions and road and rail transport and also attacked armored fighting vehicles and enemy-held buildings. In addition, they went for rail centers at Edenkoben and Simmern, and the enemy-occupied town of Wardin. Escorted medium and light bombers, as well as going for communications near St. Vith, attacked bridges at Ahrweiler and Simmern. Last night, light bombers harassed enemy movement behind the salient.
In the lower Vosges Mountains, the enemy’s attempts to enlarge his salient southeast of Bitsch were frustrated in a day of hard fighting. Enemy elements which infiltrated southward to the vicinity of Wingen were virtually disposed of. North and east of this sector, fighter-bombers attacked road and rail transport in the areas of Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe and Neuenkirchen.
Enemy ground forces crossed the Rhine River about eight miles below Strasbourg and entered Gambsheim and Offendorf. Fighting followed in both localities.
German troop quarters in the Schouwen Island and north of the Meuse River in Holland, were attacked by fighter bombers which also hit a rail bridge at Culemborg and a road bridge at Vianen, south of Utrecht. Fighter-bombers, hanging over an arc from Hengelo through Münster and Hamm down to Koblenz, went for locomotives, rail cars, and road transport.
More than 1,000 heavy bombers, escorted by more than 500 fighters, attacked rail centers over a broad area extending from Köln south to Karlsruhe and from the Siegfried Line east to beyond Frankfurt. Among the rail yards attacked were those at Hanau, Frankfurt, Koblenz, Bad Sobernheim and Kirn, and among rail centers were those at Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens and Neustadt. In addition, a number of other rail and road targets and enemy fighter landing grounds were attacked. Some of the escorting fighters attacked locomotives, rail cars and an airfield in the Frankfurt area, shooting down one enemy aircraft and destroying four on the ground.
Other escorted heavy bombers attacked the railyards at Ludwigshafen.
Last night, heavy bombers in very great strength, made two attacks on Hanover. Light bombers attacked Berlin. Before dawn this morning, heavy bombers attacked concentrations of German troops and armor in and around Houffalize.
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 FA2409
AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/U.S. Navy Department (January 6, 1945)
CINCPAC Communiqué No. 224
Carrier‑based aircraft of the U.S. Pacific Fleet destroyed 111 enemy aircraft and damaged 220 more in attacks on Formosa and on Okinawa in the Ryukyus on January 2 and 3 (West Longitude Date). Twenty‑seven ships were sunk and an additional sixty‑eight were damaged. The enemy offered ineffective air opposition to our aircraft.
Surface units of the U.S. Pacific Fleet bombarded enemy installations on Chichijima and Hahajima in the Bonins on January 5.
Shelling was concentrated on facilities around the harbor of Futami go on Chichijima and on other targets in Okimura town and Higashi Harbor on Hahajima. Fires were started in Okimura town and an enemy cargo ship was sunk west of Hahajima. Answering the attack with meager gunfire, defending shore batteries inflicted minor damage on units of our forces. A single enemy fighter was observed airborne.
CINCPAC Communiqué No. 225
January 1, 3, and 4 (West Longitude Dates) Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed airstrip installations on Iwo Jima in the Volcanos.
Surface units of the United States Pacific Fleet bombarded coast defenses and airstrip installations on Iwo Jima in the Volcanos on January 4. Numerous fires were observed on the island. Fire from enemy shore batteries was meager.
The following damage was inflicted on enemy shipping and installations on Formosa and Okinawa Jima by carrier‑based aircraft of the Pacific Fleet on January 2 and 3:
SUNK OR DESTROYED:
- One large cargo ship west of Takao
- One medium cargo ship at Keelung
- One small cargo ship at Keelung
- One patrol craft
- Ten small coastal cargo ships
- Eleven small craft
DAMAGED:
- One destroyer
- Four destroyer escorts
- Six patrol craft
- One landing ship
- Two landing craft
- Two large cargo ships
- One medium cargo ship
- Thirty‑four small cargo ships
- Seven small craft
GROUND INSTALLATIONS DESTROYED ON FORMOSA:
- Eleven locomotives
- Four tank cars and several trucks and freight cars
In sweeps over the island our aircraft destroyed a railway bridge over the Tamsui River, a railroad station at Okayama and buildings, warehouses, fuel and ammunition dumps on all parts of the island.
