Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 December 1943 — Page 1
_ FRIDAY, DECEMBER R 17, 1043
\
Entered as Secénd-Class Matter at Postoffice Indianapolis, nt Issued
daily except Sunday
re jo 2 AD M. “All Awakened: Noon-Worst Over”
Ralph C. Teatsorth, United Press correspondent, was the snly Amerfean war evrespunticut 1 4s sshre su New Britain Wats with the
first wave of amphibious forces. In
in diary form the details of the invasion. By RALPH C. TEATSORTH United Press Sta Correspondent WITH 6TH ARMY AT ARAWE, Dec. 15.—I had a box seat for the New Britain invasion—and the box was
full of hand grenades.
fh\tullewing dispateh, he gives
Perched on that explosive bit beside the driver of an_ amphibious “duck,” a sea-going, armed truck, 1 went ashore in the first vehicle to leave our ship. Only the calmness of the men around me kept my nerves steady and enabled me to keep this record of the start of the biggest show so far in the Pacific’ war:
2 A. M.—All officers and men of the invading forces
were awakened. No one got much sleep.
skipper sent this message: “ will have the pleasure of
The ship's Best of luck . . . and hope we having you with us again,
especially on the trip back to" the states and home with
this war a memory.”
8 A. M\.—The navy served a hearty breakfast. 4 A. M.—Into the duck commanded by 1st Lt. Donald
Beaver. Our crew was Pvt.
Jack R. Crane, Pvt. J. Li
Schwie and Pvt. William L. White, 4:30 A. M.—Our duck left the ship. We led the entire L
amphibious force. just behind, then troop-carryi Driver White. Our job was
before the Buffaloes charged.
Buffaloes—amphibious tanks—were
ng alligators. 1 sat next to to fire on the beaches just Our. weapon can't be de-
(Continued on Page’ 10 Column 32)
Schedules Press Conference!
After Return to Desk; ‘Feeling Fine. WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (U. PJ.
«Rumpled and needing a haircut but looking fit after five weeks
travel in four continents, President),
Roosevelt returned from the Cairo-
. Tehran war conferences today and - was welcomed tumultuously at the i White House by high government | officials and congressional leaders . of both parties. . The returned traveler disclosed
TET Relitd yo Ld is
1
w INDIANA 6. 0.P.
: Cancels Date for Rally to,
‘Heart Jinglers Pile Up |
I rie a a: this Christmas. The Times Mile-O-Dimes, in front of L. 8. Ayres & Co. andl 8: S, Kresge & Ca will continue ynl. Christmas eve,
YANKS ADVANCE IN NEW BRITAIN;
‘BERLIN AFIRE AFTER RAF. RAID:
¢ |hand-to-lage of San Pietro, a mile from the
FIFTH FIGHTS NAZIS IN ITALY
HAND-TO-HAND
U. S. Air and Land Units Strike Major Blows for
Road to Rome. ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al-
glers, Dec. 17 (U, P.).—American
troops have launched a smashing attack to reach the main road to Rome, meeting the Germans in a struggle at the vilvital highway, it was announced today. Large scale renewal of the 5th
[Can Africa Outdo Hoosiers In Giving Yanks Christmas?
oy (AgLEN RUBGAMER THE CHRISTMAS tree was no special kind—just one that happened to be growing in the American camp in Africa. The men decorated it, not with sparkling ornaments and lights, but with tin cans they picked up here and
. A. soldier choir sang Christmas
carols, and after a turkey dinper, the doughboys visited the nearby town of Rabat. “Plc. Claude Bracy’s memories’ of his Christmas in Africa are not unpleasant ones. However, he’s glad to be back in the U. 8. A, even though he'll spend the holidays on crutches at Billings general hospital.
. THROUGH The Indianapolis
(Continued on Fags 14—Column 1 ornaments were jus tn cans.
os EL
He'll Sing in Choir With Light Heart, Warm Clothes
(List of Donors, Page 14) EN TEARS 60's by wan 16 he in tml of Indianapolis home. ; He was turned over fo one of the social service agencies which
s church chalr-—they're. having |
“tam... 2 Tam. Gas
ho
was the hub of new German defenses in the fifth’s area. Farther north other fifth army
(Continued on Page 10—Column 4)
CHURCHILL ‘RECESS’ AS PREMIER HINTED Steady Improvement in His
Condition Reported. LONDON, Dec. 11 (U. P.).~Steady
I might necessitate the appointment
of an acting head of the govern-
{ment during his absence.
