‚Werwolf‘ an der Arbeit
…
Führer HQ (April 8, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Im deutsch-ungarischen Grenzgebiet haben Verbände des Heeres und der Waffen-SS in tagelangen Angriff- und Abwehrkämpfen den feindlichen Vorstoß in Richtung Graz zum Stehen gebracht und die vorübergehend aufgerissene Front wieder geschlossen. An der Raab, westlich Steinamanger und nordwestlich Wiener-Neustadt wurden starke Angriffe der Bolschewisten abgeschlagen. Im Raum um Wien konnten die Sowjets im Nordteil des Wienerwaldes nach Westen und Norden Boden gewinnen und trotz zäher Gegenwehr unserer Truppen in die südlichen Vorstädte der Stadt eindringen. Erbitterte Kämpfe sind im Gange.
An der March wurde die Mehrzahl der feindlichen Übersetzversuche abgewiesen. Auch südlich der Weißen Karpaten wurde ein weiteres Vordringen der Bolschewisten in harten Gebirgskämpfen verhindert.
In der Danziger Bucht vereitelten unsere Truppen die Versuche des Gegners, sich die Zugänge zur Putziger Nehrung zu öffnen.
Sowjetische Angriffe an der westlichen Weichselniederung südlich Hohensalza scheiterten.
Gegen Königsberg und die Samlandfront rannte der Feind den ganzen Tag über mit zahlreichen Schützenverbänden und Panzern an. Trotz tieferer Einbrüche verhinderte die tapfere Besatzung der Stadt den vom Gegner erstrebten Durchbruch. Alle Angriffe gegen die Samlandfront wurden abgewiesen, 31 Panzer und vier Flugzeuge durch Erdtruppen vernichtet.
Truppen des Heeres und der Waffen-SS haben im Monat März an der Ostfront 7.171 Panzer abgeschossen.
An der Westfront scheiterten trotz heftiger Artillerievorbereitung starke Angriffe kanadischer Truppen auf Zutphen in der Issel. Zwischen Lingen und der unteren Weser wurden neu herangeführte Verbände dem vordringenden Feind entgegengeworfen. Versuche des Gegners, seinen Brückenkopf Stolzenau zu erweitern, zerschellten an unserem zähen Widerstand. Nördlich Hameln wurde der Feind wieder über die Weser zurückgeworfen, doch gelang es ihm, südlich davon in einem schmalen Abschnitt bis westlich Hildesheims vorzustoßen.
An der Ruhr und im Kampfabschnitt von Soest behaupteten unsere Truppen überall das Kampffeld gegen die angreifenden Amerikaner. Ein erneuter Durchbruch auf Dortmund wurde nördlich der Stadt zum Stehen gebracht. Auch im Abschnitt von Brilon, im Rothaargebirge und beiderseits Siege konnten die Angreifer nirgends tiefer in unsere Stellungen eindringen.
In Thüringen ist durch das zähe Festhalten eigener Stützpunkte und durch Angriffe in die Flanken und im Rücken des Feindes die Front stark verwischt und die Kampfgruppen des Gegners am weiteren Vorstoß nach Osten verhindert. Westlich Mühlhausen wurde der Feind durch einen Gegenangriff, der in seine Kolonnen hineinstieß, geworfen. Südöstlich Zella-Mehlis brachen feindliche Angriffe zusammen. Auch der zwischen Schleusingen und Themar nach Südosten vordringende Gegner wurde von unseren Truppen in Gegenstößen aufgehalten.
Zwischen der südlichen Rhön und dem Maindreieck sind wechselvolle Kämpfe im Gange. In Kitzingen konnte der Feind eindringen, Angriffe im Raum Schweinfurth wurden abgewiesen. Bei Bad Mergentheim durchbrach eine Panzergruppe unsere Linien und stieß bis südlich Grailsheim vor. Eigene Gegenangriffe faßten den Feind in den Flanken und schnitten seine rückwärtigen Verbindungen ab. Zwischen Heilbronn und Epplingen scheiterten mehrere Angriffe, doch hielt der Druck des Gegners nach Süden an.
In Mittelitalien blieben schwächere Angriffe der Amerikaner an der ligurischen Küste ohne Erfolg. Auch nördlich und westlich Faenza brachen die angreifenden Briten zusammen, nachdem unsere Artillerie eine größere Anzahl feindlicher Batterien zerschlagen hatte.
An der dalmatinischen Küste stehen unsere Truppen in heftiger Abwehr gegen stärkere Titoverbände. Der Raum Sarajewo wurde geräumt, ohne daß es dem folgenden Gegner gelang, unsere Bewegungen zu stören.
