America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

2838

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (October 16, 1944)

FROM
(A) SHAEF FORWARD

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
161100A October

TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR (Pass to WND)

TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(2) FIRST US ARMY GP
(3) ADV HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) FWD ECH (MAIN) 12 ARMY GP
(5) AEAF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) ETOUSA
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM Z APO 871
(18) SHAEF MAIN

(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 191

Driving from north and south, Allied troops joined up yesterday along the western shore of Savojaard Plaat. Later, the combined force advanced westward to merge with the bridgehead in the Watervliet area. Fighters and fighter-bombers gave support to our troops in the Breskens sector and bombed Fort Frederik Hendrik.

North of Antwerp, our forces, operating with close air support, took the village of Woensdrecht, other formations of fighter bombers struck at communications deeper in Holland, including Dordrecht, and then areas north and east of Arnhem, where rail tracks were cut at several points. Medium and light bombers hit a railway bridge at Deventer, northeast of Apeldoorn.

In the Dutch salient, our forces made a local advance towards Vierlingsbeek. Bridges, embankments and other rail and road targets east and southeast of the salient at Emmerich, Wesel, Geldern and Rheindahlen and elsewhere in the Rhineland were hit by fighter-bombers.

Pressure on Aachen continued with house-to-house fighting in the outskirts. To the north of the city, our units advanced against stubborn resistance from mortar fire and dug-in tanks. Würselen, north of Aachen, and fortified positions in the enemy’s defenses southeast of the city were bombed and strafed by fighter-bombers. Tank concentrations, entrenchments, gun emplacements and other strongpoints were hit. There has been no substantial change in the Hürtgen area or in the Moselle River Valley.

In the Vosges foothills, our advances eastward gained momentum. Gains were made against strong resistance along a wide front, and several towns were freed. Northwest of the communications center of Baccarat, the towns of Glonville and Fontenoy-la-Joûte were taken. Further south, our forces have cleared Fremifontaine, the scene of recent heavy fighting.

Northwest of Le Thillot, our advance has progressed further over rugged terrain, reaching to within two miles of La Bresse. Attacks by fighter-bombers on rail transport and communications were made in the vicinity of Landau, and elsewhere.

More than 1200 heavy bombers, with a strong escort of fighters, attacked military targets at Köln. Other escorted heavy bombers struck at oil refinery plants at Reisholz and Monheim, south and southeast of Düsseldorf. Heavy bombers, without loss, made a daylight attack with 12,000-pound bombs on the Sorpe Dam (Sorpesee), at the eastern end of the Ruhr Valley.

Last night, other heavy bombers attacked the Kriegsmarine base of Wilhelmshaven. Objectives in Hamburg were also bombed. Four of our aircraft are missing.

COORDINATED WITH: G-2, G-3 to C/S

THIS MESSAGE MAY BE SENT IN CLEAR BY ANY MEANS
/s/

Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others

ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section

NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA Ext. 9

AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
2839

U.S. Navy Department (October 16, 1944)

CINCPAC Communiqué No. 155

Aparri on the north coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines was swept by fighter aircraft of the Pacific Fleet on October 13 (West Longitude Date). Only two twin‑engine and three single engine aircraft were observed on the ground, and all were destroyed by strafing. No airborne enemy opposition was encountered. Ground installations in the area were severely strafed.

On October 15, a large force of carrier aircraft was launched against airfields in the vicinity of Manila Bay. This force was intercepted by an estimated 50 Japanese fighter aircraft. From 30 to 40 of the intercepting enemy planes were shot down. An additional 15 to 20 enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Nichols, Nielson, and Mariveles Airfields. Meanwhile, the ships in one carrier task group underwent persistent aerial attack during the day, and 30 Japanese aircraft were shot down in the vicinity of the group. Only superficial damage was done to our surface ships in this attack.

Nine enemy aircraft were shot down in the vicinity of another fleet unit. Complete reports from all units are not yet available.

Mitchell bombers of the 11th Air Force on October 14 bombed installations on the south coast of Paramushiru. Later, two Liberators of the 11th Air Force attacked wharves and shipping installations on the northeast coast of Paramushiru. Anti-aircraft fire was meager and all our aircraft returned.

