America at war! (1941–) – Part 4

Führer HQ (March 4, 1945)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

Im slowakischen Erzgebirge setzte der Feind seine Angriffe gegen den Frontbogen von Schemnitz und Altsohl fort und erzielte bei und westlich Karpfen geringe Einbrüche. Volksgrenadiere fingen südlich der Hohen Tatra die Angriffe eines sowjetischen Schützenverbandes im Hauptkampffeld auf.

Schwächere Angriffe der Bolschewisten im schlesischen Raum brachen am Nord- und Ostrand des Zobten im Abwehrfeuer zusammen. Beiderseits Lauban verbesserten unsere Angriffsgruppen gegen zähen Widerstand und zahlreiche Gegenangriffe sowjetischer Panzerverbände auch gestern ihre Stellungen und schossen 31 feindliche Panzer ab. Die Kampftätigkeit an der Neiße- und Oderfront blieb auf vereinzelte erfolglose Aufklärungsvorstöße der Sowjets beschränkt.

Zwischen Stargard und Dramburg in Pommern warfen die Bolschewisten starke Teile von zwei Panzerarmeen in den Kampf und drängten die eigenen Abwehrkräfte trotz verbissener Gegenwehr über die Linie Daher–Schiefelbein zurück. Die aus dem Raum Bublitz nach Norden vorgestoßenen sowjetischen Panzerverbände wurden östlich Köslin und bei Schlawe aufgefangen. Rummelsburg ging nach hartem Kampf verloren. Schlacht- und Jagdflugzeuge vernichteten in diesem Raum wiederum 24 sowjetische Panzer.

Durch das Beispiel ihrer Offiziere mitgerissen, vereitelten unsere tapferen Truppen an den Brennpunkten der Abwehrschlacht in Ostpreußen in entschlossenen Gegenstößen weiterhin alle Durchbruchsversuche der Bolschewisten.

In Kurland nahm der Feind südöstlich Libau seihe Angriffe nach starker Feuervorbereitung wieder auf, blieb jedoch nach geringen Anfangserfolgen innerhalb des Hauptkampffeldes liegen.

Im Westen dauert die Materialschlacht nach Zuführung neuer feindlicher Kräfte in unverminderter Stärke an. Vom Rheinknie bei Rees bis Geldern schlugen unsere Truppen starke Angriffe blutig zurück. Südöstlich davon bis zum Rhein konnte der Gegner unsere Verbände in erbittertem Ringen zurückdrücken und in Krefeld eindringen.

Am Erft-Abschnitt bis in den Raum nördlich Euskirchen wurde der Feind, nachdem er den Fluss auf breiter Front nach Osten überschritten hatte, in Gegenstößen wieder aufgefangen.

Beiderseits Prüm und an der Kyll, östlich Bitburg, dauern die Stellungskämpfe an, ohne dass die angreifenden Amerikaner über örtliche Bodengewinne hinauskamen. Im Raum von Forbach, bei Saargemünd und in den unteren Vogesen führte der Gegner zahlreiche Ablenkungs- und Fesselungsangriffe.

Nach bisher vorliegenden Meldungen vernichteten unsere Truppen an der Westfront gestern 75 feindliche Panzer.

In Mittelitalien nahm der Feind nordwestlich Poretta seine Angriffe mit stärket Artillerie- und Schlachtfliegerunterstützung wieder auf. Nach harten Kämpfen konnte er übers den Monte Belvedere und Monte della Torrazza etwa drei Kilometer nach Norden vordringen. Ein stärkerer Angriff der Briten am Senio nördlich Faenza scheiterte. Auf der Landzunge östlich des Comacchiosees wurde ein örtlicher Einbruch abgeriegelt.

Die Besatzung der kleinen Insel Piscopi nordwestlich Rhodos hat vier Monate lang beträchtliche feindliche Seestreitkräfte gebunden. Die Kompanie wurde jetzt, nachdem sie zahlreiche Angriffe des Gegners abgewiesen hatte, von überlegenem Feind überwältigt.

Amerikanische Bomberverbände unternahmen am Tage weiträumige Angriffe gegen das Reichsgebiet, wobei vor allem Personenverluste und Schäden in Chemnitz, Magdeburg, Hannover und Bielefeld entstanden. In der Nacht war Dortmund das Ziel eines britischen Terrorangriffs. Kampfflugzeuge stießen bis in den Raum Berlin vor. Luftverteidigungskräfte brachten nach bisherigen Meldungen 39, meist viermotorige Bomber zum Absturz.

