Baker figures his quiz makes them rich
Phil dreams in big numbers
By Si Steinhauser
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Marine who killed attacker of wife sentenced to prison
Corporal admits manslaughter charge
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OPA tightens canning rules
Sugar rations will be smaller
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
EDITOR’S NOTE: Ernie Pyle is now on an aircraft carrier and apparently participated in one of the big actions that have been going on in the Pacific. However, no direct reports have come back yet and meanwhile his articles are telling of his trip to the new assignment.
IN THE MARIANA ISLANDS – It is tropical where we are now, wonderfully tropical.
It looks tropical, and best of all, it feels tropical. Just now is the good season, and it is like the pleasantest part of summer at home.
But it is hotter than you think, and you change your whole approach to the weather here.
You get from the Navy a long-billed “baseball” cap to shield your eyes from the sun. your clothes closet has an electric light burning constantly in it, to keep it dry so your clothes won’t mold. You change your leather wristwatch strap to a canvas one, for a leather one would mold on your arm.
You put on heavy high-topped shoes again, for it still rains some and the red mud is sloppy. And instead of light socks for coolness as you’d think, you put on heavy socks to help cushion your feet in the big shoes, and to absorb the moisture.
Officers wear their sunglass cases hooked to their belts. Ties are unknown. There is no glass in the windows. Wide slanting caves jut out fat beyond the windows in all the permanent barracks buildings, fore when it rains here it really pours.
Horizontal rain
And as someone said, it rains “horizontally” here. In the few showers since we arrived, I’ve seen that the rain does come at quite an angle.
Actually, the rainy season is supposed to be over. Consequently, every time it showers during the day, the Californians in camp point out that the weather is “unusual.”
Lt. Cmdr. Max Miller and I are staying briefly in a room of a bachelor officers quarters – or BOQ. Our famous Seabees have put them up all over these various islands since we took over from the Japanese last summer.
They are in the curved form of immense Quonset huts, made of corrugated metal and with concrete floors. Some of them are even two-storied. They have a wide hall down the center, and individual rooms on each side. The walls are cream-colored.
Wonderful beds
The outside wall is almost all window, to let lots of air in. The spaces are screened but have no glass, for it never gets so cold you’d want to shut the window. But it is pleasantly cool at night, and we sleep under one blanket.
Each room has a clothes closet and a washstand and a chest of drawers. And also two beds. These beds are the talk of the Marianas.
They are American beds, with double mattresses, soft and wonderful. As everybody says, they’re finer beds than you’d have at home. I ran into one Army officer who had served in Europe, and he laughed and said, “After the way we roughed it there, I feel self-conscious about sleeping like this over here. But if the Navy wants to send over these beds, I’m sure as hell going to sleep in them.”
The great working camps of the Seabees and the troops are largely of tents, with ordinary cots in them. But on the whole, now that we have been improving the islands for several months, everybody lives pretty comfortably.
Reception committee
Max and I had a reception committee when we walked into our room.
A half dozen Seabees were throwing old lumber into a truck just outside our window. We hadn’t been in the room two seconds until one Seabee called through the window: “Say, aren’t you Ernie Pyle?”
I said right, and he said “whoever thought we’d meet you here? I recognized you from your picture.” And all the others stopped work and gathered outside the window while we talked through the screen.
The Navy furnishes orderlies for these rooms, to keep them clean. Mostly they are colored boys, regular enlisted men. Pretty soon our orderly walked in, and he started staring at me and I at him, for he sure looked familiar.
Together on invasion
He was a great tall fellow, and he grinned and we shook hands, for we had been on the same ship together when we invaded Sicily a year and a half ago.
He was a table waiter then. His name is Elijah Scott, his home is in Detroit, and he’s a steward’s mate second class. He was on the other side of the world nearly a year, spent eight months in America, and now here he is over here, almost as newly arrived as I am.
And that isn’t all. Within half an hour after we arrived, there was a knock on the door and in walked an Army major with a big grin. “Well,” he said, “I see you haven’t got any fatter since the old days in Sicily and Italy.”
