America at war! (1941–) – Part 5

1100

Führer HQ (April 4, 1945)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

Im Südabschnitt der Ostfront hält der feindliche Druck zwischen der Drau und der oberen Raab an. Südlich Wien fingen unsere Truppen die über Baden vorgedrungenen Sowjets in erbitterten Kämpfen auf und schossen zahlreiche Panzer ab. Zwischen dem Neusiedler See und der Donau sowie am Verteidigungsring von Preßburg wurden stärkere Angriffe des Gegners nach anfänglichem Geländegewinn zum Stehen gebracht. In den Kleinen Karpaten und beiderseits der Waag konnten die Bolschewisten unsere Linien an einzelnen Stellen zurückdrücken, wurden im Übrigen aber abgewiesen.

In Oberschlesien vereitelten unsere Divisionen zwischen Loslau und Jägerndorf erneute Durchbruchsversuche des Feindes. Gegen die Festung Breslau setzte der Gegner seine Angriffe mit starken Kräften fort. An der Westfront eingebrochene Sowjets wurden nach schweren Kämpfen abgeriegelt. An der Westküste der Danziger Bucht stehen unsere Truppen in der Oxhöfter Kämpe und in der westlichen Weichselniederung weiterhin in schwerem Kampf gegen fortgesetzte starke Angriffe. Nordwestlich Doblen scheiterten wiederholte Angriffe der Bolschewisten.

Im Westen drückten die Engländer unsere Gefechtsvorposten am Waal beiderseits Arnheim nach schweren Kämpfen auf das nördliche Stromufer zurück. An der Issel wie im Raum zwischen Henglo und den nordwestlichen Ausläufern des Teutoburger Waldes sind heftige Angriffe des Feindes und eigene Gegenangriffe im Gange. Panzergrenadiere stießen nordwestlich Burgsteinfurt in die tiefe Flanke des Gegners und vernichteten eine Panzergruppe. In den Straßen von Rheine und Osnabrück wird gekämpft. Über Herford stoßen Panzerspitzen gegen das Gebiet von Bad Oeynhausen vor, während die Besatzung von Münster dem Feind weiter verbissen Widerstand leistet. Im Nordabschnitt der Westfront wurden gestern 54 Panzer abgeschossen.

An der Sieg wiesen unsere Verbände zahlreiche Angriffe zurück und riegelten einzelne örtliche Einbrüche ab. Auch die am Rothaar-Gebirge angreifenden Amerikaner gewannen nur geringfügig Boden.

In Thüringen verteidigen unsere Besatzungen Eisenach und Meiningen. An ihnen vorbeistoßend, gelangten feindliche Kräfte bis in den Raum von Gotha und Suhl. Die Amerikaner verloren in diesen Kämpfen 23 Panzer.

Auch im östlichen Spessart und am Main beiderseits Würzburg wurde die Verteidigung gefestigt. Südlich Ochsenfurt wurde eine schwächere feindliche Panzergruppe zurückgeworfen. Westlich Wimpfen am Neckar musste der Gegner vor den Angriffen unserer Gebirgsjäger zurückweichen. In der Rheinebene südwestlich Bruchsal blieben seine Angriffe in unserem Abwehrfeuer liegen.

Auf der Landbrücke zwischen der Adria und dem Comacchio-See wurden nach starken feindlichen Angriffen unsere Stellungen um wenige Kilometer an den Kanal bei Porto Garibaldi zurückgenommen.

Anglo-amerikanische Bomberverbände griffen gestern Orte in Nord- und Mitteldeutschland an und verursachten besonders schwere Schäden in der Stadt Kiel. In der Nacht war der Großraum Berlin das Ziel britischer Bombenangriffe.

1101

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (April 4, 1945)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
041100A April

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. 361

UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces north of Nijmegen have cleared a large area between the Waal and the Neder Rijn. To the northeast along the Twente Canal we have cleared Lochem and have advanced beyond the town to the west.

Northeast of Enschede, we captured Nordhorn. Farther east, our forces advanced through difficult country and have reached the outskirts of Osnabrück.

Münster has been cleared. Northeast of Bielefeld we crossed the Werra River south of Herford and have advanced to the northeast. Our units crossed the Bielefeld-Paderborn road and pushed beyond it to the east.

Railyards at Holzminden and Hameln were bombed by medium and light bombers.

On the northern side of the Ruhr Pocket, our forces crossed the Lippe-Seiten Canal and are fighting in the outskirts of Hamm. To the southeast, we captured Oestereiden and Rüthen.

Winterberg is in our hands, and in the area to the south we made gains of up to two miles toward the west. We repulsed a counterattack southwest of Winterberg and are fighting in Bad Berleburg.

