America at war! (1941–) – Part 5

Landing at Hong Kong expected by Japs

WITH CHINESE FORCES ON THE WESTERN HUNAN FRONT (UP) – The Japs are preparing for a possible American landing at Hong Kong after the Battle of Okinawa, high American officers said today.

The enemy has stationed at least 350,000 troops along a corridor from Canton to Hong Kong, the officer estimated.

Nearly 100,000 Jap troops have made progress in a drive towards the 14th U.S. Air Force airfield at Chihkiang in Hunan Province. If the Japs knock out Chihkiang, they can keep the Hankow railway repaired for use in moving troops to Hong Kong. The Americans would have to land many more troops at Hong Kong if Chihkiang falls than would be necessary at present.

Duranty: Russian realism

By Walter Duranty

Stokes: Hopeful aspects

By Thomas L. Stokes

Othman: White House OK

By Fred G. Othman

Maj. Williams: Post-war airlines

By Maj. Al Williams

An adventurer’s career ends –
‘About time,’ Romans say of Mussolini

Duce first of modern dictators
By J. Edward Murray, United Press staff writer

ROME, Italy – Il Duce was dead, disgraced, and defiled today, and the Italian people from premier to peasant took the news with satisfaction.

The Vatican reportedly received with coolness the news of Mussolini’s summary trial and execution, but throughout the rest of Rome there was only rejoicing.

Unimpeachable Vatican sources told the United Press the Holy See felt Mussolini should have had a more formal trial. The revilement of his body also displeased church circles. American Monsignor Walter Carroll was due to leave for Milan today to bring back a report on the entire episode.

No regret

No such niceties bothered the Italians who had lived so long under the Dictator’s yoke. The news was first flashed to a huge crowd gathered in the Piazzo Santi Apostoli to celebrate the liberation of North Italy. That is only a block from the Piazza Venezia, where the balcony was now bare of the blackshirt for good.

The excited crowd almost mobbed two news vendors who shouted “Mussolini executed.” A United Press correspondent who circulated through the crowd reported the only regret expressed was because Rome did not have the privilege of trying and executing Mussolini.

Premier Ivanoe Bonomi said:

The career of an adventurer who has been gambling with his life and with the destiny of his country has tragically ended. Fortunately, the country is not dying and will revive.

‘About time’

Mario Luzzi, bank clerk, wanted no grief on his former dictator.

“About time. He already was a stinking corpse,” said Luzzi.

“He deserved execution. It was overdue,” agreed shopkeeper Giuseppe Marni.

It was considered poetic justice that the mortal remains of Mussolini were taken for all to see to Milan, where his Fascism was born 26 years ago.

By that time Mussolini, son of a country village blacksmith, had already had a varied career as a soldier, Socialist, editor and teacher. From his birth on July 29, 1883, at Dovia di Predappio in Romagna, Mussolini pursued a relatively peaceful career until 1904. In that year he was expelled from Switzerland for political activity.

Jailed once

Mussolini returned to Italy and divided his time between school teaching and Socialism. He was jailed once for his part in a farmers’ strike. In 1909, he founded a newspaper called The Class Struggle. Three years later, he became editor of the Socialist daily, Avanti.

When the First World War began, Mussolini abandoned his Socialist and pacifist ideas. He gave up his post on Avanti and founded his own paper, Il Popolo Romano. In 1915, he was arrested for making a speech urging Italy to enter the war on the side of the Allies.

Mussolini joined the army and his war record was a good one. He was wounded several times, mentioned in dispatches frequently, and ended as a sergeant.

Started in 1919

Fascism was born in March of 1919, when Mussolini founded the first “Fasci” and was first called “Il Duce.” By 1922, he had a million followers and was able to declare that the Italian government would “either be given to us or we shall take it.”

That was October 24. Four days later from Milan, where his battered corpse had returned today, began the blackshirt march on Rome, a march in which Mussolini himself did not take part. A frightened King the next day invited Mussolini to form a new cabinet.

Mussolini bullied and beat his way to power. Where his balcony speeches sometimes failed, castor oil or rubber hoses rarely did. the murder of the socialist leader, Giacomo Matteotti, showed the world. But Mussolini went on his colorful swaggering way.

