Editorial: The European offensive
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Poll: Wallace gets plurality in new job vote
Separation of RFC is also favored
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
IN THE MARIANAS ISLANDS (delayed) – There are still Japs on the three islands of the Marianas chain that we have occupied for more than six months now.
The estimate runs into several hundred. They hide in the hills and in caves, and come out at night to forage for food. Actually many of their caves were so well-stocked that they could go for months without getting too hungry.
Our men don’t do anything about the Japs anymore. Oh, troops in training for combat will go out on a Jap-hunt now and then just for practice, and bring in a few. But they are no menace to us, and by and large we just ignore them. A half dozen or so give up every day.
The Japs don’t try to practice any sabotage on our stuff. It would take another Jap to figure out why. The Japanese are thoroughly inconsistent in what they do, and very often illogical. They do the silliest things.
Here’s a few examples. One night, some of our Seabees left a bulldozer and an earth-mover sitting alongside the road up in the hills.
Cute fellows
During the night, the Japs came down. They couldn’t hurt anybody, but they could have put that machinery out of commission for a while. Even with only a rock they could have smashed the spark plugs and ruined the carburetor.
They didn’t do any of these things. They merely spent the night cutting palm fronds off nearby trees and laying them over the big machinery. Next morning when the Seabees arrived, they found their precious equipment completely “hidden.” Isn’t that cute?
On another island, there were many acts of sabotage the Japs could have committed. But all they ever did was to come down at night and move the wooden stakes the engineers had lined up for the next day’s construction of buildings!
Checked up first
There is another story of a Jap who didn’t take to the hills like the rest, but who stayed for weeks right in the most thickly American-populated section of the island right down by the seashore.
He hid in the bushes just a few feet from a path where hundreds of Americans walked daily. They found out later that he even used the officers’ outdoor shower bath after they got through, and raided their kitchens at night.
There was a Jap prison enclosure nearby, and for weeks, peering out of the bushes, he studied the treatment his fellow soldiers were getting, watched how they ate, watched to see if they were dwindling away from malnutrition.
And then one day he came out and gave himself up. He said he had convinced himself they were being treated all right, so he was ready to surrender.
And here’s another one. An American officer was idly sitting in an outbuilding one evening after work, philosophically studying the ground, as men will do.
Suddenly he was startled. Startled is a mild word for it. For in front of him stood a Jap with a rifle.
But before anything could happen, the Jap laid the rifle on the ground in front of him, and began salaaming up and down like a worshiper before an idol.
The Jap later said that he had been hunting for weeks for somebody without a rifle to give himself up to, and had finally figured out that the surest way to find an unarmed prospective captor was to catch one in a toilet!
But don’t let these little aftermath stories mislead you into thinking the Japs are easy after all. For they are a very nasty people while the shootin’s going on.
Meet Me at the Penn an enchanting film
Misses Garland and O’Brien top cast in story in St. Louis
By Kaspar Monahan
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Curfew ruling called blow at nightclubs
Owners think ‘request’ is veiled move for prohibition – need doubted
By Dick Fortune
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AT&T working on ‘microwaves’
Device may replace wires, cables
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Dividend payments continue to gain
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bloodless fighters sorry for what?
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Führer HQ (February 24, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Im Süden der Ostfront blieb die Kampftätigkeit gestern gering. Unsere Grenadiere brachten in der Hohen Tatra und nördlich Ratibor Gefangene ein und verbesserten ihre Stellungen.
Beiderseits Zobten wurden zahlreiche von starker Artillerie unterstützte Angriffe der Bolschewisten in hartem Kampf abgewehrt.
Im Abschnitt Goldberg–Lauban und an der Lausitzer Neiße setzten die Bolschewisten ihre Durchbruchsversuche fort. Bei Goldberg wurden sie nach Norden zurückgeworfen. Beiderseits Lauban zerschlugen unsere Divisionen in Abwehr und Gegenangriff die feindlichen Panzerverbände. An der Lausitzer Neiße scheiterten die Versuche der Sowjets, auf dem Westufer des Flusses Brückenköpfe zu bilden.
Bei Fortsetzung seiner schweren Angriffe in dem unübersichtlichen Waldgelände der Tucheler Helde konnte der Feind an mehreren Stellen Boden gewinnen. Seine Angriffe östlich Großwollental brachen im Abwehrfeuer zusammen. In Ostpreußen zerschellten erneut die vor allem nördlich Mehlsack und bei Zinten fortgesetzten feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche. Im Samland warfen eigene Angriffe, unterstützt durch unsere Seestreitkräfte, den Feind nach Osten zurück und zerschlugen seine Gegenangriffe.
In der fünften Schlacht in Kurland blieben den Sowjets trotz stärkstem Materialeinsatzes auch gestern entscheidende Erfolge versagt. 62 feindliche Panzer und 26 Flugzeuge wurden abgeschossen.
Torpedoflugzeuge versenkten im Nordmeer ein einzeln fahrendes voll beladenes Handelsschiff mit 7.000 BRT.