Seventeen of our aircraft were lost in combat.
Army infantry units occupied Fais Island east of Ulithi on January 2, against slight resistance. Eight of the enemy were killed and six captured. Our forces suffered losses of three killed and six wounded.
Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked fuel storage facilities on Babelthuap in the Palaus on January 4. Marine torpedo planes bombed enemy installations on Yap.
On January 4, aircraft of the 4th MarAirWing continued neutralizing attacks on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls.
CINCPAC Press Release No. 711
For Immediate Release
January 6, 1945
Naval air transport extended to Leyte
Jumping another thousand miles westward over the Central Pacific, sky freighters of the Naval Air Transport Service are daily flying into Leyte, it was disclosed 31 December 1944, by CAPT D. W. Tomlinson, USNR, NATS-Pacific commander, who said the new route was opened early in December.
One NATS plane a day‑a twin‑engine R4D similar to Douglas aircraft serving U.S. domestic airlines‑makes the long ocean hop from Manus in the Admiralties, via Peleliu, and offloading its war‑vital priority cargo and passengers at Leyte in 30‑minute “turnaround” before taking oft for the return flight.
An official NATS‑Pac unit will be in full operation on the Philippine island on the first of the year, CAPT Tomlinson declared, and it is expected that four‑engined Skymaster transports operated by the Pacific Wing will be scheduled to enter Leyte soon from other forward bases.
The Leyte run follows NATS‑Pac’s mission of serving Fleet and ground forces at the battle fronts with urgent cogs that keep the attack machine running smoothly.
Addition of the new 1000‑mile flight brings the Pacific Wings total route mileage to 31,000 miles, with at least 30 planes in the air every minute, day and night.
State of the Union Address by President Roosevelt
January 6, 1945. 3:00 p.m. EWT
To the Congress:
In considering the State of the Union, the war and the peace that is to follow are naturally uppermost in the minds of all of us.
This war must be waged – it is being waged – with the greatest and most persistent intensity. Everything we are and have is at stake. Everything we are and have will be given. American men, fighting far from home, have already won victories which the world will never forget.
We have no question of the ultimate victory. We have no question of the cost. Our losses will be heavy.
We and our allies will go on fighting together to ultimate total victory.
We have seen a year marked, on the whole, by substantial progress toward victory, even though the year ended with a setback for our arms, when the Germans launched a ferocious counter-attack into Luxembourg and Belgium with the obvious objective of cutting our line in the center.
Our men have fought with indescribable and unforgettable gallantry under most difficult conditions, and our German enemies have sustained considerable losses while failing to obtain their objectives.
The high tide of this German effort was reached two days after Christmas. Since then, we have reassumed the offensive, rescued the isolated garrison at Bastogne, and forced a German withdrawal along the whole line of the salient. The speed with which we recovered from this savage attack was largely possible because we have one supreme commander in complete control of all the Allied armies in France. General Eisenhower has faced this period of trial with admirable calm and resolution and with steadily increasing success. He has my complete confidence.
Further desperate attempts may well be made to break our lines, to slow our progress. We must never make the mistake of assuming that the Germans are beaten until the last Nazi has surrendered.
And I would express another most serious warning against the poisonous effects of enemy propaganda.
The wedge that the Germans attempted to drive in western Europe was less dangerous in actual terms of winning the war than the wedges which they are continually attempting to drive between ourselves and our allies.
Every little rumor which is intended to weaken our faith in our allies is like an actual enemy agent in our midst – seeking to sabotage our war effort. There are, here and there, evil and baseless rumors against the Russians- rumors against the British – rumors against our own American commanders in the field.
