America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

4658

Marlow: ‘We are thankful, meaning me and the fish peddlers’

By James Marlow

Washington (AP) –
We are thankful today – meaning me and the fish peddlers – that we’re not living 1,600 years ago.

One of Mr. Ickes’ boys has written himself a piece about how the Romans messed up the OPA. Their own OPA. Pretty rugged, too. No jail sentences. No fines. Get out of line and you got your head chopped off. Several thousands did.

Seems the Romans had their troubles, fighting in Africa and Germany, prices going up, goods getting short, black markets. Then the Emperor Diocletian cracked down. Hard. Too hard. Blew himself right out of a job. Was about 305 AD.

He slapped price ceilings on things like shoes, lions and tigers for the zoo, fish and ladies’ girdles, 1,100 items in all.

This has been rounded up by Dr. Richard A. Kahn who is the economist in Secretary Ickes’ fish and wildlife service. He keeps our own OPA advised on fish. Used to work for OPA before Ickes got him. He’s a Latin scholar, too.

He got to prowling around in a thing called the “edict of Diocletian,” which was the Roman equivalent of our general maximum price regulations. So, he translated it. Had it published in the fish and wildlife bulletins, in case anybody wanted to read them or it.

It was a beast of an edict: 47 sections. You can see businessmen all up and down Italy yelling about all the paperwork they had to do, all the red tape, all the government regulations.

Dr. Kahn – perhaps with a little pardonable pride because of where he’s working – discovered that fish in those days cost more than pork or beef.

Good sea fish sold for 21 cents a pound, ham for 20 cents and beef for eight. Things are a little different now. But in those days. Dr. Kahn figures, people liked fish better. So, the fish peddlers were cleaning up till the edict cramped them, if it did.

It seems that edict of Diocletian was a turkey, if there ever was one. That’s because he wasn’t smart like our own OPA boys.

Our boys set different kinds of ceilings: one for the manufacturer, a higher one for the wholesaler, a still higher one for the retailer.

So, the manufacturer can sell to the wholesaler, the wholesaler to the retailer and the retailer to you and me. And they all make money. With each one down the line having a higher ceiling, each has a margin for profit.

Not old Diocletian. He set a flat ceiling price for everybody. The only one who could make a profit then was the manufacturer. He sold at the ceiling price.

Since his ceiling price was the same ceiling price for the wholesaler and the retailer, they couldn’t make a profit. They had to buy at the ceiling price and sell at the ceiling price.

It was a bottleneck. No wonder the black market got bad. Finally, Diocletian took a runout powder. Just before he quit, he made his contribution to famous last words. He said: “I’d rather raise spinach than to continue being emperor.”

4659

Bond purchase deemed sensible

Washington –
Eric A. Johnston, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said today that buying War Bonds is a matter of “common sense investment” as well as patriotism.

He said:

War Bonds are not only the safest investment in the world today, but they bring a higher rate of interest than any comparable security.

Moreover, the War Bond buyer has the added advantage of being able to realize his money at any time without chance of loss by decline in market value.

4660

Relatives guests at Camp Shanks

Camp Shanks, New York (INS) –
Civilians can get a Thanksgiving Day dinner, complete with turkey, plenty of butter and even ice cream and fruit punch, at Camp Shanks today, all for 75 cents.

The hitch is that to qualify, the diner must be a patent, brother, sister, wife or child of a serviceman stationed at the camp.

Camp authorities announced that because of the Camp Shanks’ complement’s “outstanding record of achievement,” the rule forbidding visitors was waited on the holiday and any member of the personnel may entertain four members of his or her immediate family at dinner.

4661

Army may act in phone strike

…

4662

Only real values survive election

New York –
Luckily the nonsense of American political campaigns generally evaporates as fast as the ballots themselves, which, once counted, lose their value and become waste paper. Only substance survives. Falseness cannot endure the calmer atmosphere of reasoning and acquire permanence.

In the closing of the campaign soma hasty people on the radio, for instance, suggested Dewey or Roosevelt should be impeached for something or other which was not clear in the speakers excited minds, and at the other extreme I heard the all too reasonable suggestion that now the election is over the losers should give in their viewpoints to the winners. “The issues are decided” and now “we must all work together.” Neither course is likely to be followed this time. The frenzied few will quiet down gradually from impeachment thoughts as they come face to face with new developments. It is equally in evitable that the genuine faith of people in certain truths and ideals at the moment I am writing this, is not going to be turned around for the espousal of opposite ideals after election.

