Katastrophale Ernteaussichten für die Feinde
Die Versprechungen von Lebensmitteln gibt Amerika als bewusste Täuschung zu
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Führer HQ (April 6, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Im Süden der Ostfront wurden an der Mur, nordwestlich Steinamanger, im Raum südwestlich und östlich Wien heftige Angriffe der Bolschewisten abgewiesen. An der oberen Raab gewannen unsere Verbände Feldbach und Fehring im Gegenangriff zurück und säuberten weiteres Gelände vom Feind. Preßburg ging nach harten Häuserkämpfen verloren. Östlich der March stehen unsere Truppen in schwerem Abwehrkampf gegen die in westlicher und nordwestlicher Richtung angreifenden Sowjets.
Zwischen den West-Beskiden und- dem Stettiner Haff fanden keine größeren Kampfhandlungen statt. Nur gegen die Westfront von Breslau setzte der Gegner seine starken Angriffe fort. Er wurde bis auf einige inzwischen abgeriegelte Einbrüche von der tapferen Besatzung abgewiesen. Ein Festungsregiment unter Führung von Major Mohr hat sich in den harten Abwehrkämpfen um Breslau durch unerschütterliche Standfestigkeit und entschlossene Gegenstöße besonders hervorgetan.
Nördlich Gotenhafen lösten sich unsere nur noch auf schmalem Küstenstreifen kämpfenden Verbände vom Feind und setzten zur Putziger Nehrung über. Durch ihr zähes Ausharren haben sie starke Kräfte des Gegners längere Zeit gebunden und die Einfahrt zum Hafen gesperrt. Gegen den Westrand der Weichselniederurig und die Festungsfront Königsberg führten die Bolschewisten zahlreiche Angriffe, die abgewiesen wurden.
Jagdflieger wehrten vor der westnorwegischen Küste Angriffe eines britischen Kampfverbandes gegen ein eigenes Geleit ab und brachten in heftigen Luftkämpfen fünf Flugzeuge zum Absturz.
Im Westen hat sich die Lage an der Issel-Front nicht wesentlich verändert. Nordöstlich davon dauern die beweglich geführten Abwehrkämpfe an. Aus dem Raum von Lirigen warfen unsere Truppen die Engländer zurück, schnitten ihre rückwärtigen Verbindungen ab und stellten die alte Hauptkampflinie westlich Rheines wieder her. Angriffe auf die westfälische Pforte, auf Rinteln und Hameln an der Weser sowie gegen unsere Sicherungen im Raum nördlich Warbung scheiterten.
An der Nordfront des Ruhrgebietes, wo sich der feindliche Druck verstärkte, brachten unsere Truppen starke Angriffe östlich Recklinghausens zum Stehen. Im Südteil von Hamm wurde der Gegner abgewiesen, über die Lippe vorgedrungene Kräfte zurückgeworfen. Auch im Raum von Winterberg und beiderseits Siegen verhinderten unsere Verbände durch harten Widerstand und Gegenangriffe größeren Bodengewinn der auf breiter Front nach Westen und Nordwesten angreifenden Amerikaner.
In der Schlacht um Thüringen ist es gelungen, zahlreiche Stützpunkte zu behaupten, dadurch den Gegner zu binden und sein weiteres Vordringen nach Osten zunächst aufzuhalten. Neben den Besatzungen von Eisenach und Meiningen hielten sich auch die von Mühlhausen und Gotha gegen feindliche Angriffe.
Zwischen Fulda und dem Main-Dreieck südöstlich Würzburg erwehren sich unsere Truppen zäh des überall vordrängenden Feindes.
Besonders stark war der Druck gestern zwischen Heilbronn und Karlsruhe. Unsere Truppen fingen die angreifenden feindlichen Divisionen wenige Kilometer südlich ihrer Ausgangsstellungen wieder auf.
Insgesamt verloren die Engländer und Amerikaner gestern an der Westfront 42 Panzer und Panzerfahrzeuge.
