On eve of Labor Day –
Fresh antagonism flares between rival union units
No hint given of any rapprochement among AFL, CIO, UMW and Rail Brotherhoods
…
On eve of Labor Day –
The old master speaks –
Pershing urges home front not to let down Eisenhower
Says more weapons needed now than ever, hopes for complete occupation of Germany
By Col. Frederick Palmer, North American Newspaper Alliance
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Taylor: Politicians or informants?
By Robert Taylor, Press Washington correspondent
Washington –
The first two witnesses before the House Committee investigating campaign expenditures didn’t produce any startling information about the political activities of pressure groups, but they illustrate the breadth of the committee’s inquiry.
They were Sidney Hillman, chairman of the CIO Political Action Committee and its companion National Citizens Political Action Committee, and Robert M. Gaylord, president of the National Association of Manufacturers.
Despite the intense political activity now beginning to boil up over the 1944 elections, the committee thus far hasn’t discovered any secret slush funds, any great degree of partisanship in the case of the CIO aside from its support of FDR, or even any political activity on the part of the National Association of Manufacturers.
Mr. Hillman told the committee:
Our committee is a nonpartisan organization. Our purpose is to assist in welding the unity of workers, farmers and all other progressives on the basis of a constructive and forward-looking program, and in support of candidates, irrespective of their party labels, who support that program.
Mr. Gaylord said the NAM is “not political,” doesn’t support or contribute to the election of candidates, and wouldn’t, even if the Federal Corrupt Practices Act permitted it.
Disseminators of information
Mr. Hillman said the PAC made no policies for its local affiliates and used no influence to persuade them to be for or against any particular candidates, had no “blacklist” of Congressmen and confined itself to sending out the record of each Congressman for the information of local voters.
Mr. Gaylord said one of the purposes of his association was “the dissemination of information among the public with respect to the principles of individual liberty and ownership of property.”
Mr. Hillman said funds collected from labor unions for the PAC had been frozen because, under the law, they cannot be used in the election, and the PAC election-campaign activities will be financed by voluntary contributions of $1 each from CIO members and donations from others.
Mr. Gaylord cited a letter he had written to one of his members, who suggested use of $500,000 of the NAM’s money in political activity, on the CIO model, in which he said:
Some of the contributors are Democrats, some Republicans and some New Dealers. It would be grossly unfair to even consider using these funds in a political campaign.
They both have money
Mr. Hillman listed total contributions to his two PACs, from both unions and individuals, of $806,705. Mr. Gaylord’s NAM has an annual budget of $3 million is spent by the organization’s National Industrial Information Committee.
Part of the program for this committee states:
The issue between individual freedom and bureaucratic control will not be settled by an election in 1944.
As long as the public thinks that only bureaucratic action can provide the results it wants, any party in power – Democratic or Republican – will use bureaucracy for the solution of the problems it must face.
Though thus far barren of sensational results, the committee’s work is just beginning, and members believe the fact that they are on the job will prove a deterrent to anybody who might feel like taking an expensive flyer in this year’s election.
Wood: Some brave chapters in history written by our Navy place Japs on defensive
Story of bloody road U.S. traveled from Pearl Harbor told in two books
By Roger H. Wood
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Senators balk at acting now on oil treaty
Some say pact will stay in committee
By Marshall McNeil, Scripps-Howard staff writer
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City’s schools to emphasize U.S. history
4-semester course now required by law
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U.S. to be allowed use of Cuban bases
Washington (UP) – (Sept. 2)
Dr. Don Ramón Grau San Martín, President-elect of Cuba, promised today that Cuba would continue to contribute to the defense of the hemisphere after this war by keeping her military and naval bases available for use by the United States.
The naval bases, built by this country during this war, are scheduled to revert to Cuban control six months after the war ends. Dr. Grau indicated that Cuba expected to assume control of the bases as scheduled but said that they would be available at any time for the defense of the hemisphere.
He said that there had been no specific discussion here of the possibility of removing sugar from rationing restrictions in the United States to take care of Cuba’s surplus supplies.