Amerikanische Terrorverbände richteten gestern Angriffe gegen Orte in Nord- und Südostdeutschland. In der Nacht war der mitteldeutsche Raum das Angriffsziel britischer Kampfflugzeuge. Besonders über Norddeutschland kam es zu erbittert geführten Luftkämpfen, in denen die kühn angreifenden deutschen Jäger trotz stärkster Abwehr den amerikanischen Bomberverbänden schwere Verluste zufügten.
In der Nacht zum 7. April versenkten unsere Schnellboote vor der englischen Küste ein feindliches Artillerieschnellboot durch Rammstoß und beschädigten zwei weitere schwer, eigenes Boot ging verloren.
Zum Schutze eigener Geleite eingesetzte Sicherungsfahrzeuge der Kriegsmarine schossen 11 Flugzeuge ab, davon sieben vor der westnorwegischen Küste.
Unterseeboote versenkten in harten Kämpfen aus stark gesicherten feindlichen Nachschubgeleiten fünf vollbeladene Schiffe mit zusammen 33.000 BRT, eine Korvette und zwei Bewacher.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (April 8, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
081100A 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. 365
UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces entered Meppen on the Ems River. Farther south, the bridgehead over the river at Lingen has been extended against moderate resistance. Northeast of Rheine we occupied Hopsten and pushed east of the town. South of Bremen our forces passed through Sulingen and Siedenburg.
In the area of Stolzenau on the Weser, we met determined enemy opposition. To the south we advanced more than 12 miles beyond the river near Minden. Strongpoints, gun positions and enemy troops in the areas of Deventer, Rijssen, Leese, Haselünne, Fürstenau and Freren were hit with rockets and bombs by fighter-bombers. Rail lines were cut in many places including the Amersfoort and Zwolle areas. And a bridge was destroyed west of Rijssen.
Our armor broke out of the Weser bridgehead in the Hameln area, took Schulenberg and Elze, and reached Hasede, mopping up continues in Hameln. Farther south, our infantry captured Stahle, across the Weser River from Holzminden. Armored elements reached a point two miles from Helmarshausen, and other units are in the vicinity of Trendelburg, on the Diemel River. We have taken Veckerhagen on the west bank of the Weser north of Hann-münden, and just southeast of the city our units are on the autobahn in the vicinity of Laubach. Our infantry is in the area four miles southwest of Witzenhausen.
West of Mühlhausen we have retaken struth after it was lost in an enemy counterattack. We have reached the vicinity of Keula, northeast of Mühlhausen, and to the southeast of the city we cleared Langernsalze.
Enemy movements from Hanover to Berlin were attacked during the night by light bombers northeast of Mühlhausen, and to the southeast of the city we cleared Langernsalze.
Our armor in the area south of Suhl captured Schleusingen. Enemy troops and other targets in the Ruhr Pocket, and armor east of Kassel, were hit by fighter-bombers. Other fighter-bombers attacked airfields in the areas of Hanover, Dortmund, Hildesheim, Erfurt, Laucha, Zwickau and Bayreuth.
On the northern side of the Ruhr Pocket our armor captured Ostönnen, west of Soest, which has been cleared, and reached Mullingsen to the southeast along the easternside of the pocket we are fighting in Gleidorf, two miles northeast of Schmallenberg, and we repulsed a counterattack in that area. We have taken Fleckenberg and Wingehausen, south of Schmallenberg.
On the southern flank of the pocket our forces reduced all enemy strongpoints in Siegen, and made a new crossing of the Sieg River two and one-half miles west of the town. Southeast of Fulda we gained up to ten miles against spotty resistance. Our armored elements reached Crailsheim, east of Heilbronn after a 20-mile advance. A number of enemy motor convoys were trapped in Crailsheim. In Heilbronn the enemy continued to resist stubbornly. East of Karlsruhe gains of more than eight miles were made. Resistance was strong from the Siegfried Line defenses in the direction of Rastatt.
Allied forces in the west captured 42,888 prisoners 6 April.
Strong forces of medium, light and fighter-bombers attacked rail and road transport, communications and rail facilities at Northeim and Göttingen; along the Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar rail line; between Hildesheim and Calbe; between Kassel and Halle; and in the triangle formed by Göttingen, Bayreuth and Chemnitz.
Escorted heavy bombers in very great strength, bombed objectives in northern Germany including airfields at Wesendorf, Parchim and Kaltenkirchen, an oil storage depot at Hitzacker, an ordnance depot at Gustrow and railyards at Luneburg and Neumünster. Strongpoints in and near Odheim, north of Heilbronn were attacked by fighter-bombers.
