Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 March 1944 — Page 1

3 owiee) VOLUME 55—NUMBER 12

Scimitar, » Scripps-Howard newspaper, Boatswain's Mate Gordon B. . Manley defends the navy gunners whe shot down 23 American trans-

+ port planes at Gela, Sicily, last July 10. Manley was one of those gunners. He was wounded later in the battle of Salerno and is now recuperating in a Philadelphia hospital. His vivid account of the Gels battle and. the reasons for the mistake made in it follows:

HELLO ELDON: Just

how is everything with you

. these days? I have been in here recuperating but hope ~ to be off for the seven seas soon. I was on the U. 8. S. ‘Savannah in the knock-down and drag-out battle of Salerno, and we were dragged out.

But my reason for writing you now is in defense of

the naval gunners who shot down 23 U. S. transport planes last July 10 at Gela, Sicily, as I happen to be one of those

gunners.

I suppose you have read where Sgt. Jack Foisie let the cat out of the bag in 'Frisco. I have also read what Secretary of War Stimson had to say about it, but no one seems to explain just what happened. Then there was a Merrill Mueller, N. B. C. war reporter, who said in a broadcast from New York the other night that he, from a lucky vantage point, spotted the

23 planes and raised the call

of friendly aircraft.

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1944

FORECAST: Snow tonight with lowest temperature 28; tis cloudy tomorrow.

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postoffice Indianapolis 9, Ind. Issued daily except Bunday

| ‘We Shot Down Our Own Planes—Don’ t Blame Gunners’

¥5 4 lotterite Hiden Hourk, colemuist for the. Memphis Pros . -

Now that guy was on the beach where hell was really popping. When they get ready to raid Germany at night again, just put Mueller in the leading bomber, and with those good eyes, they will not need any pathfinders, or

any flares or sights.

I was in several months of those night raids and when the sky is full of flares as it was that night, you don’t see any planes except when they dive at you. And

we broke them of that habit.

Anyway, getting down to what really happened that night; we had invaded the night before and our big guns had been hitting them all day, knocking out tanks, shore

PRICE FOUR CENTS

batteries, railroads, railroad guns, troops, and trucks. I am speaking now of the warship I was on. I heard later that our big guns alone put more than 26 tons of projectiles over that day,

were out to get our ship.)

We had several air attacks through the day. Some .

time during the afternoon, after us.

They got one of our cargo ships about 3 p. m: The burning ship exploded, making a mountain of smoke that

(Continued on Page 2 Column 4)

(So they apparently

36 German bombers came

GATES TO QUIT nN CHAIRMAN OF STATE GOP

Lauer ‘Selected to Be . Successor; Committee Meets Tuesday.

Ralph Gates will resign as state chairman of the Republican party at a meeting of the G. O. P. state committee here Tuesday, prepatory to formally announcing his can-

dideey for the Republican guber-|

natorial nomination, In a letter summoning state comfnittee members. to convene at 10 2. m, Tuesday, Mr. Gates said that

Mr. Gates apparently is far out in front, After Mr. Gates had communicated his decision to resign to party leaders throughout the state, a number of them gathered at the Columbia club yesterday to discuss the naming of a successor and it was there that Mr. Lauer generally as agreed upon.

GREEKS ARE ASSURED

LONDON, March 25 (U. P) ~The day of Greek liberation is ap- , Prime Minister Winston Churchill said today in a message to the Greek nation which will celebrate .its 123d anniversary of independence Sunday.

LOCAL TEMPERATURES

fam... 48 10am. ... 55 am,.... 48 lla m..... 62 Sam..... 49 12 ( ).. 56 fam..... 52. 1pm..... 58

30,000. Attend Opening Night Of Exhibit Held

In Cook Honor

‘COUNTESS’ SPY | : GETS 12 YEARS!

Grace - Buchanan - Dineen!"

jcountess, who became a counter

said as she came before Moinet. “I

and 4 Others Sentenced as Nazi Agents.

