Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 April 1942 — Page 1
VOLUME 54—NUMBER
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1942
Indianapolis Times
FORECAST: Rain today and tonight; not much change in temperature.
Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice,
Indianapolis, Ind, Issued daily except Sunda
FINAL HOME
: PRICE THREE CENTS
y.
BATAAN FALLS, 36,000 TRAPPED
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NAZI TANK FLEET ASSAULTS RUSSIA
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In Ruins,
Casualties Estimated at Japanese Bo
Fabled Mandalay Laid
2000 Dead
8000 Following Surprise mber Attack.
By DARRELL BERRIGAN United Press Staff Correspondent
MANDALAY, April 4 up like thunder today. Through the night a flee
(Delayed) .—The dawn came
t of Japanese bombers ranged
the skies unmolested, dropping their death loads. Tonight, this city of pagodas and tradition lay in
smoking ruins.
The prosperous commercial district is a shambles with hundreds
of dead and wounded.
streets,
Casualties are estimated from 5000 to 8000, with probably to 3000 killed and hundreds Founded critically,
has been made vet, Three-quarters of the downtown district, trading center for Mandalav's 135.000 residents. were reduced to ashes and rubble. Heavy bombs folded brick and concrete structures like match sticks, burving occupants, No warning was sounded.
= = = Hospital Leveled ONE AREA a mile square, where there were hundreds of native
homes and shops, was burned to the ground by incendiary bombs. |
There was no chance to check the fire as a strong south wind swept the flames through the dry ings. Hundreds of natives, caught completely by surprise. burned to death. Few escaped with more than the clothes they wore. All 12 buildings of the general hospital were burned to the ground. Chinatown, one of the most congested areas, is still littered with dead humans, horses, cattle and dogs. The fire is still blazing. threatening to spread to the only busi- | ness block still undamaged. Roads leading from the city in | every direction are choked with ! evacuees.
® tJ = A Perfect Target THE TINDER-DRY city was a perfect target for incendiary bombs. In one quarter of the | metropolitan area, .the fire was | stopped by the wide moat circling the brick walls of Mandalay fort. But the flames crept around the fort and swept northward. Temporary failure of the municipal water supply prevented effective action by the fire department. | American missionaries provided as much succor as possible for the wounded. Converting the Baptist schoo! into a temporary hospital. they brought victims from the bomb area by car and truck.
i
Hoosier Fliers Wait Coast Call |
MEMBERS OF the Indiana Civil Air Patrol expect to be called | to the Pacific coast within the | next month to relieve CAP units ! there, Walker W. Winslow, wing commander in Indianapolis, said | today. The civil air patrol is augmenting the army air force on both coasts, carrying supplies and delivering messages. The units i there have been working long hours and need more manpower. Mr. Winslow was not certain how many members of the CAP would be called from Indiana.
TIMES FEATURES | ON INSIDE PAGES
Eddie Ash 22) Movies ... 20, 21 Nat Barrows.. T7|Obituaries ... §]| Books ....... 16{Pattern ...... 18] Business ..... 8|Organizations 5 Clapper ..... 15jPegler ...... . 16 Comics ... 24, 25{Pyle ......... 15] Crossword ... 25|Questions .... 16 Editorials ... 16{Radio ........ 3 Peter Edson.. 18|Recordings... Mrs. Ferguson 16{Mrs. Roosevelt 2 Financial .... 8|Scherrer ..... 15 Forum ...... 16 Serial Story.. 24 Hold Ev'thing 15|Side Glances. 18 Homemaking. 20|Society 17, 18 20 In Indpls. ... 3{Sports ... 22 23 Ind] State Deaths. i2
build- |
At this moment, a large moon is rising over the last capital of Burma's kings, grotesque bodies of men, women and children which remain in the |Red armies are awaiting Germany's dispatches from |;
casting a dull reflection over the
2000
BUILDING HERE 1S ‘FAIRLY SAFE
Most Local Go In Defense Category,
Realtors Explain. By FREMCNT POWER
Indianapolis realtors today said ter Junkers-88 bombers said to have née WPB ban on non-essential) {left German factories less ba a ows all along the front in an apparent the first
building probably will have little! effect here. Many months ago, they explained, Indianapolis was designated official- | lv as a “defense area.
to war production.
