Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 83, Decatur, Adams County, 7 April 1945 — Page 1

■ WI(S t Win the War! > else Is Chores! •

XLIII. No. 83.

BIX JAP WARSHIPS ARE SUNK AT OKINAWA . —

■ —— — — — allied Armies Roll Eastward

Sierican And Klish Forces Ash Forward Aisastcr Engulfing sßerman Armies On Hvest War Front Kis. Apr. 7— (UP)—British ■L. were reported advancing sHoseil within 12 miles of ■K,.,, unlay as American ninth fori'es struck out from their H, r iver bridgeheads in a %Kful drive to envelop Hann-H-Baiid the big aircraft center ■“ferli’ resistance was breakEK,, into little more than guerwarfare at many points on g»*Bl!i«>menHamiover line and SHw.ml in Holland, where the iSißdian first army all but sealg* the last escape road for an BHijiHl 50.000 Germans locked Dutch V-bontb coast. extent of the disaster en- * German arms in the west ' Bff|w p mpliasizcd by a headquartthat 1111,723 had been taken by the HHd armies in the first five of April—more than 40,000 Bnitursday alone. ■ ■''•■BBL-' British second army’s fiflßd “desert rats" of the seventh division., who reached western edge of the Weser SKw yesterday after a two-day, ■Mik- advance from tlie Osnaarea, wheeled early today and piled gain of perhaps 22 dispatches said they 7 a point 12 miles due of Bremen, Germany’s seaport, and were closing on the city against al-non-existent opposition. American first army troops were meeting . savage and opposition along the ■Ht bank of the Weser farther and Lt. Gen. George S. third army in central ran into furious Nazi ■’’Biter-attacks that recaptured ‘Bffl Anieriean-held town and a second. Patton's far-flung tank slowed down- momentarregroup and bring up fresh SBphes for the drive on Berlin, bands of Nazi Elite broke loose on a wild gun far behind his advanced force of at least 400 German backed up by four tanks, suddenly at American inJEB'Dnen in Struth, five miles 1IK; of captured *Muehlhausen. w® e Germans attacked in the darkness this morning drove the American garrison of th e town after a short, rr Street fight. surprise attack followed hours a similar counteraßai,lst American-held Bad 14 miles west of Struth ""les east of Kassel. The Was Sfi ” rasi, ’S furiously it Soo(ifin early' today, 11 Americans apparently , n ',? rf> firmly established and appeared to bo holding d S i^ ctacnlar Sains were re ‘ Rw r .i l^ e D as t 24 hours by the ■nts < S advanc ed tank eleMthL?^ ch were 126 miles K t Os I. f - BC! ' lln and 62 miles as Leipzi S in the Schlotheim armored division. Ml the ’ v advanced seven miles lKthw ? J eU ? area ' e ‘Kht miles IT BX the r im and 129 gKr- miUo “ e Langensalza, Patton was Br^ocßAT T T URE READ,N G W 8:oo a R * T THER MOMETER ■ h: * jig. 53 I F *ii- wii! E * THER