He was Maj. Peter Eldred of Tucson, Arizona. A year and a half ago, he was public relations officer for the Seventh Army in Sicily. Now he’s a press censor in the middle of the Western Pacific, sitting on my bed talking about what used to be.
Sometimes the world gets almost ridiculous in being so small after all. I’m expecting my father and Aunt Mary to climb through the window here any minute now.
Führer HQ (February 22, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Aus Ungarn und der Slowakei werden eigene erfolgreiche Angriffe gegen den Restteil des feindlichen Gran-Brückenkopfes und die Abwehr schwächerer sowjetischer Vorstöße an den Gebirgsstraßen südöstlich Altsohl gemeldet.
Nach dem Scheitern der feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche bei Schwarzwasser und nördlich Ratibor führte der Gegner in diesem Kampfraum gestern nur örtliche erfolglose Angriffe. Unsere Truppen festigten durch Gegenstöße ihre Stellungen.
Die Brennpunkte des Kampfes in Niederschlesien liegen weiter im Raum von Zobten südlich Breslau und im Abschnitt Lauban-Guben. Den hier mit starken Kräften zum Durchbruch auf Görlitz und über den Neiße-Abschnitt bei Guben ansetzenden Bolschewisten blieben Erfolge versagt. Der Feind erlitt hohe Verluste. In einigen Abschnitten gewannen unsere Truppen im Gegenangriff vorübergehend verlorenes Gelände zurück.
Zwischen Heiderode in Westpreußen und Mewe an der Weichsel hielt der sowjetische Druck unvermindert an. Alle Angriffe blieben nach geringen Angriffserfolgen vor unserer zähen Abwehr liegen.
Die Besatzungen von Posen und Graudenz leisteten dem Feind unverändert hartnäckigen Widerstand.
Der Ansturm der Bolschewisten gegen Ostpreußen hat an Stärke zugenommen. In erbittertem Ringen haben unsere Truppen bis auf geringfügige Einbrüche ihre Stellringen behauptet und dabei 86 feindliche Panzer und Sturmgeschütze sowie 107 Geschütze vernichtet.
Unsere Kurlangkämpfer zerschlugen, von Flakartillerie und fliegenden Verbänden der Luftwaffe wirksam unterstützt, feindliche Durchbruchsversuche südöstlich Libau und nordwestlich Doblen. Der Gegner verlor hier in den beiden letzten Tagen 141 Panzer und 63 Flugzeuge.
Die Angriffe der 1. kanadischen Armee im Großraum von Kleve haben nach den schweren Gegenschlägen unserer Panzer, Grenadiere und Fallschirmjäger erheblich an Stärke nachgelassen. Der Feind führte gestern nur Teilangriffe im Raum südlich und südwestlich von Goch, die unter beträchtlichen Verlusten für ihn zusammenbrachen.
Aus dem Südostrand der Schnee-Eifel und an der oberen Oure setzten Verbände der 3. amerikanischen Armee ihre Angriffe fort. Sie konnten trotz ihrer Überlegenheit nur in einigen Abschnitten in unsere Stellungen eindringen. Östlich Vianden behaupteten unsere Grenadiere und Panzergrenadiere das Kampffeld gegen die Masse der feindlichen Angriffe.
Zwischen der Mosel flussabwärts Remich und der unteren Saar stehen unsere Truppen in schweren Abwehrkämpfen gegen starke, in Richtung auf die Saarbefestigungen andrängende feindliche Infanterie- und Panzerkräfte. Auch in den Vorstädten von Forbach sind heftige Straßenkämpfe entbrannt. Zwischen Spicheren und der Saar wird erbittert gekämpft. Unsere Verbände brachten im Gegenangriff zahlreiche Amerikaner als Gefangene ein.
Im etruskischen Apennin, wo die örtliche Kampftätigkeit in den Bergen nordwestlich Poretta andauert, wurde den ganzen Tag um eine Bergstellung am Monte Belvedere gekämpft.