But there was a surviving substance developed during this campaign – a substance which could be as important to the future of the country and the world as the outcome of the election.

Both promised

Both sides promised the same things in great instances. This agreeable residue of the debate is what the country has the right to expect from the victor, indeed what it must insist upon. The mutual promises were basically these:

JOBS. Dewey promised them to all and Roosevelt promised 60,000,000. Indeed, they both promised the method of furnishing them – free enterprise. Both promised against the Communist and Socialist way of furnishing them (free enterprise clearly disavows socialistic methods).

Both promised a high-wage, high-priced economy with fair employment practices and Mr. Roosevelt even defined his living wage as applying only to “a full workweek” in rejection of previous trends toward less work. Both promised quick victory and a sound peace, and nearly agreed on how. They said they would continue existing military leadership for war, and would seek peace through the Dumbarton Oaks arrangement for a new League of Nations. On one league point only did they differ, and then not as much as advertised. The moat fervid Rooseveltian internationalists (the Ball-Davenport minority) said they wanted the American agent in the league council to vote for war only by constitutional means, and that is actually what Dewey insisted upon.

Behind these generalized agreements, there now lies of course, great prospects of change and sharp irreconcilable differences on both sides. On the Roosevelt side, or rather the inside, it became evident State Secretary Hull’s health might eliminate his sound search for unity on foreign policy, and the administration’s economic director James Byrnes definitely made arrangements to quit before election. If someone like Sumner Welles happened to get Hull’s job, you can readily see how the measure of unity so far achieved would fade away. If the radicals took control of Byrnes’ place, the change in domestic policies would be equally sharp. The changes through a new administration leadership by Dewey were more obvious and fully presented.

No doubt the various self-seeking classes will be interpreting the general result for their own purposes by the time you read this, so it may be well to get the truth in first: A Roosevelt victory would not be a victory for the purposes of any of the minority groups which took leadership in seeking his election, because they do not control enough votes to accomplish such a result. Such a class victory was not promised. Roosevelt declared the winner; it was solely because so many people were afraid of the war and thought he could conclude it sooner or better. A Dewey victory would have reflected a demand for a change.

There is less cause for the quadrennial metamorphosis this time.

Of course, the frenzied few managed to call each other liars, but not many proved it, and after all anyone in politics is supposed to be a liar these days, so the charge is hardly sensational.

As a matter of fact, I achieve the distinction of being called a liar by four or five of my 20,000,000 readers (circulation going up) for having quoted Mr. R. as saying in his Boston speech that he would never send our boys abroad in foreign wars.

4663

‘Damn’ only word President admits

Washington (AP) –
President Roosevelt confesses to a little lusty cussing when his voting booth lever stuck on Election Day.

But, he insists, he didn’t take the name of the deity in vain – Time Magazine and the Glendale (California) Ministerial Association notwithstanding.

So that he wouldn’t get any more letters from such associations. Mr. Roosevelt told a news conference Tuesday, he was relating this account of what happened when he voted Nov. 7 at the Town Hall at Hyde Park, New York:

While an old friend. Tom Leonard, stood outside, the Chief Executive went into the booth, had a couple of tries at the lever and locked himself in. So, he called out: “Tom, the damn thing won’t work.”

He admitted he said “damn.” But he said some person – he didn’t know who but he must be awfully deaf – inserted another short word before it.

4664

Radnička Borba (November 23, 1944)

Roosevelt, Dewey i militarizam

I predsjednik Roosevelt i guverner Dewey namjerno izbjegavaju pitanje militarne službe za mirno vreme. Jasno je da je postignut zajednički sporazum da se taj spor isključi iz kampanje, ne samo radi toga što se oba kandidata slažu o njemu, nego i takodjer da se izbjegne budjenje opozicije, kod kuće i medju trupama preko mora.

