Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 July 1942 — Page 1

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FORECAST: Local thundershowers this afternoon and early tonight, not much change in temperature thi f afternoon through tomorrow forehoon.

imes

FINAL HOME

| SCRIPPS ~ HOWARD }

VOLUME 58—NUMBER 18

MONDAY, JULY. 27, 1942

‘BLOCK BUSTERS’

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind. Issued dally except Sunday.

PRICE THREE CENTS

CK HAMBUR

Bomb Germany Ou

t of the War!

Raids 15 T imes Worse Than Cover

®.

Would Shorten, Perhaps End, Wa

U.S. Production Makes Them Possible; British Air Marshal Devises New Mass Bombing Technique.

By THOMAS L. STOKES Copyright, 1942, Scripps-Howard Newspapers.

WASHINGTON, July. 27 Censorship) —Germany’s war

(Reviewed by U. S. Office of industrial system can be se-

verely crippled to shorten the war, if not actually demolished { to end the war, by a concentrated, continuous, joint bombing offensive by British and American airmen. Previous dispatches have shown how British and American production of two and four-engine

bombers has ‘fall or early

reached a level where, by late winter—a minimum of three

months, a maximum of six—a task force of

200 bombers

can be set up for operations

“over Germany; night after night, on her 31 key industrial. centers, dropping destruction at a rate approaching 50, 000 tons of bombs

a month.

Having established the fact of pre-

Mr. Stokes

paredness for such an offensive, a very rea-

sonable question might now be raised, which is— “How can Germany be knocked out by bombing when

England stood up for 21 months under Nazi bombs?

a”

U. S. Production Dwarfs Germany’s

The answer goes, first, to

the present enormous rate of

U. 8. bomber production, which dwarfs anything Germany ‘ever attempted; second, to the ing developed by the British Bomber Command under Air Marshal A. T. Harris, and third, to Germany’s present lack of defense against British mass bombing, as disclosed "in ¥ recent British mass raids.

Marshal Goering’s bombing program lacked real ‘power

new technique of mass bomb-

and it lacked definite plan, being desultory and designed to break down civilian morale, until the final concentration on London in a desperate effort to shatter the empire capital. In these final London raids, however, there was never “anything like the bomb tonnage that the English hailed down

on Cologne in one memorable

night. At that, it has been

admitted since by high British authorities that if Goering had concentrated for 10 days more on London, England might have been beaten down.

Goering Made a Poor Estimate

Goering did. not estimate Sorzscily the amount of}

bombing tonnage necessary.

The heaviest raids on London, in two successive nights

in May, 1941, saw 670 tons

of bombs dropped—320 one

night, 850 the next. Very heavy, and exploited all over the

world, was the rail on Birmingham.

But only 500 tons of

bombs were dropped there in two nights, according to

estimates.

‘Coventry got what seemed a catastrophic pounding. Yet the tonnage dropped in two nights was variously estimated

between 275 and 400.

~ Under the projected ‘British-American air offensive, with 1000 bombers dropping 3000 tons or more at a time,

the two-night total would be eight times the heaviest load

6000 tons of bombs, or: over on London, 12 times that on

Birmingham, and 15 to 20 times heavier than on Coventry.

Briton Devises Plan

Air Marshal Harris, who formerly was head of Britain's Air Mission to the United States, devised without fanfare the new technique of mass bombing. With the Cologne raid

he startled the world and sent

a wave of exultation through

all the peoples trying to lift the yoke of Adolf Hitler.

Forty-eight hours later he sent another horde of bombers into the Ruhr, blasting Essen. These great raids showed conclusively what can be expected from the gigantic bomber production set up by Presi-

dent Roosevelt. The mass raids were” directed at one objective. That is, to strike at the industrial heart of Germany— at key factories producing airplanes, submarines, and other implements (Continued on Poge Twol

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

Business ...... T Comics .......17 Crossword ... 3 Dan Daniel ... “Deaths sadnes lB Editorials .....10 Edson Mrs. Ferguson.10 es dd

Millett +313 Movies ......4, 5 Obituaries ..8, 9 6| Pattern .......13 Pegler ........10 Pyle ...0enve.. 9 Questions ....10 Radio ........17T Mrs. Roosevelt. 8 Side Glances ..10 Society ....12, 13 Sports State Deaths . 8 Leland Stowe. .10

emaking 13 Indpls .... 8 In Services ... 3 Inside ¥ndpls..

| The Story of 1000 Bombers

Times Special WASHINGTON, July 27. — Here's the simple story of 1000 bombers dropping 3000 tons of bombs at one time— Coventry got only 400 tons from the Germans in two nights, at top estimate. Everybody knows what happened to Coventry. In two nights 1000 bombers can drop 6000 tons of Bombs over any selected German city., That is— Fifteen times Coventry. : A task of 2000 bombers, with 1000 for operation, 1000 in reserve, can dump that load of destruction night after night.