Nordamerikanische Bomber führten am gestrigen Tage erneute Terrorangriffe gegen Nürnberg und Wien. In der vergangenen Nacht warfen britische Terrorflieger eine große Anzahl von Spreng- und Brandbomben auf die Wohnviertel von Worms, Duisburg und weitere Städte im rheinisch-westfälischen Raum. Auch die Reichshauptstadt wurde von schnellen britischen Kampfflugzeugen angegriffen. Durch Luftverteidigungskräfte verloren die Anglo-Amerikaner bei Tag und Nacht insgesamt 117 Flugzeuge, in der Mehrzahl viermotorige Bomber. Unsere Nachtjäger hatten an diesen Abschusserfolgen wiederum hervorragenden Anteil.
Bei den Abwehrkämpfen im Raum von Kreuzburg in Ostpreußen zeichnete sich Hauptmann Köhnen durch vorbildliche Tapferkeit aus. Mit einer kleinen Gruppe schnell zusammen gereffter Soldaten wehrte er fünf überlegene Angriffe ab und gewann, in schnellem Entschluss zum Gegenstoß antretend, eine wichtige Ortschaft im Sturm zurück. Die kleine Gruppe vernichtete vier feindliche Sturmgeschütze.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (February 22, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
221100A 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) AFHQ for PRO, ROME
(20) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 320
UNCLASSIFIED: Between the Rhine and the Meuse, Allied forces continue to make good progress. In the Moyland sector, the woods to the south of the town now have been cleared of the enemy.
Our forces driving down from the north have reached the line of the Goch-Uedem railway at a point about two and a quarter miles west of Uedem. Goch now is clear of the enemy. Southeast of Hommersum we have made gains of up to two thousand yards.
Strongpoints, gun and mortar positions in wooded country west of Kalkar and near Goch were attacked by rocket-firing fighters and fighter-bombers which went in just ahead of our ground forces. The fortified village of Kalkar was subjected to repeated bombing and strafing attacks by other fighter-bombers. Behind the enemy line, communications targets in Weeze, Uedem, Labbeck, Sonsbeck, Geldern and Xanten were attacked by medium, light and fighter-bombers.
In the area southwest of Prüm, our forces have captured the town of Huf and are fighting in Binscheid. Farther southwest, near the Luxembourg-German border, we have captured Dahnen and have entered Dasburg.
In the Vianden area, our units have reached the German border one-half mile northeast of the town. Just southeast of Vianden, we have taken Roth. In the Mettendorf area, east of Vianden, our forces have repulsed a heavy counterattack. Our units now overlook the Prüm River on a six mile stretch in the area north of Echternach.
In the Saar-Moselle triangle our forces have cleared Temmels, just northeast of Grevenmacher, and our armor has pushed beyond Onsdorf to a point three and one-half miles northwest of Saarburg, which has been entered by other armored elements. Our forces have reached the Saar River south of Saarburg, and have taken Hamm and Taben. The towns of Freudenburg and Orscholz also are in our hands after heavy fighting.
Two counterattacks were repulsed by our units in the Sarrelouis bridgehead area.
Fortified towns in the Saarburg area, including Pellingen, Serrig, Taben, Greimerath and Krettnich were attacked by fighter-bombers.
Our forces are fighting from house to house in Forbach. The enemy is resisting stubbornly and has reinforced the defenders with local members of the Volkssturm. The nearby village of Spicheren was cleared despite stiff opposition.
An armor-supported enemy attack was repulsed in the St. Arnual Forest, northeast of Forbach.
In the northern Alsace Plain, our artillery dispersed a group of enemy armored vehicles.
One thousand eight hundred prisoners have been taken in the past six days in the sector between Saarbrücken and the Rhine.
Communications and rail and road transport in western Germany north and northeast of the Ruhr and between the Rhine and the Roer were attacked by medium, light and fighter-bombers. Targets included the rail bridge at Bad Oeynhausen and Vlotho, Herford and Lage and several railway yards in the Düren area and elsewhere. Locomotives, railway cars, and motor vehicles were destroyed and damaged and rail lines cut in many places.
Farther south, medium and fighter-bombers attacked railway yards at Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim and Darmstadt and a rail bridge at Bad Münster. Communications at Freiburg and to the south were bombed by other fighter-bombers.