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

American Bombers Attacking Germany iLond-on, April 7—(UP),—(American heavy Itomibers attacked Germany today. Nazi broadcasts indicated their targets lay in the northwest area. The Germans ateo said Italy-bas-ed boinibers were over Austria today. o ’Bailie' Cabinet Is Formed By Japanese Raid By Superforts Delays Completion London, Apr. 7—(UP)—Admiral Baron Kantaro Suzuki today announced a new “battle” cabinet for Japan with himself as premier, foreign minister, and greater East Asia minister. Suzuki, in prewar years regarded as a political moderate, chose two other admirals, a general, and a group of career civil servants to help him guide Japan in the greatest military and political crisis in her history. The cabinet list was broadcast by the Tokyo Domei agency presumably after it had been approved by Emperor Hirohito. Its completion was delayed by the American superfortress attack on Tokyo this morning, Domei said. Only navy minister Mitsumasa Yonai and justice minister Hiromasa were retained from the cabinet of Gen. Kuniaki Koiso, which resigned two days ago in a storm of criticism over Japan’s recent military defeats. Gen. Korechika Anami, director general of army aviation headquarters, was named war minister and Admiral Teijiro Toyada, former chief of the navy aviation ' depar'ment, was given the posts of munitions, transportation and ' communications minister. Most of the other members of the new cabinet were veteran career civil servants. Anami, the new war minister, was vice minister of war before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was appointed direc- ■ tor general of the army aviation headquarters and concurrently a member of the Japanese supreme (Turn To Pagie 4, Column fl) O_ Rev. McPheeters To Accept Pastorate [ Kenneth Runyon, secretary of the pulpit committee of the First Presbyterian chtfrch, has teceived a t wire from Rev. John W McPheeters of Farming-tong, 111. accepting ’ the call ex-tended following the con- , gregational meeting held Wednesday evening, as pastor of the local , church. He will move his family . here and assume the pastorate ai bout May 1. o Japanese 15th Army Defeated In Burma [ Army Is Destroyed As Effective Force Calcutta, Apr. 7. — (UP)—The ■ Japanese 15th army has been dei cisively defeated on the central • Burma plain and is no longer con--1 sidered an effective fighting force, i the southeast Asia command reported today. “Our troops have reached the ■ end of the definite phase of oper--1 ations” in cutting off and liquidat--1 ing the large force of Japanese be--1 tween Mandalay and Meiktila, the > communique said. ■ Formations of two other Japanese armies in Burma, the 33rd i and 28th, have also suffered considerable casualties. Consolidation of the Allied position is under way. West African troops of the 15th Indian corps have made progress in their advance from Tamandu north of Taungup. In the eastern air war, heavy bombers yesterday severely damaged four bridges on the Pegu-Mar-taban railway, while fighter bombers hit the Toungoo bypass railway bridge.

Strong Fleet Os Superforts Bombs Honshu 400 B-295, Escorted By Fighters, Pound Aircraft Industries Guam, Apr. 7.— (UP) —An estimated 400 Superfortresses, escorted by long-range Mustang fighters, poured hundreds of tons of demolition bombs on the Musashina and Mitsubishi aircraft engine plants on the Island of Honshu today. The air armada was the largest land-based force to hit the enemy homeland and marked the first time that fighters had teamed with the giant B-29s for a double attack on targets on Honshu. The fighters came- from newlyacquired bases on Iwo Jima, 750 miles south of Tokyo. They have been in action, previously against targets in the nearby Bonins, but this was the first time they had appeared over the Jap home island. The planes roared over the Musashina factory at Nakajiina near Tokyo and the Mitsubishi plant at Nagoya a few hours before noon and early reports indicated the weather was •clear enough to permit visual bombing from a medium height. These factories account for roughly three-fourths of the production of Japanese combat aircraft engines. They have been the targets of several previous raids by • Superforts and serious damage to them would badly cripple enemy ■ aircraft production. , Tokyo radio said 4(1 of the Musi tangs bombed and strafed western Tokyo and the nearby port .of . Yokohama. The Mustangs based on Iwo Jima are assigned to the 7th AAF fighter command which is headed by Brig. Gen. Ernest M. Mickey Moore, . a former West Point track star. 1 The assault marked the opening of a new phase of the air offensive • against Japan. With fighter pro- . tection, the Superfortresses can drop thgir cargoes of fire and demi olition bombs from lower altitudes with much lees chance of interception. The fighters, identified by radio Tokyo as Mustangs, presumably came from newly-captured airfields on Iwo Island, only 750 miles south of Tokyo. The enemy broadcast (Turn To Page 4, Column 6) i « Evacuate Families From Flood Areas 500,000 Acres In Louisiana Flooded New Orleans. La., Apr. 7. —(UP) —Army assault boats, naval amphibious planes and helicopters were pressed into service today to evacuate trapped families from fllooded districts in central Louisiana where the swollen Mississippi has inundated an estimated 500,000 , acres of rich farmland. The river is still under control i in most places, but disaster offi- ' cials warned that “the fight has just begun” and predicted that the ’ worst would come next week when the river and its tributaries reach , their crest. Army field kitchens and emerg- ’ ency Red Cros's housing and medical units were working around the clock to care for the ever increasing number of refugees. An estimated 12,000 persons already have I been evacuated from flooded areas, and officials said that the flood waters of Mississippi tributaries and independent streams have risen into more than 30,000 homes. Prisoners of war and soldiers , worked feverishly to sandbag levees to prevent breaks, but in many 1 cases the water already was near the top. The Red Cross reported that the Big Red river levee had broken below Shreveport and other ’ breaks were anticipated. Scores of small communities in (Turn To Page 4, Column 7)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, April 7, 1945.