Super-destroyer launched
New York – (Sept. 2)
The super-destroyer USS Pierce, a 2,200-ton ship named after the late LtCdr. John Reeves Pierce, slid down the ways at the Bethlehem Staten Island Shipyards last night.
Völkischer Beobachter (September 4, 1944)
26 Feinddivisionen im Angriff –
Feindkräfte in Frankreich umgruppiert
dnb. Berlin, 3. September –
An der Westfront hat der Feind seine Kräfte in den letzten Tagen so umgruppiert, daß etwa die Oise die Abschnittsgrenze zwischen den nördlich von ihr stehenden britisch-kanadischen Verbänden und den weiter südlich gegen die Maas operierenden nordamerikanischen Kräfte bildet. Zwischen Küste und Oise stehen etwa 26 britisch-kanadische Divisionen im Angriff. Mehrere dieser Divisionen sind zum Stoß gegen Le Havre angesetzt. In ihrer Masse operieren die 1. kanadische und 2. Britische Armee jedoch im Raum Amiens–Arras. Die von Amiens aus nach Westen in Richtung gegen die Sommemündung vorstoßenden feindlichen Kräfte wurden östlich Abbeville durch Gegenangriffe, bei denen unsere Truppen mehrere Ortschaften zurückgewannen, abgedrängt.
In der Pikardie schob der Gegner Panzeraufklärung vor, doch erfolgte der Hauptdruck im Artois in nördlicher und nordöstlicher Richtung. Im Industriegebiet nördlich Arras entwickelten sich erbitterte Kämpfe um Fabrik- und Schachtanlagen, Abraumhalden und Flussübergänge. Die bald in kleinen Gruppen, bald in geschlossenen Massen operierenden Briten wurden oft von Streikenden und Terroristen unterstützt. Wiederholt gelang es unseren Sperrverbänden, feindliche Panzerspitzen zu zerschlagen und den Gegner zu zwingen, das Eintreffen von Verstärkungen abzuwarten. Wo der Feind aber versuchte, durch rücksichtsloses Vorwärtsdrängen solche Zeitverluste zu vermeiden, hatte er sehr beträchtliche Verluste, die nach seinem eigenen Eingeständnis zuweilen bis zur Hälfte der vordringenden Panzerrudel betrugen.
Südlich der Oise bot sich ein ähnliches Bild. Die aus dem Raum Laon–Rethel nach Nordosten vordringenden Nordamerikaner trafen wiederholt auf starken Widerstand und energische Gegenstöße. Westlich Hirson brach ein starker feindlicher Angriff blutig zusammen. Der hier abgeschlagene Gegner schwenkte darauf mit Teilkräften nach Norden und Südosten ab.
Der dritte Schwerpunkt lag im Abschnitt Verdun beiderseits der Maas. Der Stoß ins lothringische Becken wurde von unseren Truppen aufgefangen, f die dann im Gegenangriff den östlich Verdun vorgedrungenen Feind zurückdrückten. Auch hier versuchte der abgeschlagene Gegner den Widerstand dadurch zu überwinden, daß er Teilkräfte nach Nordosten und Südosten vorzutreiben versuchte. Unter der Wirkung unserer gleichzeitig in den Argonnen angesetzten Gegenangriffe, die in weiterem Vordringen die rückwärtigen Verbände dieser vorgeprellten Kräftegruppe immer mehr gefährdeten, waren nun auch die Bewegungen des Feindes auf dem östlichen Maasufer wesentlich langsamer als bisher. Weiter südlich leiteten die Nordamerikaner einen Parallelstoß nach Osten im Bereich des Marne-Maas-Kanals ein. Auch hier wurde der Feind durch deutsche Gegenangriffe westlich Toul blutig zurückgeschlagen.
Beiderseits der oberen Maas gewinnt das Ringen von Stunde zu Stunde an Härte, da der Gegner alle verfügbaren Kräfte heranwirft, um seinen Einbruchsraum an der Maas gegen die deutschen Gegenangriffe zu halten. Zur Unterstützung der eigenen Maßnahmen griffen unsere Kampfflugzeuge bei Tag und Nacht feindliche Nachschubstützpunkte und Trüppenansammlungen wirksam an.