DETROIT, March 25 (U. P)— Federal Judge Edward J. Moinet today ordered long prison terms foi Canadian-born Grace BuchananDineen and four other members of a German spy ring who pleaded guilty .to violating the espionage laws. The 34-year-old self-styled

spy when her activities were uncovered, was sentenced fo 12 years imprisonment. In sentencing Miss BuchananDineen, Judge Moinet said he had given consideration to the fact that she had given the government valuable assistance in. prosecution of the spy cases. She was the government's star witness in the trial of Dr. Frederick W. Thomas, sentenced to 16 years imprisonment after his conviction by a federal court jury.

20-Year Term Given

“However,” Moinet said, “when you enfered the United States you came here as a Nazy spy.” Asked if she had anything to say, Miss Buchanan-Dineen said: “Only that I have never done anything against the United States.”

The most severe sentence imposed by Moinet to the admitted members of the spy ring, who entered the court room in pairs for sentencing, went to Mrs. Theresa Behrens, former secretary at the International Y. W. C, A. She was sentenced to 20 years and fainted as Judge Moinet pronounced sentence. “lI am not guilty,” Mrs. Behrens

(Continued on Page 2—Column.

Biggest Job in Filming Pyle EpiclstoFind a'Pyle’' for Pyle

_ By FREDERICK C. OTHMAN { United Press Staff Correspondent

HOLLYWOOD, March 25. — Movie producer Lester Cowan announced with some misgivings to-

TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

Ra Movies .......10 Music ........10 Obituaries .... 3 AY ody 9

day that he’s taken over a chunk of the Arizona desert to double | as Tunisia in his picture chronicling the adventures of Ernie Pyle.

there his camera crew mountains of Colo~ 1 will take the place

oi Bi es i $25 L %

“What we're trying to do," he reported, “is ‘to make the first picture ever attempted about a newsman and his adven-

training, and then in battle, The

living tures with the infantry, first in |.

Col. John G. Salsman. , . . “The lives of some of our boys may depend on what we do here.” * =» =

Col. Salsman Stresses Need for Steady

Production.

AN ESTIMATED 30,000 interested spectators jammed the three tents on the World War Memorial plaza last night as the five-day exhibit in honor of Col. H. Weir Cook was formally opened with a short program. Lt. Col, Walker W. Winslow of the C. A P. presided as master of cerem and introduced the principal speaker, Col. John G. Salsman, Chicago, mid-central supervisor of the army air-forces materiel command. “I am not exaggerating when I say that the army air forces

(Continued on Page 2—Column 7)

ANTI-IAP RIOTS HIT NORTH CHINA

Foes Admit Efforts to Halt Growing Unrest.

By UNITED PRESS A serious outbreak of anti-Japa-nese disturbances in North China was indicated this week in Tokyo press and ‘radio reports, the U. S. foreign broadcast intelligence service said today. One report, it was said, stated

jthat anti-Japanese elements had

been filtering into North China since last year, impeding Japan's exploitation program there, Peiping, Tiestsin, Tsinan and Tsungtao were named as centers of the disturbances. The broadcast service said that from Tokyo it was revealed that the increasing unrest had been the subJect of a conference that included puppet military officials.

VOTE REGISTRATION HOURS SET SUNDAY

Branch offices for the registration of voters will be open from 12 noon

[SLOT MACHINES

a a

g Chiel-to-Judge - to - Sheriff

tomorrow until 6 p. m. af: 512 E.

REMAIN INTACT

td,

Triple Play Fails to Score One Put-Out.

Numbers replaced peaches and plums as the salient features on a batch of 191 slot machines in the custody of Sheriff Otto Petit for more than s year, but which Sheriff Petit to destroy today because, he | he’s somewhat puzzled as to their identity. 'A court order issued by Municipal Court Judge John L. Niblack yesterday demanded the immediate destruction of the devices, confiscated by police in a raid in February, 1943 at the Hoosier Mint Co. 15 8S. Senate ave.

Sheriff Snubs Edict

But the sheriff, through his attorney, Louis Rosenberg, snubbed the edict because, he contended, it did not contain specific serial numbers of the slot machines in question. So, this morning, city and county police sharpened their pencils and laboriously undertook the task of noting the six-digit serial number

‘imprinted on each and every one of

the gadgets. Judge to Get Numbers

Later, said Police Inspector Donald F. Tooley, the number lists will be submitted to Judge Niblack, who, in turn, will issue an amended order including the slot machine serial numbers. This jurisdictional round-robin

(Continued on Page 2—Column 4)

SOVIETS ¢ $ CLAIM START OF WAR

Set for Smash at Rumania With Hungary Border 62 Miles Away.