“D-Hour” —Disillusionment 'z A \ SI * r BtS f 'hH K a ■[wlhMgsi THE ATTITUDE of this German soldier after his capture by American forces in the heart of the Reich tells the whole story of the aftermath of the Nazis’ dream of conquest much more graphically than any words ever written.

Receives Details Os Ralph Spade's Death Soldier Accidentally Slain By Comrade Pfc. Ralph J. Spade, whose death occurred in Germany on March 4, was accidentally shot by a comrade who was cleaning his rifle in the room in which they were stiting. Chaplain Ernest E. Heuer of Headquarters, 329th Infantry, has informed the soldier’s wife, Mrs. Mary K. Spade, 727 North Fifth street. Chaplain Heuer personally wrote to Mrs. Spade under date of March 14, and explained how her husband met his tragic death with the American troops in Germany. His letter, in part, follows: “Ralph was a jeep driver for officers traveling between their headquarters and other units; he had performed this work the past eight- months. lie was accidentally shot while sitting in the room with another soldier who was cleaning his rifle. The bullet penetrated the upper part of his body. He was unconscious the few minutes that he lived after being wounded. A medical officer was on hand to attend him, but human hands are helpless when the Lord decrees otherwise, j “Ralph was laid to rest in an ' American military cemetery in Holland. Appropriate funeral services were conducted by a Protestant chaplain. “There, beneath a neat white cross, resting beside other brave comrades, he awaits the resurrection summons of the Prince of Peace. “We pray the Lord in mercy comfort you and give you- the strength to face the future courageously. God bless you and keep you.” Pfc. Spade was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Spade of Peterson. Prior to joining the army he was employed at the General Electric plant in this city. Big British Bombers For Use Against Japs London, Apr. 7 —(UP)—A new type of giant British bombers, the biggest yet made, is being built for use against Japan, according to the Daily Mail's air correspondent. The disclosure was attribued to Sir Roy Dobson, managing director of A. V. Rose, Ltd., which produces Lancaster bombers, at present the world’s greatest weight carrying bomber. i

BULLETIN Freeman McAlexander, 77, died suddenly late this morning at his home in Monroe. He is survived by the wife and a daughter, Mrs. Mary Ann Burkhart. 0 WLB Expected Io Enter Coal Dispute Order Negotiators To Report To Board Washington, Apr. 7. —(UP) —The war labor board was expected today to take a direct hand in the soft coal wage dispute to break I the five-week deadlock between opi erators and the United Mine Work- ■ | ens. The two parties were ordered to report to the board at 2:30 p. m., CWT., on their “progress” since I the labor department certified the case to the WLB a week ago. Their report, from all outward signs, will be that there has been no progress whatsoever. The WLB then is expected to schedule hearings next week in an effort to conclude the dispute before April 30, the expiration of the 30-day extension of the old wage contract. UMW president John L. Lewis posted a ticklish question of strategy for the operators last night when he announced that he would I show up for another bargaining session today despite the fact that the operators said they would not. The operators subsequently talked it over again but did not reveal whether they would reverse the original plan and attend. Some feared that if they did not, it would give Lewis an opportunity to blame them for the collapse of negotiations. Both sides are expected to bring out into the open at the WLB hearing the issues on which they are at odds. Each was ready to accuse the other for the failure to eliminate any of their differences. The operators planned to tell the board that further bargaining sessions were futile. The WLB, meanwhile, was watching the back-to-work move(Turn To Page 5, Column 6) O Assessing Work is Progressing Rapidly The toiwnhship trustees who are doing the ass esei ng of personal property and the special assessors for Decatur and Berne, met this morning to report their progress and averages. The assessing -work is progressing rapidly and the average values are holding up, the survey showed.