In der Bretagne setzten die Nordamerikaner ihren Angriff auf Brest fort. Trotz teilweise starken Kräfteeinsatzes konnten sie gegen den zähen Widerstand unserer Truppen keine Vorteile erringen. Gegen Lorient und Saint-Nazaire angesetzte Vorstöße französischer Terroristen scheiterten ebenfalls.
Dem Verteidiger von Cézembre –
Eichenlaub für Oberleutnant Seusz
dnb. Berlin, 3. September –
Der Führer hat in der vergangenen Nacht dem Reserveoffizier und Batteriechef der Ile de Cézembre, Oberleutnant der Marineartillerie Richard Seusz, für seinen bei der Verteidigung der militärisch wichtigen Inselstellung Cézembre bewiesenen fanatischen Widerstandswillen und seine an die Grenze des Menschenmöglichen gehende Tapferkeit das Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes verliehen.
Oberleutnant Seusz sandte an den Seekommandanten der Kanalinseln folgenden offenen Funkspruch: „Nach hartem Ringen, nach völliger Zerstörung letzter Waffen und Unterstände durch den Feind, und am Ende der Kraft meiner Soldaten übergebe ich.“ – Seitdem hat sich Cézembre nicht mehr gemeldet
Damit hat ein mehrwöchiger Kampf gegen die ununterbrochenen massierten Angriffe der Engländer und Amerikaner aus der Luft, von See und Land her sein Ende gefunden. Seusz, seine Marineartilleristen und ihre Leistungen sind einmalig. Die Kriegsgeschichte kennt nur wenige Beispiele, daß ein Offizier an der Spitze seiner Truppe in so aussichtsloser Lage bis zur restlosen Vernichtung aller seiner Waffen kämpfte und dadurch dem Gegner über Wochen hinweg die Erreichung eines für ihn strategisch außerordentlich wichtigen Zieles verwehrte, so daß er ununterbrochen zum Einsatz an Kampfkraft vielfach überlegener Streitkräfte aller seiner Wehrmachtteile gezwungen war, die der Verwendung an anderer Stelle verloren gingen. „Cézembre“ ist damit zum Inbegriff höchster soldatischer Tugenden geworden und beispielhaft für Front und Heimat.
Führer HQ (September 4, 1944)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Nordwestlich Arras wichen unsere Truppen vor heftigen feindlichen Angriffen einige Kilometer nach Norden aus. Weitere Angriffe der Engländer und Kanadier brachen nördlich Arras vor unseren Sperrriegeln zusammen. Im Raum nördlich Mons sind heftige Kämpfe mit feindlichen Pänzerkräften im Gange. An den Westhängen der Ardennen und an der Maas südöstlich Sedan wiesen unsere Truppen zahlreiche feindliche Angriffe ab.
Die Verteidiger von Brest zerschlugen auch gestern wieder alle von stärkstem Artilleriefeuer, Panzern und Luftstreitkräften unterstützten Angriffe der Nordamerikaner. Der Feind hatte besonders durch das zusammengefasste Abwehrfeuer unserer Marineflak und Heeresküstenbatterien hohe blutige Verluste, örtliche Einbrüche im Festungsvorfeld wurden im Gegenstoß nach hartem Kampf abgeriegelt.
Im West- und Mittelabschnitt der italienischen Front setzten sich unsere Divisionen vom Arno ab. Nachstoßende feindliche Aufklärungsverbände wurden blutig abgewiesen. Im adriatischen Küstenabschnitt griff der Feind auch gestern mit neu herangeführten Kräften unter stärkstem Materialeinsatz an. Unsere Truppen vereitelten in verlustreichen Kämpfen die feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche.
In den Süd- und Ostkarpaten scheiterten sowjetische Angriffe.
