Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 66, Decatur, Adams County, 19 March 1945 — Page 1

XLIII. No. 66.

GERMANS RETREAT FROM SAAR TRIANGLE

tßmerican Planes Rake Japan

be On Wave I Planes Hit ip Homeland lap Factory-Packed Brea Blasted; B-29s Again Pound Nagoya ■am March 19— (UP)-Tokyo ■wave after wave of U. S. navy ■s attacked the factory-packed ■a-Kabe area for at least nine L today, eending a powerful ■erbased assault on Japan ■gh its second straight day. ■ly 85 miles to the east, Na- | Japan’s biggest aircraft manluring center and third largest ■ still was ablaze 'from a preI attack early yesterday by 325 ■ii Superfortresses, greatest BBmada of the war. ■ communique issued by the ■ air force in Washington said I of the giant bombers was lost I to enemy action,” returning ■men reported ‘‘huge fires in Industrial heart of the city with le smoke rising to 6,000 feet.” Iter opposition was meager and ■eetive, it said, but antiarcraft ■was more intense than it was lek ago when Nagoya first, was Id by a 300-plus force of B-29’s) | Japanese communique issued Bly after 3 p. m. (Tokyo time) | carrier planes had been at■iig the Hanshin district — |nese name for the Osaka-Kobe 1 and Uhikoku island, to the ■west, since this morning. ■other Tokyo propaganda |dcast said .the raids began at I a. m. apd reported thlat KyuI southernmost of the Japanese |e lulanj, also was under at I. Kyushu was the main target I force estimated by Tokyo at ■ carrier planes yesterday. Be coanmunique claimed that ■ter-atudking Japanese planes ■sunk an aircraft carrier, a seeI aircraft carrier or battleship, ■battleship or cruiser, and two layers in attacks on the AmeriItask force southeast of Kyushu jerday. ■other aircraft carrier was damB heavily, the communique said 1 16 planes shot down. Damage ■round installations in yesterI s eight-hour carrier raids on bhu, Shikoku and cowtheast fchu was said to be “slight”. Bth Osaka and Kolbe, identified lamong today’s targets were |ted heavily last week by 300|e armadas of Superfortresses. Ra is Japan's second largest I and Ibiggest wqr production r r ’ while Kobe is her main luge fires were kindled in Nak J«5 miles west of Tokyo, by r tone or more of incendiaries BPed by the record fleet of gufortresses yesterday. One Tokyo l“«ast said the' fires finally F brought under control after I and a half hours but another ped they still may not have P controlled. f e 8-299 we re out to complete Instruction begun last Monday [, two square miles — 285 city C7 W 5 e burned out ln a sima'd It was the fifth major fire I 011 Ja Pan in 10 days. k’ntrai Chester w. Nimttz’s Pa- [ * leet hei dq u anters was silent L. the r< Wt that the carrier I f n , re attacki “g southern ffat th a , se “ nd da ? an d 'the claim a e force had been damF that arte « S confirme d. how- ( Plan™ Btr ° ng force ” ot car ’ M J P«»uinalbly from Adie 5s Mltscl >er’ 3 famed task it ana t 11 attacked enemy airterdav . ns,al ’ atlo “« cn Kyushu Si(St TURE reading «’!> a CR * TTHER M®MET E R ■*«. »? TKE " ntor m . t d . * CBttered thund- \ T ’ ht Partly 'Pht •nd U h? day ' Cooler t 0" nd north Tuesday.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Fire Department Called Saturday The Decatur fire department was called to the Mollenkopf equipment store on North Third street at 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon. A gasoline tank was being removed from a tractor and a short circuit set fire to the tank. Workmen carried the tank into the alley and quickly extinguished the blaze. A large door and a few windows at the store iwere somewhat damaged. - — o Berlin Hit In Heaviest Air Raid Os War Large Sections Os War Industries Are Wrecked And Burned London, Mar. 19—(UP)—Strong forces of American and British bombers dropped heavy loads of bombs — some the new 11-ton super-bombs—on widely scattered parts of Germany today. The bombardment hit Germany a day after the heaviest raid of the war on any single German city had wrecked and burned large sections of the concentrated war industries in and around Berlin. More than 1,200 U. S. heavy bombers and upward of GOO fighters hit several targets today. They included a jet plane plant at Baumenheim, 20 miles north of Augsburg, air fields near Neuberg north of Muenchen and Leipheim near Ulm, industrial targets at Plauen west of Chemuitz in Saxony, and war factories at Jena, west of Leipzig. Lancasters of the RAF carted 11-ton and six-ton bombs to hit railway viaducts at Arnsberg southeast of Hamm and in the area of Bielefeld in the Ruhr area. The record attack on Berlin by upwards of 2,000 American planes yesterday cost the eighth air force 25 bombers and five fighters. A communique reviewing the Berlin raid revealed that the U.S. planes scattered 3,000 tons of bombs through most of the capital’s industries and left them ablaze or littered with wreckage. Bombs blanketed the entire (Turn To Page 2, Column 3)