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (March 4, 1945)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
041100A March

TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR
(2) NAVY DEPARTMENT

TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(3) TAC HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) MAIN 12 ARMY GP
(5) AIR STAFF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) UNITED KINGDOM BASE
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM ZONE
(18) SHAEF REAR
(19) SHAEF MAIN
(20) PRO, ROME
(21) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP 
(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 330

UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces east of the Hochwald Forest are fighting against fierce enemy resistance. We have occupied Kevelaer and to the west have advanced beyond the villages of Bergen and Langstraat on the right bank of the Meuse River. Contact has been made between elements of our forces advancing from the Roer and our units moving southward from the Reichwald. Farther south we have occupied Geldern, Sevelen and Kempen.

Enemy troops, defense positions, observation posts, road transport and barges in an area around Xanten and near Sonsbeck; objectives in the Wesel area, and rail and road traffic to the eastward were targets for medium, light and fighter-bombers and rocket-firing fighters.

The city of Krefeld has been completely cleared of the enemy. Three bridges across the Rhine in the Neuss-Düsseldorf area were blown by the Germans.

We are fighting in Frimmersdorf, southwest of Grevenbroich, and in Stommeln, northwest of Cologne while other units have reached Pulheim, four miles from the outskirts of Cologne. In this area Büsdorf, Fliesteden, Manstedten and Geyen have been cleared.

Mödrath, on the Düren-Cologne road, and Herrig, Lechenich, Ahrem and Weilerswist, southwest of Cologne also have been cleared.

Enemy positions north of Krefeld, communications on both sides of the Rhine and rail traffic around Cologne were hit by fighter-bombers.

Zülpich has been cleared.

Our forces across the Erft River north of Euskirchen, repulsed a counterattack supported by tanks and self-propelled guns after a hard fight.

We have crossed the Schwammenauel Dam and have mopped up the area between the Schwammenauel Lake and the Urft Lake to the south. Numerous minefields were encountered.

Northeast of Prüm, we have entered Weinsheim, and repulsed a small counterattack in that area. South of Prüm, our armor has crossed the Nims River. We have captured Oberlauch, Niederlauch, Schönecken and Dingdorf. A bridge at Schönecken was taken intact.

Our units hold the high ground overlooking the Nims River in the area ten miles northwest of Bitburg. We have captured Heilenbach.

Armored elements have reached the junction of the Kyll River and the Moselle River northeast of Trier. Southwest of Trier, we have taken Langsur, Igel, Zewen and Euren.

Two counterattacks were repulsed by our units in the area two miles southwest of Zerf.

Fortified towns in the area of Bitburg and Trier were attacked by fighter-bombers.

Breaking a week’s lull, our forces made limited gains in an attack in Forbach against stiff resistance.

Farther east, a slight gain was made north of Bübingen on the east bank of the Saar River in Germany.

Fighter-bombers set on fire a large ammunition dump at Eschringen east of Forbach, and attacked rail traffic in the Kaiserslautern area.

In northern Alsace and along the Rhine River, there was little activity.

Allied forces in the west captured 9,599 prisoners 2 March.

Medium and light bombers attacked supply and communications targets in the Ruhr Bassin and western Germany, including ordnance and motor repair depots at Schweim, Bergisch-Born, northeast of Cologne, Giessen, and Wiesbaden, rail bridges at Remagen and Heimersheim between Bonn and Koblenz, and at Simmern, an ammunition dump at Rheinbach, roadblocks at Kirn and a storage depot at Nahbollenbach to the southwest.

Oil, rail, and industrial targets over a wide area of Germany were attacked by escorted heavy bombers in very great strength. They included railyards at Chemnitz, synthetic oil plants at Magdeburg and Ruhland, north of Dresden, oil refineries and other factories in the Braunschweig and Hanover areas and a road and rail bridge spanning the Weser River at Nienburg, northwest of Hanover. Fighters strafed rail transport and destroyed 20 enemy aircraft on the ground. Ten enemy aircraft were destroyed in the air.

Last night, heavy bombers were over Germany in strength with Kamen as the main objective. Würzburg was also bombed. Light bombers again attacked targets in Berlin.

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

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

Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others

ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section

NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA4655

AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/

U.S. Navy Department (March 4, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 288

Small local advances which left the lines substantially unchanged were made by the Marines on Iwo Island on March 4 (East Longitude Date). Enemy resistance stiffened in all sectors and small arms fire mounted in intensity as our troops attacked. The enemy organized a counterattack in the 5th Division Sector but was repulsed with the loss of several hundred men. The 4th Division fighting over extremely difficult terrain eliminated a strong center of resistance in the morning. Hand-to-hand fighting was in progress in the 5th Division zone of action where the ground is rough and naturally suited to defensive operations. The southern Iwo airfield came under scattered artillery fire during the day as evacuation planes continued to land and take off.