Im Westen beschränkte sich die erste kanadische Armee gestern auf einen stärkeren Angriff östlich Goch. Der Feind wurde nach geringfügigem Bodengewinn zum Stehen gebracht.
An der gesamten Front zwischen Roermond und Düren ist die Abwehrschlacht in vollem Gange. Beiderseits Heinsbergs wurde die Masse der feindlichen Angriffe durch das zusammengefasste Feuer aller Waffen schon vor unseren Gefechtsvorposten zerschlagen. Bei Linnich, Jülich und Düren sind auf dem Ostufer der Rur erbitterte Kämpfe entbrannt, doch konnte der Feind nirgends tiefer in unser Hauptkampffeld eindringen.
Die konzentrischen Angriffe der dritten amerikanischen Armee gegen den Großraum von Neuenburg in der Eifel brachten dem Feind nach schweren Kämpfen örtliche Erfolge. An der Oure behaupten sich eigene Stützpunkte weiterhin im Rücken des Feindes. Im Raume von Saarburg wurden die Brückenköpfe der Amerikaner auf dem rechten Ufer der Saar durch schwungvoll geführte Gegenangriffe eingeengt.
Bei Saarlautern und gegen den Nordostteil von Forbach geführte feindliche Angriffe wurden abgewiesen, durch eigene Angriffe im Abschnitt der Spicherer Höhen verlorenes Gelände zurückgewonnen.
Zusammengefasstes Artilleriefeuer zwang vor Dünkirchen vorfühlende feindliche Panzer zum Abdrehen.
Schnellboote, die auch in der Nacht zum 23. Februar vor der englischen Küste operierten, beschädigten ohne eigene Verluste mehrere britische Artillerieschnellboote.
Unsere Kleinst-Unterseeboote torpedierten in der Themsemündung einen feindlichen Zerstörer.
Aus Mittelitalien werden ergebnislose amerikanische Vorstöße am Monte Belvedere im Etruskischen Apennin gemeldet. Im Raum nördlich Faenza lebte die örtliche Kampftätigkeit wieder auf.
Der Bombenterror der Anglo-Amerikaner richtete sich am gestrigen Tage gegen zahlreiche Orte im westlichen, südlichen und mittleren Reichsgebiet. In Essen sowie in den Wohngebieten weiterer Städte in Sachsen, Thüringen und Franken entstanden Verluste unter der Zivilbevölkerung und zum Teil erhebliche Gebäudeschäden. In den frühen Abendstunden richtete sich ein schwerer britischer Angriff gegen Pforzheim. Auch auf die Reichshauptstadt wurden Bomben geworfen.
Über dem westlichen Reichsgebiet wurden gestern nach bisher vorliegenden Meldungen 27 anglo-amerikanische Flugzeuge, darunter 18 viermotorige Bomber, abgeschossen.
In harten Kämpfen gegen den feindlichen Nachschubverkehr versenkten unsere Unterseeboote in küstennahen Gewässern erneut acht Schiffe mit 50.000 BRT, drei Zerstörer und zwei Sicherungsfahrzeuge. Ein weiterer Dampfer mit 5.500 BRT wurde torpediert.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (February 24, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
241100A February
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) 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) SHAEF MAIN
(20) PRO, ROME
(21) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 322
UNCLASSIFIED: Between the Rhine and the Meuse, Allied forces have occupied Moyland while other units have made further progress south of the Goch-Udem railway.
We have resumed the offensive across the Roer River and have captured Rurich, Glimbach, Gevenich and Boslar in the Linnich area. Our elements have cleared Jülich except for the citadel and northern part of the town and have occupied Selgersdorf.
North of Düren, we have cleared Huchem-Stammeln, and are fighting in Birkesdorf and Düren against increasing resistance.
The attack was preceded by a heavy artillery preparation. River crossings were made in assault boats, storm boats, and by ferry. Opposition to the crossing was in the form of small arms and mortar fire.
Mersch and Stetternich, fortified towns at junctions on the main roads leading to the northeast and east of Jülich were attacked several times by fighter-bombers. Many other targets west of the Rhine between Krefeld and Andernach were bombed by other fighter-bombers.
Our elements, in gains of a mile and one-half on a six-mile front southwest of Prüm, have captured Kopscheid, Lauperath, Hölzchen, Krautscheid, Heilbach and Ammeldingen.
Enemy armored vehicles, principally in the area between Prüm and Bitburg, were attacked by fighter-bombers. More than 170 vehicles were destroyed and many others were damaged.
Armored elements have captured the town of Jucken, four miles east of Dasburg on the Luxembourg-German border and have pushed three-fourths of a mile beyond the town. Our armor also has made gains of up to two and one-half miles on a four-mile front, capturing the towns of Preischeid and Affler, in the area south of Dasburg.
We have reached the wooded area two and a half miles northeast of Vianden. Farther northeast, our units captured Obergeckler and Sinspelt.