Gaullistische Angriffe am Kleinen St. Bernhard und Mont-Cenis brachen in unserem Abwehrfeuer zusammen. An der ligurischen Küste führte der Feind gestern südlich Massa stärkere Angriffe. Er wurde, nachdem er zwei geringfügige örtliche Einbrüche erzwungen hatte, abgewiesen. Banden, die gleichzeitig vom Rücken her in den Kampf einzugreifen versuchten wurden zerschlagen. An der dalmatinischen Küste westlich und südwestlich Bihac dauern die Abwehrkämpfe gegen neu zugeführte feindliche Kräfte an.
Terrorangriffe amerikanischer Bomberverbände richteten besonders in Nürnberg, Plauen und Ingolstadt schwere Schäden an.
Im Monat März wurden durch Jäger und Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe 1233, durch Verbände der Kriegsmarine weitere 128 anglo-amerikanische Flugzeuge abgeschossen.
In den Kämpfen in Kurland hat der mehrfach bewährte Rittmeister Bruno Richter, Kommandeur des Füsilierbataillons 24, mit nur sechs Mann seines Bataillons einen breiteren feindlichen Einbruch durch entschlossenen Gegenstoß bereinigt und dadurch den beabsichtigten Durchbruch der Bolschewisten verhindert.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (April 6, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
061100B 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 MAIN
(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) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 363
UNCLASSIFIED: Allied patrols north of Nijmegen crossed the Neder Rijn west and east of Arnhem. In the Zutphen area fierce opposition was encountered and the town is still in enemy hands.
Northwest of Hengelo we captured Almelo and made good gains to the north and east. Farther east there is fighting in the Lingen area but the town is not yet clear. Southeast of Rheine, the Dortmund-Ems Canal bridgehead has been further extended and Dreierwalde has been captured.
In the Ibbenbüren area resistance remains strong but armored elements bypassed the town to the south and advanced to a point five miles south of Diepholz. Osnabrück is in our hands, and armored units, which previously bypassed the town, advanced to the line of the Weser River north of Minden. Another column reached the Weser in the Petershagen area and virtually cleared Minden.
We have cleared Bielefeld, and the garrisons in Herford and Bad Oeynhausen have surrendered. Armored elements pushed to within two miles of Rinteln. Another armored spearhead advanced to the Weser River opposite Hameln. Detmold, and Veldrom in the Teutoburger Forest, were cleared and we are fighting in Altenbeken. The Hardehausen Forest, northwest of Warburg was cleared.
Our units entered Meimbressen northwest of Kassel and pushed beyond Nienhagen, east of the city. Mühlhausen was cleared by armored elements which pushed eight miles farther northeast to the vicinity of Schlotheim. Our infantry reached the vicinity of Altengoettern, northeast of Mühlhausen, and Mihla, farther southwest. We entered the southern outskirts of Eisenach, and reached points seven miles west of Schmalkalden.
Armored units cleared Zella Mehlis, capturing three small arms ammunition factories. Seven small arms factories were taken in Suhl.
Our forces made further gains into the Ruhr Pocket from the north and east. On the north, we captured Brambauer, four miles north of Dortmund. Fierce fighting is in progress in Hamm, east of the city our units crossed the Lippe River and reached the Hamm-Soest rail line. On the east side of the pocket, we are in the vicinity of Rüthen. Southwest of Winterberg our forces reached points near Winkhausen and Latrop. We repulsed numerous counterattacks between Siegen and Siegburg, one of which reached the outskirts of Siegen before it was repelled.
Fighter-bombers attacked targets in the pocket including a large formation of enemy troops on a road near Arnsberg.
South of Fulda our armor and infantry drove through the Spessart Hills to reach Speicherz, and Bad Brückenau. Farther south on the Main River, east of Lohr, we reached Wiesenfeld.