By 1800 on March 3, a total of 12,864 enemy dead had been counted and 81 prisoners, of whom 45 are Koreans and 36 Japanese, had been captured.

The guns of fleet units covered the ground troops during the night of March 3, and supported the attack on the following day.

Carrier aircraft and 7th Army Air Force Liberators operating under the strategic air force attacked Chichi Jima in the Bonins with bombs and rockets on March 3.

Corsair and Hellcat Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing made bombing and rocket attacks on enemy-held islands in the Palaus on March 3. One plane was shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

Marine fighters bombed Yap in the Western Carolines on the same date.

Fighters of the 4th MarAirWing and Mitchell bombers strafed and bombed airfields and other installations on Ponape in the Eastern Carolines on March 3.

Navy search planes of Fleet Air Wing Two continued neutralizing attacks on enemy-held bases in the Marshalls on March 3.

The Pittsburgh Press (March 4, 1945)

BIG FORCE OF B-29S HITS TOKYO
Capital blasted by Superfortresses for 11th time

Probably over 200 planes in attack

2 Nazi Rhine armies wiped out

Canadian, U.S. units join – Germans wreck Duesseldorf bridges

U.S. warships shell isle 460 miles south of Japan’s mainland

Bombardment follows carrier plane attack on Ryukyus wrecking 91 planes and 55 ships

Yanks hem in Japs on Iwo

Marines push foe back to sea

GUAM (UP) – U.S. Marines pushed the bitterly-resisting Jap defenders of Iwo Island back toward the sea Saturday as the 3rd and 5th Divisions advanced 200 to 400 yards through intense enemy fire, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced today.

The American troops were now within 500 yards of the northern tip of the island.

The Marines drove the Japs into a long narrow arc-like sector – an area so small that carrier aircraft were unable to strike effectively at the decimated enemy garrison.

U.S. ships now are unloading on both eastern and western coasts of the tiny embattled island. only 750 miles from Tokyo. Land-based aircraft are using the southern airfield to evacuate wounded men.

The 5th Division on the left flank and the 3rd Division in the center of the front line hacked out bloody gains through the main Jap defenses. But the 4th Division on the right flank made slow progress against heavy resistance.

Although within 500 yards of splitting the enemy forces, the Marines were still meeting fierce opposition. Marine artillery supported the American drive all along the line.

Between one-half and three-fourths of the 20,000 Jap troops on the island when the Marines landed were estimated to have been killed or severely wounded. For the remainder death was not far away.

Front dispatches disclosed that enemy planes were dropping water to the trapped and thirst-crazed Jap troops.

A 700-yard Marine advance Friday, one of the longest of the campaign, was made after a terrific barrage by artillery, naval guns and carrier aircraft. Now the Marines are nearing the craggy northeast coast and when they reach it, they will have split Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi’s fanatical garrison.

The American Leathernecks held all three airfields on the island after occupation of the Motoyama Airfield No. 3, an 800-yard fighter strip still in construction.

Germans renew robot bombing

Last reprisal fling against Britain hinted

Coal royalty has ‘merit,’ operator says

But owners would want fund’s control

Americas agree on armed peace

Hemisphere warns against aggression


Civilians to get penicillin soon

Japs burn to death 150 U.S. prisoners

Saturday, March 3, 1945

MANILA, Philippines (UP) – U.S. troops on newly-invaded Palawan Islands today found the bones and charred clothing of 150 U.S. war prisoners reported burned to death by the Japs last December.

A survivor, Cpl. Elmo Deal of Yuba City, California, said the men were herded into an air raid shelter and it was set afire. Those who tried to escape were mowed down by Jap machine gunners, Cpl. Deal said. He and four others were the only ones to escape.

Eisenhower warns German civilians

‘Stay where you are,’ they are told
By the United Press

‘Victory blitz’ –
Nazi oil plants, troops blasted

Berlin is bombed 12th straight night

Yanks seize two islands near Luzon

Japs below Manila face envelopment

Ride through Nazi area nets Yanks 26 prisoners

German MP stops U.S. mess trucks so troops can surrender with their arms
By B. J. McQuaid


19th century boom period expanded ancient Cologne

City got name from wife of Roman emperor in 50 AD – old town is west of Rhine

Artillery clashes increase in Italy

Racial bill due in New Jersey

Germans face daily raids by 13,000 planes

Concentrated blows planned at Yalta
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

WPB may avert newsprint cut

Larger inventories may be shared

WLB limits pay increase in GMC case

Cost-of-living boost turned down


Hopes mount for ending strikes of 38,000 in Detroit

Union local officers reverse stand, promise to appeal to men to return