MILLION BUY BONDS WASHINGTON, July 27 (U: P). —Over 1,000,000 persons on the war department payroll — soldiers and civilians—have voluntarily set aside part of their pay to purchase war savings bonds, the war department announced today. The millionth person on the rolls was Pvt. Walter

5|T. Pearson, Lockport, Ill. He is

Jane Jordan .. 12

DALIIC

|setting aside $18.75 of his $50 pay|

V &

|mobile from Tony Martin, “as and

MATERIALS FOR PAVING GRANTED

Priority Ruling Enables City To Resurface 20 Miles Of Streets.

City officials received word today from Washington granting priorities for materials to complete 20 miles of street resurfacing, which had been held up by a materials freezing order recently. The works board was granted permission to- use 250,000 gallons of asphalt to complete resurfacing of streets torn up by removal of streetcar rails. The street repair department had completed 15 miles of resurfacing in the rail removal project when the federal works agency of the public roads administration froze all street and road building materials.

Grant Asphalt Use

' The works board immediately applied for priority rating on the ground that resurfacing of the tornup streets is an emergency. The works board also received permission to use 60 tons of asphalt. a week for patching work. Ollie G. Johnson, city engineer, said the freezing order will prevent starting any new street paving projects unless they can be classified as an ‘emergency.

CHARGE TONY MARTIN. PAID ‘FEE’ TO ENLIST

SAN FRANCISCO, July 27 (U. P.) —Lieut.. Comm. Maurice N.

Aroff, U.S. N.R., today was charged by the navy with receiving an auto-

for a fee, compensation and reward for facilitating the enlistment” of the film singer as a chief Specialist in the U. S. naval reserve. - Aroff was being tried by a general court martial in connection with an|L investigation of “unsatisfactory conditions” in the office of the director of naval officer procurement here. The allegation concerning acceptance of the automobile—a sedan valued at $950—from Martin was accompanied by charges that Aroff also accepted gifts from two navalito reserve ensigns and on two occasions

acted on applications of Los Angeles| San ‘Francisco

Allison Powered Mustangs in War

SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND, July 27 (U. P.).~Pilots are breaking in their Mustangs for scouting service when the united nations move into the continent. The .1942 Mustangs, as fast and useful as their equine namesakes in the pioneer skirmishes of the American west, are Americanbuilt, hedge-hopping fighters of the army’s co-operation command. They will act as scouts for advancing ground forces. “The Mustang, known in the United States air corps as XP-51, is an all-metal, low-wing monoplane built by the North American ‘Aircraft Co. at Inglewood, Cal., and powered by an Allison

: motor.

Its speed is a secret. But when a royal air force squadron streaked across the field in its Mustangs today, skimming a scant six feet above the ground, the planes were only a blur. The Mustang’s armament also is secret. But the power of its wing and nose-mounted guns already has been demonstrated in strafing raids.

U. S. FLIERS BATTLE CHUNGKIN | RAIDERS

Yank Fighter PI Planes Stop

Japanese Squadron.

CHUNGKING, July 27 (U. P)— Fighter planes of the United States air force battled Japanese war planes over Chungking tonight during the enemy’s first raid this year on'the capital of Free China. The American fighters. part of the new U. S. air force commahd # China under Brig. Gen. Claire . Chennault, went into the air at

the first alarm to intercept the raiders.

Slight damage was ‘caused by the raiders in a suburban area.

IAPS, ATTAGKE IN NEW GUN

Allied Land Patrols Slash With Enemy Near Bi:

ii On North Coast. |

MACARTHUR HEADQU i ERS, Australia, July 21 (0 Allied land patrols have with the Japanese 30 miles,

the new enemy invasion base . the north New Guinea coast, iti wa revealed today. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, feporting skirmishing in the néw aera, said in his communique that :llied air units maintained a contir uous attack which had cut the b:a:: off from its mother fleet ahd ih eatened to smash it entirely. |. The first land clash in tte new invasion area, in the Buns-iiona area across the mountain road ‘rom the allied base of Port Woz 2sby, showed both that allied patrcl: had penetrated deep toward the eiemy position and that the Japarneés: had lost no time in moving out fron it.