-T- 1 Jap Super-Battleship Is Sunk, 391 Jap Airplanes Are Destroyed, Damaged

Airborne Unils Pace Yankee Luzon Drive Hong Kong Is Raided Third Straight Day Manila, Apr. 7 — (UP) — Airborne troops, who hopped 20 miles to seize the provincial capital of Lucena, sparked an American drive that was rapidly clearing the entire southern half of Luzon today. Elements of the 11th airborne division landed at Lucena, capital of Tayabas province, in small liaison planes Wednesday and quickly seized the city and its two airstrips, two miles inland from Tayabas bay. The airborne units were pacing the American drive down lhe southeastern part of Luzon toward a junction with other U. S. roops which already had cleared Sorsogon province at the end of the island's long tail. Seizure of Lucena’s airfield provided another base for Gen. Douglas MacArthur's aerial forces which were maintaining a firm blockade of Japanese shipping through the China seas. The Philippines-based bombers and fighters were revealed to have hit Hong Kong for the third consecutive day Wednesday and sunk 14 ocean-going freighters, totalling at least 40,000 tons, in widespread attacks throughout the southwest Pacific. Nearly 50 liberators carried out (Turn To Page 5, Column 7) O Blue Creek Resident Is Critically Burned Mrs. Elizabeth Ferguson. 81-year-old Blue Creek township resident, is reported in a critical condition at the Adams county memorial hospital, sufefring from burns about ! the upper part of her body. Mrs. Ferguson, who lived alone, was found lying unconscious on the kitche nfloor by a granddaughter, ' Miss Nelwyn Brookhart. Nearly all ' the clothing was burned off the upper part of Mrs. Ferguson's body. 1 Circumstances of the accident are 1 uncertain, as the victim has been ! unconscious most of the time. i : o Little Damage Done To Indiana Orchards Principal Damage Done In Low Areas By United Press Hoosier orchardists breathed : easier today after a check-up of frosted fruit tree blossoms showed that Friday's low temperatures failed to harm most of the crop. Damage was confined chiefly to low areas, where the loss was heavy. But the majority of orchards in the major fruft producing districts were described as little hurt. Horticulturists at Purdue university reported that the frost, brought by temperatures ranging as low as 25 degrees, nipped the blossoms of lowland orchards and trees.. The pear crop suffered most actutely, with smaller loss to cherries and apples, they said. Knox county growers said the peach crop was safe. The early development of leaves protected many fruit trees. The leaves served as umbrellas forth?, blooms, according to county agricultural agent A. M. Bishea of Evansville. The Vanderburgh county fruit crop was damaged only slightly, he said. County agent Walter Rogers of Bloomington was pessimistic about the situation in Monroe county. He said the low temperature and heavy 1 frost wiped out much of the fruit crop there. Temperatures last night were about 10 degrees above the Friday readings, and heavy frosts held off a repeat visit to Indiana.

Russian Forces Are Baffling In Vienna Sfreefs * , Dramatic Broadcast From Vienna Tells Os Hard Fighting London, April 7. —(UP) —A dramatic broadcast from Viemm said to--day that the Russians had broken into the Austrian capital and were nearing the center in heavy street fighting. The rattle of gunfire punctuated the broadcast. London newspapers said. Speakers tailed on the in-habitants--nearly 2,000,000 in 1939 —to stand firm. “Volkseturmers (home guards) are going into line.” the broadcast said. “With the German Wehrmacht, grenadiers and SS men, they are going to defend their homes. “Every yard of ground is being defended to the. last, but the Russians have increased the momentum of their attacks. Fighting is now going on around and in Vienna itself . . . Garrison units are fighting against the Russians on the edge of the city's center.” House-to-house fighting was under way. the broadcast said. Monitors said the announcement interrupted a program of patriotic songs over the Vienna station. It was preceded by the ringing of the bells of St. Stephen’s cathedral, which also sounded the alarm when Turks stood at the gates of Vienna many years ago. There was no immediate confirmation of the report that the Russians were nearing the center of Vienna, but Moscow dispatches said the Red army was fighting for the Simmering district just inside the city limits on the southeast. The Red army reached Simmering, site of Vienna’s main gas, power and water stations after capturing adjoining Schwechat oji the edge of the city yesterday. o Revenue Collector Lists Office Hours Jewell Rule, deputy internal revenue collector who has been Stationed in Decatur for several months, has been transferred to Fort Wayne. Mr. Rule will spend two days each week in Decatur, however, and will be in his office in the court house from 8:30 to a. m. and 4 to 5 p. m. each Wednesday and Friday. o Fifth Army Troops Advancing In Italy American Offensive Goes Into Third Day Rome, Apr. 7 —(UP)—-American fifth army troops captured Mt. Folgarito and plunged on toward Spezia, some 20 miles to the northwest, against scattered resistance today as their offensive went into its third day. (The Berlin radio said that on the Italian front southeast of Massa the Germans withdrew to “shortened positions.”) The British destroyers Marine and Lookout supported the advance with a bombardment from the Ligurian sea that silenced enemy gun batteries. Fighters and fighter-bombers also were in action. Mt. Folgorito, a 3.000f00t height dominating the Ligurian coastal plain in northwest Italy, was outflanked from east and northeast in advances yesterday. The advance capie as a London dispatch reported that the Ger(Turn To Page 5, Column 1)

