l'
rn
A*r 3t
4 l
Continued Cold
VOL. LIV No. 107 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1944
llied Forces Kill 400 Japs in orth urma
PRICE FIVE CENTS
Battle
Reds
Take
* * *a
Five Nip
Advances
Repulsed
More Tlai 1,000
Trapped in Valley
By The Associated Press
NEW DELHI, March 30.-Lt.-Gen.
Joseph W. Stilwell's American and
Chinese troops in northern Burma
have slaughtered at least 400 Jap-
anese in repulsing five savage coun-
terattacks launched in an attempt to
rescue a force of approximately 1,000
Japanese trapped by a roadblock
north of Leban in the Mogaung Val-
ley.
Stilwell's combined force, which
encircled two makeshift battalions of
the Japanese 18th division two days
ago by cutting the main road 14 miles
inside the Mogaung Valley, threw
withering fire into the frenzied at-
tackers, and when the Japanese fin-
ally~ retired they left their dead
stacked in front of the Allied posi-
tions, it was disclosed today.
Perhaps the most amazing feature
of the bloody fight was the discovery
that not a single American or Chin-
ese was killed and only a handful
wounded. The toll of Japanese
brought to at least 640 the number
of enemy killed since Stilwell's forces
swept into the Mogaung Valley
March 19in their drive southward
toward the main enemy base at Myit-
kyina.
- Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten's
Southeast Asia Headquarters esti-
mated that another 2,500 Japanese
had been killed by British forces
opposing the enemy's invasion of
India. Hard but inconclusive fight-
ing raged inside the India border yes-
terday.
Inter-American
Speech Contest
Will Be Today
To select a speaker to represent this
area in the National Discussion Con-
test on Inter-American Affairs, the
sixth regional contest will be held in
the Rackham Building today.
Eight students from central region
colleges and universities will partici-
pate in a round table discussion at 2
p.m. in the Rackham West Confer-
ence Room and a general symposium
and forum at 8 p.m. in the Rackham
Amphitheatre.
Scholarship Offered
The contestants are competing for
a $500 scholarship for travel and
study in Mexico this summer and a
chance to enter the national radio
broadcast contest which will be held
inWashington, D.C., on Pan-Ameri-
can Day, April 13.
Inter-American cooperation will be
the topic for discussion at the round-
table, which will be conducted by
Prof. Arthur S. Aiton, professor of
Latin American history.
In the evening session students will
give seven-minute speeches prepared
on an assigned topic on the general
subject "Bases of Cooperation Among
American Republics," following which
an audience discussion forum will be
held. Dr. Esson M. Gale, Interna-
tional Center director, will preside.
Discussion To Be Judged
Judges will consider both partici-
pation in the round table discussion
and the prepared speeches in select-
ing the winner. Both parts of the
Allied
Sofia Ao
PowerfA
Bombers Blast
or Second Time,
l
rut Base of Cernowite
By The Associated Press
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, NA-
PLES, March 30 .-Explosive-scarred1
Sofia was blasted from the air today£
for the second time in 24 hours by!
the largest force of heavy bombers
ever sent against a single target
from Mediterranean bases.
Both U.S. Fortresses and Liberat-
ors participated in the new assault
RAF Forces a
Hit Ger8many
Two Heavy Waves
Bomb Four Areas
By The Associated Press
LONDON, March 31, Friday-RAF
heavy bombers headed out toward
the continent last night in two great
forces which took more than an hour
to cross the English coast, and almost
immediately various German radio
stations began filling the air with'
warnings.
One broadcast said, "One enemy
formation is over the Rhine and an-
other formation is over the northern;
part of the Eiffel area."
The Frankfurt radio left the air
after warning: "Enemy bombers are
heading toward us," and thenlast
DNB announcement was, "Enemy
formations are over Thuringia, cen-
tral Germany and northern Bav-
aria."
London Has Alert'
London itself had a brief alert
early today and some gunfire was
reported in suburban sections.
The RAF night action followed up
daylight attacks by U.S. Thunder-
bolts on German airfields in Holland
and the Holland-German border re-
gion.
Thunderbolts used both bombs and
guns in their attacks upon the air-
dromes. The U.S. Eighth Air Force
heavy bombers took the day off.