When you examine these rumors closely, you will observe that every one of them bears the same trademark – “Made in Germany.”
We must resist this divisive propaganda – we must destroy it – with the same strength and the same determination that our fighting men are displaying as they resist and destroy the panzer divisions.
In Europe, we shall resume the attack and – despite temporary setbacks here or there – we shall continue the attack relentlessly until Germany is completely defeated.
It is appropriate at this time to review the basic strategy which has guided us through three years of war, and which will lead, eventually, to total victory.
The tremendous effort of the first years of this war was directed toward the concentration of men and supplies in the various theaters of action at the points where they could hurt our enemies most.
It was an effort –in the language of the military men – of deployment of our forces. Many battles – essential battles – were fought; many victories – vital victories – were won. But these battles and these victories were fought and won to hold back the attacking enemy, and to put us in positions from which we and our allies could deliver the final, decisive blows.
In the beginning our most important military task was to prevent our enemies – the strongest and most violently aggressive powers that ever have threatened civilization – from winning decisive victories. But even while we were conducting defensive, delaying actions, we were looking forward to the time when we could wrest the initiative from our enemies and place our superior resources of men and materials into direct competition with them.
It was plain then that the defeat of either enemy would require the massing of overwhelming forces – ground, sea, and air – in positions from which we and our allies could strike directly against the enemy homelands and destroy the Nazi and Japanese war machines.
In the case of Japan, we had to await the completion of extensive preliminary operations – operations designed to establish secure supply lines through the Japanese outer-zone defenses. This called for overwhelming sea power and airpower – supported by ground forces strategically employed against isolated outpost garrisons.
Always – from the very day we were attacked – it was right militarily as well as morally to reject the arguments of those shortsighted people who would have had us throw Britain and Russia to the Nazi wolves and concentrate against the Japanese. Such people urged that we fight a purely defensive war against Japan while allowing the domination of all the rest of the world by Nazism and Fascism.
In the European theater, the necessary bases for the massing of ground and airpower against Germany were already available in Great Britain. In the Mediterranean area, we could begin ground operations against major elements of the German Army as rapidly as we could put troops in the field, first in North Africa and then in Italy.
Therefore, our decision was made to concentrate the bulk of our ground and air forces against Germany until her utter defeat. That decision was based on all these factors; and it was also based on the realization that, of our two enemies, Germany would be more able to digest quickly her conquests, the more able quickly to convert the manpower and resources of her conquered territory into a war potential.
We had in Europe two active and indomitable allies – Britain and the Soviet Union – and there were also the heroic resistance movements in the occupied countries, constantly engaging and harassing the Germans. We cannot forget how Britain held the line, alone, in 1940 and 1941; and at the same time, despite ferocious bombardment from the air, built up a tremendous armaments industry which enabled her to take the offensive at El Alamein in 1942.
We cannot forget the heroic defense of Moscow and Leningrad and Stalingrad, or the tremendous Russian offensives of 1943 and 1944 which destroyed formidable German armies.
Nor can we forget how, for more than seven long years, the Chinese people have been sustaining the barbarous attacks of the Japanese and containing large enemy forces on the vast areas of the Asiatic mainland.
In the future we must never forget the lesson that we have learned- that we must have friends who will work with us in peace as they have fought at our side in war.
As a result of the combined effort of the Allied forces, great military victories were achieved in 1944: The liberation of France, Belgium, Greece, and parts of The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia; the surrender of Romania and Bulgaria; the invasion of Germany itself and Hungary; the steady march through the Pacific islands to the Philippines, Guam, and Saipan; and the beginnings of a mighty air offensive against the Japanese islands.
Now, as this Seventy-ninth Congress meets, we have reached the most critical phase of the war.
The greatest victory of the last year was, of course, the successful breach on June 6, 1944, of the German “impregnable” seawall of Europe and the victorious sweep of the Allied forces through France and Belgium and Luxembourg – almost to the Rhine itself.