Im Weichselbrückenkopf westlich Baranow wurde gestern wieder heftig gekämpft. Nordöstlich Warschau blieben schwächere Angriffe der Bolschewisten erfolglos. Zwischen Bug und Narew griffen die Sowjets erneut unter Einsatz massierter Infanterie- und Panzerkräfte sowie starker Schlachtfliegerverbände an. In schweren Kämpfen wurden die feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche unter Abschuß von 35 Panzern durch Gegenangriffe aufgefangen.
In Litauen und Estland scheiterten mehrere örtliche Angriffe der Bolschewisten.
Schlachtflieger vernichteten auf einem rumänischen Flugplatz erneut 15 abgestellte Flugzeuge und beschädigten zahlreiche weitere. Zwei Flugzeughallen und ein Betriebsstofflager wurden zerstört.
Feindliche Bomber führten gestern im Schutz der Wolken Terrorangriffe gegen Mannheim und Ludwigshafen. Feindliche Jagdflieger stießen nach West- und Südwestdeutschland vor und verletzten mehrfach schweizerisches Hoheitsgebiet.
Bei dem schweren Ringen um die Festung Brest hat sich die 3. Marine-Flakartilleriebrigade unter Führung von Kapitän z. S. Richter im Kampf gegen feindliche Luftstreitkräfte und gegen Angriffe von Land her wiederholt besonders ausgezeichnet.
Im Rhônetal hat sich die zum Schutz unserer Absetzbewegungen eingesetzte 11. Panzerdivision unter Führung des Generalleutnants von Wietersheim in Angriff und Abwehr hervorragend bewährt.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (September 4, 1944)
Communiqué No. 149
BRUSSELS has been liberated. Allied troops which crossed the BELGIAN frontier early yesterday morning rapidly freed TOURNAI, and pushed on to the north and east to enter the capital in the late evening.
Further west other armored forces drove north through BETHUNE and LILLERS and reached the neighborhood of AIRE. In the ABBEVILLE area the river SOMME was crossed on both sides of the town which is now in our hands after some fighting. Our troops pushed on northward from the river.
North and east of LE HAVRE, we closed in on the main defenses of the port.
Some 40 miles southwest of BRUSSELS, the BELGIAN frontier has been crossed by other columns advancing northeast. Elements are in the area of CHARLEROI.
Further south the advance eastward has brought our troops to the vicinity of NANCY. Units following up this thrust have made other crossings of the MEUSE River near CHALAINES, ten miles southeast of COMMERCY, and our troops are in SAINT-MIHIEL.
Enemy road and rail movements in BELGIUM and the PAS-DE-CALAIS were attacked by fighters and fighter-bombers yesterday. Considerable numbers of motor vehicles, locomotives and railway cars were destroyed or damaged.
Six airfields in HOLLAND were attacked by a strong force of heavy bombers.
The fortified area of BREST was the target for medium forces of heavy, medium and light bombers which made a series of attacks in the morning and evening. Gun positions, ammunition and fuel dumps and strongpoints were hit.
U.S. Navy Department (September 4, 1944)
CINCPAC Communiqué No. 113
Chichijima and Hahajima in the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands were bombed and strafed by aircraft of a carrier task force on August 3 and 31 and on September 1 (West Longitude Dates). On August 30 and September 1, Chichijima and Iwo Jima were bombarded by cruisers and destroyers of the Pacific Fleet. Our aircraft dropped 196 tons of bombs in these operations and fired 490 rockets. The following damage was inflicted on the enemy:
SHIPS SUNK: Three small cargo ships and a landing barge at Iwo Jima. One small cargo ship southwest of Hahajima, damaged by bombing and later sunk by a destroyer. One small tanker and six barges at Chichijima. One small cargo ship northwest of Chichijima.
SHIPS PROBABLY SUNK: One small cargo ship and one sub chaser northwest of Iwo Jima. One sub chaser southwest of Chichijima. One sub chaser at Hahajima.
SHIPS DAMAGED: Two sub chasers at Iwo Jima. One sub chaser and a sampan near Chichijima.
AIRCRAFT DESTROYED OR DAMAGED: 10 enemy aircraft shot down near Iwo Jima. One twin‑engine bomber shot down over our task force. 33 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground, 29 probably destroyed, and 10 damaged at Iwo Jima. Two seaplanes destroyed at Chichijima.