. Air Activity Intense |

In a second ground actioz, the allied patrols killed about 6¢ ‘Japanese who attacked their posi ions at Muno, only 15 miles souti ic; the great enemy base of. Salamava. 150 miles up the coast from Bure Japanese planes attacked northern Australian base, day and again Sunday night also attacked Townsville, €50 south of Cape York and north of Brisbane, on f{ coast. 2 Allied planes raided Bou: in the Solomon islands east of ! Guinea, and Buka and Soha lands in the Buka passage be the Solomons and the ‘Bismaz !

Test Plarined Her . |

FORTY FACTORIES will In ow their whistles simultaneously at 11 a. m. Saturday to test th: zir raid warning facilities of thw city. The test was: announced hy Mayor Sullivan and C. or A

Bradley, county civilian defers director. Eventually

RUSS ISOLATE GERMAN UNITS CROSSING DON

Nazis’ Pontoon Bridges Are Smashed by Soviet in Terrific Battle.

By HENRY SHAPIRO United Press Staff Correspondent

MOSCOW, July 27.—Russian guns ||

and dive bombers have isolated

German units which had forced their way across the broad Don|*

onto Caucasian soil at two points between Rostov and Stalingrad, special dispatches from the frant said today. - The Soviet forces wrecked the Nazis’ pontoon bridges and filled the river with wrecked German tanks, battered barges and the bodies of German infantrymen, it was reported. For the moment, according to the noon Russian communique, the Germans appeared to be held all along the 120-mile Don river front in a struggle of almost unrivalled ferocity. But the situation remained critical and there was evidence that the major part of the fighting from now on would be on Caucasian soil.

Nazis Disregard Losses

The bitterest battle of the bridgeheads was around Tsimlyanskaya, 115 miles southwest of Stalingrad and northeast of Rostov, where the Germans were attempting with utter disregard for casualties to strike 30 miles southward and reach the Stalingrad-Caucasian railroad. THe Germans claimed to have advanced to a. point 80 miles southwest of Stalingrad on the Chir river. Hand-to-hand fighting raged in the streets of Rostov, Moscow said, particularly in the northeastern suburbs.

+ Phe < German high: ‘command | claimed to have stormed and taken

the town of Bataisk, five miles south of Rostov and a junction on the important railroad leading from Rostov down to the Baku oil fields.

Terrific Battle Rages

In the Don river battle, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko threw into action reserves of the famous Soviet army field artillery. Wheel-to-wheel, the guns put a terrific barrage on the German bridgehead troops, on the pontoon bridges, on the rafts, barges and boats seeking to push more across the river, and on'the German reinforcements constantly streaming to the north bank. Then a fleet of Russian planes raced over the raging battle, smashing pontoon bridges and isolating the Germans. Soviet army infantrymen and tanks drove into the Germans in counter-attacks.

Smash Pontoon Bridges

As soon as the pontoon bridges had been ,smashed the Russian planes opened a ferocious attack on the enemy on the north bank. But at point after point German engineers sought to push new bridges across the river. In the Voronezh Ngzhting, on the north end of the 300-mile southern front, the Russians enlarged one bridgehead and smashed through the German defenses to establish another bridgehead on the west bank of the Don, where they consolidated their position, enabling the Soviet army command to pour reinforcements across to the enemy side.

On the War Fronts

July 27, 1942

MOSCOW: German units force way across River Don at two points between Rostov and Stalingrad, but are isolated when their pontoon bridges, bafges and tanks are destroyed; hand hand fighting rages in Rostov.

Under Arrest

Col. Eugene N. Sanctuary, army reserve officer and - anti-Semitic author was arrested in New York in the roundup of 28 alleged native Fascists for conspiracy to obstruct the war effort.

U. S. BOMBERS SMASH TOBRUK

Raiders Set Great Fires ‘At Key Axis Supply Port in Libya.