The cross-channel invasion of the Allied armies was the greatest amphibious operation in the history of the world. It overshadowed all other operations in this or any other war in its immensity. Its success is a tribute to the fighting courage of the soldiers who stormed the beaches – to the sailors and merchant seamen who put the soldiers ashore and kept them supplied – and to the military and naval leaders who achieved a real miracle of planning and execution. And it is also a tribute to the ability of two nations, Britain and America, to plan together, and work together, and fight together in perfect cooperation and perfect harmony.
This cross-channel invasion was followed in August by a second great amphibious operation, landing troops in southern France. In this, the same cooperation and the same harmony existed between the American, French, and other Allied forces based in North Africa and Italy.
The success of the two invasions is a tribute also to the ability of many men and women to maintain silence, when a few careless words would have imperiled the lives of hundreds of thousands, and would have jeopardized the whole vast undertakings.
These two great operations were made possible by success in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Without this success over German submarines, we could not have built up our invasion forces or air forces in Great Britain, nor could we have kept a steady stream of supplies flowing to them after they had landed in France.
The Nazis, however, may succeed in improving their submarines and their crews. They have recently increased their U-boat activity. The Battle of the Atlantic – like all campaigns in this war – demands eternal vigilance. But the British, Canadian, and other Allied navies, together with our own, are constantly on the alert.
The tremendous operations in Western Europe have overshadowed in the public mind the less spectacular but vitally important Italian front. Its place in the strategic conduct of the war in Europe has been obscured, and – by some people unfortunately – underrated.
It is important that any misconception on that score be corrected – now.
What the Allied forces in Italy are doing is a well-considered part in our strategy in Europe, now aimed at only one objective – the total defeat of the Germans. These valiant forces in Italy are continuing to keep a substantial portion of the German Army under constant pressure – including some 20 first-line German divisions and the necessary supply and transport and replacement troops – all of which our enemies need so badly elsewhere.
Over very difficult terrain and through adverse weather conditions, our Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army – reinforced by units from other United Nations, including a brave and well-equipped unit of the Brazilian Army – have, in the past year, pushed north through bloody Cassino and the Anzio beachhead, and through Rome until now they occupy heights overlooking the valley of the Po.
The greatest tribute which can be paid to the courage and fighting ability of these splendid soldiers in Italy is to point out that although their strength is about equal to that of the Germans they oppose, the Allies have been continuously on the offensive.
That pressure, that offensive, by our troops in Italy will continue.
The American people – and every soldier now fighting in the Apennines – should remember that the Italian front has not lost any of the importance which it had in the days when it was the only Allied front in Europe.
In the Pacific during the past year, we have conducted the fastest-moving offensive in the history of modern warfare. We have driven the enemy back more than 3,000 miles across the Central Pacific. A year ago, our conquest of Tarawa was a little more than a month old.
A year ago, we were preparing for our invasion of Kwajalein, the second of our great strides across the Central Pacific to the Philippines.
A year ago, Gen. MacArthur was still fighting in New Guinea almost 1,500 miles from his present position in the Philippine Islands.
We now have firmly established bases in the Mariana Islands, from which our Superfortresses bomb Tokyo itself – and will continue to blast Japan in ever-increasing numbers.
Japanese forces in the Philippines have been cut in two. There is still hard fighting ahead – costly fighting. But the liberation of the Philippines will mean that Japan has been largely cut off from her conquests in the East Indies.
The landing of our troops on Leyte was the largest amphibious operation thus far conducted in the Pacific.
Moreover, these landings drew the Japanese Fleet into the first great sea battle which Japan has risked in almost two years. Not since the night engagements around Guadalcanal in November-December, 1942, had our Navy been able to come to grips with major units of the Japanese Fleet. We had brushed against their fleet in the first battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, but not until last October were we able really to engage a major portion of the Japanese Navy in actual combat. The naval engagement which raged for three days was the heaviest blow ever struck against Japanese sea power.