Few Jobs te Halt If that holds true, then the ban
on all residential construction other {than maintenance and repair work
not exceeding a cost of $500, will
stop few construction jobs already
under way here.
Fred C. Tucker, president of the
Indianapolis Home Builders’ Asso- |
ciation, estimated that there are not more than 40 or 50 homes exceeding a cost of $6000 being built now in the county. On March 31, a presidential-ap-proved order was turned over to the national housing agency providing
| for 4250 new homes in Indianapolis,
3000 of which were to be built by private capital, for whom priorities were to be provided.
Of those 3000. Mr. Tucker psti- | mated that half alreadv were under |
(Continued on Page Four)
HIGH WATERS BLOCK
you the facets.
3 STATE TE WGHWAYS
| West Fork of White River, Spills Into 3 Counties.
High waters blocked three state| making detours
highways today, necessary, the state highway com-
|mission reported. The roads will
remain closed until Saturday.
Meanwhile, the weather bureau!
reported overflowing of lowlands along the west fork of the White
river in Knox, Greene and Daviess
counties. J. H., Armington, chief weather observer, said the east fork
of the White river was within its! banks, but will overflow if rains con- |
tinue. Roads closed on account of the rajns were State Highway 1, south of Highway 28; Highway 31, south of Memphis, and Highway 58, south-
east of Garden City.
LOCAL TEMPERATURES
6a m....3 10am... 04 Tam....3 MMam....13 8a m....4 12 (Noon). 44 Sam... 0 1pm... #4
ITALIAN CRUISER SUNK
LONDON, April 9 (U.P.).—A British submarine, attacking through a protective screen of destroyers and airplanes, torpedoed and sank a 10,000-ton cruiser of Benito Mussolinds tattered Hatin navy in the cent, admiral
REDS REPULSE FIERCE BLOWS ON WIDE FRONT
Crimea Thrust Is Is Hardest, Since Moscow Battle;
| Foe's Losses Heavy. |
KUIBYSHEV, Russia, April 9 (U, P.).—Fleets of newly-built Nazi | tanks and dive-bombers are as-| sauiting Russian positions all along ‘a 1200-mile front from Leningrad |
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Exhausted Americans Struggle T o Reach Correg
but no definite count |
Construction { At one time during the battle the | Germans drove a breach in the | Russian lines, but Soviet tanks and
[to the Crimea where
spring offensive, the front reported today. In the Crimea. near besieged Se
'vastopol, Russian forces were said
officially to have crushed the Ger mans’ biggest tank assault sine the battle of Moscow, in a batt] [ad agen for 10 days. ermans
ihe RN
ey Tanks Halt Nazi Thrust
infantry regained the position. Increasing numbers of tanks and planes—many of the lat
{month ago—struck “feeler”
effort to find spots for pushes of Hitler's spring drive.
Official dispatches said, however, As such that every rttack had been thrown representative builders herz believe! {back with heavy German losses in- |} that most construction work will be| | flicted by Russian tanks, anti-tank | considered an indirect contribution! ;guns and anti-tank riflemen whose
| numbers have been increased dur-
ing the past two months. Dive Bombers Join Attack
Reinforced squadrons of
Russian positions.
credited with destroying 61 enemy planes, including 19 bombers.
The official Communist party
armies, tanks and planes,
the jelony the front.
Today's Rumor
{ Thiz Times series it designed to
help yon. If you hear a rumor don’t pass it on. Call us or write us and we'll cheek it for yon. If it's true, we'll tell you so. If net, we'll give
The Gossip Is . . .
That Indianapolis will have a segregated vice district when Camp Atterbury is completed. That both army and eity officials have decided that | | this is the most effective
| means of handling a
i
| “threatening situation.” | The Facts Are . . . That the city will have { mo such thing. Mayor Sullivan is staunchly opposed to any such idea.
reinforced |
hurled a fleet of ’ 108 Re at the Russian positions in the assault that cost them 32 of eight of which were y the Russians in workable
enemy
Nazi dive-bombers, attacking in groups
of 30 or more planes, were said to be in widespread action against the
In two days the red air force was
newspaper Pravda said that the red | reinforced by millions of
were readv for |
e e
5 ”
In Center of
Street Is Tire Hazard
A good tire might be ruined.
Jagged ridges two inches high menace tires here.
Motorists Dodge Sharp Edges
Lexington Ave.