Rail and industrial targets at Nürnberg were attacked by escorted heavy bombers in very great strength. Targets included railway yards, locomotive repair shops, a tank factory and a large electrical equipment plant. Some of the escorting fighters strafed railway targets in southern Germany.
South of Saarbrücken, fortified buildings were hit by other fighter-bombers.
Last night, the railway center of Worms was heavily attacked by heavy bombers and another strong force bombed Duisburg. Berlin also was bombed twice during the night.
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 22, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 270
During the afternoon of February 21 (East Longitude Date), the attack on Iwo Island was continued in both the northern and southern sectors against increasingly heavy resistance. Intense mortar artillery and small arms fire is being encountered by our troops and in some areas extensive enemy minefields are slowing the advance. During the afternoon, there was no appreciable change in our lines.
Elements of the 3rd Marine Division began landing on the island in support of the 4th and 5th Divisions on February 21. The 3rd Division is under command of Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine.
In the south, flamethrowers and tanks are being used against well-entrenched enemy troops in the Mount Suribachi area. A counterattack launched by the enemy east of Mount Suribachi, shortly after noon, was thrown back. Numerous landmines have been encountered in this vicinity where four of our tanks were knocked out of action.
In the northern sector, bitter resistance was met south of the central Iwo airfield although minor gains were made by the Marines.
It is estimated that approximately 20,000 enemy troops were present on Iwo Island on D‑Day. Our forces have counted more than 850 enemy dead but information as to enemy casualties is incomplete.
During the afternoon, battleships, heavy cruisers and carrier aircraft continued to give close support to our troops with shelling and bombing.
Unloading of supplies over the beaches continues. The volume of mortar fire on the beaches is diminishing. Movement of equipment across the beaches is handicapped by very loose volcanic ash which in some sectors prevents the passage of wheeled vehicles.
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 271
During the night of February 21‑22, the northern lines of the U.S. Marines on Iwo Island successfully resisted the pressure of several heavy counterattacks accompanied by continuous enemy attempts to infiltrate into our positions.
The Marines launched an attack northward on February 22 toward the Central Iwo Airfield encountering heavy fire from small arms, mortars, and automatic weapons. At noon the troops were advancing slowly through hard rain and had knocked out numerous enemy gun positions and generally weakened the airdromes defenses. There was little change in the position of the front lines.
Coordinating their attack with the action in the northern sector our forces facing Mount Suribachi resumed the offensive. By noon they were beginning an assault on the face of the cliff under most difficult combat conditions.
Heavy naval gunfire continues on enemy‑held positions throughout the northern area of the island. In spite of the rain and adverse weather conditions, Fleet aircraft are supporting ground forces with heavy bombing, strafing and rocket attacks.
At sunset on February 21, a force of enemy bombers and fighters attacked our surface units in the area of Iwo Island causing some damage to fleet units. Seven planes were shot down by air patrols and anti-aircraft fire.
Total casualties on shore by 1745 on February 21 were estimated at 385 killed, and 4,168 wounded.
Unloading of supplies is continuing on the beaches under difficulties caused by the loose compositions of the volcano and shoreline.
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 272
The U.S. Marines on Iwo Island attacked stubbornly‑held enemy positions south of the Central Iwo airfield throughout the afternoon of February 22 making only slight gains. The attacking units continued to meet heavy rifle and mortar fire and during the later afternoon the enemy organized strong counterattacks on both flanks. Our artillery and naval guns brought these concentrations under heavy fire immediately. At about 1800 our troops appeared to have repulsed the assault on the left but no reports were available on the action on the right.
Progress was made in the assault on Mount Suribachi. By nightfall the Marines had surrounded the mountain at the southern end of the island and strong patrols were moving up the cliffs under attack by the enemy who was using hand grenades and demolition charges. Elimination of strongpoints was proceeding in this sector.
Fighting on February 22 was hampered by heavy rains.
Naval gunfire continued to support the ground troops with bombardment of enemy‑held areas of the island and carrier aircraft continued to attack.
A small group of enemy planes unsuccessfully attacked our surface forces in the area of Iwo Island and two other small groups approached it. Our fighters and anti-aircraft fire shot down six enemy planes.