Guverner Dewey je bio direktno njem o predmetu mirnovremenog militarizma čak i pre njegove nominacije. Svakako, nije teško uvidjeti njegova gledišta. To je republikanski predstavnik James W. Wadsworth, iz New Yorka, koji je najagresivniji i uporni zagovarač u Kongresu trajnog militarizma. A kada je predstavnik Wadsworth posjetio gospodina Deweya prošlog leta u Albany, on je izašao sa konferisanja osiguravajući izvjestioce da on i guverner Dewey vide oko u oko potrebu za moćnu mirnovremenu militarnu ustanova. U koliko gospodin Dewey nije izašao sa poricanjem, pošteno je da pretpostavimo da on odobrava sistem prisilne mirnovremene militarne vježbe za našu mladež.

FDR podupire militarizam

Predsjednik Roosevelt je takodjer bio prefrigano ćuteći u posljednje vreme u iznašanju njegovih budućih planova za prusijanizovanje Amerike. Nazad nekoliko nedjelja on reče da ono što on ima na umu jeste kombinovana militarna vježba i program službe prisilnog rada za našu mladež posle rata. Dakako, odmah nakon prvog svjetskog rata, kada su militaristi bezuspješno pokušali uvesti njihov program, gospodin Roosevelt se izjavio u korist konskripcije u mirno vreme.

Oba, gospodin Dewey i gospodin Roosevelt nastoje da budu izabrani. I nijedan ne želi da odstrani veliki anti-militaristički elemenat mediju biračima. Niti ijedan želi da oživi i aktiviše ovaj elemenat.

Da će ovo pitanje izbiti u Kongresu u nekoliko mjeseci posle izbora, to nije tajna. Sadašnji Selective Service Act ističe u sljedećem julu i svako nastojanje biće učinjeno da se iskoristi prilika za njegovo beskrajno produženje. Svrha je da se uvede u zakonske knjige zakon mirnovremene konskripcije pre nego što svrši rat, kao što je na sličan način zakon prohibicije bio uveden u zakonske knjige u prošlom ratu. Tako bi vojnici koji se vraćaju i civili koji bi se protivili militarizmu pod više odražavajućim uslovima, bili suočeni posle rata sa ostvarenom činjenicom.

Opozicija postaje glasna

Svakako, u prkos izračunatog ćutanja kandidata opozicija postaje sve glasnija. Na primer, 17. oktobra njujorški Sinod Prezbiterijanske crkve usvojio je rezoluciju osuđujući plan da „se pričvrsti na naciju sada, u vreme rata, trajna politika sveopšte konskripcije…“ I ona posteća da su „mnoge hiljade zaslužnih američkih gradjana…“ takvi pošto su oni ili njihovi očevi pobjegli iz svojih rodnih zemalja da izbjegnu militarnu službu u mirno vreme.“

Da militaristi planiraju da izvedu ovu prevaru vanredno je očito. Njihova je svrha da iz begnu istraživačku diskusiju i da imanje opoziciju. Oni žale što se taj spor mora podnesti „javnom“ odobrenju. Oni bi radije htjeli postići njihov cilj na militarni način, autoritativno, namećući ga od ozgor. Pošto to nije moguće, njihov izbor je da ga prokrada što brže mogu pre nego što bi njemu prava odlučna opozicija mogla biti organizirana.

Iskrenimo uzrok!

Istina je da talas američke anti-militarističke tradicije još uvek jak. Ovo je posvjedočeno čak i sada od takvih rezolucija kao ta gore pometnuta, Prezbiterijanska i sa bezbroj pisama u štampi. Ali ova je vrsta opozicije negativna. Ona promašuje da raskrinka svrhe militarizma, ili čak i da otkrije njegove najzlobnije crte – korist u koju se njega stavlja da se održi radnička klasa u počinjenosti i tako da se zatvore vrata društvenom progresu.

Zadatak – zadatak raskrinkavanja anti-militarizma kao protu-radničkog – pada na pravi Socijalistički, pokret zemlje. Jedini je on u stanja da otkrije svrhe militarizma, koje su iznad svega, da se osigura bogatoj manjini, po ma kakvoj ceni, čak i protiv prosvjećene volje većine naroda, sloboda da izrabljuje radnike. Ne-Socijalistički anti-militaristi, u drugu ruku, napadaju militarizam dok oni podržavaju njegov uzrok, kapitalizam. Da parafraziramo De Leona, oni prosto oponašaju seljaka koji je svjesno posijao kukoljevo sjeme i onda se tužio na prirodu useva. Nema ni sjenke dvojbe da će, ako planovi militarista uspiju – planovi koje oba Roosevelt i Dewey očito potpisuju – ova nacija biti naoružana do zuba u mirnom vremenu, ne za svrhu odbrane protiv stranog neprijatelja nego da se potčine njihovi spuštenu radnici i, ako je potrebnom potopiti njihova buntovništva u krvi kapitalistički nametnutih uslova.