Signed Vatican pact

His first big diplomatic victory was when he healed the historic rift between Italy and the Vatican with the Lateran Treaty in 1929. His next was when he went to war with Ethiopia and got away with it. The League of Nations delayed in applying sanctions until it was too late. Mussolini’s dream of empire was being realized.

He supported Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, and his troops took a terrible whipping at Guadalajara.

Invaded Albania

Mussolini, as the first of the modern dictators, at one time treated Adolf Hitler as something of a pupil. But the master was soon outstripped, and when the Axis partnership was formed, Mussolini was the junior member.

Il Duce’s first suggestion in World War II was against Albania in 1939. Then came his “stab in the back” against fallen France in 1940. Those were his last victories. The invasion of Greece was a failure. The Italian armies were beaten in Africa.

When the Allies invaded Sicily, Mussolini was through. His government collapsed on July 25, 1943, and he was imprisoned. On September 12, 1943, he was rescued by German parachutists and taken to Germany, a beaten, broken man. His attempt to form a “new Fascist republic” in Northern Italy was pathetic.

Around him he gathered the old cronies of his Rome days and his mistress, young, pretty, slender Clara Petacci – the same people whose bodies were tossed in the pile with his own yesterday.

Bluster gone

But the old blustering Mussolini was gone. He was a hollow-eyed, tired-looking man. at the height of his career, Mussolini had been built up as a great sportsman. Once for the edification of American newsmen, he played half a set of tennis against opponents who wanted to let him win but couldn’t, and it was announced he had trimmed them.

One wide-eyed chronicler once reported that Mussolini liked Rome, his daughter Edda, children, horses, folk dances, and fortune telling. He disliked cats, rich men, beards, mummies, and old women.

He didn’t dislike young women, and his notorious love affairs did as much as anything to discredit him with his predominantly Catholic countrymen. His last mistress, the one who died with him, he met on a beach and kept in a villa near Rome.

Son-in-law slain

His wife, Rachele, was kept in the background throughout his life. they had five children, Edda, Vittorio, Romano, Anna Maria and Bruno. The latter was killed in a plane crash.

For marrying Edda, Count Galeazzo Ciano was made Italian Foreign Minister. For denying Il Duce after his downfall, he was executed.

Vittorio was reported with his father after his flight from Milan last week, but the dispatches today did not mention his whereabouts. Signora Mussolini tried to cross into Switzerland with Romano and Anna Maria, both in their teens. Edda is already in Switzerland with her longtime lover and newly-taken husband, Count Pucci.

Bucs meet Cards at home tomorrow

Roe, Strincevich snap Cub jinx with double victory in Chicago


Hope for Red Sox –
Ex-soldier wins shutout in major test

Veterans may apply for disability pension

Falstaff ought to write a poem about OPA

Poor guy’s diet all red meat
By Si Steinhauser

Reds ridicule mercy pleas of Pope Pius

Deny intending to destroy Germans

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt launched at New York yard

Late President would have watched carrier ‘with pride,’ wife says at christening

Gracie Allen Reporting

By Gracie Allen

SAN FRANCISCO – Lately, I’ve thought I was lucky to get a taxi in English, but here at the World Security Conference you can get foreign ones. They carry signs in different languages saying “Greek (or Russian or French) spoken here.” At least that’s what people tell me the signs say.

And this “share the ride” plan is certainly exciting when nobody knows what the other sharers are talking about.

Sometimes they get fooled, though. Yesterday, my companion and I were battling away in our own language when an Oriental veiled lady sharing the ride turned to me and said “Oh, so you like Charles Boyer, too?”

But don’t be misled by this movie nonsense, girls. Yesterday at the Conference I sat next to two sheiks in sheets. Did they try to carry off little Gracie to be a desert queen? Well, my address is still the Palace Hotel.

