Name band leaders in ‘bold’ role changes
TD and Waring make changes
By Si Steinhauser
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Oberdonau-Zeitung (April 27, 1945)
Der Skandal von San Franzisko hat begonnen
Die Polentrage weitet immer mehr die Kluft – Eröffnung ohne Truman
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Weitere US-Landungen auf Okinawa
Zunehmende Erbitterung des Kampfes
Tokio, 26. April – Auf der pazifischen Insel Okinawa, dem letzten Sperrriegel vor dem japanischen Mutterland, sind seit Beginn der großen Schlacht weiter schwere Kämpfe zwischen den amerikanischen Landetruppen und der japanischen Verteidigung im Gange. Infolge ihrer hohen Ausfälle mussten die Amerikaner neue Verbände an Land setzen. Der Widerstand der Japaner wird mit äußerster Erbitterung geführt.
Truman, das Sprachrohr des Kongresses!
Obwohl Demokrat, mit Republikanern befreundet
Stockholm, 26. April – Über den neuen US-Präsidenten schreibt die Zeitschrift Spectator:
Präsident Truman habe beste Verbindung zum US-Kongress, er ist, obwohl er der demokratischen Partei angehört, mit vielen Republikanern persönlich befreundet. Es ist ihm daher auch die Unterstützung zahlreicher republikanischer Abgeordneter sicher. Eine andere Zeitschrift sieht in dem neuen Präsidenten mehr einen Sprecher des Kongresses, als eine eigenwillige Führerpersönlichkeit.
Chicago Daily Tribune (April 27, 1945)
Goering, No. 2 Nazi, quits
Air chief reported seriously ill of heart trouble
Thursday, April 26, 1945
LONDON, England (AP) – The German Hamburg radio announced tonight that Reich Marshal Goering had resigned as head of the dying Nazi Air Force because of an “acute” heart illness, while a high-ranking German general staff member captured by the Americans predicted that Hitler would die with his troops in encircled Berlin.
The captured German general – unidentified in a U.S. 9th Army front dispatch but termed “internationally known and one of the best-informed members of the German general staff” – predicted the war would end within a few days and said that Goering probably had already been executed.
Calls redoubt a myth
The general said the Nazi national redoubt in Bavaria, Austria, and Italy, where an extended holdout has been predicted, is mostly a myth and is already incapable of a long defense.
The Hamburg station said that the portly No. 2 Nazi, Goering, 52, had been succeeded by Gen. Ritter von Greim, 53, who was made a field marshal.
“Reich Marshal Goering, who has been suffering from heart trouble for some time and whose condition has become acute, has asked the Fuehrer to be relieved of his command as chief of the Luftwaffe at a time when his strength is needed,” it said. The Fuehrer has granted his request.
Manhunt on for Hitler
This announcement came amid the developing manhunt for Hitler, who soon must decide whether to fall as a martyr in Berlin or seek refuge in Bavaria or some other German-held pocket.
Although many Allied quarters believe Hitler is already in the Alpine fortress, the captured German general staff member said he was in Berlin as did all German broadcasts. One of these broadcasts said Propaganda Minister Goebbels was also in the capital and that he and Hitler were “endeavoring to outdo each other in feats of personal bravery.”
Report Hitler double prepared
Another possibility was raised by a Free German Press Service report in Stockholm that Hitler had sent a long-prepared double, August Bartholdy, a former grocer in Plauen, to be filmed dying on the last Berlin barricades while the Fuehrer himself disappears underground. Still another possibility is that Hitler may commit suicide.
A Swiss dispatch said French refugees from Germany reported that Hitler and Gestapo Chief Himmler were at Salzburg, near the Fuehrer’s hideout at Berchtesgaden.
Official quarters here cautioned against accepting rumors relating to Hitler or any other top-flight Nazis. They maintain that these Nazis would like nothing better than to be presumed dead.
“What could be easier,” asked the London Star, “than for the Germans to produce an unrecognizable body and say that it was Hitler’s while Hitler himself was making his getaway by plane or submarine?”
