America at war! (1941–) – Part 5

2141

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (April 23, 1945)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
231100B 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
(21) WCIA OR OWI WASHINGTON FOR RELEASE TO COMBINED U.S. AND CANADIAN PRESS AND RADIO AT 0900 HOURS GMT

(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 380

UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces continue to make progress north of Papenburg and have beaten off additional enemy counterattacks against our bridgehead over the Küsten Canal.

In the Bremen-Hamburg area we captured Rotenburg and Buxtehude, and cleared a large area southeast of Rotenburg.

Escorted heavy bombers attacked objectives in Bremen. Enemy strongpoints southeast of Bremen were attacked by medium bombers.

Our forces spread farther down the south bank of the Elbe River and entered Bleckede, and to the south we cleared most of the Göhrde Forest.

Two-thirds of Dessau has been cleared and fighting continues against strong resistance.

Bitterfeld, Jessnitz, and Raguhn have been cleared and infantry elements advanced east to the Mulde River.

Southeast of Leipzig our patrols crossed the Mulde River and advanced several kilometers without resistance.

Some sniping activity is being met northwest of Naumburg.

South of Nuremberg our infantry made gains up to five miles, reaching Laffenau and Grossweingarten.

To the southeast, we cleared Bopfingen and drove six miles farther south. South of Crailsheim, we reached Ellwangen.

Stuttgart was occupied, and numerous towns in the surrounding area were taken. Southeast of Stuttgart, we made gains up to five miles.

Forces to the south drove ten miles to the German-Swiss border, near Epfenhofen, thus sealing off a Black Forest Pocket of more than 1,000 square miles.

The bridgehead across the Danube River was expanded to a width of nearly 40 miles, reaching Sigmaringen, which was captured. Along the German-Swiss border, a drive eight miles to the east brought our forces to Rielasingen-Worblingen.

In the southwest corner of the Black Forest Pocket, in thrusts of up to ten miles, we reached Waldkirch, Freiburg and Grezhausen.

An enemy airfield at Memmingen, 30 miles southeast of Ulm, was attacked by fighter-bombers.

Allied forces in the west captured 37,276 prisoners 21 April.

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/
2142

U.S. Navy Department (April 23, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 341

Naval guns and carrier aircraft continued to support troops of the XXIV Army Corps attacking the enemy’s fortified line in the southern sector of Okinawa on April 23 (East Longitude Date).

Planes from carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet attacked 25 enemy aircraft about to take off from an airfield on Miyako in the Sakishima group on the evening of April 22 destroying 15 on the ground and shot down five more in the air. Four planes were shot down over Ishigaki in the same group. On April 23, three aircraft were destroyed on the ground at Kume Island in the Okinawa group by our fighters and a single enemy plane was shot down north of Okinawa by a Marine plane.

No further information is available on the progress of the fighting in southern Okinawa.

Carrier aircraft of the British Pacific Fleet bombed and strafed air installations in the Sakishima group on April 16 and 17. Four enemy planes were shot down and one was destroyed on the ground.

Fighters of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing bombed targets in the Palaus on April 23.

On April 22, Marine Corsairs continued neutralizing raids on enemy bases in the Marshalls.

2143

The Pittsburgh Press (April 23, 1945)

Yanks deep in Bavaria

Defenses of redoubt in Alps collapse as Patton swerves south

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Hitler also reported in Harz forest cave

WITH U.S. NINTH ARMY, Germany (UP) – U.S. Army officers said today there were unverified reports that Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler were hiding in caves in the Harz forests. That area has been occupied by the Americans.

On the face of it, the reports credited to German civilians appeared unreliable since organized resistance in the Harz forests was declared ended Sunday.

Yet 8th Armored Division officers said reports from independent sources crosschecked in their details.

Dozens of Germans were reported as having said that high Nazi authorities had been hiding in the huge chain of caverns near Blankenburg. One chamber alone was reported to have a capacity of more than 1,000 persons.

A darkened and heavily-guarded train was said to have unloaded in the mountains between Blankenburg and Elbingerode, probably at Ruebeland, 14 to 18 days ago. That was before the Americans closed the ring around the Harz pocket.