As a result of that battle, much of what is left of the Japanese Fleet has been driven behind the screen of islands that separates the Yellow Sea, the China Sea, and the Sea of Japan from the Pacific.
Our Navy looks forward to any opportunity which the lords of the Japanese Navy will give us to fight them again.
The people of this nation have a right to be proud of the courage and fighting ability of the men in the Armed Forces – on all fronts. They also have a right to be proud of American leadership which has guided their sons into battle.
The history of the generalship of this war has been a history of teamwork and cooperation, of skill and daring. Let me give you one example out of last year’s operations in the Pacific.
Last September, Adm. Halsey led American naval task forces into Philippine waters and north to the East China Sea, and struck heavy blows at Japanese air and sea power.
At that time, it was our plan to approach the Philippines by further stages, taking islands which we may call A, C, and E. However, Adm. Halsey reported that a direct attack on Leyte appeared feasible. When Gen. MacArthur received the reports from Adm. Halsey’s task forces, he also concluded that it might be possible to attack the Japanese in the Philippines directly, bypassing islands A, C, and E.
Adm. Nimitz thereupon offered to make available to Gen. MacArthur several divisions which had been scheduled to take the intermediate objectives. These discussions, conducted at great distances, all took place in one day.
Gen. MacArthur immediately informed the Joint Chiefs of Staff here in Washington that he was prepared to initiate plans for an attack on Leyte in October. Approval of the change in plan was given on the same day.
Thus, within the space of 24 hours, a major change of plans was accomplished which involved Army and Navy forces from two different theaters of operations – a change which hastened the liberation of the Philippines and the final day of victory – a change which saved lives which would have been expended in the capture of islands which are now neutralized far behind our lines.
Our over-all strategy has not neglected the important task of rendering all possible aid to China. Despite almost insuperable difficulties, we increased this aid during 1944. At present our aid to China must be accomplished by air transport- there is no other way. By the end of 1944, the Air Transport Command was carrying into China a tonnage of supplies three times as great as that delivered a year ago, and much more, each month, than the Burma Road ever delivered at its peak.
Despite the loss of important bases in China, the tonnage delivered by air transport has enabled Gen. Chennault’s Fourteenth Air Force, which includes many Chinese flyers, to wage an effective and aggressive campaign against the Japanese. In 1944, aircraft of the Fourteenth Air Force flew more than 35,000 sorties against the Japanese and sank enormous tonnage of enemy shipping, greatly diminishing the usefulness of the China Sea lanes.
British, Dominion, and Chinese forces together with our own have not only held the line in Burma against determined Japanese attacks but have gained bases of considerable importance to the supply line into China.
The Burma campaigns have involved incredible hardship, and have demanded exceptional fortitude and determination. The officers and men who have served with so much devotion in these far distant jungles and mountains deserve high honor from their countrymen.
In all of the far-flung operations of our own Armed Forces – on land, and sea and in the air – the final job, the toughest job, has been performed by the average, easygoing, hard-fighting young American, who carries the weight of battle on his own shoulders.
It is to him that we and all future generations of Americans must pay grateful tribute.
But – it is of small satisfaction to him to know that monuments will be raised to him in the future. He wants, he needs, and he is entitled to insist upon, our full and active support – now.
Although unprecedented production figures have made possible our victories, we shall have to increase our goals even more in certain items.
Peak deliveries of supplies were made to the War Department in December 1943. Due in part to cutbacks, we have not produced as much since then. Deliveries of Army supplies were down by 15 percent by July 1944, before the upward trend was once more resumed.
Because of increased demands from overseas, the Army Service Forces in the month of October 1944 had to increase its estimate of required production by 10 percent. But in November, one month later, the requirements for 1945 had to be increased another 10 percent, sending the production goal well above anything we have yet attained. Our Armed Forces in combat have steadily increased their expenditure of medium and heavy artillery ammunition. As we continue the decisive phases of this war, the munitions that we expend will mount day by day.