Unless motorists using Lexington ave. pick their way with care they specialist reserves as well as new | face the loss of precious rubber from their tires. Patching of the trenches where street car rails are being removed spring campaign everywhere! to reclaim the steel for war industries has left rough, jagged ridges.
Also in several places, deep ruts have formed in the newly patched
| trenches, creating a serious Remar walls of automobile tires. | Earl Johnson, assistant city en- | |gineer in charge of the Pe explained that no attempt is made to meke a smooth Se in Lexington ave, because plans! already are under way to resur face | the whole street with asphalt.
“We don’t have the money to make a perfectly smooth patch now land it would be foolish to do it when the whole street is in such {bad condition and will be repaved soon,” Mr. Johnson said. As to the deep ruts in the new |concrete, Mr. Johnson blamed that jon careless motorists who ignored | barrier signs and ran their cars through soft concrete. “Motorists and residents out there are not co-operating with us,” he said. “Every night several barrier signs and lights have been removed, leaving traffic through onto the un- | finished concrete.” Motorists have been advised to lavoid the rough concrete strips in the street until resurfacing has been completed.
Bandit Fails in
A shackled bandit threw a handful of pepper into the eyes of a deputy sheriff and made a desperate
| dash for liberty at Washington and
Alabama sts. today. Although temporarily blinded by the pepper, Deputy Sheriff Roderic Rae Jr, dashed after the fleeing bandit and caught him after a chase of only a few yards. The officer's left eye was badly injured. The prisoner, Carl Meskowich, 18, as being taken from
Tossing Pepper at Deputy
Escape After
and robbing an Indianapolis auto salesman last Jan. 20. Meskowich was handicapped in his break for freedom by the shackles which were attached to the wrist of another prisoner, George Payne, 18. who also was being brought to court for trial on a burglary charge. Meskowich dragged Payne with him in attempting to escape from .the officer.
Tuesday's Atta Of Many on island. |
not only to safety, but to the side
300 NAZI BOMBERS
USED IN MALTA RAID 2:
Attack Worst]
LONDON, April 9 Germany sent more than 300 bombers and 50 fighter planes against Malta in Tuesday's raids whose! intensity exceeded anything experienced by the island, informed | sources said today. It was estimated that many of | the bombers made up to three| trips to the island in trying to! knoek Malta out of the war. The bombers were mostly Junk-ers-88 (dive bombers) and Italian bombers were not often seen, it| was said here, Several days ear-| lier, the Germans used 180 bombers in one attack and on another raid| used more than 200. “They evidently are trying to] break Malta before Malta breaks them,” an observer said.
BULLETIN
NEW DELHI, India, April 9 (U. P.)~—An influential Indian Nationalist leader said tonight that announcement is expected with two days of an agreement with Great Britain, giving India a nationalist government and enlisting her 400,000,000 actively in the war on the axis. Solution of the 21-day deadlock on Britain's offer of postwar dominion status appeared
Deputy Rae said he noticed Meskowieh ;
near, by means of a compromise where the In A
(U. P)—]|
Marshall Talks Offensive .... 14
2 BIG BRITISH SHIPS SUNK IN INDIAN OCEAN
Jap Bombers Smash Ships As Great Battle Rages In Bay of Bengal.
By JOE ALEX MORRIS United Press Foreign Editor As the Bataan peninsula fell to ithe Japanese today, a grim showdown appeared to be under way in ithe Bay of Bengal between British warships and Japanese naval air |forces—with the fate of Ceylon and possibly India at stake. The British admiralty acknowledged the loss of two heavy cruisers, (the 9975-ton Dorsetshire and the [10,000-ton Cornwall as a | Japanese air attacks in the Indian jocean and London dispatches said] |a great naval battle was developing | fin the Bay of Bengal. | More than 1100 survivors, includ{ing the commanders of the vessels, {have been picked up, a British com- | munique said. | American warships may be in- | valved in these battles since the! jallies have been conducting com-|
| bined operations in the Far Eastern |
area, but in any event a new Japa- | nese aerial attack on Ceylon island | {emphasized the enemy's control of {the seas there and prompted re{newed axis claims of a Japanese landing at Akyab on the western coast of Burma.