Conditions on the beaches were generally improved during the day and a substantial quantity of supplies were unloaded.
At 1800 as of February 21, our casualties on Iwo Island were estimated at 644 killed, 4,168 wounded and 560 missing. A total of 1,222 enemy dead have been counted.
On February 18 (East Longitude Date), surface units of the U.S. Pacific Fleet bombarded Kurabu Saki, the southern end of Paramushiru in the Kurils.
On the following day, Liberators of the 11th Army Air Force attacked the same target. Five enemy fighters met our bombers which damaged four of the attackers. Navy search Venturas carried out rocket attacks on Minami Saki off Paramushiru on the same date damaging buildings.
Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas, bombed the airfield on Chichi Jima and Okimura Town on Haha Jima in the Bonins on February 20.
Marcus Island was attacked with unobserved results by Army Liberators of the Strategic Air Force on the same date.
Fighters and torpedo planes of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked targets on Babelthuap in the Palaus and on Yap in the Western Carolines on February 21.
Airstrip buildings on Pagan in the Marianas were strafed by Army fighters on February 22.
Neutralizing raids were continued by Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two in the Marshalls on February 21.
Operations against remnants of the Japanese garrisons on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in the Marianas and on Peleliu in the Palaus were continued during the week ending February 17. Routine patrols mopped up 94 enemy killed and 15 captured. In addition, elements of the 24th Regiment of Army Infantry on Saipan attacked a concentration of about 350 of the enemy in a mountainous portion of the Island killing or capturing 131 Japanese on February 15, 16 and 17. Our casualties in these operations in the Marianas were seven killed and three wounded.
The Pittsburgh Press (February 22, 1945)
AIR FLEETS RIP WEST WALL
U.S. Third Army smashes into heart of Saar
Weather in Europe best since summer
…
Iwo casualties hit 4,553
Reinforced Marines begin new push after stopping Jap attacks
By Frank Tremaine, United Press staff writer
Pledged to take Iwo at any cost, U.S. Marines today launched a new drive toward the No. 2 or central airfield on Iwo after hurling back Jap counterattacks. Other Marines were attacking the Japs on Mt. Suribachi.
ADM. NIMITZ HQ, Guam – U.S. Marines, thinned by 4,553 casualties and then reinforced with a new division, fought in the rain today toward the key airport in the center of Iwo Island.
A communiqué announced that the Marines had launched a new rush toward the Iwo airfield after a stonewall stand against several heavy counterattacks during the night.
**At midday, the Leathernecks were slugging slowly forward through hard rain. They knocked out several Jap gun positions and “generally weakened the airdrome’s defenses,” Guam headquarters announced.
“There was little change in positions of the front line,” Adm. Chester W. Nimitz reported, revealing that counterblows last night had checked the Marine push northward on the island.
With arrival of elements of a third division on Iwo, the biggest Marine force ever thrown into one operation – some 40,000 – was slugging it out toe to toe with the fanatical Jap defenders.
Adm. Nimitz’s communiqué revealed that by 5:45 p.m. yesterday Guam Time (3:45 a.m. yesterday ET), the Marine casualties ashore on Iwo had mounted to an estimated 385 killed and 4,168 wounded.
As of 8 a.m. yesterday, 3,650 Marines were killed, wounded or missing.
The figures indicated more than 900 casualties in one day.
Today, the Marines at the center of the Iwo line attacked northward toward the airport in the center of the island. They breasted heavy fire from small arms, mortars and automatic weapons.
Coupled with repeated counterattacks during the night were incessant Jap attempts to infiltrate the American positions. Adm. Nimitz said that on the line across the island the Marines “successfully resisted the pressure” of the counterattacks.
On the southern end of the island, Marine forces at noon began an assault on the face of Mt. Suribachi, from the heights of which the Japs were shelling the American-held strip across Iwo.
U.S. warships standing off Iwo maintained a steady bombardment of the Jap positions. Naval planes defied rain and other unfavorable weather conditions to support the Marines with heavy bombing, strafing and rocket attacks.