2144

Taylor: Incredible that some doubt atrocities

Red Cross saved U.S. prisoners, Russians and other starved, Taylor declares
By Henry J. Taylor

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2145

British try and execute commander of death camp

SS brute was stoned by own men after capture in ‘black hole of Belsen’

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2146

126 Jap planes blasted in battle

Marines land on two isles off Okinawa

GUAM (UP) – U.S. aerial forces destroyed or damaged 126 Jap planes and six ships in two days of battles along an 850-mile front from Japan to the Southern Ryukyus.

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced the heavy toll of Jap aircraft today. He also revealed that U.S. Marines had landed on two more islands off Okinawa and disclosed that Army troops had killed 11,738 Japs and captured 27 on Southern Okinawa.

The Jap planes, of which 105 were destroyed, were accounted for by Mustang fighters from Iwo and carrier planes from the U.S. task force in the Ryukyus. In addition, a large force of B-29 Superfortresses from the Marianas may have destroyed many others in a raid on Kyushu’s airfields.

Flying a 1,500-mile roundtrip mission from Iwo, the Army Mustangs destroyed or damaged 47 planes in an attack yesterday on Suzuka Airfield, 32 miles southwest of Nagoya on the principal Jap home island of Honshu.

Of the planes destroyed, nine were shot down and 17 wrecked on the ground. The others were damaged or probably destroyed. The Mustangs also swept over Ise Bay, south of Nagoya, to sink two small oilers, one small tanker and a 6,000- to 8,000-ton ship and damaged one coastal vessel.

Carrier planes shot down 49 planes from a “substantial” Jap force which attacked American ground and naval forces in the Okinawa area yesterday afternoon. The Japs succeeded in sinking one light fleet unit, Adm. Nimitz said. Further identity of the craft was not disclosed. The raid followed one on a smaller scale Saturday night, when four Jap planes were shot down.

Other carrier aerial forces extended the offensive against Jap airfields at Amami in the Northern Ryukyus to the fifth consecutive day Sunday.

The last two days on Amami, 16 enemy planes were shot down and 10 others destroyed on the ground. A small cargo ship was also hit east of the Ryukyus and left burning and dead in the water.

Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay’s Marianas-based Superfortresses raided airfields on Kyushu, southernmost of the Jap home islands, yesterday for the second time in 24 hours in an attempt to knock out the sites from which the Japanese have been attacking Okinawa.

Five airfields, including two never hit before, were raided by the big B-29s, all of which returned safely to their bases.

Elements of the Marine III Amphibious Corps occupied Taka Banare Island, east of Okinawa, and seized half of Sesoko Island, west of Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa yesterday.

Bitter fighting continued on Southern Okinawa north of the capital city of Naha for the fourth straight day and Adm. Nimitz said there had been little changes in the American positions.

2147

WLB approves mine contract

Final action due after price study

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2148

Allies in Italy reach Po River

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2149

I DARE SAY —
‘You stepped out of a cloud’

By Florence Fisher Parry

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2150

U.S. moves to halt meat bootlegging

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2151

Ernie’s friends fill blood bank

Pay him tribute he would have liked
Monday, April 23, 1945

Ernie Pyle’s friends are paying him the kind of tribute he would have liked this week.

They are giving a pint of life-saving blood to the Red Cross Blood Bank in the Wabash Building. On Saturday, even before the official Ernie Pyle Week began, they gave the Blood Bank its best Saturday in a month.

This morning at 10 o’clock, all the places were filled with donors, most of whom were giving their blood as a memorial to the well-loved little writer who now lies in an Army cemetery on a Pacific island.

Always read him

Several of the donors were workers at the Pittsburgh Pipe and Coupling Company in Allison Park.

“I always read him,” said Earl J. Hanlon of Gibsonia, who was giving his seventh donation in memory of Ernie Pyle. With him were John Holland and George Hubal of the Same company, who gave their sixth and fifth donations.

Mrs. Lorraine Cole of Wexford came in early to give her fifth pint of blood to honor Ernie. Her son, Sgt. John Cole, was in the Okinawa invasion, his fifth in two years overseas. He met Ernie just a day or two before his death, according to a letter which the Coles received last week.

“He is such a little fellow, and he has a wonderful grin,” wrote Sgt. Cole. “He is rated tops with everyone out here.”

His favorite writer

Mr. and Mrs. Cole have three other sons, Renald, Robert and Richard, all in the Navy, and a foster son, John Cawigan of Brooklyn, who is also on Okinawa. Mr. Cole, general manager of the Kelley-Koett X-Ray Corporation, will come to the bank this week to give his fourth donation.