Oberdonau-Zeitung (May 1, 1945)

Politische Morgendämmerung

oz. München, 30. April – Das deutsche Volk verfolgt, von Nachrichtensendung zu Nachrichtensendung mit höchster Spannung den Verlauf und den Ausgang des ungeheuren Kampfes gegen die Mächte der Zerstörung aus Ost und West. Berlin ist und bleibt immer Symbol des unbeugsamen Willens, der sich durch keine Erfolgsberechnungen in der Erfüllung seiner selbstgewählten Pflicht und des Einsatzes aller Kräfte zur Lösung einer Gemeinschaftsaufgabe zum Wohle des europäischen Kontinents hindern lässt.

Während im Berliner Stadtkern noch größere und kleinere Stützpunkte dem Ansturm des übermächtigen Feindes standhalten, liefert, die politische Lage in aller Welt bereits den überzeugendsten Beweis für die Richtigkeit der Zielsetzung des deutschen und mitteleuropäischen Kampfes. In Frankreich hat der Verlauf des Wahltages gezeigt, dass der Bolschewismus überalle da aggressiv fortschreitet, wo keine klare Ordnungsmacht ihm sichtbar entgegentritt. Die Franzosen konnten Sonntag abends vom Rundfunk nicht erfahren, wie sich die politischen Parteien bei dieser ersten Wahl nach neun Jahren neu gruppiert haben. Jedoch liegen zahlreiche Berichte vor, die über politische Zwischenfälle des Wahltages Aufschluss geben. De Gaulle hat in Paris und in der Provinz die Straße nicht etwa den friedlichen kleinbürgerlichen Wählern freigegeben, sondern er musste unter dem Druck der Kommunisten unter Führung des aus Moskau zurückgekehrten Thorez die Straßen für die Demonstrationszüge der kommunistischen Partei freigeben. Diese Vorgänge in Frankreich sind ein nützliches Beispiel für alle kleinen und mittleren Mächte, die in dem leichtfertigen Vertrauen nach San Franzisko gezogen sind, dass die Verfasser der Atlantik-Charta ihre Versprechungen ernst genommen haben und nach dieser Konferenz, alle großen und kleinen, starken und schwachen Völker nur durch das unbeeinflusste Selbstbestimmungsrecht ihre Zukunft gestalten können.

Wie man in Moskau über die Zusagen der Atlantik-Charta denkt, hat der Bandenführer Tito mit der größten Deutlichkeit ausgesprochen. Er erklärte, dass König Peter, der auf Grund der Versprechungen des Jahres 1941 wieder nach Belgrad auf das Schloss seiner Vater zurückkehren sollte, in Jugoslawien nichts mehr zu suchen habe. Man werde ihm auch nicht gestatten, auf Grund des Selbstbestimmungsrechtes sich persönlich um die Wiedererlangung des Reiches zu bemühen.

Das Auftreten Molotows und seiner kleinen Trabanten in San Franzisko hat auch andere politische Klienten Großbritanniens sehr hellhörig gemacht. Die Vertreter der britischen Dominien haben klar ausgesprochen, dass sie gleichberechtigt in der neuen Welt Sitz und Stimme beanspruchen, weil sie dem Entgegenkommen Edens gegenüber Moskau das stärkste Misstrauen entgegenbringen und nicht gesonnen sind, ihre Lebensinteressen ihm anzuvertrauen. Die nüchternen Holländer erwiesen sich in San Franzisko als ein schmerzender Dorn in Englands Fleisch. Der holländische Delegationschef sammelt erfolgreich kleine und mittlere Staaten, die kritischen britischen Dominien und die misstrauische Südafrikanische Republik zu einem Stoßtrupp gegen die doktrinären Vormachtsansprüche der Großmächte. Nicht etwa ein deutscher Gelehrter, sondern ein holländischer Fachmann auf dem Gebiete des Völkerrechtes hat sich gestern abends an das Mikrophon bemüht, um über englische und amerikanische Sender den Holländern, Südafrikanern und Flämmen in ihrer gemeinsamen Muttersprache auseinanderzusetzen, dass die Beschlüsse von Dumbarton Oaks alles andere als eine Klarstellung des Friedens seien. Dieser holländische Fachmann sprach es offen aus, dass alle Bestimmungen, die in diesem Vertrag niedergelegt sind, so flüchtig ausgearbeitet wurden, dass sie für alle Auslegungen dem Gutdünken der Großmächte freie Hand geben.