One Plane Lost
One Thunderbolt was lost and one
German plane was destroyed while
attempting to land at one of the
fields. This brought the total num-
ber of Nazi planes knocked out by the
Americans in the last four days to at
least 106.
The Thunderbolt fighter-bombers
which attacked objectives "at Eind-
hoven, near the Belgian border, and
Coesterberg, near Utrecht, reported
no enemy air opposition," headquar-
ters announced.
This was the 25th operation of the
month by the Eighth Air Force, of
which all but two were made by four-
engined Flying Fortresses and Liber-
ators. Of the 23 major raids, 15 were
directed at targets inside Germany
proper.
Locomotives and flak towers were
shot up by the Thunderbolts en route
to the Holland-German border tar-
gets and one pilot said eight enemy
interceptors attempted to attackI
him, but were outmaneuvered.
and reached the Bulgarian capital
while it still was smoking from a
heavy blow last night by RAF Lib-
erators and Wellingtons.
Fighter opposition was fairly
strong over the city, returning fli-
ers reported, and the bombers and
their escort of Lightning and
Thunderbolt fighters destroyed se-
veral enemy interceptors.
The attack was directed at Sofia's
vital railroad yards through which
passes the main line from Berlin to
Istanbul, Turkey, and other Balkan
points. However, other targets in the
capital also were hit.
The bombing set off huge explo-
sions and crews reported smoke
rose 10,000 feet as they left and the
"choke points" of the rail yards
were completely blanketed by their
bombs.
One navigator, Lt. Charles McCar-
thy, West Springfield, Mass., com-
mented, "the town was smoking from
earlier attacks when we got there
and it was on fire when we left."
A Lightning outf it-the 82nd
fighter group, commanded by Lt. Col.
William P. Litton of Shaw, Miss.-
passed its 400th victory mark on the
raid.
Smaller formations of Fortresses
and Liberators carried out a diver-
sionary attack on two of Yugoslav-,
ia's principal ports-Split and Mos-
tar.
The RAF fliers who made last
night's raid also reported good cov-
erage of the Sofia rail yards and said
they started two great fires.
Soviets Clarifv
.1
Recognition of
Badoglio .Rule
By The Associated Press
MOSCOW, March 30.-The-Soviet
newspaper Izvestia declared today
that the Soviet Union's recognition of
the Badoglio government in Italy
was undertaken to establish direct
relations with that government and
to put Russia on an equal basis with
the United States and Great Britain.
Both Britain and the United
States had enjoyed these direct re-
lations, but not Russia, Izvestia
said in a three-column, page one
editorial indicating displeasure at
having been left out of British and
American decisions in Italy.
Declaring the exchange did not ne-
cessarily establish diplomatic rela-
tions but did establish "factual re-
lations," Izvestia said the "unequal
position" of Russia in Italy had been
remedied by the act. It pointed out
that the Allies had had many con-
tacts in southern Italy with all fac-
tions, as well as military leadership
there, while Russia had only a "few
representatives connected with the
consultative council on Italian ques-
tions."
Threaten
Rumania,
Hungary,
Soviets 15 Miles
From Czech Border
By The Associated Press
LONDON, March 30.-Red Army
forces rolling unchecked toward
Hitler's satellite lands today seized
Czernowitz, German fortress that
had guarded the routs to Rumania
and Hungary, and climbed up the
Prut River banks into the Carpa-
thian mountains to a points only
15 miles from the Czechoslovakian
border at the "pass of the Tartars."
Announcing capture of Czernowitz,
an Order of the Day by Marshal Sta-
lin called it "an important economic
and political center of northern Bu-
covina and a powerful strongpoint
in the German defenses of the river
Prut covering the approaches to the
frontiers of Hungary and Rumania."
A warning to the Axis satellites to
turn against Hitler or be invaded
seemed plainly implied.
Reds Storm City
The city was taken by ptorm after
stree fighting that began yesterday,
NEW YORK, March 30.-(P)-
Russia and Japan had renewed
their annual fisheries agreement
after negotiations since Dec. 31, an
NBC broadcast-from Moscow said
tonight.
and the Russians immediately spread
out to take nearby villages. The Ger-
mans acknowledged a withdrawal.