Seventh Air Force Liberators on October 14 dropped approximately 48 tons of bombs on the airstrip, supply dumps and gun positions at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. Anti-aircraft fire was moderate but eight aggressive enemy fighters, using phosphorous bombs, attacked our planes. One of the enemy fighters was probably shot down while three others were damaged. We suffered no losses.

The airfield runway on Moen Island in Truk Atoll was bombed by Liberators of the 7th Air Force on October 13. Three enemy fighters were airborne but did not press home their attack. Anti-aircraft fire was meager.

2840

The Pittsburgh Press (October 16, 1944)

Fleet in action, Japs say

Superfortresses again hit Formosa; sea battle may be in progress
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer

…

2841

Yanks crush Aachen attacks

Escape gap from city closed; drive begun to outflank Belfort
By J. Edward Murray, United Press staff writer

…

2842

Yanks stop attack on fort at Metz

Not worth casualties, Patton aide says
By Robert W. Richards, United Press staff writer

…

2843

RAF raid fires naval base of Wilhelmshaven

22,000 tons rained on Reich in 48 hours

…

2844

americavotes1944

Mrs. Luce to rip CIO-PAC tonight

Women will elect Dewey, she claims
By Kermit McFarland

Here to pitch into the CIO Political Action Committee and its alleged Communist “infiltration,” Mrs. Clare Boothe Luce, the Republican “glamor girl,” today predicted that women voters will carry the election for Governor Thomas E. Dewey because: “They want an efficient administration from here out which will bring the boys home the quickest and get them jobs the fastest.”

Mrs. Luce, who speaks at a Republican rally in Syria Mosque tonight, said that after 11 years of failing to keep us out of war and 11 years of unemployment, “there is no hope that Mr. Roosevelt will disclose himself as a better administrator in his declining years than he was in his prime.”

The demure-appearing but sharp-tongued Congresswoman from Connecticut said she has been hurling three questions at the Democrats in her five-day speaking tour of the Midwest, but “nobody answers the questions.”

Here are her questions:

  • Would wise statesmanship have prevented this war in the 10 years before the war began?

  • If America’s entry into the war was inevitable after 1939, why didn’t the President tell the American people so? If it was not inevitable, why are we in it?

  • If the answer to the last question is because we were attacked, why were we attacked if we were truly neutral and trying to stay out?

Then she added another question:

Did the President say in 1940, after Dunkerque, that the Axis war on the world was a “foreign war” or did he not? The answer is that he said it, again and again. But did he believe 11? If he did believe it, where was his vision? If he didn’t believe it, why did he say it?

Mrs. Luce said she was “just asking the questions,” and not, as Congressman Mary T. Norton (D-NJ) charged yesterday, telling “half-truths.”

Speech to hit PAC

She said:

But nobody will answer these questions. All they say is that you are dealing in half-truths, or they don’t like the way you do your hair, or women don’t have any business in politics anyway.

Mrs. Luce said she will devote her speech tonight to the CIO Political Action Committee and “Communist infiltration” into the PAC.

She said the news from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in her home Congressional district, that a PAC chairman had quit because the PAC campaign against her was “un-American,” indicated that “the PAC is going to have a considerable surprise on election morning.”

Women will settle decision

She said:

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it hasn’t done more to alienate the working man than all the Republican logic and other reasonable argument can do.

Mrs. Luce said she was “quite sure” women voters will decide the election.

She said:

Six of every 10 voters are women. They ate responsible for the increased registration.

I think they will vote Republican because they don’t bother with superfluous questions and extraneous matters, the wav men do. They don’t clutter up their minds with so many details. They get right to the heart of it, and the heart of it is that they want an efficient administration which will bring the boys home the quickest and get them jobs the fastest.

I think they also are very anxious to have a little honesty in government. I don’t think they are so swayed by complicated matters like inflation, or sustaining the currency or other affairs which are very important.

First Lady comment refused

Asked by a lady reporter looking for a “woman’s angle” to compare her travels with those of Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Luce replied: “I never comment on Mrs. Roosevelt.”

Later, she broadened this to include all women in public affairs. She said:

I never comment on other women in public affairs. I don’t think it does the cause any good. Men have an unrestrained impulse to call it a catfight, or a hairpulling contest.