Führer HQ (April 27, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Der Schwerpunkt der Kampfhandlungen in Nordwestdeutschland lag gestern in Bremen. In schweren und verlustreichen, harten Kämpfen konnten die Engländer ihre Einbrüche im Stadtgebiet erweitern. An der Elbefront verhielten sich die Anglo-Amerikaner weiter ruhig, lediglich südlich Tangermünde setzten sich feindliche Kräfte über den Fluss.
Im Mittelpunkt der Kämpfe stand auch gestern die Schlacht im Raume Berlin. Schulter an Schulter mit allen waffenfähigen Männern führten unsere Truppen einen heldischen Kampf gegen den bolschewistischen Massenansturm, verteidigten jedes Haus und warfen den Feind durch Gegenangriffe aus dem inneren Verteidigungsring der Stadt wieder zurück. Aus dem Raume südlich Fürstenwalde stießen unsere Verbände im Angriff nach Westen tief in die Flanken der im Süden von Berlin operierenden Bolschewisten und durchbracher deren Hauptnachschubverbindungen auf der Straße Baruth-Zossen. Unsere von Westen schwungvoll angreifenden jungen Divisionen erreichten Delitzsch und stehen dort in schweren Waldkämpfen mit den Sowjets. Angriffe auf Brandenburg und Ratenow wurden verlustreich abgewiesen. Beiderseits Oranienburgs brachen Übersetzversuche der Sowjets verlustreich für den Feind zusammen. Dagegen konnten die Sowjets südwestlich Küstrin bei Prenzlau weiter Boden gewinnen.
In Süddeutschland hielt der starke feindliche Druck gegen die Frontlinie von Deggendorf bis Ulm an. Bei Dillingen konnten die Amerikaner ihren Brückenkopf nach. Westen erweitern.
In Italien gelang es unseren Truppen, aus dem westetruskischen Apennin sich vom Feinde unbemerkt auf neue Linien nach Norden abzusetzen. Der Feind ist in der Po-Ebene zum Stoß nach Norden übergegangen und bildete Grabe am Nordufer des Flusses. Seine Angriffstruppen durchbrachen unsere Sicherungen bei Reggio und stießen bis Parma vor. Im dalmatinischen Küstengebiet wiesen die Verteidiger von Fiume zahlreiche Angriffe starker Bandenkräfte am Ostrande der Stadt ab.
Der Südabschnitt der Ostfront stand gestern im Zeichen eigener Gegenangriffe. Wiederholte ‚Angriffe gegen Brünn wurden abgewiesen. Nach horten Straßenkämpfen ging Pillau verloren. In Kurland lebte die Kampftätigkeit südöstlich Frauenburg wieder auf.
Vorpostenboote versenkten vor der niederländischen Küste ein britisches Schnellboot und beschädigten ein weiteres schwer.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (April 27, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
271100B 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. 384
UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces west of Delmenhorst advanced three miles to reach Rethorn. We occupied the greater part of Bremen where enemy opposition weakened.
Enemy gun positions and strongpoints east of Leer and north of Bremen; shipping off the Frisian Islands and in the Ems Estuary; road and rail transport and other communications targets in the area of Flensburg and Rendsburg and west of Oldenburg, and objectives south of Oldenburg, were attacked by other fighter-bombers and rocket-firing fighters.
Medium bombers attacked railyards at Buchen east of Hamburg.
Our units have liberated Eger (Cheb), in Czechoslovakia and reached a point 27 miles to the south. West of the Czech-German border, 16 miles farther south we reached the vicinity of Stadlern.
To the southeast, in Germany, our armor has entered Roehrnbach and reached the vicinity of Tittling, 11 miles northwest of the Austrian border.
In the area north and east of Straubing, we entered Neukirchen and reached the vicinity of Gschwendt.
Our units crossed the Danube River in several places between Frengkofen and Regensburg and entered Irl.
Other troops crossed the Danube in the vicinity of Kapfelberg and reached a point three miles south of Regensburg. Our cavalry elements have cleared that part of Kelheim on the north bank of the Danube.
Farther west, we captured Dietfurt and entered Eichstatt and Ingolstadt.