Weekly People, 4. novembra, 1944

4665

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (November 23, 1944)

Editorial: Thanksgiving Day

War leaves its impress upon each and every day in the year. Thanksgiving Day is no exception. Traditionally a family festival, we find most families separated. Turkey has given way to canned rations for a lot of American boys this year. The lurking Indian enemy is the old school books prints has become a more modern savage in Nazi or Jap uniform. The Puritan’s protecting blunderbuss has been transformed into the footslogger’s bazooka.

There is much to be thankful for – war or no war. We are closer to victory than we were a year ago. We are blessed with great resources and have successfully turned them to our defense. We are well-fed, warm, comfortable. We have been spared the destruction of our homes and cities. If we look around us and across the oceans, we know that we are, in truth, the fortunate of the earth.

But as we give thanks to our Creator and Protector today, let it not be in the spirit of the Pharisee who praised God that he was not as other men. It is so easy to be smug – even on our knees. If there is one thing, above all others, for which we should give thanks today and every day it is not our wealth or our resources or our comforts but that they had not deadened our spirit and courage. When we sing that grand hymn of James Russell Lowell – “Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of Truth and Falsehood, for the good or evil side” – we can hold our heads high. That is something for which, as a nation, we may be eternally grateful.

We have had the strength and the courage and the character to meet the test of war. We may well ask that we be endowed with them in equal measure for the tasks of peace that lie ahead.

4666

Völkischer Beobachter (November 24, 1944)

Abwehr und Gegenstoß

Am siebenten Tag der Schlacht bei Aachen

…

4667

Erstmals fällt das Wort Erschöpfung –
Anglo-amerikanische Depression

…

Bomben auf die Frauenkirche

…

4668

Auf Moskaus Befehl in Paris nicht empfangen

Komödie einer belgischen Ministerreise

…

4669

Einkesselungskämpfe auf Leyte

Tokio, 23. November –
Zu den Kämpfen auf Leyte melden Frontberichte, daß die amerikanische 32. Division, die zum Entsatz der im Gebiet von. Carigara umzingelten 24. Division angetreten ist, im Laufe schwerer japanischer Angriffe blutige Verluste erleidet. Vor allem ist es den Japanern gelungen, die feindlichen Zufuhrstraßen im Norden der Insel zu durchschneiden, so dass der Gegner auf dem Landweg keinen weiteren Nachschub an Munition erhält und anderseits nicht mehr in der Lage ist, seine Verwundeten in die Etappe zu befördern.

4670

Führer HQ (November 24, 1944)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

Im verkleinerten Maas-Brückenkopf südöstlich Helmond haben unsere Grenadiere in den letzten Tagen zahlreiche englische Angriffe abgewiesen. Die schwere Schlacht im Raum von Aachen stand gestern im Zeichen eigener erfolgreicher Gegenangriffe auf dem gesamten rechten Flügel unserer Abwehrfront. Grenadiere, Volksgrenadiere und Panzertruppen eroberten eine Reihe von Ortschaften wieder und säuberten sie vom Feinde. Nordamerikanische Angriffe, die in der Mitte und am linken Flügel dieses Kampfraumes mehrere Male vorgetragen wurden, brachen in unserem Feuer zusammen. Nur bei und südöstlich Eschweiler konnte der Feind geringfügig in unser Kampffeld eindringen.

Im Raum von Metz halten sich die Besatzungen mehrerer Befestigungsanlagen weiterhin gegen heftige feindliche Angriffe.

In Ostlothringen hat sich die Lage bei lebhafter örtlicher Kampftätigkeit nicht wesentlich verändert. Beiderseits der unteren Vogesenfingen unsere Truppen vordringenden Gegner auf und warfen ihn in Gegenangriffen zurück. Von Zabern aus ist es einer feindlichen Panzergruppe gelungen, unsere Sicherungen zu durchstoßen und in die Stadt Straßburg einzudringen.