A force of Jap bombers and fighters attacked the ships off the island at sunset yesterday. Adm. Nimitz said they caused “some damage.” Seven Jap planes were shot down by air patrols and anti-aircraft gunners.
“Unloading of supplies is continuing on the beaches under difficulties caused by the loose composition of the volcanic ash shoreline,” the communiqué reported.
Tough, battle-wise Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, commander of the expeditionary force, threw elements of a third division into the battle yesterday. Never before in the Marines’ 169-year history have so many divisions fought together in a single operation.
The invasion, entering its fourth day, was proving the toughest of the Pacific campaign. Only a single Jap prisoner has been captured, but more than 850 Jap bodies have been counted. Hundreds more probably were taken away by the enemy.
Tokyo broadcasts set U.S. casualties at 12,000 men killed or wounded up to last night and asserted that a third division had to be brought in because the original two divisions suffered 50 percent losses. The reinforcements were said to have landed from 30 large transports.
Tokyo said:
All units of our garrison force on Iwo Jima simultaneously carried out suicidal attacks beginning at midnight February 20 and all artillery likewise went into action, concentrating cross fire on the massed enemy line and inflicting still greater losses on the enemy.
200 yards from field
Maj. Gen. Clifton B. Cates’ 4th Marine Division fought uphill with tommy guns, bayonets and grenades to within 200 yards of the plateau-top Motoyama Airfield No. 2 in a frontal assault yesterday.
The Marines advanced in the face of almost point-blank machine-gun, mortar and rifle fire poured down on them from Jap positions on commanding heights. Casualties rose steadily, but the advance continued.
The Japs were resisting from steel-shielded foxholes, concrete and steel pillboxes and recessed caves. Many had to be rooted out with bayonets.
Elements of the 5th Marine Division under Maj. Gen. Keller E. Rockey skirted the southern end, of the airfield from the west for a flank attack.
4 tanks knocked out
At the southern end of the beachhead area, other Marines were assaulting the isolated Suribachi volcano with flamethrowers and tanks. Numerous land mines were slowing the advance, and a communiqué conceded that four U.S. tanks had been knocked out in that sector.
The Japs counterattacked east of Suribachi shortly after noon yesterday, but were thrown back. The volcano was studded with gun emplacements, most of which were still in action despite a week of ceaseless air and naval bombardment.
3rd Division in battle
The latest Marine unit to be thrown into battle was the 3rd Marine Division under Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine, former chief of staff of Fleet Marine Forces in the Pacific. It received its baptism of fire November 1, 1943, on Bougainville and also spearheaded the liberation of Guam.
A Tokyo broadcast said the “Kamikaze Special Attack Corps” sank two U.S. aircraft carriers and a battleship Monday night off Iwo. Two other warships were said to have been set afire.
‘A very tough proposition’ –
Whatever the cost, Yanks will take Iwo, Marine leader says
Gen. Smith calls battle ‘most difficult problem’ for Leathernecks in 168 years
By Mac R. Johnson, United Press staff writer
ABOARD ADM. TURNER’S FLAGSHIP OFF IWO JIMA – Lt. Gen. Holland M. Smith, commander of the Fleet Marine Force of the Pacific, said today the Americans will capture Iwo Jima no matter what the cost.
Gen. Smith said the battle now taking place is “the most difficult problem with which the Marine Corps has been confronted in 168 years.”
“We expect to take this island and while it will be at a severe cost, it is our assigned mission,” he said.
The island is so small, he said, that it is almost impossible to maneuver ground forces. Therefore, frontal attacks on strongly fortified Jap positions are necessary.
Gen. Smith was deadly serious. His lips were set in a firm line and when he talked to correspondents, his voice was low-pitched.
He said:
We are up against a very tough proposition. We anticipated a severe battle and we are making slow progress. The beaches caused us some very serious difficulties due to its character.
There is a large amount of wreckage on the beach due to the destruction of our boats in landing operations. In spite of these difficulties, however, there have been sufficient water rations and ammunition to carry on the battle.
The casualties have not been any greater than I anticipated. It is my considered opinion that naval gunfire and air support since D-Day have been all that we could expect.