In the area north of Augsburg, our units moved to the Danube and are mopping up the north bank for a stretch of 11 miles. To the southwest, we advanced ten miles beyond the river on a front paralleling it for 20 miles. Muensterhausen, 15 miles south of the Danube, was reached.
Two counterattacks, one in battalion strength supported by armor, were beaten off at an autobahn bridge over the Danube near Guenzburg. Neu Ulm, across the river from Ulm, was entirely cleared.
Along the Iller Canal running south from Ulm our units fanned out to the east, west and south. We reached a point 15 miles south of Ulm.
The pocket south of Stuttgart was considerably reduced.
Our forces reached a point on the north shore of Lake Constance within 13 miles of Friedrichshafen, and are along the Swiss border from Basel to the Lake.
Deep penetrations were made into the Black Forest Pocket. A 12-mile thrust to the east almost cut it in two.
From north of Augsburg to south of Ulm, 11,335 prisoners were taken. Between Ulm and the Rhine, 6,000 were captured.
Allied forces in the west captured 34,237 prisoners 25 April.
Road and rail communications in an area east of Nuremberg to south of Munich and in a triangular area formed by Munich-Prague-Linz, and a motor convoy north of Berchtesgaden, were attacked by fighter-bombers.
Airfields east of Munich, southeast of Straubing and near Plattling were attacked by light and fighter-bombers. Many aircraft were destroyed or damaged on the ground.
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 27, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 345
Troops of the XXIV Army Corps in the southern sector of Okinawa made a general advance during the afternoon of April 26 (East Longitude Date). By 1800 on that day, elements of the 27th Infantry Division had reached the vicinity of the Machinato Airfield near the West Coast after by passing enemy strong points in Nakama Village. In the central and eastern segments of the lines local gains were made against enemy mortar and machine gun fire. The ground troops were supported by Naval gunfire, carrier aircraft and planes of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The attack was resumed on the morning of April 27.
Marines of the III Amphibious Corps continued to patrol northern Okinawa on April 26 and 27.
A few enemy aircraft appeared over our forces during the early morning of April 27. Three were shot down by one of our minesweepers.
Attacks by carrier aircraft of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on the Sakishima Group continued on April 26.
Mitchells of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing attacked harbor installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins on the night of April 26. Fighters and torpedo planes of the same wing bombed bivouac areas in the Palaus on April 27 and fighters attacked targets on Yap.
CINCPOA Press Release No. 87
For Immediate Release
April 25, 1945
In the Okinawa campaign the enemy has attempted the use of rocket-propelled suicide bombs against our forces. These weapons, which are similar to a small single‑seat airplane, carry a pilot and are generally launched from the underside of the fuselage of a bomber. They have a wingspan of about sixteen feet, a length of more than 19 feet, and a tail plane of about eight feet. Constructed of light metals and wood, these bombs carry a heavy warhead of explosives. They are capable of high speed which reduces their qualities of maneuverability to a low point. The enemy has used them in limited numbers in the Okinawa operation up to this date, offering little opportunity for observation of their powers or effects. U.S. forces have designated these missiles by the term “baka bomb.” “Baka” Is Japanese meaning “stupid,” “foolish,” or “silly.”
Statement by President Truman Announcing Junction of Anglo-American and Soviet Forces in Germany
April 27, 1945
The Anglo-American armies under the command of Gen. Eisenhower have met the Soviet forces where they intended to meet – in the heart of Nazi Germany. The enemy has been cut in two.
This is not the hour of final victory in Europe, but the hour draws near, the hour for which all the American people, all the British peoples and all the Soviet people have toiled and prayed so long.
The union of our arms in the heart of Germany has a meaning for the world which the world will not miss. It means, first, that the last faint, desperate hope of Hitler and his gangster government has been extinguished. The common front and the common cause of the powers allied in this war against tyranny and inhumanity have been demonstrated in fact as they have long been demonstrated in determination. Nothing can divide or weaken the common purpose of our veteran armies to pursue their victorious purpose to its final triumph in Germany.