Heavy fighting is in progress in Würzburg and most of the city has been cleared. An enemy counterattack forced us back in the northern part of the city, but the attack was repulsed and the lost ground was regained. More than 1,000 prisoners have been taken in the city.
Substantial advances were made by our armor and infantry northeast and southeast of Ochsenfurt. Kitzingen, northeast of Ochsenfurt, was cleared.
The enemy is fighting stubbornly to hold the line of the Neckar River and Jagst River, and in front of Heilbronn. West of Heilbronn, we captured a number of villages. Schwaigern was cleared.
Allied forces which made the latest Rhine River crossing below Speyer and captured Karlsruhe, reached the Neckar River more than 30 miles east of the Rhine.
Allied forces in the west captured 32,616 prisoners 4 April.
Enemy transport in the areas of Pforzheim, Heilbronn, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Nürnberg and Gera was attacked by fighter-bombers. And ammunition store southeast of Stuttgart, and an oil storage depot at Geislingen an der Steige, northwest of Ulm, were bombed by medium bombers.
Enemy transport, supply dumps, troops and strongpoints in the Deventer, Zwolle and Groningen areas of Holland and in wide areas of northwestern Germany, including Hamburg, Bremen, Meppen, Celle and Hanover, were attacked yesterday by fighter-bombers.
Airfields in the Weimar area and farther south also were attacked by fighter-bombers. Seventy-one enemy aircraft were destroyed on the ground and many others were damaged in the course of these attacks.
Military equipment depots at Ingolstadt, northeast of München, at Grafenwohr, southeast of Bayreuth, and at Furth: railway yards at Plauen, Bayreuth and Nürnberg; and an airfield southwest of Nürnberg, were attacked by escorted heavy bombers in very great strength.
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 (April 6, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 323
By late afternoon on April 6 (East Longitude Date), Hellcat and Corsair fighters from two fast carrier task groups of the U.S. Pacific Fleet commanded by RADMs Frederick C. Sherman and J. J. Clark, USN, had shot down about 150 enemy aircraft which were attempting to attack fleet surface units in the area of the Ryukyus. This tally of damage is preliminary and incomplete. Some ships of our forces received minor damage but all remain fully operational.
United States troops on Okinawa continued to attack in both the northern and southern sectors. At midday, the Marine III Amphibious Corps had advanced 3,000 to 5,000 yards against small scattered groups of the enemy on Ishikawa Isthmus. In the south, the XXIV Army Corps was encountering stiffened enemy resistance in areas organized by the enemy for defense and supported by enemy artillery. Our forces were being supported continuously by ships’ gunfire and by carrier aircraft. During the night of April 5‑6, nine enemy planes were shot down near our forces around Okinawa.
In capturing the Kerama group of islands preliminary to the attack on Okinawa, U.S. forces killed 539 of the enemy and captured 166 prisoners of war.
Search aircraft of Fleet Wing One shot down two enemy aircraft in the Ryukyus area on April 6.
The Pittsburgh Press (April 6, 1945)
3 ARMIES STRIKE FOR BERLIN
Ninth Army 17 miles from Hannover
Nazi resistance melts in path of Americans across Weser River
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OPERATORS QUIT UMW SESSION
Wage dispute to be given labor board
Miners to return to jobs, aide says
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Attack stalls U.S. invaders on Okinawa
Doughboys drive for port on east coast
Jap counterattack on Okinawa has slowed U.S. troops driving toward the center and west coast of the island toward Naha, the capital. U.S. forces gained in the east coast drive on Yonabaru. To the north, U.S. Marines neared Kin.
GUAM (UP) – Jap defenders of Okinawa opened their biggest counterattack of the campaign today, bringing the American invasion forces to a virtual standstill in the west and central sectors of the island battlefront.
United Press writer James MacLean reported the Jap counterblow in a dispatch from Okinawa. It coincided with numerous signs that the walkover phase of the invasion was finished and bloody fighting lay ahead.