Edward M. Repperl Is Taken By Death Funeral Services Here On Wednesday Edward Martin Reppert, G 4, lifelong resident of Adams county, died at 2:10 o’clock Sunday afternoon of heart disease at his home, 325 North Fourth street. He had been ill since December but death was unexpected. He was born in Kirkland township September 18, 1880, the son of Crist and Mary Spies-Reppert. Formerly a resident of Preble township, the family had lived in Decatur for the past eight -years. He was an employe of the General Electric plant here. Surviving are the wife, Martha; one daughter, Mrs. John Madden, Fort Wayne; two sons, Paul of Ossian and Homer of Decatur; three sisters, Mrs. Edward Fruechte of Magley; Mrs. Jason Hoffman of Los Angeles, and Mrs. Ralph Worthman of Millersburg; four brothers, George of Freeport, Ill.; Rev. Charles Reppert of Elkart, Wis.; Elmer of Fort Wayne and Walter of Magley, and six grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at the residence at 2 p. m. Wednesday and at 2:30 o’clock at the Zion Evangelical and Reformed church, with Rev. William C. Feller officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. The body, will be removed from the Zwick funeral home to the residence this evening and may be viewed after 7:30 p. m. I

They Are First Army N urses To Cross Rhine f —.♦.•* J-- .. . ............. ....... j * 1 is a-. . oa,. ■ Mr ■■■>.: Hr 'wry - * ||f * \ wßhidp Ugum • Hr ■!•.» .Am IT'S THE EAST BANK of the great river Rhine in Germany, and looking over the new Allied bridgehead and their new hospital base in Germany are th? first army nurses to cross the strategic river. From left to right, they are First Lt. Dorothy Judd, Luray, Va.; First Lt. Lois Grant, Cleveland, and First Lt. Josephine Jennis, Milmont Park, Pa. This is a U. S. Army Signal Corps radiophoto.

La Guardia Defies Midnight Curlew Extends Drinking Time In New York , Washington, Mar. 19. — (UP) — Mayor F. H. LaGuardia of New York appeared today to be going it alone for the present in his defiance of the government’s midnight curfew. Mayors and officials of many other cities said that they would stick by the midnight closing. This eased somewhat the fears of officials that the defiance Would become epidemic, but they still were much concerned over the situation in the nation’s largest city. LaGuardia yesterday announced that he had extended New York’s public drinking to 1 a. m. He acted on his own authority, without consulting Washington. Reports from Detroit, Chicago, (Turn To Page 6, Column 5) BULLETIN Washington, Mar. 19 — (UP)— American submarines have sunk 15 more Japanese ships-, including five combat vessels, the navy announced today. The combat craft included three destroyers and two escort vessels. The other victims were one large tanker, one large cargo transport, seven cargo vessels, and one medium transport. • ■—o Food Situation In Nation Called 'Bad'

Civilians Facing Scantiest Rations Washington, Mar. 19. — (UP) — Government officials declared today that the nation’s food situation can be described by one word — “bad.” The outlook for many months ahead, they said, ie worse, if anything. They emphasized that no American is in danger of starving. But civilians are entering their period of scantiest rations in recent history. Shortages of almost every major food 1 may be expected to continue until after the next harxest season. Short supplies of meat, dairy products, sugar and fats and oils probably will continue beyond that time. Here are the latest major developments on the food front: Meat—Civilians must expect a 12 percent cut in meat rations during April. May, and June. Allocations for that period will be at the rate of 115 pounds a year per person--30 pounds less than 1944 and 10 (Turn To Pago 6, Column 4).