Gegnerische Angriffe vor der Burgundischen Pforte- wurden zerschlagen, der Sperrriegel unserer Truppen an der Schweizer Grenze durch kräftige Vorstöße verstärkt; Die im Raum Mülhausen abgeschnittenen feindlichen Kräfte versuchten vergeblich, nach Westen und Nordwesten auszubrechen. Eigene Gegenangriffe aus dem Raum südöstlich Mülhausen sind in gutem Fortschreiten.

Groß-London und die Industriebezirke von Lüttich lagen bei Tag und Nacht unter stärkerem Fernbeschuss.

Am Ostrand des Etruskischen Apennin rannte die 8. englische Armee mit der zusammengefassten Masse ihrer Kräfte unter starkem Materialeinsatz gegen eine einzige deutsche Division an und versuchte den entscheidenden Durchbruch in die Ebene der Romagna zu erzwingen. In beispielhafter Standhaftigkeit behauptete die hier unter Führung von Oberst Crasemann eingesetzte 26. Panzerdivision mit unterstellten Verbänden den Zusammenhalt ihrer Front. Die erbitterten Abwehrkämpfe gehen weiter.

Auf dem Balkan zerschlugen unsere Truppen im Raum Skutari und Podgorica zahlreiche feindliche Angriffe.

In Südungarn wiesen unsere Verbände in einer neuen Abwehrfront westlich von Apatin und Batina die mit starken Kräften fortgesetzt angreifenden Bolschewisten ab.

Zwischen Budapest und dem Mátragebirge brachen auch gestern alle von zahlreichen Panzern unterstützten Durchbruchsversuche der Sowjets durch die zähe Abwehr und die Gegenangriffe unserer Truppen bei wirksamer Unterstützung durch die Luftwaffe zusammen. Erneut wurden hier 35 feindliche Panzer vernichtet.

Südlich Miskolc blieben mehrere Angriffe der Bolschewisten im Abwehrfeuer liegen. Im Ostteil der Talsenke gelangen dem Gegner geringe Einbrüche.

Nordwestlich Ungvár traten die Sowjets mit starken Kräften zum Angriff an. Sie wurden in einer Rückhaltsstellung aufgefangen.

Im Nordabschnitt ist die Abwehrschlacht östlich Libau bis in den Raum von Autz bei stärkstem Materialeinsatz erneut entbrannt. Alle Angriffe der Bolschewisten zerbrachen bis auf unbedeutende Einbrüche an der Standhaftigkeit unserer bewährten Divisionen.

In Kurland wurden gestern 50 feindliche Panzer abgeschossen.

Auf Sworbe hat sich die tapfere Besatzung gegenüber mehrfach überlegenem Feind auf die Südspitze der Halbinsel zurückgekämpft. Schweres Feuer unserer Seestreitkräfte lag trotz fortgesetzter Angriffe sowjetischer Bomben- und Torpedoflugzeuge den ganzen Tag über auf den feindlichen Stellungen.

Schwächere Verbände anglo-amerikanischer Terrorflieger warfen durch eine geschlossene Wolkendecke am Tage Bomben auf Westdeutschland und in der Nacht verstreut auf nordwest- und mitteldeutsches Gebiet.

In den harten Abwehrkämpfen um die Festung Metz hat das Sicherungsregiment 1010 unter Führung von Oberstleutnant Richter besondere Standhaftigkeit bewiesen. Leutnant Werner, Kompanieführer der 3. Kompanie des Regiments, verteidigte bei einem Feindeinbruch in Bataillonsstärke mit dem Kompanietrupp und zwei Mann seinen Gefechtsstand über sieben Stunden lang gegen eine vielfache feindliche Übermacht. Das Widerstandsnest konnte von den Amerikanern erst genommen werden, als die Verteidiger sämtlich durch Tod oder Verwundung ausgefallen waren.

In der Abwehrschlacht südöstlich Libau zeichnete sich das Grenadierregiment 4 unter Führung von Major von Bismarck durch hervorragende Standfestigkeit aus.

Im gleichen Kampfraum hat der Stabsgefreite Eil einer Füsilierschwadron in aufopferndem Heldenmut allein einen feindlichen Stoßtrupp im Nahkampf zurückgeschlagen und hierbei vier ihn umklammernde Bolschewisten durch Abziehen einer Handgranate vernichtet, wobei dem tapferen Füsilier die Hand abgerissen wurde.