Our forces pushing northward along the southern edge of the Ruhr Pocket crossed the Sieg River ten miles north of Siegen which is in our hands. Netphen, to the northeast, was taken after a three-hour battle.

Southeast of Paderborn, our infantry is advancing into the Hardehausen Forest, where an estimated 1,000 German infantrymen and 20 tanks were bypassed by our spearheads. This enemy force made two unsuccessful counterattacks in the vicinity of Blomenberg and eight of its tanks were knocked out in the first attack. We have cleared Helmern and Borgentreich northwest and northeast of Warburg which has been captured. Fighting continues in Kassel.

German barracks and troop concentrations at Nordhausen, east of Kassel, were bombed by heavy bombers. Airfields at Thal and west of Erfurt were attacked by fighter-bombers.

Fanatical enemy resistance in Aschaffenburg was overcome after several days’ severe fighting. We made gains up to 10 miles to the northeast, reaching Florsbach.

At Würzburg, our infantry, with armor support, crossed the Main River in assault boats and entered the city. Another crossing was made some eight miles to the south. We drove two miles beyond the river but an enemy counterattack cost some of the gains.

Armored columns advancing up to Neckar River closed on Heilbronn farther north and west.

Among 4,400 prisoners taken, mostly in the Heilbronn-Würzburg-Aschaffenburg sector, was another German general who was a hospital patient.

Allied forces in the west captured 27,771 prisoners 2 April.

Artillery positions, east of Aschaffenburg and enemy armor and strongpoints in the outskirts of Würzburg were bombed and strafed by fighter-bombers. Railyards at Würzburg and Stuttgart were attacked by other fighter-bombers.

Three large U-boat bases, the naval base and the shipbuilding center of Kiel were attacked yesterday by escorted heavy bombers in great strength.

Road and rail transport in wide areas stretching from Amersfoort, Holland to Bremen, Germany and motor transport and armor in the Ruhr were attacked by fighter-bombers.

Targets in Berlin and enemy movements in the areas of Bremen, Hamburg, Stendal and Magdeburg were attacked last night by light bombers.

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/
1102

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

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 321

The East Coast of Okinawa Island from Yaka in the north to Kuba Town in the south was brought under the control of the Tenth Army on April 4 (East Longitude Date). Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps pushing north and east simultaneously established their front line on the Isthmus of Okinawa about 3,000 to 4,000 yards north of Ishikawa and cap­tured all sections of the east coast in their zone of action. In the south, the XXIV Army Corps advanced steadily and at nightfall were holding a line between Uchi Tomari on the West Coast, Kamiyama in the center of the island, and a point just north of Nakagusuku on the east coast. The enemy offered scattered resistance to the advances of our troops. Concentrations of troops and vehicles in the southern part of the island were brought under fire by the guns of surface units of the fleet and by carrier aircraft supporting the attack. The unloading of supplies for the Expeditionary Forces ashore con­tinues satisfactorily.

The enemy made several small air attacks against our surface forces early in the morning of April 4. Four of his aircraft were shot down.

Aircraft from a carrier task group commanded by RADM Frederick C. Sherman, USN, attacked aircraft, airfields, and other installations in the Amami Group on April 3. The following damage was inflicted on the enemy:

  • Forty-five aircraft shot out of the air. Two aircraft destroyed on the ground. Nine aircraft damaged on the ground.

  • Twenty-five small craft damaged or destroyed. Two small cargo ships damaged. One motor torpedo boat damaged. Fuel dumps and buildings set afire.

Corsair and Hellcat fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed warehouse and supply areas in the Palaus on April 4. On the same date, Marine fighters struck piers at Yap in the western Carolines.

On April 3, 4th MarAirWing planes continued neutralizing attacks on enemy-held bases in the Marshalls.

1103

The Pittsburgh Press (April 4, 1945)

Patton drives to block Nazi escape to Bavaria

Third Army advances 23 miles toward link with west-bound Reds

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1104

Only themselves to blame –
Freed slaves roam Reich, taking revenge on former masters

They drink Germans’ schnapps, seize food, horses, while terrified people plead for aid
By Richard D. McMillan, United Press staff writer

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1105

Yanks drive for two more Jap airfields

Okinawa invaders push down coasts

GUAM (UP) – Tenth Army columns pushed down the east and west coasts of Okinawa today within striking distance of two more Jap airfields and only six miles or less from Naha, capital of the island.

Resistance was still negligible as the greatest invasion of the Pacific war went into its fourth day only 362 miles southwest of Japan. But the enemy garrison of 60,000 may make its first stand in the next few hours along a line across the narrow isthmus just north of the airfields.

A German DNB dispatch from Tokyo said U.S. troops made a new landing on Okinawa Tuesday south of the original beachhead.