Alle Länder, die bei Verwirklichung des klaren deutschen Programmes für Europa versagt haben, müssen jetzt erleben, wie sie das Opfer der bolschewistischen Gewaltpolitik und das Opfer der demokratischen Täuschungsmanöver werden. Plutokratie und Bolschewismus sind nicht nur im Hass gegen die europäische Ordnung einig, sondern sie leisten sich auch gegenseitig Vorspann bei ihren imperialistischen Bestrebungen, die kleinen Völker zu entrechten und die kulturelle und wirtschaftliche Eigenart dieser Nationen auszulöschen. Die harte Wirklichkeit entscheidet zugleich den zukünftigen politischen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Lebensraum der kleinen Völker.

Das Grab unserer deutschen Helden wird in die Geschichte eingehen als Grabstätte der Lebensrechte jener europäischen Völker, die jetzt in dem Konferenzhandel von San Franzisko zu spät erfahren, dass auch für sie das Kleist-Wort gilt: Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht!

De Gaulle: ‚Kein Europa ohne Deutschland

Bemerkenswertes Eingeständnis – Verschärfte Differenzen mit den USA

Mussolini das Opfer von Aufständischen

Mit seinem Mitarbeiterstab ermordet

Genf, 30. April – Nach Meldung eines italienischen Senders ist Mussolini mit 17 Angehörigen seiner engsten Mitarbeiterschaft in die Hände von Aufständischen gefallen. Mussolini und seine Mitarbeiter, darunter Farinaci, wurden ermordet, während Marschall Graziani den alliierten Militärbehörden unterstellt wurde. Die Leichen wurden auf dem Minettiplatz in Mailand zur Schau gestellt.

Führer HQ (May 1, 1945)

Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht

Im Stadtkern von Berlin verteidigt sich die tapfere Besatzung, um unseren Führer geschart, auf engstem Raum gegen die bolschewistische Übermacht. Unter schwerstem feindlichem Artilleriefeuer und rollenden Luftangriffen dauert das harte Ringen an.

Südlich der Reichshauptstadt haben die Verbände unserer 9. Armee den Anschluss an die Hauptkräfte gefunden und stehen jetzt an der Linie Niemeck-Belitz-Werder im harten Abwehrkampf gegen die pausenlos anrennenden Sowjets. Auch zwischen Rathenow und Fehrbellin behaupten sich unsere Truppen gegen starke feindliche Angriffe.

In Mecklenburg richtete sich der Hauptstoß der Bolschewisten gegen den Raum zwischen der Müritz und der Nien. Heftige Kämpfe sind hier gegen die weiter vordringenden Sowjetverbände im Gange. Teilkräfte des Gegners drehten nach Nordosten ab und versuchten vergeblich, über die Pene südlich Anklam zu setzen. Nördlich davon behauptet sich der Stützpunkt Wolgas gegen alle Angriffe. Von Osten her gegen die Dievenow-Enge geführte Durchstoßversuche brachen verlustreich für die Bolschewisten zusammen.

In Nordwestdeutschland lag der Schwerpunkt der Kampfhandlungen gestern zwischen Weser und Elbe, wo es den Engländern in schweren Kämpfen gelang, unsere Truppen durch die Linie Bremervörde-Städte zurückzudrängen. Zu heftigen Kämpfen kam es wiederum im feindlichen Elbebrückenkopf westlich Lauenburg, den der Gegner nach wechselvollem Ringen nur wenig erweitern konnte. Westlich Boizenburg gelang es dem Feind unter starkem Panzerschutz, mit schwächeren Kräften auf das Nordufer der Elbe überzusetzen. Aus dem Bayrischen Wald stießen amerikanische Panzerverbände an Passau vorbei und erreichten die Donau östlich der Stadt In Oberbayern dringt der Feind von Regensburg weiter nach Süden vor. Überlegene feindliche Kräfte sind von Nordwesten her in München eingedrungen, wo um den Stadtkern erbittert gekämpft wird. Aus dem Allgäu erreichte der Gegner Garmisch-Partenkirchen und ist im Vorstoß auf Mittenwald.