Im heldenmütigen Kampf auf Sworbe hat sich die dort eingesetzte Artillerie unter Führung von Oberst Remer bei der Abwehr von mehr als 170 Angriffen des überlegenen Gegners besonders bewährt.

4671

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (November 24, 1944)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
241100A November

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. 230

Allied forces made further progress in the Venlo sector where our units are within three miles of the town. North of the Helmond–Venlo railway we have advanced about one mile over very difficult country, and have taken Meterik and Horst. South of the railway our forces have gained about 1,000 yards on a 5,000-yard front.

Northeast of Geilenkirchen, there has been bitter fighting in the areas of Höven and Beeck where the enemy is resisting fiercely.

Small enemy counterattacks have been repulsed by our units in the Gereonsweiler area, northwest of Jülich, while very slow progress has been made toward Koslar and Bourheim, in the Jülich area. North of Weisweiler, our forces are fighting in the Neu-Lohn and Pützlohn.

Other elements are west, south, and southeast of Weisweiler and gains have been made towards the town. To the southeast, bitter fighting continues in the Hürtgen Forest where our forces are slowly gaining against very stubborn resistance.

In the area east of Metz, our armored elements have reached Saint-Jean-Rohrbach, and our infantry is in the vicinity of Leyweiler. An enemy counterattack has been repulsed near Frenersdorf. Other armored units farther south have reached Fénétrange.

After the breakthrough in the Saverne Gap our troops reached Strasbourg and freed many towns in the northern Alsace Plain.

More than 3,000 prisoners, including two generals, and much enemy material have been taken in the rapid advance.

Unfavorable weather slowed progress in the southern Vosges and the Belfort Gap area, but limited gains were made.

Weather severely curtailed air operations yesterday, but heavy bombers, with fighter escort, attacked the Nordstern synthetic oil plant near Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr.

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/
4672

that’s the best the press can do against FDR now?

4673

The initial assumption was that he said a more profane word than “damn.”

4674

The Pittsburgh Press (November 24, 1944)

B-29s SET FIRES IN TOKYO
100 Superfortresses rip Jap plants

Saipan-based planes open drive to soften Japan for invasion
By Fred Scherff, United Press staff writer

map.tokyobmb
B-29s from Saipan in the Marianas staged the big raid today on Tokyo.

Washington –
One hundred or more B-29 Superfortresses, officially opening a two-pronged air offensive to soften Japan for invasion, bombed Tokyo by daylight today, and the enemy admitted factories and other important installations had been damaged.

Roaring out from new bases on Saipan in the Marianas, 1,550 miles to the southeast, the giant four-engined bombers swept over Tokyo at noon (11:00 p.m. Thursday ET) to give the jittery Japanese capital its first taste of American bombs since the historic April 18, 1942, raid by Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle’s fliers.

**Four hours later, Tokyo belatedly admitted the raid and backed into admissions of what it sought to imply was slight damage to factories and other major installations. “Small fires” were caused, Tokyo broadcasts added, but only among “civilian homes and hospitals” and all were controlled “immediately.”

Tokyo said the bombers, attacking in 10 or more groups, were over the city for two hours.

The attack, the first on Tokyo by land-based aircraft, was announced here by Gen. H. H. Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces and chief of the global 20th Air Force. He said another communiqué on damage done to the industrial targets would be issued “when further details are available.”

Gen. Arnold said in a special report to President Roosevelt:

The Battle for Japan has been joined. This operation is in no sense a hit-and-run raid. It is a calculated extension of our airpower… no part of the Japanese Empire is now out of our range, no war factory too remote to feel our bombs…

The Saipan-based B-29s, working under the newly-formed XXI Bomber Command, Gen. Arnold said, will coordinate their operations with those of the China-based XX Bomber Command, whose B-29s have already carried out 17 missions against Jap Empire targets.

Gen. Arnold told Mr. Roosevelt:

The systematic demolition of Japan’s war production, begun six months ago from China bases, henceforth will be carried out with decisive vigor, softening up the Japanese heart for the ultimate invasion by combined United Nations land, sea and air forces.

Gen. Arnold did not disclose the exact number of B-29s in the attacking force, saying only that it was “sizeable” – a term that in the past has meant 100 or more.