CAIRO, July 27 (U. P.).—United States four-motored army bombers scored one of their biggest successes of the war in a night air raid on the axis supply base of Tobruk, where great fires were started, it was disclosed today. The giant American bombers hit|g gasoline dumps and other targets in the raid on Saturday night. Fires were still burning Sunday night when allied planes returned

to the scene and bombed the dock area. - (The reference to “giant” bombe ers indicated that American flying fortresses had participated in the raid although Liberators had been used most frequently in Egypt.)

Direct Hit Made on Ships

“It was considered to be the United States unit’s greatest success since their attack on the Italian fleet,” the R. A. F. news service said. (The Italian fleet was attacked and hit by about 35 bombs when it attempted to intercept a British. convoy en route to Malta in the first U. S. air corps action over the Mediterranean.) A direct hit was made on a ship in the harbor during the Tobruk raid. Long-range fighter planes also attacked troop and supply barges in the Sidi Barrani area of the Egyptian coast west of the Alamein batthe line. (A British military commentator at London said that both sides were digging in on the Alamein line and that the British in raids were seizing German guns, especially antitank guns.)

4 HURT IN BOMBING AT JEFFERSONVILLE

Gambling War {Is Blamed For Dynamiting.

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. July 27 (U. P.).—Jeffersonville’s gambling war flared into violence today

when the Antz cafe, loitering place

for war workers, was bombed and ‘Ifour persons were injured, one critically. Police, who refused comment on the bombing, said only that “an investigation had begun.” The explosion occurred in the early hours of the morning during a change of

shifts at the Charlestown powder

plant st a time When the cafe Was crowded.

Paul Marshall, 22, one of thes was in|h

2.TON BOMBS HURLED IN RAID BY 600 PLANES

Nazis Admit Huge Damage; Air Attacks Kill 40

Persons in Britain.

By JOE. ALEX MORRIS United Press Foreign Editor

The Germans admitted tos : day that an R. A. F. devastae tion attack on Hamburg by an estimated 600 or more British bombers had caused heavy damage and casualties. Meanwhile, on the south= ern front, the battle of the Don -and the northern Cau= casus became fiercer by the hour. The R. A. F. ssagilt on Hamburg,” the biggest since the 1000-plane raids on Nazi war centers during June, cost the British 29 planes but appeared to have heaped havoc on the. shipyards, U-boat factories, aire

the reich’s most important port. The British planes including four - motor Stirlings hurled two ton. “block buster” bombs and 175; 000 incendiary bombs upon Hame burg, leaving parts of the city. in fiery ruins. British Air MarsHal A. T. Harris said the raid was one of the most “outstanding and successful attacks of the war. “The °'175,000 fire bombs were dropped within a space of 35 mine utes.”

Germans Bomb England

At the same time, Nazi planes, attacking some 23 British districts; killed more than 40 Britons, 'ine jured scores of others and buried many in the rubble of wrecked buildings. London had two breakfast-time raid alarms but there were no res ports of bombs dropped there. The destructive British aerial one slaught against Hamburg, Gere many’s greatest port and submarine building center, undoubtedly was undertaken as support for the hardpressed Russian armies on the Don front and in partial answer to increasingly louder demands for the opening of an allied second front in western Europe. The Hamburg attack was the fifth on that great port this year. Bremen was raidéd by more than 1000 R. Ac F. bomb®e on June. 25,

Use ‘Block Busters’

The British raiders sent their new “big and beautiful” two-ton bombs, called “block-busters,”® crashing upon Hamburg’s war ine dustrial plants. The 4000-pound bombs capable of smashing ‘an entire block of buildings and carried by big Stirle ing four-motor bombers were the same as those used with such dee structive results in the recent R. A. F. attacks on Duisburg and pree vious” assaults on Rostock, Luée beck, Cologne and Essen. The British press described the Hamburg raid as the biggest ever,: except for the 1000-plane attacks, and said the number of raiders exceeded any Nazi air fleet ever sent over Britain—bigger even than the 500 or more planes that. raided London during thé battle of Brie tain or "attacked Coventry.

U. S. Pilots Take Part

On Sunday seven pilofs of the United States army air force, fly= ing wing-to-wing with R. A. F, fliers, joined in a daylight sweep over northern France, Oné U.S pilot was lost. OS Americans of the British eagle squadron also participated in the Sunday attacks. In the east, meanwhile, the Russian air force, perhaps using American Douglas and Boeing bombers, attacked the east Prus-

sian capital of Koenigsberg and

plane plants and supply centers of