There is house-to-house fighting in Ockfen, on the east bank of the Saar River, north of Saarburg. In this area we have crossed the river, and an enemy counterattack by tanks and infantry has been repulsed. Serrig, on the east bank of the Saar River, south of Saarburg, has been cleared with the exception of four houses.
The communications center and industrial town of Essen and the Alma-Pluto benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen were attacked by escorted heavy bombers.
West of the Rhine, bridges near Krefeld and Münchengladbach were targets for medium bombers. Road facilities in several towns ranging from Erkelenz and Grevenbroich in the north to Zülpich and Meckenheim in the south, were heavily bombed by medium and light bombers. Rail targets, principally on the Köln plain and along the Rhine Valley from Krefeld to Andernach, were successfully attacked by fighter-bombers in great strength. In the course of these attacks nearly 1,500 railcars as well as a number of locomotives, were destroyed and rail lines were cut in many places. Road transport in the same general area also was bombed and strafed.
Our forces clearing Forbach made further progress in hard fighting. The remaining enemy troops have been pushed into the eastern section of the town.
Four enemy attacks, two of which were supported by armor, were repulsed farther east. We have occupied Schönbach on the west bank of the Saar River. On the east bank, three miles south of Saarbrücken, stiff fighting continued in the southern outskirts of Bübingen.
Allied forces in the west captured 2,700 prisoners 21 February.
Bridges, locomotives, rail cars and other communications targets were attacked by fighter bombers in the Kaiserslautern area.
Escorted heavy bombers in very great strength carried out widespread attacks on railyards and other communications targets in south, central and southeast Germany, while many of the escorting fighters strafed transportation targets and airfields, destroying 14 enemy aircraft on the ground.
Last night, heavy bombers attacked the communications and industrial center of Pforzheim in the upper Rhineland. Light bombers attacked Berlin.
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 FA4655
AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
U.S. Navy Department (February 24, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 276
The battle for the airfield in the central area of Iwo Island continued on February 24 (East Longitude Date) with no marked changes in the lines at noon. The Marines holding a line on the Southwestern end of the airdrome and south of the center of the field launched an attack supported by tanks in the morning after our artillery aircraft and fleet surface units had subjected the enemy to heavy bombardment. By noon, our forces were reported to be gaining ground slowly. Enemy resistance is heavy.
Marine patrols entered Suribachi Crater during the day and continued to mop up remnants of the garrison of that strongpoint.
Two enemy aircraft approached the island on February 23 but retired without attacking.
Conditions on the beaches are generally improved and the unloading of general cargo is proceeding.
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 277
Elements of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions made substantial advances along the whole northern sector on Iwo Island on February 24 (East Longitude Date). Their attack was made in the face of intense fire from heavy weapons and rockets but it carried northward generally about 308 to 500 yards through a maze of interlocking, or mutually supporting concrete pillboxes, blockhouses and fortified caves. All areas crossed were heavily mined. By 1800, our units had reached the middle area of the central Iwo airfield, had pushed forward several hundred yards on the west and had begun a drive which expanded our beachhead northward along the east coast about 600 yards.
In every zone of the fighting, the enemy resisted our advance to the full extent of his armament. Weapons of the “bazooka” type were employed against our tanks and the use of rocket bombs, weighing about 500 kilograms, continued. Enemy positions in the area through which our units advanced were generally reinforced blockhouses and pillboxes with four‑foot bulkheads. In a single area of about 400 by 600 yards on the east coast, our forces neutralized about 100 caves between thirty and forty feet deep.
An immediate result of the advance was apparent in a marked decrease of enemy artillery fire into the interior of the area under our control.
The attack was supported by marine artillery and by fire from heavy units of the fleet standing off Iwo Island. Carrier aircraft continued their close support of the troops and also made an attack on Chichi Jima in the Bonins.
In the south, Marines continued their mop-up of enemy strongpoints in and around Mount Suribachi. Incomplete reports indicate that 115 enemy emplacements have been destroyed in that sector.
A total of 2,799 enemy dead have been counted on Iwo Island.
The condition of the beaches showed marked improvement and unloading of supplies was accelerated.
Seventh Army Air Force bombers of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Oceans Areas, bombed the airfield and Omura town on Chichi Jima and Okimura town on Haha Jima in the Bonins on February 22.
On February 23, Marine fighters attacked targets in the Palaus.
Army Thunderbolts strafed enemy positions on Pagan in the Marianas on the same date.
Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing set a fuel dump afire and struck motor transport equipment in the Palaus on February 24.
Navy search Venturas of Fleet Air Wing One bombed the enemy airstrip on Puluwat in the Carolines on February 24.
Neutralizing raids were continued by search aircraft of FlAirWing Two on enemy‑held bases in the Marshalls on February 23.
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 278
Carrier aircraft of the Fifth Fleet are attacking military, naval and air installations in and around Tokyo. ADM R. A. Spruance, USN, is present in command of the Fifth Fleet and VADM Marc A. Mitscher, USN, is in tactical command of the fast carrier task force, making the attack.