MOSCOW, March 25 (U. P.) —The official Izvestia proclaimed today that “The Germans have been pushed back to the border where the war started” by Russian armies massing in the foothills of the Carpathians, along the Upper Dniester, and almost within sight of the Prut river for a death blow fat Rumania." 0 ei aa Their advanie carried the Russions to within 62 miles of Hungary. “We are fighting where we fought in the summer of 1941,” an Izvestia dispatch reported from the southern front, where synchronized drives by three Soviet armies appeared to have doomed all German pesitions east of the Balkans.

3 Armies Poised

The 1st army of the Ukraine was poised on the north bank of the Dniester for a smash into Bucovina province of pre-war Rumania. The 2d was smashing in toward the Prut border of Rumania. The 3d was rolling back the nose of the tottering German salient along the Black sea. (A German communique admitted that the Russians were advancing steadily west of the Middle Bug river and west of the Dniester in Bessarabia and had driven scuthward from the Tarnopol-Proskurov line revealed by Moscow to have been shattered in a push down to the Dniester. (The communique reported fighting northwest of Kovel, rail center only 40 miles from German-occupied Poland, and claimed that Soviet attempts to force the lower Bug at the other end of the southern front were thwarted.) Front dispatches said Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov’s 1st army had caught the Germans off balance in his wheeling drive 62 miles southward from the Tarnopol-Proskurov sector. The Soviets raced southward with little difficulty, scattering German regiments, the biggest

WASHINGTON

A Weekly Sizeup by the Staff of the Scripps-Howard

WASHINGTON, March

continued absence from the White in feeling.

industries. Tighter draft policies

MANPOWER PINCH will hit commercial airlines as well as other

Washington Newspapers

25.—Look for a stiffening of U. 8S. policy in matters where British interests clash with ours. Indications are the Churchill-Roosevelt honeymoon is over, that forthcoming administration acts will make this clear. Note: Some observers believe Harry Hopkins’ illness and his long-

House has contributed to this shift saa

will take many pilots now flying

(Continued on Page 2—Column 1)

Complete | in

This edition of your Saturday Indianapolis Times is

One Section

All the regular Times features and the news of the day are con-

NAZIS BACK AT

(Continued on Page 2—Column 8) |.

{near that our el-

st.

ANION SPEECH WAITED; ‘ON 3 FRONTS; BERLIN HIT

2800 Tons of Bombs Castade Into Ruins of Capital as Others

BULLETIN ~ LONDON, March 25 (U. P.).~The air ministry announced today

hat the oval air ferme siruck the last nigh

Berlin.

LONDON, March 25 (U. P.).—More than 1000 British bombers siruek|

Rip Kiel Navy Base.

t, pounding the capital with more than 2800 fons of bombs, and Size fought its fiercest battle of the annihilation campaign against

heaviest blow of the war at Berlin

at Germany last night for the second time in 48 hours, blasting another huge segment of Berlin into flaming ruins with 2800 or more tons of explosives and simultaneously hitting the reich’'s biggest naval base

at Kiel,

Seventy-three bombers were lost in the twin assaults and in subsidiary attacks on unspecified objectives of western Germany. The loss was the second highest ever suffered by the R. A. F. being only six fewer than the record 79 lost in an attack on Leipzig Feb. 19.

ton super block-busters on the (Continued on Page 2—Column 3)

FINDS GERMANS STILL TOUGH

Yank Writer Rub Rubs Elbows With Nazis in Finn Capital.

By NAT A. BARROWS Times Foreign Correspondent

STOCKHOLM, March 25. — This little restaurant In Helsinki was a German hangout! Luftwaffe, Wehrmacht and Krigsmarine men idled over their beer at

almost every table, listening to the endless blare of

lounged a husky Luftwaffe non- SO ® com, - actually $0 pop Bogue bows touched. Half-a-dozen Luftwaffe ground crew men and one lone Wehrmacht soldier occupied a table a couple of yards away. Only in Finland could it happen —two American correspondents eating dinner publicly, entirely surrounded by German enemies. For a couple of hours we sat there studying these Germans, listening

(Continued on Page 2—Column 5)

Hoosier Heroes—

| PFC, CARL L. BAKER

DIES FROM WOUNDS

An Indianapolis gunner has been killed in action over England and

‘| » fighter pilot is missing over Italy.