DAMAGE TO GROUND INSTALLATIONS: Extensive damage was done to hangars, shops, warehouses, fuel dumps, and anti-aircraft positions by bombing and shelling during these attacks. Several anti-aircraft positions were destroyed at Iwo Jima, a large warehouse was destroyed at Hahajima, and at Chichijima the seaplane base was demolished.
OWN DAMAGE: In these operations we lost five aircraft in combat. Our personnel casualties were one pilot and three flight personnel. There was no damage to our ships.
Cruisers and destroyers bombarded Wake Island on September 3, and aircraft of a carrier task group bombed the island. Several coast defense guns and anti-aircraft emplacements were knocked out. Extensive damage was done to other gun positions and buildings. Three small craft in the lagoon were heavily damaged. There was no opposition from enemy aircraft, and return fire from shore batteries was ineffective. We lost no aircraft and there was no damage to our ships.
Iwo Jima was bombed by 7th Army Air Force Liberators on September 2. More than 95 tons of bombs were dropped on air facilities. A single enemy fighter attempted to use phosphorous bombs against our formation without effect. Intense to moderate anti-aircraft damaged three of our planes.
Pagan Island was the target of our planes in two attacks on September 1 and one attack on September 2. Rockets and strafing were employed in the later two attacks and little opposition was met.
Rota Island gun emplacements, bivouac areas and air installations were bombed on August 31, September 1 and September 2. Anti-aircraft fire was meager.
Maug Island was attacked by our fighters using rockets on September 2.
A single Liberator of the 11th Army Air Force bombed Paramushiru in the Kurils on August 31. No interception was encountered. A lone Mitchell bomber attacked southern Paramushiru later in the day, sinking a small cargo vessel at anchor and scoring a direct hit on docking facilities. The bomber returned undamaged.
Truk was hit with approximately 55 tons of bombs on September 1 by 7th Army Air Force Liberators. Anti-aircraft fire was meager and only one intercepting Zero was encountered.
Runways on Nauru airfields were bombed by 7th Army Air Force Mitchells on September 2 and three of our attacking planes were damaged by meager but accurate anti-aircraft fire.
Ponape Airfield was hit on September 1 by 7th Army Air Force Mitchell bombers. Anti-aircraft fire was meager.
In the Marshall Islands on September 1, gun positions, ammunition dumps, a radio station and personnel areas on Mille, Wotje and Maloelap Atolls were bombed and strafed by Corsair fighters and Dauntless dive bombers of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing. Sixty‑three tons of bombs were dropped. Antiaircraft fire ranged from meager to moderate.
U.S. State Department (September 4, 1944)
Lot 60–D 224, Box 55: DO/PR/12
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State to the Secretary of State
Washington, September 4, 1944
Subject: PROGRESS REPORT ON DUMBARTON OAKS CONVERSATIONS – THIRTEENTH DAY
Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee
In general the progress made was less than had been the case at prior meetings. In particular Ambassador Gromyko was more insistent than previously upon preserving intact the language of various statements contained in the Soviet plan even though the substance of these statements had, with the approval of his representative, already been incorporated in the drafts under consideration.
Among points of importance discussed at the meeting were the following:
(a) Assistance to and compensation for states carrying out economic measures decided by the Council
The Soviet representatives contended that no specific measures of assistance and, particularly, no specific measures of compensation can as a practical matter be devised. They felt, consequently, that to include such provisions would be misleading. They said further that if as a result of the adoption of such provisions the member states were encouraged to try to devise methods of assistance or compensation it might be found that the organization would degenerate from one designed for security into one concentrating on devising measures for mutual relief.