Answers Wallace

Mrs. Luce said she noted that Vice President Henry A. Wallace also was asking three questions, to the effect that the voters should decide which man could best win the war, which could best win the peace, and which could best provide employment after the war.

“If I were he,” she said, “I wouldn’t go around asking those questions. I can answer him.”

She said an “efficient administration” would best win the war, that Mr. Roosevelt had failed to keep the peace, and that until the war came along, he had failed to solve the unemployment problem.

“This war saved his goose,” she said.

Mrs. Luce said she wouldn’t accept a challenge to debate Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes over “microphones at 10 paces.”

She said:

Mr. Ickes in private life, some of my friends find, is very interesting, but in public he has the soul of a meat ax and the mind of a commissar. I have no intention of debating him.

Dewey here Friday

In her speech tonight, Mrs. Luce will precede by four days the appearance here of Governor Dewey, who speaks Friday night in Hunt Armory.

The rally tonight will present a long list of Republican speakers and will include entertainment and what Republican County Chairman James F. Malone described as an “old-fashioned” political parade through the aisles of the hall.

Governor Edward Martin will introduce Mrs. Luce.

Following her speech. Scheduled for 9:30, which will be broadcast over a statewide radio network, Governor Dewey’s address in St. Louis, to begin at 10:00 p.m., will be tuned in for the Syria Mosque audience.

Other speakers

The speaking program at tonight’s rally will be opened by Mrs. Nelle G. Dressler, vice chairman of the Republican County Committee. Other speakers include Mrs. Margery M. Scranton, Pennsylvania member of the Republican National Committee; Mrs. Edna H. Carroll of Philadelphia, vice chairman of the State Committee, and Mr. Malone.

Republican State Chairman M. Harvey Taylor will introduce Judges J. Frank Graff and Arthur H. James, candidates for the Superior Court; Justice Howard W. Hughes, candidate for the Supreme Court: City Treasurer Edgar W. Baird of Philadelphia, candidate for State Treasurer, and Rev, James R. Cox of Old St. Patrick’s Church.

PAC chairman quits, charging unfairness

Bridgeport, Connecticut (UP) –
Chairman Daniel Hannon of the Political Action Committee of the CIO Brass Workers International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers local here resigned today. charging the PAC campaign against Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce of Connecticut was un-American.”

Mr. Hannon also charged that a voluntary contribution of $1 collected from each union member for the PAC was “unfair.”

Edward C. O’Brien Jr., president of the local, said the executive committee would meet to select Mr. Hannon’s successor and that the work of the local PAC organization would go on despite his stand.

2845

Girl helps seize fugitive Nazi

Cincinnati, Ohio (UP) –
The FBI disclosed today how a young woman assisted yesterday in the capture of Cpl. Werner Ruch, an escaped prisoner of war from Camp McClain, Mississippi.

Ruch escaped six days ago. He made his way to Cincinnati where he appeared yesterday at the home of a woman he had known while he was an exchange student at Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, in 1935.

He asked for food and help. The woman, whose name was not disclosed, asked him in, gave him food and while he was eating telephoned the FBI.

Heavy cruiser launched

Camden, New Jersey –
The heavy cruiser USS Macon was launched yesterday at the Camden yards of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation.

2846

Lucille Ball divorced

Hollywood, California –
Actress Lucille Ball was divorced today from Desi Arnaz, Cuban actor now in the Army, on her testimony that an argument over his “extravagances” led to their final separation.

2847

‘Battle of cash’ cheats Nazis of war goods

Program helped set stage for Allied drive

…

2848

CBI soldiers want chance to fight Ann ‘boy fashion’

Many G.I.’s support Army newspaper’s attack on Hollywood entertainers

…

30,000 soldiers return monthly

…

2849

americavotes1944

GOP leader hits Hillman, Browder

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (UP) –
James M. Tucker, assistant Republican national chairman, yesterday accused Sidney Hillman and Earl Browder of planning “the total annihilation of all and everything American.”

Mr. Tucker told a Young Republican meeting:

In this election, we have witnessed the dying pains of a great political party when Mr. Roosevelt gave the word to “clear everything through Sidney.”

Mr. Tucker said:

There is no question now that Hillman and Browder and their Communist PAC have taken over the Democratic Party. They are the chief witches who are brewing the broth which they hope to feed to the American people. That broth is the total annihilation of all and everything American.