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U. S. Loses Three Destroyers, Other Ships' Damaged In Naval Engagement Guam. Apr. 7—(UP)—Admiral Chester W. Nimitz today announced Japan had lost the most powerful dreadnaught left in her battered fleet — the 40,000-ton super battleship. Yamato — eight other warships sunk or damaged and 391 planes in a desperate air and sea attempt to stem the American invasion of Okinawa. American losses were three de- . stroyers sunk, several destroyers . and smaller craft damaged, and i seven planes shot down. ■ In addition to the Yamato, the Japanese lost a. light cruiser of the 6,000-ton Agano class, a smalI ler cruiser, and three destroyers. s Three other destroyers were left . burning. i Their air losses included: 116 planes lost to American fighters i and antiaircraft in a Japanese attack April 6 on short installa- . tions and ships off Okinawa; 245 planes shot down by fleet car- ■ rier fighters in the same action; 30 Japanese planes shot down . April 7. the day on which the . Japanese fleet losses were in- . flirted. 3 The Yamato was hit. by at least ( eight torpedoes launched by tor- . pedo aircraft and eight heavy , bombs, in addition to strafing J>y rocket and machine-gun fire. Nimitz revealed that the blow to the desperate Japanese was once again inflicted by the fast . carrier force of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. . The Yamato, Nimitz said, was the most powerful battleship left i in the Japanese fleet. It probably was Japan’s newest dreadnaught, laid down in 1938 or 1939, and . probably commissioned after the . start of the Pacific war. It was rated at better than i 40.0(10 tons hut the exac figure • never was known. It was sup- . posed to have been armed with nine 16-inch guns and had a speed. . of 30 knots or better. The Okinawa. sea-air battle, . Nimitz revealed, opened yester- ( day, Guam time, with a strong Japanese air attack launched against our forces on Okinawa and the concentration of ships lying off shore. The Japanese “pressed their attacks with desperation." Nimitz said, and succeeded in sinking three U. S. destroyers and damaging several other smaller craft. , They failed to hit any of our larger fleet, units. In this battle the fleet carrier . fighters had a field day. kqpcking ’ 245 Jap planes out of the sky while tighter plane pilots on Okinawa ami ack-ack batteries there accounted for another 116. ’ Early today fleet air search planes sighted a Japanese surface fleet which had steamed out’ot its refuge in the inland sea. and, passing south of the main Japan®e island of Kyushu, had headed into the East China sea. The force, possibly as strong a fleet as the Japs could muster for their all-out effort to oust us from Okinawa, was seen to comprise the Yamato, one Againo (Turn To Paste 5. Column 1) ■ O ' Marshal Petain Faces Trial For Treason Paris, Apr. 7 —(UP) —Marshal Philippe Henri Petain will be tried in absentia soon as a trait- ' or to France by a special high court of justice in one of the ' most important trials in Frem-h ■ history. A ministry of justice official told the United Press that the 1 prosecution will attempt to prove 1 that Petain, who became French chief of state after France’s fall, collaborated with the Germans 1 because he was a fascist and sin- ■ cerely desired a Nazi victory. Petain will be charged with three crimes: treason, intelligence with the enemy, and endangering the security of the ' state. I