In the course of the day’s operations 105 enemy aircraft were shot down, 116 were destroyed on the ground and many others were damaged. Twenty-two of our bombers and 16 fighters are missing.
Enemy movements from Hanover to Berlin were attacked during the 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/
U.S. Navy Department (April 8, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 326
On the afternoon of April 7 (East Longitude Date), the XXIV Army Corps drove into heavily defended terrain in the southern sector of Okinawa and captured the villages of Uchitomari and Kaniku. The enemy resisted stubbornly from numerous pillboxes and blockhouses which are emplaced to take full advantage of the broken terrain. In the north, Marines of the III Amphibious Corps continued to move northward rapidly against negligible opposition. Four enemy aircraft appeared in the Okinawa area on April 7 and all were shot down.
On the following day, XXIV Corps troops made small gains against heavy opposition in the south. By 1800 of that date the front line on their right had moved forward about 200 yards and on the left about 400 yards. Heavy artillery was used by the enemy throughout the night and day. Our troops are being supported by ships’ gunfire, carrier aircraft and field artillery. In the northern sector of the island on April 8, Marines of the III Amphibious Corps had moved 3,000 to 4,800 yards westward along Motobu peninsula by nightfall.
Fighters of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing have begun to use the captured airfields on Okinawa. MajGen F. P. Mulcahy, USMC, is present in command of the tactical air forces on shore at Okinawa. Nine enemy aircraft were destroyed on April 8 by various forces.
By the end of April 7, 30,000 civilians were under care of the U.S. Military Government on Okinawa. Native housing is being utilized fully.
Carrier aircraft attacked shipping and installations in the area of the Amami group on April 8. A small cargo ship was set afire and a lugger destroyed.
The Pittsburgh Press (April 8, 1945)
YANKS SEIZE REICH GOLD HOARD
Art treasures, 100 tons of bullion found
German trove stored in salt mine
By Robert C. Richards, United Press staff writer
…
FOURTH OF JAP FLEET WIPED OUT
Carrier force sinks Tokyo’s largest ship
8 others blasted – 403 planes destroyed
Sunday, April 8, 1945
Steady advances on Okinawa are reported by Adm. Nimitz. Marines gained 3,000 yards on the north of the American front while Army troops advanced on two airports in the south.
GUAM (UP) – U.S. carrier planes wiped out approximately one quarter of Japan’s remaining naval strength Saturday by sinking the 40,000-ton battleship Yamato, the most powerful warship left to the enemy, and destroying or damaging eight other war vessels off the southern tip of Japan.
In addition, the Japs lost 403 planes in two days of frantic and largely unsuccessful attacks on the American invasion forces on Okinawa and in nearby waters.
Adm. Chester W. Nimitz revealed in a communiqué that 12 of a small group of enemy lanes attacking U.S. forces Saturday off Okinawa in a follow-up of Friday’s big assault were shot down to add to the earlier bag of 391 Jap aircraft.
3 U.S. destroyers sunk
The Americans lost seven planes in the attack on the enemy fleet; they lost three destroyers sunk and several other destroyers and smaller craft damaged in the Jap air attacks around Okinawa.
The Japs were trying desperately to interfere with the Okinawa invasion which put U.S. ground troops within less than 400 miles of the Jap mainland. But Adm. Nimitz announced that the American advances on Okinawa continued.
In Washington, a Navy spokesman said that what remains of the Jap fleet is a “not-so-powerful task force which could be easily handled” by any one of the major task forces of the mammoth U.S. Pacific Fleet. He said, “It looks like a good 25 percent of the remaining naval Jap combat force” was wiped out.
Sighted by planes
Adm. Nimitz said the Jap fleet was sighted early today by Navy search planes. It had left the Japanese Inland Sea, where U.S. bombers riddled naval hideouts last month, and headed into the East China Sea, passing south of Kyushu.
Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher started a fast carrier task force in that direction. At midday, his planes struck.
About 50 miles southwest of Kyushu, southernmost of the main Jap islands, they sank the Yamato with at least eight torpedoes and eight heavy bombs; a light cruiser of the 6,000-ton Agano class, a smaller cruiser or heavy destroyer, and three destroyers.
Three left burning
Three other destroyers were left burning, and Adm. Nimitz’s communiqué said that only about three destroyers escaped. All enemy ships were strafed heavily with rockets and machine guns.
The naval spokesman in Washington said he believed the number of Jap destroyers in the task force may have been overestimated in the excitement of battle, because the Japs probably didn’t have that many destroyers to spare for screening a task force.