Little Word From Burma
| There was no confirmation of | axis propaganda reports that the Japanese were moving from Akyab against India but communications with central Burma were difficult |and the only definite word from that fighting front said that the | Japanese were building defense positions facing Chinese troops north | (of Toungoo. | The fall of Bataan —and the | opening of the siege of rock-girt | Corregidor which may become the Alamo of Manila hay—probably will | release large numbers of ¥Japanese | troops and planes for action on the India-Burma front and at the] northern approaches to Australia. | The Bengal bay naval fight was the first definite word on previous axis radio reports of a British naval squadron led by the 31,100-ton battleship Malaya steaming into the Indian ocean to challenge the Japanese fleet,
Report Bengal Invaded
American flying fortresses have attacked ‘he Japanese warships at! | Port Blair in the Andaman island | ase of the Japanese and presumwere aiding the British war-
oto | The Japanese, according to radio
(Continme on Page Four) »
‘On the War Fronts
(April 9, 1942)
PHILIPPINES: Defenders of Ba-| taan peninsula “overcome” after three-months stand against 10-to-one numerical odds; attempt to escape to island fortress of Corregidor.
|
|
result of}
‘regidor is still fighting.
loverthrown.
(ably conducted an epic chapter in the history of the Philip
idor
FOOD SHORTAGE HELPS DEFEAT HEROIC FORCES
Care of 20,000 Refugees Hampers Defenders; U. S. Broke Blockade Once to Bring Supplies; Bay Forts Still Hold.
WASHINGTON, April 9 (U. P.) .—Thirty-six thousand ‘American and Filipino troops, exhausted by short rations, disease and lack of relief, were overwhelmed on Bataan ‘peninsula today bv a fresh and numerically superior enemy. | Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, who disclosed for the first time the number and plight of the brave Bataan (defenders, was unable to say how many of the 36,853 Yanks and Filipinos would be in each of the categories of casualties | —killed, captured or wounded. He said that every effort was being made to get as many of them as possible to Corregidor and other American fortresses that still hold out in Manila bay. But it appeared doubtful that any substantial number could be evacuated. Mr. Stimson, who had just conferred with President Roosevelt, told a press conference that in addition to the u. S.-Filipino troops on bloody Bataan there were some 20,000 civilian refugees there.
Refugees Hamper Defenders They had fled to Bataan at the time of the Japanese occupation of Manila. Their presence made the food situation more critical and handicapped the defenders, “Our troops, out-numbered, worn down hy attack, exhausted by insufficient rations and disease prevailing in that area, had their lines broken and enveloped by the enemy,” Mr. Stimson said. ; “Our defenses on Bataan have been overthrown.
Cor-
MacArthur to Avenge Bataan
GENFRAL MACARTHUR’'S HEADQUARTERS, AUSTRALIA, April 9 (U. P.).—Gen. Douglas MacArthur was described tonight as |! determined to avenge the fall of Bataan and make good his promise to retake the Philippines. Gen. MacArthur was said to be || “deeply grieved.” but no direct comment was forthcoming,
“A long and gallant defense has been worn down and
“There is nothing but praise for the men who have so
pines.” As President Roosevelt and Gen. Douglas MacArthur before him, Mr. Stimson pledged that the United States would win back the Philippines from the Japanese and re‘store independence to the Filipino people who had acquitted themselves so gallantly in the hopeless fight.
Took Supplies Through Blockade The secretary disclosed that only yesterday President ‘Roosevelt had messaged Lieut. Gen. Jonathan M. Waine ‘wright, the American Philippines commander, that he would ‘leave to him any decision to be made regarding the battle. This was taken to mean that Mr. Roosevelt had empow=
ered Gen. Wainwright with full authority to surrender his (Continued on Page Four)
INDIA: Big naval-air showdown re-| ported underway in Bay of Ben-
gal, with fate of Ceylon and per- :
haps India at stake; British ad-| mit loss of heavy cruisers Corn-| wall and Dorsetshire, sunk by Japanese bombers; threat to India| raises hopes of early solution of | British-Indian deadlock on defense,
LONDON: U. S. Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall confers with top British strategists.
CAIRO: British imperials strike back in effort to stem axis drive toward Suez canal.
RUSSIA: Russians smash big German tank attack on southern front. » ”
On Inside Pages
The War and You ...... Page 3 War Moves Today ..... weisies 8 Néws From India ....... waves: 13
MANILA BAY
MANILAY