The pneumonia patch in Church-
{iis lung has not spread, and the
Sprovement. In his gerers) vondt has been maintained, a medical bulletin announced. Despite the reserved optimism over his condition, the possibility that Churchill would be forced to remain outside Britain for some time prompted speculation that the war cabinet might designate a substitute government leader pending The likelihood also was seen that even after his recovery he might delegate more work to subordinates, a Tome Nad ar 8 cabinet shuffle.
{xTY HAWK FLIGHT JUST 40 YEARS AGO
(Pictures, page 21; editorial, page 22)
WASHINGTON, Dee. 17 (U. P).
On the War Fronts
Dec. 17, 1943
PACIFIC =< Americans consolidate New Britain invasion beachhead under heavy Japanese air attacks.
ton blockbuster raid en German capital.
ITALY-U. 8. infantrymen drive within a mile of main Rome road in flerce hand-to-hand battle.
RUSSIA—-Russ army regains lost ground: west of Kiev,
JUGOSLAVIA—Partisans smash full-scale German offensive. a—————————
MAYOR TO NAME
HOSPITAL BOARD
& to Take Control of City|
to direct the des-
heapiial statby the legis-
are calculated to considerately expedite hospital administration, Administration heads are hoping that if the new supervisory method
pave the way for a combined “citycounty health and hospital setup. Merit System The present hospital supervision, nominally in the hands of the board, usually falls upon Dr. Herman G. Morgan, secretary of the health board, or Hospital Superintendent Charles W, Myers. Among the significant features of the new law, under which the hospital board will function, are those authorizing establishment of a merit system and empowering the board to receive “gifts, donations, bequests and trusts of property of every nature and kind.” Heretofore such benefits were subject to control by the politically influenced |, health board. ‘The five-man hospital board is to be bi-partisan and will contain one
(Continued on Page 10—Columh 3)
*
Hoosier Heroes—
14 SOLDIERS FROM INDIANA MISSING
Army Confirms Report on 2 Indianapolis Men.
Raphael J. George, son of Thomas George, 1418 N. Warman ave, and
Continued on Page Page 12=Column 4)
WESTERN EUROPE—R. A. F. re! sumes battle of Berlin with 1500- |
HUNDREDS OF HUGE PLANES
BLAST NAZIS
{30 of the Big Aircraft Are Reported Missing;
France Hit. LONDON, Dec. 17 (U. P) .—Brit-
ain’s biggest bombers, hundreds strong, ripped the center of Berlin
Germany. night respite, a strong force of four-
engined Lancasters dropped tens of thousands of explosives and incen-
. LONDON, Dec. 17 (U. P.) ~The
diaries on the city in what the Nasi Transocean fgency d “terror attack on a considérable scale.” “Weather prevented Immediate observation of results” the alr ministry announced in a communique, “but after the attack was over, the pilot of a reconnaissance aircraft reported large fires and smoke rising above the clouds.” Thirty bombers were lost in the Berlin raid and in subsidiary. attacks on unspecified objectives in Northern France and Western Germany, the latter by twin-engined Mosquitoes. Watchers near Folkstone on the English southeast coast reported
(Continued on Page 14-~Column §)
LACK OF WARNING TO HALT TRAIN PROBED
Death Toll Mounts to 70; Few Are Identified.
—An official of the Atlantic Coast line said today that he was unable to explain why the crew of a derailed passenger train had not utilized a 40-minute interlude to set sufficient signals to stop another passenger train speeding toward fit from the opposite direction and thereby avert a disaster which cost at least 70 lives, Authorities feared that ultimate death toll would be 80 or more. An
.jarmy officer in charge of the bodies
of service personnel killed in the accident, said he was positive that six more bodies of army and navy men remained in the debris and railroad officials believed there were several civilian bodies yet to be recovered.