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, March 19, 1945.

Pfc. Robert Cassady Is Killed In Action IMrs. Colleen Cassady of Lafayette, received word Sunday that her husband, iPfc Robert M. Cassady, 25, was killed in action in Germany February 127. IShe had received word (wo days previously that’her husband had been reported missing. (Mrs. Cassady was the former Colleen Kane daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kane, former residents of Decatur. Pfc. Cassady entered service December I's, 194i2, and had been overseas since July of last year. Ho is survived by a two-year-old son, Richard Charles. 0 Republican Publicity Director Is Missing 'Washington, March 19- —(UP) — Police today were investigating the disappearance of Leland L. Chesley, acting publicity director of the Republican national committee, whose clothes 'were found nine days ago on a bridge across the Potomac. A note in the clothing requested that the finder “please notify” Mrs. Chesley. Police said the case was turned over to the detective bureau because “it appeared the clothing was left to mislead police.” No trace of a body has been found.

Two Adams County Soldiers Die With Army In Germany

Today’s casualty list included a Decatur and a Monroe soldier who lost their lives with the armed forces in Germany. The dead: , Pfc. RALPH J. SPADE of Decatur. Pvt. GORMAN GILBERT of Monroe. Pfc. Ralph J. Spade, 38, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Spade of Peterson, died in Germany on March 4, the war department notified his wife, Mrs. Kathryn Holmes Spade of Lewis Street, Fort Wayne, yesterday. The message did not state the cause of death. Pfc. Spade served as a chauffeur for company officers and one assumption is that he may have been driving toward the front, when a bomb struck tho jeep. His mother had a letter from him dated March 3, and he was on active duty at that time. Pfc. Spade was attached to the 83rd division of General Patton’s Third army, which drove its way to the Rhine river early this month. Prior to joining the army on October 29,4942, he was employed here at the General Electric plant. He took basic training at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and Font Breckenridge, Ky., going overseas last 'April. .He landed in Wales, Bngland, and saw action in France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was born in Adams coupty, March 29, 1906. He attended the

Delinquent Tax Sale Low In This County Three Properties To Be Up For Sale If it were not that the statutes specify that the county auditor shall hold a delinquent tax sale and advertise the pieces of real estate on which tax is due, the sale scheduled for April 9 would have been skipped in this county, Thurman I. Drew, auditor, announced today. There are only *tli ree pieces of real estate, two in Decatur and one in Berne, with an assessed value of $215, listed in the descriptions. In one instance, the delinquent tax is 60 cents, the other $2 and the third, $65.93, the latter including tax from several years past. The sale has to be advertised three times in two papers in the county and is set for 10 o’clock on the morning of April 9. Unless there is a county in the state that does not have a single niece of property to offer for sale, Adams county no doubt holds the record for having the smallest number of delinquencies in Hoosierdom.

Is z > r . K ? ' ' : • z ’ • wja w ■ \ 1 A/ Pfc. Ralph J. Spade Kirkland township schools and on March 7, 1941, was married to Miss Kathryn Holmes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Holmes of Fort Wayne. Besides his widow and parents he is survived by five sisters, Mrs. Otto Dilling of Griffith; Mrs. Arthur Kelley, Mrs. Willard Mcßride, Mrs. Theodore Heller and Mrs. Leonard Liechty, all of Decatur. . Pvt. Gorman Gilbett, 20, son ot Mr. and Mrs. Realie Gilbert of Monrob route one, was killed in action (Turn To Page 6, Column 3),