Neither did he identify the exact targets, although Tokyo is the site of some of the most vital Jap war industries. These include the giant Mitsubishi and Ishikawajima shipyards, the Mitsubishi heavy industries and numerous airplane and ammunition factories, oil refineries and machine tool, electrical, radio and precious instrument works.

The Tokyo radio, which gave the world the first albeit hysterical account of the Doolittle raid, was silent for several hours after today’s attack and then blossomed forth with its usual report – that the B-29s had “failed to attain any tangible results” due to “effective interceptions.”

The attack on Tokyo came just 24 hours after Japan had observed its Thanksgiving Day – the Minamati Festival – in which Emperor Hirohito had offered newly harvested grain to his gods. Even as the festival was in progress, the Japs witnessed a harbinger of things to come when a single B-29, according to Tokyo reports, flew over the Nagoya area some 275 miles west-southwest of Tokyo.

Other reconnaissance flights by B-29s over the island of Honshu, on which Tokyo is located, had steadily increased Jap fears of a coming raid on their capital and thousands of children, women and older residents had been ordered out in preparation.

Virginian is in command

Gen. Arnold said the XXI Bomber Command was commanded in its first operation by Brig. Gen. H. S. Hansell Jr., a 41-year-old native of Fort Monroe, Virginia, who first gained fame 10 years ago as a member of the aviation acrobatic team, “Three Men on a Flying Trapeze.”

Lt. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, commanding general of Army Air Forces in the Pacific and Gen. Arnold’s deputy commander of the 20th Air Force, issued his own statement promising that the two-pronged air offensive against Japan was destined to grow in other directions.

He said:

The time is not far now when Japan will be subjected to the combined efforts of units based from Alaska through the Philippines and over into China – a ring of air effort focused on the Imperial Empire.

In addition to the mounting American threat from the air, Japan is faced with ever-bolder operations by units of the mighty Pacific Fleet.

The Navy revealed last night that a task force had struck Tuesday at the Kurils at the northern tip of the Jap islands, bombarding Matsuwa and starting large fires and explosions. Jap guns did not reply and no American ship was damaged.

For the United States, the Tokyo raid brought additional retribution for Japan’s execution of an unknown number of Gen. Doolittle’s first Tokyo raiders forced down on occupied areas of the Asiatic mainland. The execution of those fliers, who staged their attack from the decks of the now-sunk carrier USS Hornet, brought from President Roosevelt a pledge that they would be avenged.

Heart of Japan rocked

Gen. Arnold accompanied his announcement with a dramatic statement, beginning with these words:

The Air Force today rocked the heart of Japan with bombs from a mighty new task force of B-29 aircraft based in Saipan.

He continued:

The mission was accomplished by Brig. Gen. Haywood Hansell’s XXI Bomber Command. Its vigor should be convincing proof that these far Pacific islands, captured by our Army and Navy at great cost in men and material, have been put to the greatest possible use. Tokyo’s war industries have been badly hurt by a blow made possible by the Americans who fought and died for the Marianas.

Now, as our American factories feed the voracious appetite of our B-29s with replacements and bombs, we will pound Japan’s war machine out of existence…

Japan has sowed the wind, now let it reap the whirlwind.

‘No part of Japan safe’

Gen. Harmon said in his statement that with the basing of B-29s in the Marianas, “no part of the homeland of Japan is now safe from land-based air attacks.”

Although warning that air attacks alone cannot win victory, he said the Tokyo raid marked the start of a “new phase of the air war against Japan which, in its various aspects, will steadily unfold.”

The War Department disclosed in an accompanying statement that the XXI Bomber Command was activated last March 8. It was set up at first at Smoky Hill Army Air Base, Salina, Kansas, but headquarters were moved in June to Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado, with Brig. Gen. Roger M. Ramey as acting commander. Gen. Ramey is now chief of staff to Gen. Hansell, who took command of the XXI Command last Aug. 29.

Wide raids made

The B-29s were first sent into action against Japan’s warmaking potential early in June in a “shakedown” raid on Bangkok, Thailand. In all, counting the Tokyo raid, they have carried out 18 missions against industrial targets in the Jap homeland and in occupied regions in China, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.

In October, while the Navy was striking at Formosa and Northern Luzon in preparation for the Philippines invasion, the B-29s joined in with three heavy raids on targets on Formosa.