Only election of a Republican President and a Republican Congress will stop “the policies of spend, waste, borrow and tax, which have been repeated over and over,” Mr. Tucker said.

2850

Ex-embassy aide denied appeal

High court turns down mother’s plea

…

2851

americavotes1944

California GOP unit for Roosevelt

San Francisco, California (UP) –
Repudiating Governor Thomas E. Dewey, an organization of California Republicans today came out in “vigorous support” of President Roosevelt for a fourth term.

Led by Bartley C. Crum, San Francisco attorney and for several years, Wendell Willkie’s California leader, the recently-formed club dubbed itself the Republicans for Roosevelt and set up Western headquarters here.

Mr. Crum said:

None of us found it easy to make this decision, but all of us can make no other choice.

He emphasized that the Republicans for Roosevelt Committee was in formation before Wendell Willkie’s death.

Willkie funeral to be tomorrow

Rushville, Indiana (UP) –
Final services for Wendell L. Willkie, one of Indiana’s most illustrious sons and the 1940 Republican presidential candidate, will be held tomorrow afternoon at the Wyatt Memorial Mortuary at Rushville.

The services had been delayed so that Mr. Willkie’s only son, Lt. (jg.) Phillip Willkie, could attend. Lt. Willkie arrived in New York Saturday night from naval convoy duty and tonight he, his mother, Mrs. Edith Wilk Willkie, and 20 friends and relatives will leave New York in a special car attached to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Spirit of St. Louis passenger train. They will arrive here tomorrow morning.

Dr. George Arthur Frantz, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, and Rev. C. V. Reeder, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Rushville, will conduct the services.

Eight tenants from Mr. Willkie’s extensive farm holdings near Rushville will act as pallbearers.

2852

americavotes1944

Pravda scores Dewey’s stand

Moscow, USSR (UP) –
The political observer of Pravda, official organ of the Soviet Central Committee, charged today that Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential nominee, was injecting the Polish question into the campaign and was “supporting claims of Polish imperialists.”

In charging that Polish reactionaries in the United States were using the election campaign for their machinations, Pravda said:

We are not surprised by the low, provocative activities of the Polish clique which is not trying to make Poland a peaceful country but a focal point for trouble and all possible adventures.

It should be pointed out that certain political leaders in the United States, instead of unmasking these provocateurs, not only give them full support but pour oil on the fire.

Of the same character was Dewey’s Pulaski Day speech. Dewey, quite in tune with the clique, spoke in support of Polish imperialists.

2853

americavotes1944

3,216,613 register in New York City

New York (UP) –
Registration in New York City for the November election totaled 3,216,613 at its close Saturday night, 173,847 under the record for the 1940 presidential election. But registration for military ballots may raise the total to 3,551,741, a 161,281 increase over 1940.

Both parties claimed an advantage on the basis of the figures.

In St. Louis, Governor Thomas E. Dewey, Republican presidential nominee, said he was “quite happy” about the heavy New York City registration and did not subscribe to the theory that the situation was to his disadvantage.

Military ballot registration figures could not be determined accurately because of considerable duplication, which will be eliminated only as the ballots are tabulated after election.

Paul E. Fitzpatrick, Democratic state chairman, said the registration was “exceedingly gratifying” and “indicates a Roosevelt plurality in the city of around a million without the soldier vote.”

Arthur H. Schwartz, Republican state campaign manager, expressed confidence that the city’s expectable Democratic majority would be sufficiently reduced to assure a Republican victory in the state. He based his relief on the fact that the Borough of Queens, carried by Wendell L. Willkie in 1940 and expected to return a plurality for Governor Thomas E. Dewey this year, was the only borough to maintain its 1940 registration figure.

2854

americavotes1944

Absentee ballots dropped by parachute

Paris, France (UP) – (Oct. 14, delayed)
Absentee ballots are being dropped by parachute to U.S. paratroops isolated in Holland and there and on other fronts voting in the presidential election is going on at “foxhole level.”

Col. Thomas R. Kerschner, theater coordinator of soldier voting, said parachutists were dropped with the ballot cargoes to ensure delivery. Several young officers have been killed in the line of duty, he added.