Gen. Smith said the Japs had been living in underground tunnels and caves.
“It must not be forgotten that the Japs consider Iwo Jima as the homeland,” he said. “There is every indication that our fanatical enemy will fight to the bitter end.”
He said that he believed that when the beaches are better organized and roads improved, the Americans will progress faster.
Two miles of Iwo beach filled with wreckage – all ours
Japs aimed weapons at shore long before Yanks landed – and they didn’t miss
By Sgt. David Dempsey, USMC combat correspondent
IWO JIMA – The invasion beach of this island, stormed four days ago by Marines in the face of blistering Jap mortar and artillery fire, today is a scene of indescribable wreckage – all of it ours.
For two miles extending from Mt. Suribachi at the southern tip of the island is a thick layer of debris. Wrecked hulls of scores of boats testify to the price we paid to get our troops ashore on this vital island.
For two continuous days and nights, Jap artillery, rockets and heavy mortars laid a curtain of fire along the shore. Their weapons had been aimed at the beach long before we landed. They couldn’t miss and they didn’t.
Volcanic sand on this beach is so soft that many of our vehicles were mired down before they had gone 10 feet. In addition, a terrace a few yards from the water hampered their movements so that they became an easy prey for Jap gunners.
Only a few trucks got ashore and for two days practically all supplies moved by hand to the front. Even the unconquerable jeep was stuck.
One can see amphibian tractors turned upside down like pancakes on a griddle; derricks brought ashore to unload cargo are tilted at insane angles where shells blasted them; anti-tank guns were smashed before they had a chance to fire a shot. Even some bulldozers landed too early to clear a path for following vehicles. Artillery could not be landed for 24 hours.
Packs, clothing, gas masks and toilet articles, many of them ripped, by shrapnel, are scattered across the sand for five miles. Rifles are blown in half. Even letters are strewn among the debris as though the war insisted on prying into a man’s personal life.
Scattered amid the wreckage is death. Perhaps the real heroes of this battle for Iwo Jima are the boys who sweated out the invasion. They are the coxswains who steered the landing boats through a gauntlet of fire and who didn’t get back. They are the unloading parties who for one entire day unloaded hardly a boat because few boats made it.
Instead, they hugged the beach while shells hit into the sand all around them.
On D-Day, beach parties suffered heavy casualties in killed and wounded.
And there were the aid and evacuation stations which couldn’t move up to the comparative safety of the forward area. Our battalion aid station lost 11 of its 26 corpsmen in the first two days.
Death is not a pretty sight, but it has taken possession of our beach. An officer in charge of a tank landing boat received a direct shell hit while trying to free his boat from the sand. He was blown in half. A life preserver supports the trunk of his body in the water.
Marines killed on the beach were buried under the sand as the tide came in.
On the third day, we began to get vehicles and supplies ashore in quantity. Wire matting made the beach passable and naval gunfire knocked out most of the Jap artillery.
The miracle was that we were able to supply our troops at all during the two days of increasing shelling on this beach.
The boys who did it, as the saying goes, deserve a medal, but a lot of them won’t be around when the medals are passed out.
U.S. casualties top 800,000 mark
WASHINGTON (UP) – U.S. combat casualties announced here passed the 800,000 mark today.
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson also announced that Allied armies have captured more than 900,000 Germans in Western Europe since D-Day. These are in addition to the 100,692 German prisoners taken in Sicily and Italy and 134,300 taken in North Africa.
Mr. Stimson said U.S. Army casualties on all fronts compiled through February 14 were 711,497. This figure reflected actual events through the middle of January.
Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard casualties to date have totaled 89,665. The grand total of 801,162 was an increase of 18,982 over last week’s total.
The Army and Navy casualties included:
| Army | Navy | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Killed | 138,723 | 33,862 | 172,585 |
| Wounded | 420,465 | 40,783 | 461,248 |
| Missing | 92,223 | 10,546 | 102,769 |
| Prisoners | 60,086 | 4,474 | 64,560 |
| Totals | 711,497 | 89,665 | 801,162 |
Of the wounded, Mr. Stimson said, nearly half have returned to duty.