In Oberitalien kämpfen unsere Divisionen sich weiter nach Norden zurück. Sie erwehrten sich fortgesetzter Angriffe überlegener Feindkräfte und zerschlugen kommunistische Terrorgruppen, die ihnen den Rückweg abzuschneiden versuchten.

Aus dem Südabschnitt der Ostfront werden nur örtliche Kämpfe gemeldet. Im Raum von Brünn, wo die Sowjets durch ihre hohen Verluste zu weiteren Umgruppierungen gezwungen sind, dauert die Kampfpause an. Dagegen nehmen die Kämpfe westlich Mährisch-Ostrau mit unverminderter Heftigkeit ihren Fortgang. Der vom Feind erstrebte Durchbruch wurde nach geringem Geländeverlust vereitelt.

Die heldenhaften Verteidiger von Breslau schlugen wieder alle Angriffe der Bolschewisten ab. Die Säuberungskämpfe im Gebiet von Bautzen, Kamenz und Königsbrück wurden abgeschlossen. Der Feind hatte hohe blutige Verluste, zahlreiche Gefangene und umfangreiche Beute wurden eingebracht.

Über Norddeutschland herrschte während des ganzen Tages lebhafte Jagd- und Schlachtfliegertätigkeit. Im Kampf um den feindlichen Nachschub und seine Sicherungen versenkte die Kriegsmarine im Monat April 29 Schiffe mit zusammen 159.200 BRT, 4 Zerstörer, 1 U-Boot, 6 Sicherungsfahrzeuge und 5 Schnellboote. Ein Flugzeugträger, 2 Zerstörer und 7 Schnellboote wurden schwer beschädigt.

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (May 1, 1945)

FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN

ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section

DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
011100B May

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) OIA FOR OWI WASHINGTON FOR RELEASE TO COMBINED US AND CANADIAN PRESS AND RADIO AT 0900 HOURS GMT
(REF NO.)
NONE

(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR

Communiqué No. 388

UNCLASSIFIED: Allied forces captured Leer, on the right bank of the Ems River and advanced to the east. In the Oldenburg area we occupied Huede.

North of Zeven we reached the outskirts of Bremervoerde. West of Hamburg we are fighting in Horneburg.

We expanded our bridgehead over the Elbe River at Lauenburg and ten miles upstream made a second crossing in the vicinity of Bleckede.

An enemy airfield at Banzkow, southeast of Schwerin and road transport in the area of Schwerin and Parchim were attacked by fighter-bombers. Twenty enemy aircraft were shot down near the airfield and others were destroyed on the ground.

Another linkup was made by our units with Russian forces in the town of Apollensdorf west of Wittenberg.

Northeast of Cham, our forces crossed the Czechoslovakian border in the vicinity of Vseruby and farther south, in Germany, reached the vicinity of Eckersberg.

Our armor entered Wegscheid, one mile from the Austrian border, and entered Griesbach in the area southeast of Deggendorf.

Farther west, armored elements crossed the Isar River and reached a point two miles south of Plattling. Southeast of Plattling, our infantry entered Kleegarten.

Northeast of Landshut, our units reached the Isar River in the vicinity of Altheim and other elements entered Ergoldsbach.

We entered Landshut and reached the vicinity of Oberglaim, Edenland and Bruckberg.

In the area northeast of Munich, our infantry cleared Freising and reached the vicinity of Berglern.

It is estimated that 110,000 Allied prisoners of war were liberated at Moosberg by our forces. Earlier estimates placed the figure at 27,000.

Organized resistance in all of Munich west of the Isar River has ceased. This is more than three-fourths of the city. Snipers are being cleared.

South of Augsburg, an airfield with six jet-propelled planes and other aircraft was taken intact. Several pilots were in the cockpits preparing to take off when captured.

In the approaches to the Bavarian Alps, armored spearheads driving south made contact with others advancing east in the vicinity of Oberau. From this area, we pushed southeast of Mittenwald on the German-Austrian border.

Other advances to the west expanded our hold in Austria to a width of 20 miles and an average depth of five miles.

From the Iller River westward to Wangen we advanced up to ten miles southward.