Second, the junction of our forces at this moment signalizes to ourselves and to the world that the collaboration of our nations in the cause of peace and freedom is an effective collaboration which can surmount the greatest difficulties of the most extensive campaign in military history and succeed. Nations which can plan and fight together shoulder to shoulder in the face of such obstacles of distance and of language and of communications as we have overcome, can live together and can work together in the common labor of the organization of the world for peace.
Finally, this great triumph of Allied arms and Allied strategy is such a tribute to the courage and determination of Franklin Roosevelt as no words could ever speak, and that could be accomplished only by the persistence and the courage of the fighting soldiers and sailors of the Allied nations.
But, until our enemies are finally subdued in Europe and in the Pacific, there must be no relaxation of effort on the home front in support of our heroic soldiers and sailors as we all know there will be no pause on the battlefronts.
ПРИКАЗ
Верховного Главнокомандующего
ВОЙСКАМ ДЕЙСТВУЮЩЕЙ АРМИИ
Войска 1-го УКРАИНСКОГО фронта и союзные нам англо-американские войска ударом с востока и запада рассекли фронт немецких войск и 25 апреля, в 13 часов 30 минут соединились в центре Германии, в районе города ТОРГАУ. Тем самым немецкие войска, находящиеся в Северной Германии, отрезаны от немецких войск в южных районах Германии.
В ознаменование одержанной победы и в честь этого исторического события сегодня, 27 апреля, в 19 часов столица нашей Родины МОСКВА от имени Родины салютует доблестным войскам 1-го УКРАИНСКОГО фронта и союзным нам англо-американским войскам – двадцатью четырьмя артиллерийскими залпами из трёхсот двадцати – четырёх орудий.
Да здравствует победа свободолюбивых народов над Германией!
Верховный Главнокомандующий
Маршал Советскою Союза И. СТАЛИН
27 апреля 1945 года. № 346
Address by Soviet Marshal Stalin to Red Army and Western Allied troops
April 27, 1945
От имени Советского Правительства я обращаюсь к вам, командиры и бойцы Красной Армин и армий наших союзников.
Победоносные армии союзных держав, ведущих освободительную войну в Европе, разгромили германские войска и соединились на территории Германии.
Наша задача и наш долг добить врага, принудить его сложить оружие ин безоговорочно капитулировать. Эту задачу н этот долг перед нашим народом и перед всеми свободолюбивыми народами Красная Армия выполнит до конца.
Приветствую доблестные войска наших союзников, стоящие теперь на территории Германии плечом к плечу с советскими войсками и преисполненные решимости выполнить свой долг до конца.
The Pittsburgh Press (April 27, 1945)
U.S. First Army, Reds join
Historic juncture cuts Reich into 3 pieces, seals doom of Nazis
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Lacking orders to halt, patrol hooks up with Reds
Unofficial juncture takes place by accident before formal linkup of Allied armies
By John B. McDermott, United Press staff writer
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Russians win 2 big demands at conference
Parley deadlocked on chairmanships
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
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Goering reported to have killed self, daughters
LONDON, England (UP) – A Zurich dispatch of the Exchange Telegraph said today that Reich Marshal Hermann Goering shot his five daughters and then himself when the Nazis sentenced him to death and ordered him to execute his own death sentence.
The British Who’s Who says Goering has only two daughters.
The Exchange Telegraph dispatch said the commandant of Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler’s bodyguard read a Nazi death sentence to Goering, newly replaced as head of the German Air Force, and ordered him to carry it out.
An unidentified Zurich diplomat was quoted by the Exchange Telegraph as giving this melodramatic account of the crackup in the top ranks of the Nazi Party:
Last Monday, Goering sent Hitler an urgent letter requesting him to accept with the Nazi Party the consequences of a lost war and thus spare the Germans further bloodshed.
The same night Himmler replied by sending his own bodyguard to Goering’s home, where his wife, Emmy, was present, and Goering’s fate was sealed.
The diplomat was quoted as saying that, according to one version, the bodyguard shot down Goering and his wife without warning. Goering was married to former actress Emmy Sonneman.