DEAD : Pfc. Carl L. Baker, 33 N. Chester

MISSING

‘Lt. Harry J. Daniels, 1840 S. Keystone ave. ~ 8 8

PFC. CARL BAKER. son of Mrs.

HINT RUMANIA

| ALREADY SEIZED

Germany's - Occupation of Satellite May Be

Completed.

LONDON, March 25 (U. P.).— German troops were reported today to have occupied Rumania in a quick follow-up fo the seizure of Hungary in the Nazi effort to reorganize the Balkan states to meet Soviet forces driving relentlessly from the north. A radio broadcast from Algiers said the Rumanian legation at Ankara confirmed reports of the occupation. (A Finnish home radio broadcast, recorded by U. S. government monitors, said the Rumania legation -at Helsinki save a similar confirmation.)

Iron Gard Helps

The well-armed Rumanian Iron Guard was believed to be taking {part in the occupation. A Stock- | holm dispatch to the Daily Telegraph said the guard was ready to seize key positions at Budapest and form a puppet government. The dispatch, not confirmed from any other source, also reported that Adolf Hitler was holding Premier Ion Antonescu and his brother, Mihail, vice premier, as hostages, although the clandestine underground radio said the brothers did not accept Hitler's invitation to visit his headquarters.

NAZIS RECAPTURE FOURTH OF CASINO

Reinforce Garrison Through

Series of Tunnels.

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Naples, March 25 (U. P.).—German reinforcements have entered Cassino through a series of ancient funnels, it was disclosed today, bolstering Nazi forces that already have recaptured one-quarter of the ruined town. Enemy troops now occupy a belt

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‘WASHINGTON, March 25 (U.P). —United States policy on the treat ment of war criminals today was expanded to include punishment not only of axis leaders but .also of all individuals — whether in France, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Poland or other Nazi-overrun countries—who knowingly aid in sending innocent victims to . their deaths.

hugband of Mrs.| S98

of “most anxious and inspiring

ings of the utmost confidence and

BRITISH CHIEF EXPECTED TO RALLY WORLD

LONDON, March 25 (U. P.) .—Prime Minister Churchill probably will rally Britain close to fever pitch for the invasion of western Europe in a world-wide broadcast at 9 Pp. m. (3 p. m. Indianapolis time) tomorrow. (Churchill's speech will he care

He already has told Ameriotn invasion forces that they will strike “soon,” and only yesterday said allied commanders were in the midst

weeks when all thoughts are turned to striking the great blow which may bring peace and freedom nearer to the men of all the united nations and indeed to all the world.” Inspected Troops Most observers believed that Churchill will emphasize in his talk that everything else must fade into ce compared with the successful prosecution of the longpromised opening of a western front in Europe. He will carry with him to the microphone vivid impressions of allied strength as emphasized in his two-day tour of American invasion bases in England in company with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of western front forces. Churchill completed his inspection tour yesterday at an infantry base, where he told the American soldiers that they could approach the impending struggle “with feel-

resolution.” Diplomatic quarters believed Churchill also will dwell at length on the allied attitude toward. the Atlantic Charter, dealing exhaus-

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® " »

On the War Fronts

(March 25, 1944) 5

AIR WAR-British heavy bombers hit Berlin with more than 2800 tons of bombs; German squadrons give London sharp fire raid.

RUSSIA—Soviet troops advance 62 miles, prepare for smash into Bucovina province of prewar Ru mania, Lt 5

ITALY — German’ reinforcements enter Cassino through ancient tunnels; heavy fighting continues with situation unchanged.

PACIFIC—Allied bombers hit Wewak.

LONDON — Churchill to broadcast

U. S. War Criminal Policy Is Extended to Satellites

“The extended policy was enun-|

“invasion speech” tomorrow.