In October 1944, while some were saying the war in Europe was over, the Army was shipping more men to Europe than in any previous month of the war.
One of the most urgent immediate requirements of the Armed Forces is more nurses. Last April, the Army requirement for nurses was set at 50,000. Actual strength in nurses was then 40,000. Since that time the Army has tried to raise the additional 10,000. Active recruiting has been carried on, but the net gain in eight months has been only 2,000. There are now 42,000 nurses in the Army.
Recent estimates have increased the total number needed to 60,000. That means that 18,000 more nurses must be obtained for the Army alone and the Navy now requires 2,000 additional nurses.
The present shortage of Army nurses is reflected in undue strain on the existing force. More than a thousand nurses are now hospitalized, and part of this is due to overwork. The shortage is also indicated by the fact that 11 Army hospital units have been sent overseas without their complement of nurses. At Army hospitals in the United States, there is only one nurse to 26 beds, instead of the recommended one to 15 beds.
It is tragic that the gallant women who have volunteered for service as nurses should be so overworked. It is tragic that our wounded men should ever want for the best possible nursing care.
The inability to get the needed nurses for the Army is not due to any shortage of nurses; 280,000 registered nurses are now practicing in this country. It has been estimated by the War Manpower Commission that 27,000 additional nurses could be made available to the armed forces without interfering too seriously with the needs of the civilian population for nurses.
Since volunteering has not produced the number of nurses required, I urge that the Selective Service Act be amended to provide for the induction of nurses into the armed forces. The need is too pressing to await the outcome of further efforts at recruiting.
The care and treatment given to our wounded and sick soldiers have been the best known to medical science. Those standards must be maintained at all costs. We cannot tolerate a lowering of them by failure to provide adequate nursing for the brave men who stand desperately in need of it.
In the continuing progress of this war, we have constant need for new types of weapons, for we cannot afford to fight the war of today or tomorrow with the weapons of yesterday. For example, the American Army now has developed a new tank with a gun more powerful than any yet mounted on a fast-moving vehicle. The Army will need many thousands of these new tanks in 1945.
Almost every month finds some new development in electronics which must be put into production in order to maintain our technical superiority – and in order to save lives. We have to work every day to keep ahead of the enemy in radar. On D-Day, in France, with our superior new equipment, we located and then put out of operation every warning set which the Germans had along the French coast.
If we do not keep constantly ahead of our enemies in the development of new weapons, we pay for our backwardness with the life’s blood of our sons.
The only way to meet these increased needs for new weapons and more of them is for every American engaged in war work to stay on his war job – for additional American civilians, men and women, not engaged in essential work, to go out and get a war job. Workers who are released because their production is cut back should get another job where production is being increased. This is no time to quit or change to less essential jobs.
There is an old and true saying that the Lord hates a quitter. And this nation must pay for all those who leave their essential jobs – or all those who lay down on their essential jobs for nonessential reasons. And – again – that payment must be made with the life’s blood of our sons.
Many critical production programs with sharply rising needs are now seriously hampered by manpower shortages. The most important Army needs are artillery ammunition, cotton duck, bombs, tires, tanks, heavy trucks, and even B-29s. In each of these vital programs, present production is behind requirements.
Navy production of bombardment ammunition is hampered by manpower shortages; so is production for its huge rocket program. Labor shortages have also delayed its cruiser and carrier programs, and production of certain types of aircraft.
There is critical need for more repair workers and repair parts; this Jack delays the return of damaged fighting ships to their places in the fleet, and prevents ships now in the fighting line from getting needed overhauling.
The pool of young men under 26 classified as 1-A is almost depleted. Increased replacements for the armed forces will take men now deferred who are at work in war industry. The armed forces must have an assurance of a steady flow of young men for replacements. Meeting this paramount need will be difficult, and will also make it progressively more difficult to attain the 1945 production goals.