For the fourth day since they
reached the Prut river boundary of
Rumania south of Czernowitz, the
Russians refrained from crossing in-
to Rumania proper, still leaving the
door open for Rumania to chuck her
German alliance and invite the Red
Army in.. The Russian hold on the
boundary stream was extended to a
total of more than 80 miles.
The Soviets announced that the
railway from Pervomaisk, deep in the
Ukraine, to Byeltsi more than 150
miles westward, now has been en-
tirely cleared of Germans, opening
it to Russian use.
'Etude' Editor
To Speak Today
Dr. James Francis Cooke, editor of
"The Etude," music magazine, and
president of the Presser Foundation,
will speak on "The Fifth Freedom" at
8:30 p.m. today in Rackham Lecture
Hall.
Dr. Cooke, a native of Bay City,
received the degree of LL.D. from the
University in 1938. He has been in-
vited to speak to University students
and the general public by the School
of Music.
Hoffman Sits Down
For Easter Holiday
WASHINGTON, March 30.-
Rep. Clare Hoffman (Rep., Mich.)
went on a one-man sitdown strike
against a resolution to adjourn
Congress for the Easter holiday
today and tied the House in a
parliamentary knot.
The Congressman threw the
leadership of both parties into a
series of protesting huddles when
he objected to consideration of the
adjournment resolution by raising
the point of no quorum- and
there wasn't a quorum. What's
more, there weren't enough con-
gressmen in town to make up a
quorum.
"I'm against a couple of leaders
getting together and running this
House and then making one mis-
take after another," he told a
reporter later. "I just wanted to
show them that. You know what
would have happened if we had
adjourned today as they planned?
The President could have acted on
the service vote bill and sent it
here and we would have been
,home. So there wouldn't have been
a law. And the President could
have told the soldiers: 'Look what
your Congress did to you.'-
Hou Se Group
Wants Swift.
4-F W ork Call
BA The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, March 30.-Im-
mediate induction of 4-F's for a spe-
cial Army work corps was recom-
mended today by a House military
sub-committee.
Acting shortly after Secretary of
War' Stimson had expressed disfavor
for the whole idea, the House group
made these formal recommenda-
tions :
"1. That the War Department ac-
cept and use men for special labor
duty and that the Department pub-
licly so announce.
"2. That Selective Service process
4-F's for classification, deferring
those then engaged in industry or
agriculture so long as they remain so
engaged.
"3. That appropriate legislation be
drafted to cover, and supplement if
necessary, compliance with the ac-
tion propqsed."
By directing deferment for those
engaged in industry or agriculture,
th program is intended to force a
shift of 4-F's into essential occupa-
tions rather than labor battalions.
4F Draftee Defects Must
Be Noted, First Lady Says
WASHINGTON, March 30.-(P)-
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt today
warned that physical disabilities of
4-F's must be taken into considera-
tion if they are drafted for war work
as proposed by Selective Service Di-
rector Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey.
~*
Strong U.S. Fleet
Hits Jap-aHeld Post.
By The Associated Press
U.S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, PEARL HARBOR,
March 30.-Powerful American naval forces, believed to include new
aircraft carriers, opened up an assault Wednesday on Palau Island
within 460 nautical miles of the Philippines, and Japanese warships fled
the area rather than offer a fight.
Announcing the attack in a communique today, Adm. Chester W.
Nimitz said:
"Our attack continues."
Admiral Nimitz said that Japanese ships were observed fleeing from
the Palau area before our fleet units could reach "attack positions."
The communique explained that the task force had been sighted by
enemy planes searching from their bases from the Carolines and New
Guinea.
The fact that Japanese ships fled is a definite indication that the
American task forces probably are of the same overwhelming strength as
the aircraft carrier forces which attacked Truk Feb. 16-17 and the
Marianas Feb. 22.
The Nimitz communique did not describe the nature of the force
attacking Palau but it is almost certain that it contains several new and
large aircraft carriers. It is likely that the Palau attack is a heavy
carrier bombing strike such as those which blasted Truk and the Marianas.