Tried to Flag Train
The rallroad and the Interstate commeérce commission vere pushing twin investigations into the crash of
and {ts industrial outskirts with| more than 1500 tons of bombs last! (Japanese time and again sent waves of planes against Amer
night in a resumption of the all-out ican jungle troops, mostly Texans, fanning out from thei} offensive’ to. smash the heart © new beachhead some 250 miles southwest of Rabaul,
aa
RENNERT, N. C, Dec. 17 (U. P.).
MacArthur's
By
ALLIED ADVANCE Guinea, Dec. 17.-U. 8S. 6th } . ' “ offensive to smash Japan's “L
vicious enemy air attacks.
be collapsing on the southwes
JAP DEFENSES FALLING APART
Truk, 800 Miles to North, Is Nearest Supply Base For New Britain.
WASHINGTON, Dee. 17 (U. PJ). ~The entire Japanese defense position in the Southwest Pacific, built around the key island of New Britain, appeared to be crumbling today. The invasion of New Britain came
BRYDON CC, United Press Stall Correspondent
Jtonio, Tex, had
Ww aves of Zeros Fail to Halt
Smash Toward Jap Base at Rabaul.
TAVES
D HEADQUARTERS, New: army vanguards, opening an ittle Pearl Harbor” at Rabaul,
were reported officially tonight to be consolidating their: Arawe beachhead on the south coast of New Britain despite
Though resistance by enemy ground forces-appeared to®
tern end of New Britain, the
Ending thé battered capital's 13- official Yeport by gen. Douglas MacArthur's headquarters
revealed. Allied fighters and antia aircraft guns successfully re
pelled each air attack, the re port said, but the raids were con. tinuing. : An earlier communique I MacArthur disclosed that the Ames ican jnvaders under Brig. © Julian Ww. Cuininghautiof Ban,
Arawe. “costal Md fhe front reports sald the troops | captured the three-mile-long A peninsula and the island aetwor offshore in the first five bows. alone. “ Claim Rabaul Useleess
(Washington ‘sources said whole Japanese defense position in the Southwest Pacific appeared to be crumbling and asserted that
- i
after relentless allied alr attacks on Rabaul had rendered it useless | as a sea base and had left the] Japanese their major naval base at Truk, 800 miles to the north, as the nearest available harbor for concentrating heavy shipping for Southwest Pacific operations. At the same time, allied control of the Vitiaz Straits between New Britain and New Guinea cut the shortest supply route to the remaining enemy garrisons on New Guinea, Where Aus Australian troops
(Continued on Page 10~Column 1)
Berlin Reports Russ Offensive
Berlin radio reported today that massed Russian forces had launched an offensive on the Leningrad front, breaking into the German lines at several places, in what appeared here to be the first blow of the Russ army's long delayed winter campaign. agar A Nazi broadcast sald the Germans had heen engaged In “hard defensive fighting near Leningrad”
(Continued on Page 10~Column 4)
in. ow kor”
Rabaul already had been rendered {useless as a major operational | base, forcing the Japanese to rely {on Truk, 800 miles to the north. However, a stiff campaign appeared in store, since the Japanese wers believed tn have at least 40,000 troops there, Washington said, Front reports indicated the Americans were advancing af & steady pace through the shells pocked palms on the southern ape proaches to the mountain backbone of the island, wiping out isolated pockets of resistance in their path. Overhead roared swarms of allied planes that bombed and strafed all exposed enemy positions. -No Definite Word However, there had been no defls nite word of the extent of the ine vaders’ progress since approxis
LONDON, Dec. 11 P) The mately eight hours after the first
landing, when the Americans were said to be moving up the 200-foots high palm-studded Amulet _planta= tion ridge behind the Arawe pens insula and moving eastward toward the jungle village of Umtingalu. The advance on Umtingalu was & march of vengeance; for it wal there that a Japanese. gun crew killed perhaps 80 of 155 commandos who attempted to paddle ashore in rubber boats ina & diversionary raid
(Continued on Page 10~Column
Commandos Learn fo F Pray: A Hoosier Comes Back Alive