A Jap communiqué claimed that six more U.S. transports, a battleship and four cruisers had been sunk in the invasion armada. An additional destroyer and an unidentified ship were listed as damaged.

Seize 7-mile stretch

The 7th Infantry Division seized nearly seven miles of the east coast in a drive along the Nakagusuku Bay naval anchorage yesterday to Kuba, four miles north of the uncompleted Yonabaru Airfield.

Another army division smashing down the west coast against moderate opposition reached Chiyunna, four miles north of Machinato Airfield and six miles north of Naha, a city of 65,000.

Two other airfields farther north were captured by the Americans on the first day of the invasion and were already in operation.

The Army forces were under orders to advance at all possible speed in an attempt to break through the narrow isthmus separating the south-central budge of the island from the southern bulge in which Naha is situated.

‘Keep driving ahead’

“Keep on driving ahead,” Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge, commander of the XXIV Army Corps, told his field commanders. “We can’t kill Japs standing still.”

At the northern end of the front, Maj. Gen. Roy S. Geiger’s III Marine Amphibious Corps also slashed across the island to the east coast in advances of up to 3½ miles.

The Marines reached the east coast, near the Katchin Peninsula, northern arm of Nakagusuku Bay, and sealed off that narrow jut of land. The thrust completed a second steel band across the southern third of the island.

The entire Jap garrison was believed concentrated in the southern bulge of Okinawa surrounding Naha for a fight to the death. A majority of the island’s 435,000 civilians probably moved to the more rugged northern two-thirds of the island.

Front dispatches said the main advance on Naha down the west coast was being slowed by the necessity of bridging deep ravines. The Japs blew up three bridges within a few miles and army engineers were throwing prefabricated Bailey bridges across the ravines under enemy fire.

Big guns of the 1,400-ship invasion armada joined some 1,500 carrier planes in supporting the ground forces with an around-the-clock bombardment of Naha and other strongpoints on Okinawa, as well as on other Jap islands in the Ryukyu chain.

Targets in the Sakishima Islands southwest of Okinawa were attacked by carrier planes yesterday.

The unloading of supplies across the beach of Okinawa continued “satisfactorily,” an American communiqué said. It reported that 11 counterattacking enemy planes were shot down over the island by anti-aircraft guns and carrier planes.

The communiqué also revealed that carrier planes destroyed or damaged 39 Jap ships and small craft and 41 enemy aircraft in the last two days of the pre-invasion bombardment of the Ryukyus Saturday and Sunday.

Summary of the bombardment showed:

SHIPPING:

  • Sunk: Three motor torpedo boats, two small cargo ships, nine small craft.
  • Probably sunk: One small cargo ship, four small craft.
  • Damaged: One motor torpedo boat, four small cargo ships, one lugger, 14 small craft.

AIRCRAFT:

  • Shot down: 17
  • Destroyed on the ground: 5
  • Damaged: 19

GROUND INSTALLATIONS:
Six submarine pens on Unten Bay, Okinawa, destroyed and another heavily damaged. A mill, barracks, radio stations, pillboxes, buildings, docks, gun positions and covered revetments destroyed or damaged on Okinawa. Other installations on Tokuno, Amami, Kikai and Minami Daito Islands hit heavily.

1106

Yanks invade isle close to Borneo

Flank Philippines’ Sulu Archipelago

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1107

Gen. Rose’s rabbi father hopes son didn’t die in vain

Nearly 90, he prays Jehovah will accept Passover week dearth as sacrifice for others

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1108

Roosevelt on spot in Yalta mix-up

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Allied juncture declared near

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1109

I DARE SAY —
Cheap! (A true story)

By Florence Fisher Parry

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1110

WLB to fight steel union’s ‘blacklist’ plan

Agreement called coercion of workers
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer

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1111

Navy decreases its draft calls

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10,000 homeless in Louisiana flood

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1112

Iwo produces war’s first ‘basket cases’

Japs shoot to cripple rather than kill
By Peggy Hull, North American Newspaper Alliance

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1113

Stand by one diehard Nazi blocks Duisburg surrender

Civilians cheer Americans entering city for attempt to persuade captain to yield
By Robert Vermillion, United Press staff writer

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1114

U-boat bases battered for second day

U.S. heavies attack Kiel and Hamburg

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German pockets wiped out in Italy

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1115

New plot to oust Hitler reported

Rundstedt executed, Stockholm hears

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1116

Superfortresses fire cities near Tokyo

Flames out of control for three hours

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1117

Court upholds Texas labor law

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1118

Japs ordered to think twice before hara-kiri

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1119

A lot of the Germans still don’t know war – some cities untouched

Stores in Heidelberg sell radios and other household gadgets unobtainable in U.S.
By Henry J. Taylor

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