After the terrific losses they had taken over Okinawa, the Japs could muster no planes to protect the task force. They put up a heavy screen of anti-aircraft fire, but to no avail.
The Yamato was Japan’s newest battleship. It was laid down in 1938 or 1939 and was believed to have been commissioned after war began in the Pacific. Although estimated at more than 40,000 tons, its exact size is not known. It had a speed of 30 knots or better.
Task groups participating in the attack on the Jap vessels were commanded by Rear Adm. F. C. Sherman, A. W. Redford, G. F. Bogan and J. J. Clark.
Adm. Nimitz said that on Okinawa, Marines of Maj. Gen. Roy s. Geiger’s III Amphibious Corps advanced steadily in the northern sector of Okinawa up to noon Saturday. At that time, it had driven about 3,000 yards to the vicinity of Nago on the west coast to Orbay on the east.
On the south, infantry of the XXIV Army Corps were meeting heavy gunfire from Jap artillery and mortars, but they made a 2,000-yard advance along the east coast and occupied the town of Tsuwa.
United Press writer James MacLean reported that the Army men were fighting savagely to seize three 1,500-foot-high ridges which bar their way to Naha, Jap naval base town, and to the Machinato and Yonabaru airstrips. The Machinato strip is on the west coast and the Yonabaru on the east.
Fighting was becoming more bloody by the hour. The Japs were battling skillfully from caves, trenches and pillboxes rather than expending troops in suicide charges.
The British carrier task force operating under Adm. Nimitz’s overall command, returned to the Sakishima Islands south of the Ryukyus for a two-day strike against airfields and other installations. British pilots destroyed five Jap planes in the air and three on the ground.
Latest box score of Pacific war
Saturday, April 7, 1945
GUAM (UP) – The following is an official recapitulation of Jap and American warship and plane losses in the major air and sea engagements in the Pacific:
CORAL SEA
| Japan | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Warships sunk | 5 | 3 |
| Warships damaged | 4 | 1 |
| Planes lost | 132 | 66 |
MIDWAY
| Japan | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Warships sunk | 10 | 2 |
| Warships damaged | 7 | No estimate |
| Planes lost | 350 | 150 |
GUADALCANAL
| Japan | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Warships sunk | 18 | 9 |
| Warships damaged | 8 | 10 |
| Planes lost | 70 | 30 |
PHILIPPINE SEA
| Japan | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Warships sunk | 5 | 0 |
| Warships probably sunk | 2 | 0 |
| Warships damaged | 11* | 3 |
| Planes lost | 429 | 100 |
(*superficially)
LEYTE GULF
| Japan | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Warships sunk | 25 | 5 |
| Warships damaged | 33 | Few small craft |
| Planes lost | 423 | No estimate |
OKINAWA
| Japan | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Warships sunk | 6 | 3 |
| Warships damaged | 3 | Several destroyers |
| Planes lost | 391 | 7 |
Offers to die in battle –
Jap position desperate, new premier admits, shifts high command
Suzuki installs cabinet after delay caused by Superfortress raid – calls situation crucial
…
Hopkins’ salary increased 50 percent to $15,000
Raise, granted last July, ‘commensurate with his duties,’ White House says
…
USS Birmingham returns to action
SAN FRANCISCO (UP) – The 12th Naval District disclosed today that the USS Birmingham, a light cruiser, has returned to action in the Pacific after undergoing extensive damage repairs and modernization.
The Birmingham was standing by the doomed light carrier USS Princeton last October 24 off the Philippines when the Princeton’s magazine blew up. The cruiser suffered 639 casualties, more than one-third of whom were killed instantly.
Prisoners coming home
Saturday, April 7, 1945
SAN FRANCISCO – More than 800 rescued U.S. prisoners of the Japs are due to arrive at a U.S. port “soon.” All are civilians who had been interned in Santo Tomas and other Philippine Island prisons.
Roosevelt, aides cite war output, proclaim their faith in future
Leaders confident of creating employment and in world’s ability to insure peace
…
Roosevelt slur costs 20 years
Saturday, April 7, 1945
NEW ORLEANS (UP) – Hugh Callan, 37-year-old native New Yorker, today faced 20 years in prison at hard labor after the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his court-martial sentence for slurring President Roosevelt.
Callan was found guilty by court-martial in May 1942 of using disrespectful language against the President and the Allied cause.
Sentenced to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Callan was ordered released in September last year when U.S. District Judge E. Marvin Underwood sustained a writ of habeas corpus on Callan’s claim that he never had taken an Army oath and therefore was not properly inducted and not subject to court-martial. But the Appellate Court held that Callan was properly inducted and reversed Judge Underwood.