Resistance was reported stiffening all along the Okinawa front. The stalemate in the west and central parts came as U.S. Tenth Army forces stormed the slopes of three hills anchoring the defenses of Naha, smoldering and deserted capital city some four miles to the south.
Gain on east coast
Late reports from Okinawa disclosing the Jap counterattack said that only in the eastern sector were the Americans advancing at anything like the pace of their initial fanout from the west coast beachhead.
Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner’s forces were pushing down the east coast toward the town of Tsuwa, three miles north of Yonabaru, the island’s principal east coast port.
The American vanguard was within two miles of Yonabaru airstrip, which the Japs had partly constructed when the invasion began. Front reports said it probably could be made usable in a short time.
On the west coast, the Americans were bogged down about a mile north of Nakama, atop a high ridge running inland. Jap artillery on the ridge was pounding our forces. A curtain of smoke hung over the ridge as U.S. naval guns and land-based artillery teamed with bombers in a concerted assault on it.
Down five Jap planes
Five Jap planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire this afternoon.
Air scouts reported that Naha showed no signs of civilians or troops. The ruins of Okinawa’s largest city were burning fitfully from a mauling by U.S. air, sea and artillery forces.
Field reports said the Japs appeared to be preparing for a defense in depth. When the hill line before Naha is broken, they are expected to undertake a stand on a secondary line several miles south.
Upwards of 60,000 Japs were believed defending Southern Okinawa.
Marines gain
Marines of the III Amphibious Corps at the northern end of the expanding beachhead drove completely through the Ishikawa Isthmus separating Southern and Central Okinawa in advances up to 5½ miles yesterday.
On the east coast, the Marines were in the vicinity of Kin, 18 miles northeast of Naha, after clearing almost the entire shore of Kin Bay. Resistance continued light in the Marine sector and it appeared the Japanese had written off Central and Northern Okinawa.
A Marine reconnaissance outfit landed on Yabuchi Island just off the tip of Katsuren Peninsula, northern end of Nakagusuku Bay, and found it unoccupied.
U.S. casualties for the first four days of the Okinawa invasion through Wednesday were revealed as 175 dead and 798 wounded.
Tokyo promises to strive to keep peace with Reds
Japs admit being prepared for any ‘abrupt changes’ due to scrapping of pact
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Red move speeds doom of Japan
Some predict early Russian attack
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Roosevelt to speak on radio next Friday
WASHINGTON (UP) – President Roosevelt will deliver a radio message to 350 Democratic Party Jefferson Day dinners Friday, April 13.
Democratic National Chairman Robert E. Hannegan said the address would be broadcast over all major networks and will conclude a 30-minute program between 9:30 and 10 p.m. EWT.
He said Mr. Roosevelt would be unable to attend the Washington dinner.
Jefferson Day diners in Pittsburgh will not hear Mr. Roosevelt’s broadcast because the local dinner is being held Wednesday. Mr. Hannegan and U.S. Sen. Francis J. Myers are the speakers. Funds will be used for headquarters and local campaign expenses.
General and admiral join Jap death list
By the United Press
Tokyo reported today the deaths of Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, commander of Jap forces on Iwo Jima, and Rear Adm. Toshinosuke Ichimaru, commander of Jap naval air forces in the Iwo sector.
A broadcast said Gen. Kuribayashi “died gallantly” leading his troops in a “final charge” on Iwo.
Tokyo now has reported the death of 41 generals and 123 flag officers since May.
Pay freezers entitled to 11% wage boost
Four WLB members given full status
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer
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Jimmy Stewart promoted to colonel
U.S. EIGHTH AIR FORCE HQ, England (UP) – Former film star Jimmy Stewart of Indiana, Pennsylvania, has been promoted to the rank of colonel.
Col. Stewart, who has flown 20 combat mission as a bomber pilot, rose from captain to lieutenant colonel during his 18 months on the European Theater. He is now serving as chief of staff of a Liberator combat wing in Maj. Gen. William Kepner’s 2nd Air Division.