American Air Bombs And Gunfire Take Heavy Toll Os Retreating Soldiers

Wedge Driven Into Altdamm Defenses Fighting Unabated Along Oder Front London, Mar. 19 — (Uf*) —Russian siege forces have driven a wedge almost a mile into the main defenses of Altdamm, fortress city on the east bank of the Oder before Stettin, the Germans reported today. The Soviet assault on the last German toehold east of the lower Oder at Altdamm entered its final phase. Russian victory there will secure Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov's flank for the big push on Berlin. Moscow dispatches reported that after the capture of the big port of Kolberg, 63 miles northeast of Stettin, the Baltic coast was clear from Stettin Bay to the suburbs of besieged Gdynia. Soviet dispatches said fighting went on unabated along the central Oder front before Berlin and in Silesia, although the Red army command still withheld confirmation of Nazi reports that the Russians were across the Oder in force and gathering strength for a frontal assault on the capital. Ernst Von Hammer. Berlin radio commentator, said Zhukov had thrown fresh infantry into the attack on the Altdamm bridgehead. The Russians attacked as many as 15 times in separate sectors before the town, Von Hammer said, “without forcing a substantial change in the tactical situation.” The troops drilling in from the southeast penetrated almost a mile into the main German fighting zone, Von Hammer said, adding the 1 customary propaganda claim that they were sealed off. In extreme southern Silesia, (Turn To Page 5. Column 2) — 0 :

John Geimer Dies Laie Sunday Night Funeral Services Wednesday Morning John Geimer, 86, prominent retired farmer of Union township, died at 10:30 o’clock last night at the home of his son, Herman Geimer. where he had lived for the past 36 years, of complications and infirmities. Mr. Geimer was born in Bavaria, Germany, on Nov. 16, 1858, and came to this country when a boy. His parents and brothers and sisters did not. immigrate to the United States. He was the eldest of 13 children and it is believed a brother and sister may still be living in Germany, although he had not heard from any of them for several .years. Mr. Geimer engaged in farming and was a resident of this county for 70 years. His wife preceded him in death. He was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic church, the Holy Name society and the Knights of Columbus. Surviving are four sons, Fred, Joseph, Florian and Herman Geimer, and one daughter, Mrs. Frank Bentz, all of Decatur. Three sons and one daughter are deceased. Thirty-seven grandchildren and 16 great-grandchil-dren also survive. Funeral services will be held Wednesday morning at 9 o’clock at St. Mary's church, Rev. Joseph J. Seimetz, being the celebrant of the requiem mass. Burial will be in the Catholic cemetery. The body will be moved from the Gillig and Doan funeral home to the Herman Geimer home this evening and may be viewed there until time for the funeral. Membest of the Holy Name society are asked to meet at the Geimer home Tuesday evening to recite the rosaty.

U. S. Bombers Pound Formosa In Record Raid Island Fortress Os Japan Pounded For Fifth Straight Day Manila. Mar. 19. — (UP) —American Liberators bombed Formosa for the fifth consecutive day Friday, unloading a record 300 tons of high explosives on the island fortress without interception, it was announced today. More than 70 of .the heavy bombers, flying from new Philippines [bases, carried out the latest phase of the campaign to neutralize Formosa, only 700 miles southwest of Japan’s home islands. In the five days of raids, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s bombers have dumped a total of 825 tons of bombs on air bases and vital war plants on the island, lying strategically getween the northwest corner of the Philippines and the China coast. The Japanese failed to put up a single Interceptor against the last attack, which started large fires at the Heito and Okayama air bases and the supply and repair shops near Taihoku. The raid followed an assault the previous day by Thunderbolt fighter-bombers on the electric plant at Toko, on Formosa’s southern tip. (CBS recorded an Australian broadcast which said the Tokyo radio today noted a “sharp increase in the number of planes raiding Formosa” from American bases in the Philippines. Tokyo said the task of bombing Formosa apparently had been switched from the 14th air force in China to MacArthur’s Philippines forces.) Another contingent of Liberators at the same time spread 337 tons through the Japanese defenses as Baguio, former Philippines summer capital in northern Luzon where American troops were steadily compressing the enemy forces. MacArthur’s communique reported continued gains by his troops (Turn To Page 5. Column 4)