Japs admit damage

The Japanese conceded that the Superfortresses raided Tokyo for two hours, damaging factories and other important installations and causing some fires.

A brief Jap communiqué claimed three Superfortresses had been shot down. The communiqué said:

Today, Nov. 24, approximately 70 enemy planes from the Marianas area penetrated into the capital area in wave formation, divided into several units, at about 12:20 p.m. and raided for about two hours.

Our damages have been slight and the war result confirmed up to now is three enemy planes shot down.

Tokyo raid is a success, leader radios his base

B-29 base, Saipan, Mariana Islands (UP) – (via Navy radio)
Brig. Gen. Emmett “Rosey” O’Donnell Jr., leader of the Superfortress mission over Tokyo, flashed back word today that his sizeable task force of sky giants had successfully bombed important military objectives at the Jap capital.

Boring in without benefit of fighter protection, the world’s mightiest planes packed large enough loads from their Saipan bases to pay dividends in this big American attack on Honshu Island.

It was the biggest raid by land-based bombers, in terms of both the bombload and number of planes involved, in the history of the Central Pacific war.

Maj. Robert Morgan of Asheville, North Carolina, pilot of the famed B-17 Memphis Belle of the 8th Air Force in Europe, was at the controls of the first bomber over Tokyo. Gen. O’Donnell was in the plane as command pilot and leader of the mission.

Overcoming the weather and tough navigational problems the big raiders hammered the Nakajima aircraft factory in the western outskirts of Tokyo after parading into the air from bases won on bloody Saipan by the Marines and Army troops.

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Tokyo Rose paves the way for big Superfortress raid

Plane cruises over Jap capital 35 minutes to make pictures to guide attackers
By Lisle Shoemaker, United Press staff writer

Saipan, Mariana Islands –
A giant, silvery Superfortress names Tokyo Rose, piloted by Capt. Ralph D. Steakley of Jefferson, Ohio, cruised over Tokyo for 35 minutes making crystal-clear photographs of strategic targets to pave the way for the second raid of the war on the Japanese capital.

Droning in over the city after a grueling fight from new bases on Saipan, the daring crew, the first American airmen to fly over Tokyo since Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle’s fliers raided the city in April 1942 peered down on vital war industries and strategic targets which Japan has guarded jealously for the last 10 years.

Japs fail to attack

Jap radio announcers screamed frantically that U.S. planes were over the city, then added as a face-saving afterthought that “an American plane fled before our attack.”

Not content with the first valuable photo-fight, the same crew flew over the famed target twice more, noting that ack-ack became more accurate with each trip.

Capt. Steakley and his 10-man crew saw from 19 to 21 enemy intercepting planes on their first trip but Jap pilots were apparently leery to attack the Superfortress with its bristling guns and made no attempts to get within shooting range.

Pictures are taken

Despite the breathless altitude, the crew and cameras clearly saw and recorded Jap airfields studded with fighter planes and saw Hirohito’s palace and factories.

Capt. Steakley said:

We did not know what to expect and we were excited. We settled down soon because we had work to do.

The crew said that Capt. Steakley coolly piloted the giant plane over target after target. He was as elated as the crew after the flight. Their emotions hardly compared to those of intelligence officers, who termed the photos the best pictures of enemy targets ever taken.

Second Lt. Charles G. Hart of Kansas City, Missouri, the photo navigator, said the Jap ack-ack on the first strip was sporadic, but two subsequent trips found the barrage intensifying.

Important facts learned

Although the daring flight of Tokyo Rose undoubtedly robbed today’s mass attack of a surprise element, the knowledge gained by the picture-taking spree overshadowed all else.

The entire crew was decorated at the Saipan base, Capt. Steakley receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. The navigator, Lt. Claude K. Stambaugh of San Antonio, Texas, received the Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal and the rest of the crew got Air Medals.

The rest of the crew included:

  • Co-pilot Lt. John R. Burke of Newark, New Jersey
  • Flight Engineer Lt. Harold L. McCommon of Athens, Georgia
  • Photographer Sgt. Walter C. Marvin of St. Louis
  • Gunner Sgt. William O. Starks of Dunbar, West Virginia
  • Sgt. Fred H. Hutchins of Italy, Texas
  • Bombardier Observer Maj. Hugh V. Gilmour of Paris, Texas.
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