The British and ourselves, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of provisions of this kind. He pointed out that we are all agreed that we should limit the commitments of the member states with respect to military measures to the provisions of a multilateral agreement to be negotiated among the member states. However, the commitment to carry out economic measures decided upon by the council is unlimited and it would be very difficult for various states to accept this commitment unless provisions for assistance and compensation are included. We said that this is not a matter of relief; it is an important means of more effectively insuring the carrying out of the very great authority which will be conferred on the council.
b) Authorization for Council to decide, in appropriate cases, that only the armed forces of the great powers need be used
Ambassador Gromyko proposed that there should be explicit authorization for the council to determine, in appropriate cases, that the armed forces of some or all of the great powers alone should be utilized to restrain aggression. He thought it desirable that such a procedure be clearly authorized in advance.
c) Voting in the Council
I took occasion to emphasize the very great importance which we attach to our proposal that a party to a dispute should not vote in connection with that dispute. I emphasized that if we should be unable to reach an agreement on this matter during the Dumbarton Oaks conversations the success of the whole project for an international organization might be endangered. Sir Alexander Cadogan supported our position. Ambassador Gromyko said that he agreed with my estimate of the importance of this matter being settled during the Dumbarton Oaks talks but he added, rather unyieldingly, that he had no other proposal than the one he had previously made (i.e., that a special procedure should be worked out to govern the voting of a great power involved in a dispute).
Meeting of Subcommittee on Organization
The Subcommittee on Organization met this afternoon and discussed the draft joint document as it has thus far been approved by the Joint Steering Committee. In addition, an ad hoc committee on nomenclature of which Mr. Fletcher is chairman, made a preliminary report. The Soviet group is maintaining a reservation as to the name “United Nations” for the general, overall organization. They assert that the term “United Nations” has a special connotation relating to the prosecution of the war against the Axis which it would be undesirable to have carried over to the future world organization. On other points of nomenclature there appears to be a general meeting of the minds among the three groups.
The Pittsburgh Press (September 4, 1944)
BRITISH LIBERATE BRUSSELS
Americans reported in Holland
Allies near Antwerp after sweep through heart of Belgium
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer
Sweeping through Belgium, U.S. and British forces today were nearing the border of the Netherlands. British forces liberated Brussels (1) and drove to within 10 miles of Antwerp, and front reports said U.S. troops took Namur and Mons and reached the area of Liège. To the southeast, Gen. Patton’s forces were pounding toward the Maginot Line and were said to have taken Metz and Nancy. Unconfirmed Stockholm reports said the Yanks had taken the German village of Perl (2). Along the Channel, the Canadians advanced 20 miles to within 25 miles of Boulogne (3).
Bulletin
London, England (UP) –
The German DNB News Agency said tonight that U.S. forces had reached the Schelde Rover estuary in the Antwerp area. The clandestine German-language radio Atlantic said British forces had occupied Antwerp.
SHAEF, London, England –
British armor captured Brussels in a sensational spurt of 70 miles across Flanders and today fanned out beyond the Belgian city to within 10 miles of Antwerp on the way to Holland and Germany.
Allied forces plunging through Boom, 10 miles south of Antwerp, found negligible resistance, and the fall of the big inland Belgian port, a gateway to Holland, was expected at any time. The capture of Antwerp would complete a battle arc around German forces holding out in western Belgium and northwestern France.
Allied headquarters late today lacked confirmation of a report that the U.S. 1st Army had thrust an armored claw across the border into Holland. Also unconfirmed was a Stockholm report that the Americans had taken Perl in a drive onto German soil near the French and Luxembourg borders.
London newspapers published unofficial reports that Calais, Boulogne and Dunkerque had fallen, effectively collapsing the last organized German resistance in the northwest coastal sector of France. Radio France also broadcast such a report but did not give its source.
Coastal observers in Southeast England believed Dunkerque 40 miles northeast of Boulogne and site of the great evacuation in 1940, was burning again. Pillars of smoke were visible over the town, and the Germans appeared to be pulling out.
The lightning stroke by the British in Belgium had cut the country in half vertically and reached within 15 miles of the Dutch frontier, trapping undetermined thousands of Germans against the Channel coast.
The sides of the trap were still loosely held because the speed of the British advance and authorities conceded that some of the Nazis might break through to the dubious safety of the Reich.