Reinking Funeral Service Wednesday Walter A. Reinking Dies At Fort Wayne Funeral services for Walter L. Reinking, 51, former Union township resident, who died at the Lutheran hospital, Fort Wayne, early Sunday morning, will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Martini Lutheran church, on the Moeller road. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Mr. Reinking was an engineer for the Pennsylvania railroad and was well known in this city. He underwent a major operation on March 11. Born in Union township, Mr. Reinking moved to Fort Wayne 26 years ago. He resided at 3302 Oxford street. Surviving besides the widow, are two sons, Donald with the army in Belgium, and Walter, also with the army, now horn®, on furlough; five daughters, Mrs. E. W. Bohren, Woodburn, and the Misses Helen, Rosemary, Carolyn aad Judith Reinking, all at home; his stepfather, William Bieberich, of Preble; a brother, Lewis Reinking, also of Preble; a sister, Mrs. Fremont Springer of Fort Wayne; a stepsister, Mrs. Emma Miller of Peoria, 111., and a step-brother, Fred Bieberich of Preble. The body was moved to the Reinking residence, where friends may call.

Price Four Cents.

Fleeing Troops Are Subjected To Mass Slaughter By Air And Artillery Fire Paris, Mar. 19 — (UP) — The German first and seventh armies began a general retreat from the Saar-Palatinate triangle today under a rain of American air bombs and gunfire. A gap of 40 miles or less remained open between the American third and seventh armies, closing in around the confused Germans from the north and south. Insifte the pocket, long columns of German troops and armor were reported streaming eastward toward the Rhine in a belated and apparently disorderly attempt to withdraw before the points of the American pincers close. American bombers attacked the packed roads at dawn. By midday the U.S. ninth air force had sent, more than 1.300 medium bombers and fighter-bombers against the fleeing Nazis and the massed slaughter still was going on. Flying weather over the target area was perfect with indications that the number of sorties would be doubled by nightfall. Returning fliers said the highways were black with German troops and civilians. The scenes were reminiscent ot the German invasion of France in 1940, the fliers said. About. 1,000 Nazi motor vehicles and 100 tanks or armored cars were destroyed or damaged yesterday. Today’s toll promised to be greater. An estimated 80,000 German soldiers were believed left inside the closing pockets. Their long delay in starting the retreat threatened to cost them heavily in the next few days. Lit, Gem George S. PnttonJl IT. S. third army spearheads already were within 15 miles of Kaiserlautern, where the main escape roads center. Tlie Germans were reported putting up only sporadic opposition in the pocket. They fought hardest along the northeastern shoulder of the gap to keep open the roads to Mainz and Ludwigshafen, Rhine cities. Patton’s troops early today were only 14 miles southwest of Mainz and about 35 miles northwest of Ludwigshafen. They crossed the Nahe river, main German defensive position on the northern flank of the Rhine-Pala-tinate at several points. At last reports the Yanks were moving rapidly south and southeast. Strong German covering forces were still manning the Siegfried line fortifications along the southern rim of the Saar against the advancing seventh army in a large-scale delaying action to cover the retreat. Field dispatches said the seventh army and the French first army troops moving down the Rhine valley, scored gains running to five miles and more today and were crowding hard on (Turn To Page 5. Column 2) 0 Fred Helm Reported Officially As Dead Mr. and Mrs. J.J.Helm ot Miami, Fla., received official rword Sunday from the war department of the death of their son, Fred. A wire message to relatives here relayed the message which read: “Fred Helm was an aerial photographer and bomlbardier and had been stationed in India more than a year. He was reported missing shortly after the a.ibove date but official notice of his death had not been received until yesterday. iFred was born in this city and prior to his enlistment was employed in the Indiana state highway department offices at Indianapolis. Besides the parents he is survived by a brother, Charles, a lieutenant in the army flying corps and a sis s ter, Mrs. Joseph Swaim, whose husband recently returned from a year’s service in the South Pacific and is now stationed in this country.