In a 15-mile drive through Wangen we pushed about one mile across the Austrian border near the southeastern tip of Bodensee. Lindau was captured. Farther west, Friedrichshafen was occupied.

Allied forces in the west captured 59,739 prisoners 29 April.

On the French Atlantic Coast, our forces have launched an attack to clear the Germans from the Oleron Island.

We captured St. Trojan les Bains on the southeastern tip of the island and took a number of prisoners.

Allied naval and air units support the attack.

Rail and road transport in the area east and southeast of Munich, and from Salzburg to Prague and near Pilsen, and an airfield east of Pilsen were attacked by fighter-bombers.

Yesterday afternoon, heavy bombers dropped some 1,250 tons of food supplies for the Dutch population in enemy-occupied Holland.

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 (May 1, 1945)

CINCPOA Communiqué No. 349

Troops of the 7th Infantry Division continued to advance in the eastern sector of the lines on Okinawa on April 30 (East Longitude Date). By mid‑afternoon advance elements of the division had entered the village of Kuhazu. Local gains were made along the remainder of the front. The attack of the infantry was supported by heavy naval gunfire, heavy artillery and carrier and land‑based aircraft. A few enemy planes were in the area of Okinawa on April 30. One medium-sized ship was damaged.

Aircraft from escort carriers attacked air installations in the Sakishima group on April 30. Reports of the strike on these islands by escort carrier planes on April 29 reveal that ammunition dumps were exploded, radio facilities and barracks were hit and several planes were destroyed on the ground.

Search planes of Fleet Air Wing One bombed and strafed radio installations on Kuro and Kuchino Islands in the northern Ryukyus on April 30. An enemy plane was destroyed on the ground at Kuchino. On the following day, aircraft of this wing sank a cargo ship and damaged another in the East China Sea; sank a small cargo ship off the southern coast of Shikoku; and destroyed a small cargo ship at Miyake Island, south of Tokyo.

On April 30, Army Mustangs of the VII Fighter Command, escorted heavy bombers of the XXI Bomber Command over Tokyo, probably shot down one enemy plane and strafed three picket boats off the coast leaving them afire and dead in the water. Iwo-based Mustangs on May 1, bombed and strafed military installations on Chichi Jima in the Bonins.

Mitchells of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing damaged a large cargo ship with rockets north of the Bonins on April 30. Corsair and Hellcat fighters end Avenger torpedo planes of this wing bombed enemy islands in the Palaus on May 1.

Army Thunderbolt fighters of the Seventh Air Force shot down a four-engine seaplane over Truk in the Carolines on April 30 and swept the seaplane base and harbor with rocket fire sinking one small craft and damaging two others. Army Liberators of the same force followed the attack with heavy bombing of the airfields on Moen and Param Islands. Marcus Island was bombed by 7th AF Liberators on the same date.

Eleventh AAF Liberators bombed Kataoka naval base on Shumushu on April 30. On the same date, installations on Kokutan Cape on the same island, were attacked by search planes of FlAirWing Four.

The Pittsburgh Press (May 1, 1945)

YANKS DRIVE TO HITLER’S BIRTHPLACE
Patton slashes 25 miles into Nazi redoubt

Germans reported quitting Denmark

New peace offer denied

Negotiator reveals talks with Himmler – Churchill optimistic

BULLETIN

LONDON, England (UP) – The German radio at Hamburg notified its listeners to stand by tonight for a “grace and important announcement.”

LONDON, England (UP) – Count Folke Bernadotte, Swedish emissary reputed to be negotiating with Nazi leaders for Germany’s surrender, confirmed today that he had conferred with Heinrich Himmler 10 days ago.

A Swedish Foreign Office spokesman insisted, however, that Bernadotte had not brought back any new peace message from Himmler to be transmitted to the Allies through the Stockholm government.

Prime Minister Churchill, meanwhile, hinted in Commons today that an official statement clarifying the entire situation might be expected soon.

Mr. Churchill said he would inform Commons immediately of any major developments and the British Home Ministry said the Prime Minister would broadcast as soon as word of Germany’s surrender was received.