A radio broadcast credited to CBS said, as recorded here that the Allies had entered Antwerp, but there was no confirmation in authoritative quarters.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower made the first official revelation that the Allies had penetrated the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In a broadcast message to that country and Belgium, he said their peoples were nearing their hour of liberation.
Radio France said German authorities had ordered the evacuation of civilians from the Mulhouse area of eastern France and other sectors along the Swiss frontier, acknowledging that those areas were likely to be fighting zones at any time.
While information was skimpy about the U.S. 1st Army push across southeastern Belgium, it was known that the Yanks were pushing ahead steadily. The same was true of the 3rd Army, which was within half an hour’s jeep ride of the German frontier at several places.
The south side of the Channel trap was being rolled up northward at a fast clip. The Canadians and Poles pushed toward Boulogne and Calais, which were within striking distance. They captured Auxi, 15 miles northeast of Abbeville, and reached the Authie River.
If the British succeed in taking Antwerp before the Germans can carry out demolitions, they will have one of the richest prizes of the campaign – a major port with which to supply the offensive eastward into Germany.
The British column striking northwest from Tournai rolled along the east bank of the Schelde River, where the Allies attempted a stand after the loss of Brussels in 1940.
To the west, Allied troops reached the outskirts of the big French industrial city of Lille, and were now reported clearing it.
Brussels fell at 2:00 p.m. (local time) Sunday to a British flying column that left Douai, France, at 8:00 a.m., drove across the frontier 22 miles into Tournai and swung 45 miles eastward into the capital. Belgian troops accompanied the Tommies into the city.
Two armored columns of the U.S. 1st Army chopped through southern Belgium in a drive along the valley of the Meuse toward the triangle formed by the Belgians, Dutch and German borders. Front reports said the Americans took Charleroi, Mons and Namur and reached the area of Liège, and an unconfirmed German broadcast said the Yanks were fighting on the east side of the Maas Canal, on Dutch soil and only about 18 miles from the German Rhineland city of Aachen.
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s 3rd Army, operating under a new security blackout, were pounding through the undefended Maginot Line fortifications on a 60-mile front from the Luxembourg border to Nancy, and Radio France in Algiers said they captured both Nancy and Metz, the latter barely 20 miles west of Germany.
Headquarters said only that 3rd Army forces were operating in the Nancy area and east of Etain, 11 miles east of Verdun and 25 miles west of Metz.
The Germans, forced back more than 100 miles in four days, were at their Siegfried Line on the 3rd Army front and falling back at top speed toward that belt of fortifications east of Belgium and the Netherlands and observers believed the next few days might reveal whether or not they could make a stand on their West Wall.
Beaten enemy armies were on the run everywhere, and Allied airmen had another field day over their fleeing columns yesterday. For a loss of two fighter-bombers, the U.S. 8th Air Force bombed and strafed the Germans from dawn to dark, destroying or damaging 200 motor vehicles, 54 locomotives, 75 railway cars and scores of other road and river targets.
Gen. Eisenhower: Belgium’s liberation begun; Holland and Norway next
London, England (UP) –
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in a message broadcast to the people of Belgium and Luxembourg said today that their liberation had begun, and promised that Norway and Holland would also be freed soon.
“To all of you I say, be of good courage – victory is assured,” the radio message, broadcast for Eisenhower by a member of his staff, concluded.
Gen. Eisenhower said:
Today I address myself to the people of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to say that the day of your liberation has begun. Your long period of hardship under the heel of Nazi domination will soon be ended. It is certain that you will bear bravely the hardships of war which was inevitable during a battle of pursuit such as is now being waged upon your soil.
The first task of our Allied armies is to harry and destroy the retreating enemy. This purpose will be pursued rigorously so that the day of our final success may come sooner.
Gen. Eisenhower said the armed forces of Belgium and Luxembourg formed part of the Allied Expeditionary Force and were fighting bravely for the freedom of their homelands.
He said:
Be assured that it is our purpose to do everything to restore peace and normal conditions throughout Belgium and Luxembourg at the earliest opportunity so that their valiant people, once again masters of their own destiny, may live as free men in the family of free nations.