2855

americavotes1944

Negroes’ strides cited by Hillman

New York (UP) –
Sidney Hillman, CIO Political Action Committee chairman, told a Negro audience last night that Negroes under President Roosevelt “have made greater strides” toward first-class citizenship “than in any other period in American history.”

Mr. Hillman, speaking before the St. James forum, charged that Governor Thomas E. Dewey’s method of dealing with “troublesome problems” was “stalling” and ignoring measures leading to alleviation of racial and religious discrimination and improvement of Negro housing problems.

The PAC chairman said the Republican Party has not “dared to attack the PAC because it supports Roosevelt policies. It has preferred to attack PAC because I, its chairman, was born in Lithuania which, according to Republican leadership, makes me a second-class American citizen, if not altogether un-American.”

2856

americavotes1944

Gracie Allen Reporting

By Gracie Allen

Hollywood, California –
Well, so far as gentlemanliness and good taste is concerned, I should like to call your attention to the political campaign between Fala, the President’s Scottie, and Canute, the Great Dane belonging to Mr. Dewey.

In spite of the fact that the title for first dog of the country is at stake, both of them have scorned to play politics. Just think how many votes they could get by such cheap devices as, say, kissing puppies, or promising other dogs a bone in every pot.

In fact, being dumb animals, they’ve pulled a couple of political boners. I understand that Fala almost bit Truman, and Canute once growled at Bricker.

So far, there is no indication from Hollywood just which way Lassie is going to throw his support.

2857

americavotes1944

Counties await state ruling on soldier ballots

Policy on voiding some votes undecided
By Robert Taylor, Pittsburgh Press staff writer

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania –
Many of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are looking to the state for rulings and advice on whether or not soldier ballots should be invalidated because of technical irregularities, surveys in the state have indicated.

Both in Western Pennsylvania and in other parts of the state, county officials holding thousands of military ballots for tabulation Nov. 22 have indicated they will await state rulings on whether they should throw out soldier ballots because of certain irregularities.

The state has issued some informal and “purely advisory” rulings, to settle particular points of law, but thus far has issued no comprehensive guide to aid County Election Boards in putting into effect the policy of the state administration and Legislature of giving the soldier vote law a liberal interpretation.

Must make own rulings

County election boards will have to make rulings themselves on such questions as whether ballots marked with a checkmark instead of an “X” or ballots certified by a non-commissioned, instead of a commissioned officer, should be counted or thrown out.

While boards generally have announced the willingness to do everything possible to facilitate the soldier vote, challenges of defective soldier ballots are a prospect in close local elections, and State Election Bureau heads have estimated 21,000 ballots may be thrown out.

Legally, the state has no right to make rulings binding on the county election boards. It has been pointed out, however, that a detailed statement by the state administration would help the county boards in following out the purposes of the Soldier Vote Law and clarify their work, avoiding conflicting decisions in various parts of the state.

Await state rulings

The number of inquiries by count officials to the State Elections Bureau and the number of counties which reported, in a poll conducted by The Press, that they would await state rulings on some points of law, indicated the counties will accept state advice.

The state ruled, informally, that ballots sent in by soldiers killed before Election Day are valid and should be counted, and that ruling was reiterated by Governor Martin and made formal when reports were circulated that the state would invalidate such ballots.

The state has also ruled that men discharged from military service but still in military hospitals cannot vote by soldier ballot, because their civilian status has been resumed. It was ruled soldiers must be 21 years of age by Nov. 8 to vote.

Marking causes problem

Another informal ruling was that ballots must be marked with an “X” as required by the State Election Law, and that other markings would invalidate ballots. This ruling was challenged by a number of counties, and there is a likelihood of varying local rulings on the point.

The soldier vote will not be counted until Nov. 22 – 15 days after Election Day – and most county boards are deferring their rulings on defective ballots until that date. In event of a close election in Pennsylvania, which could be decided by the soldier vote, wholesale challenges of soldier votes and conflicting rulings by county boards could cast doubt on the final election results.

Censored ballots questioned

Many boards are uncertain what to do with ballots which have been opened and resealed by military censors. One county alone – Luzerne – has 231 censored ballots. In other cases, ballots lack the voter’s signature or affidavit, or the certification of his officer is defective.

In nearly all cases, county officials, receiving ballots with apparent technical defects, have made an effort to get another ballot io the soldier and avoid any challenge of his vote.