Mr. Churchill’s statement to Commons was made amidst reports from Sweden that German troops were withdrawing from Copenhagen and possibly from all Denmark in what may be the first step in Himmler’s plan to make peace with the Allies.

Advices from Copenhagen said tonight that Danish police in full uniform again were patrolling the streets of several towns in Denmark after the Germans withdrew from the towns without incident.

Bernadotte partially partly lifted the secrecy covering his recent activities during a press conference late today in the Swedish Foreign Office in Stockholm.

He refused to give details of any of his discussions with Himmler, beyond the fact that they had met 10 days ago in the Baltic port of Luebeck – obviously to discuss the Allied demand that Germany surrender unconditionally to the United States, Britain and Russia.

Bernadotte and the Foreign Office spokesman emphasized that no new reply from Himmler had been transmitted to the Allies through the Swedish government today – a statement which did not preclude the possibility of Bernadotte’s communicating direct with the Allied embassies in Stockholm or elsewhere.

New trip hinted

An Exchange Telegraph dispatch from Stockholm said Bernadotte was expected to leave there shortly for an unannounced destination. It said that he refused to go into detail on his recent activities. The dispatch said the Count was smiling happily, however.

Bernadotte had no comment on the persistent reports that the Germans were withdrawing from Copenhagen and possibly all Denmark as a prelude to their surrender.

Meanwhile, Germany’s few remaining radio stations warned the German people that momentous news was expected and that they must be “prepared for anything.”

Churchill sees King

Mr. Churchill conferred with King George in Buckingham Palace and then appeared before a tense House of Commons to deliver a guarded and deliberately vague statement. He did not deny that Germen surrender negotiations were in progress.

He sidestepped comment on the Swedish reports, asserting that he had no “special” news at the moment.

Victory celebration planned

Mr. Churchill revealed, however, that official plans for Britain’s victory celebration would be made public tonight, ready for application at a moment’s notice.

Later today, the Home Office announced that when news of the end of hostilities in Europe is made public, it will be done by Mr. Churchill in a radio broadcast.

An official announcement said that on the evening of the day the news is broadcast, King George will speak over the radio at 9 p.m.

Churches of all denominations will be open for prayer, and church bells will be rung throughout the country, it was announced. At the express wish of the King, the Sunday following the announcement will be a day of thanksgiving and prayer in Britain.

Throughout his brief appearance in Commons, Mr. Churchill spoke as if Germany’s unconditional surrender now were a foregone conclusion and that the armies in Europe might be engaged in occupying their various post-war administrative zones.

He promised that news of Germany’s capitulation would not be withheld until the complete occupation of the Reich is achieved, pointing out that the movement of the occupying armies and the surrender of enemy troops might take a considerable period of time.

Nazis may leave Denmark

Himmler’s rumored decision to evacuate Denmark as a preliminary to the unconditional surrender of the Reich was expected to be announced soon.

Radio Luxembourg said the Germans also were trying to negotiate the surrender of the Nazi-created protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, otherwise western Czechoslovakia, to the United States without a fight.

Another Stockholm dispatch said the Germans were expected to turn back the administration in Denmark to King Christian soon.

Swedish sources speculated that the German moves stemmed directly from Bernadotte’s conferences in Denmark, which included talks with the Nazi overlord there, Dr. Werner Best, as well as Himmler.

Earlier reports had said that Himmler in his original peace offer to the United States and Britain had offered to withdraw or surrender German forces in Denmark.

German soldiers wearing Red Cross badges arrived in Copenhagen several days ago, Stockholm said, to assist German refugees in “developments which will take place during the next few days.”

Other developments

The Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter said Himmler’s reply to the Allied “all or none” surrender demand was delivered to Allied diplomats in the Swedish capital yesterday by a member of the Swedish Foreign Office, believed to be Foreign Minister Christian E. Guenther himself.

Dagens Nyheter said a final Allied decision on the German note was not expected for another 24 to 48 hours because of the “complicated nature of the negotiations.”

Nevertheless, it said, the general trend of negotiations was “favorable” – a hint that Germany has decided to capitulate unconditionally to Russia, as well as to the United States and Britain as Himmler first offered.