“He was my favorite writer. If I didn’t read anything else, I read his column,” said James Kelly of Fair Oaks, who gave his second pint of blood as a tribute to Ernie Pyle this morning.

A veteran of 23 months in Iran with an Army motor transport unit, Les Williamson, 151 Straw Ave., Bellevue, gave his first donation to the Red Cross Blood Bank today in honor of the war correspondent who was the common soldier’s friend and interpreter.

Made up his mind

“I saw it in The Press yesterday and that made up my mind,” said Louis Stover, 42 Waldorf St., a worker at Dravo, who visited the Blood Bank this morning for the second time.

Other admirers of Ernie Pyle who wish to help save the life of a wounded soldier as a tribute to the writer’s memory may make an appointment by calling the Blood Bank, GRant 1680, or may come into the Wabash Building any time after 9:45 a.m.

2152

Resistance light on Mindanao

Yanks push rapidly toward Davao

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2153

Supreme Court upsets treason case

Charges insufficient to warrant conviction

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Americans execute German for espionage

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2154

45,000-ton carrier to be launched Sunday

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2155

Stettinius, Eden again confer with Molotov

Foreign ministers discuss Poland

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Simms: Delegates wonder if Stalin is bluffing

May be trying to get Allies to back down
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor

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2156

Perkins: Warring AFL, CIO ready to give world peace advice

But, of course, they can’t agree on just what’s the best way to achieve it
By Fred W. Perkins, Pittsburgh Press staff writer

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2157

‘United nations’ conference held by Jap ambassadors

By the United Press

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2158

Americans and Russians make contact by radio

Yanks find Red soldiers talk just like G.I.’s – voices of Soviet troops becoming louder
By Robert Vermillion, United Press staff writer

WITH U.S. TROOPS, beyond the Elbe (April 22, delayed) – The Americans and Russians made contact deep in Germany today – by radio.

Hour by hour, the Russian voices have become louder and plainer. And the Russians have heard us, but are not yet sure they believed us.

The first contact was made this afternoon after a liberated “liaison” officer named Prissjaschnjun broke in several times and called the Russians.

“Who are you? Identify yourself and your commanding officer,” came back the answer.

Contact fades

Prissjaschnjun was trying to figure out the answers when the radio contact faded.

That was the first time the advance U.S. and Russian forces talked with each other, although the Yanks have been listening to the exchange of messages among Soviet troops.

And the astonishing thing to every Doughboy who can understand 10 words of Russian is that the Soviet G.I.’s sound just like American G.I.’s.

A dozen or more men can be found clustered around every vehicle which can muster a translator.

‘Talking just like us’

“Whadda they say now, Joe?”, the G.I.’s demand when they hear the Russian voices.

The translator bends over his set, combs out the static and relays the play-by-play:

“They’re talking just like us. One of the guys is telling Ivan ‘Hey, wake up,’ and Ivan’s telling him ‘All right, all right, I’m awake.’”

Then the translator waits awhile until the Russians start talking again.

Gives translation

That’s a couple of code names talking to each other – you know like “Blackjack Red from Blackjack: Power six wants to know how close you are to objective Haddock.”

The G.I.’s smile in amazement.

“Well, whaddya know – just like us.”

No longer do they feel they are about to meet men from Mars.

Reconnaissance elements, with Russian-speaking G.I.’s, are already poised to follow up that radio contact and the 329th Infantry Regiment is getting a task force ready to follow the reconnaissance.

Junction imminent

Although the closest approach of the Russians to the Ninth Army is still uncertain, everything indicates the junction should be imminent.

The 329th Infantry’s reconnaissance and intelligence platoon, which is standing by to slash from the bridgehead toward the Russians, is headed by Lt. Sam Magill of Ashtabula, Ohio.

It is the same outfit which brought in 20,000 Germans from south of the Loire River last autumn.

2159

Pearson story denied

PARIS, France – Allied Supreme Headquarters has officially denied a report that U.S. troops reached the outskirts of Potsdam and then withdrew because of an agreement to permit Russian troops to enter Berlin first. Washington columnist Drew Pearson made the assertion Saturday night.

2160

Japs practice cannibalism on war dead

Eat bodies of Yanks, Aussies in Guinea
By Frank H. Bartholomew

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Japs get lessons in cannibalism

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