The communique text:
"Strong Pacific fleet forces, at dawn Wednesday, 29th of March
(west longitude date) initiated attacks on Japanese-held Palau Island.
After discovery of the approach of our forces by enemy planes searching
from their bases in the Carolines and New Guinea, their ships were
observed fleeing the area before our units could reach attack positions.
"Our attacks continue. No further details are as yet available."
The fleet force attacked on Palau is the nearest blow of major power
yet delivered in the direction of the Philippines. Palau is 460 nautical miles
east andslightly south of Manila and about 2,000 nautical miles from Tokyo.,
The Palau Islands are a group of 200 small, heavily wooded, volcanic
islands at the western end of the Caroline chain. The communique's men-
tion that enemy search planes operating from New Guinea as well as the
Carolines detected the approaching task force suggests that the fleet
force cruised south of Truk in closing in on Palau.
The Japanese had withdrawn warships from Truk after that naval
base stronghold was battered Feb. 16-17. Some observers believed that
some enemy combat ships probably, were using Palau as an operational base.
One of the major purposes of the present Palau strike possibly was
to try to trap and force a fight with Japanese ships.
Babelthuap Island, largest in the Palau group, contains 142 square
miles of land. It is the second largest land mass in the Carolines,
exceeded only by Ponape.
The town of Koro just south of Babelthuap is the Japanese admin-
istrative seat for the 1,500 Caroline Islands.
(The task force strike against Palau occurred on the same day that
Liberators of the Seventh Airforce, probably operating from the western
Marshalls, delivered an attack on Truk. And that air attack followed
shortly after the first raid of the war on Truk by Liberators from the
South Pacific.)
The bombing of Tokyo is inevitable, Tokyo radio quoted Gen. Kensuke
Fujiye as saying when he assumed command of Japan's tastern defense
zone. He warned that the "state of affairs" in the capital of Nippon is
"truly urgent."
Pacific Planes Hit Truk
By The Associated Press Pacific airmen, striking Wednesday
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, South- night also hit Eten Island, and Moen
west Pacific, March 31, Friday.-Gen. Island.
Douglas MacArthur announced today**
in a special communique that South- Allies Hit Ja >Base
west Pacific bombers had hit the Jap- -
anese base at Truk, for the first time. AtIi Wleai Island
The communique reported 200 di- ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
rect hits on the Truk airdrome area SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, March 31.
and 49 parked planes destroyed. Friday-()-Allied bombers dropped
In a previous communique today 380 tons on Woleai Island in the
MacArthur already had announced Caroline Islands west of the Japan-
that Navy Catalina bombers had ese base at Truk, Allied headquarters
bombed Woleai Island, enemy sea- announced today. It was the first
plane base and airfield in the Caro- report of South Pacific aircraft strik-
line Islands, 460 nautical miles west ing in the Carolines.
of Truk. Navy Catalina flying boats made
Eten Island in the Truk atoll was the raid on Woleai airdrome Tuesday
the target of the raid at noon Wed- night and Wednesday morning. Two
nesday. Five to 20 out of 90 enemy f large fires were started and heavy
WORLD NEWS HIGHLIGHTS .,.
By The %Associated Press
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, NAPLES, March 30.-The shooting and
the shouting were past and the high hopes with which Allied troops worked
their way into the ruins of Cassino just two weeks ago were dead today as
the Allied communique dismissed action on this vital sector with a one-
sentence, seven-word reference to patrol activity.
LONDON, March 30.-Stocky Prime Minister Churchill pulled a
rebellious House of Commons firmly into line today and won a 425-to-I
23 vote of confidence-his strongest showing since January, 1942-and
NATIONAL AAU MEET:
Wolverines Hosts to Nation's
Outstanding Swimming Stars
By HANK MANTHO
Michigan will play host to the out-
standing amateur swimming stars inj
the nation as the long awaited Na-
tional AAU swimming meet, which
promises to present one of the great-
est assemblage of stars ever to swim
in one pool, gets under way, today
looms as the meet's individual stand-
out.
This galaxy of stars, in direct con-
trast to last year's AAU meet, when
not a single record was set, will be in
the best shape of their careers, and
they may well shatter world records
in five events with AAU marks fall-