i
wg
Kr 43 i
4 aii4
Weather
CloUdy
VOL. LIV No. 155 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1944
7 .._ __A _ _ _ _ _ _
PRICE FIVE CENTS
:,
f>..'........
Allies
Troop
Take
s Mov
Bayeux, Nazi-Fortified
e
City;
Caen
Inland,
Cut
Road
to
Nazi Lines Above Rome Are Reported Broken
Allies Smash
Ahead North,
West of Tiber
Advancing Armies
Take 18,000 Nazis
By The Associated Press
ROME, June 7.-The Fifth Army
sihashed ahead north and west o
Itome toward Lake Brachiano and
the key Tyrrhenian port of Civitavec-
chia tonight in a drive so rapid and
.owerful that the Germans them-
- selves .described it officially as a
"major break" through their lines.
Fanning out above the city the
Allies advanced so far along the vital
coastal highway that one official an-
pounced this evening that they "con-
tinued a rapid advance in the direc-
tion of Civitavecchia," the closest
port to Rome, 40 miles to the north-
west by road.
Ten Miles Covered
.The advance was along all main
hithways west and northwest of the
city, including the routes numbered
one and two and the Magliana coastal
road, the Allied troops covering a
distance of ten miles from Rome as
they reached northward to within
4 five miles of Lake Bracchiano. The
march reached the important peaks
Mount Grossara, Mount Aguro and
Mount Forno, commanding the Brac-
chiano route for two miles.
To the west advance patrols reach-
ed points three to five miles from the
sea and nearly a dozen miles north
of the mouth of the Tiber.
lAs te tbattered German tenth and
fourteenth armies fell back, Gen.
Alexander broadcast to Italian patri-
ots utrging them to rise and do aU
they can'to disrupt the retreat.
Liberation Told
"In less than a month the strength
of the German armies has been brok-
en," he said, adding that "the libera-
tion of Italy now is well under way."
' The disorganized resistance the Al-
ies were encountering was from
small battlegroups made up of ele-
ments of various beaten units. Al-
ready more than 18,000 prisoners had
been taken by the Fifth Army alone,
and the total was growing.
More thousands were captured by
the British Eighth Army which still
was meeting strong enemy defenses
northeast of Rome as the Germans
threw heavy demolitions and mine
fields into the path of the advance.
The Germans played for time to
retreat from the mouth of a net clos-
ing in the hills above Rome.
Miller73 Brolen'
To Colnel for
Invasion Hint
Loose Party Talk Is
Cause for Demotion
WASHINGTON, June 7.-(A'h-The
Army reported today that Major-
General Henry J. F. Miller was "bro-
ken" to lieutenant-colonel and sent
home from England for an indiscreet
remark at a cocktail party hinting at
the time set for the invasion of Eur-
ope.
The rank to which he was reduced
is his permanent grade, held since
1936. The rank of major-general
was temporary.
The story came out piecemeal from
Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditionary Forces and from the
War Department here. Dispatches
from Shaef told of the incident but
on orders from the supreme com-
mand withheld the officer's name.
Here, in response to inquiries, the
War Department issued a memoran-
dum naming the officer as Miller, 53,
a graduate of the command and gen-
eral staff school with a 33-year hon-'
orable record of Armv service. He is
a native of Salem, N.J., and lives in
Miami,.Fla.
Invaders Drive Back
Enemy Co unterbiows
Eisenhower TJours invaision Coast
Five Miles From Nazi-Held Territory
By WES GALLAGH ER
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITION--
ARY FORCE, June 8, Thursday-,-The Allies announced today
capture of their first French city, the N azi-fortified town of
Bayeux, five miles inshore in the center of the Normandy inva-
sion coast, and said they also had cut the highway from Bayeux
to Caen as they moved inlid in generally heavy fighting against
counterattacking Gerrnan reserves.
(The Cherbourg-Caen-Paris railway and a main highway
run through Bayeux, so that capture of the town cuts both, con-
tributing to isolation of the
D-DAY UNDER WAY-LCT's are loaded with half tracks and other
armoured vehicles by American troops just before heading D-Day
invasion on the French coast June G. (AP Wirephoto via Signal Corps
Radio).
Cherbourg peninsula.)
Caen, 18 miles southeast of
Bayeux and nine miles fror the
sea, was the scene of a. German
armored counterattack which
has been hurled back, headquar-
ters disclosed, and the Allied
forces were said to be doing
generally "'better than expec-
ted."
Aside from these two towns,
supreme headquarters gave no place-
names, ignoring a continuing stream
of German broadcasts which re-
ported new Allied attacks all the
way from the Pas de Calais area on
Dover Strait to Nantes at the base
of the big Brittany peninsula jut-
ting out into the Atlantic.
Beaches Cleared of° Enemy
A headquarters communique said
the Allied landing beaches had been
cleared of the enemy and had been
linked up by flank ex'tensions in
some cases during the. second day of
the invasion while steady reinforce-
ments poured in by sea and air.
The supreme commander, Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, toured the
beach areas in a British vessel far
four and one-half hours Wednesday,
conferring with Gen. Sir Bernard L.
Montgomery and other operational
chieftains less than five miles from
German-held territory.
Heaviest fighting apparently cen-
tered around Caen and Bayeux, the
latter a cathedral town, once of
9,000 (correct) population.
Reports from the front mentioned
many casualties, although there was
no solid evidence of the actual num-
ber or proportion. Both the U. S.
and British navies reported their
casualties in personnel and ships
were so 'ar very small.
Resistance of the German navy
and air force continued relatively
light, with E-boats driven off in two
attacks and 51 German planes down-
ed Wednesday by the overwhelming
Allied air cover, which lost 23 of its
own planes. Lightning fighter-
bombers demolished a German head-
quarters Wednesday afternoon.
Germans Flood Area
One returning flier said the Ger-
mans had flooded three large low-
land areas near the beaches in ef-
forts to hold up the Allied advance.
The German land forces put up
increasing resistance that was ex-
pected to become still stronger as
the N azi command struggled to dis-
cern and meet the Allied strategy.
Allied. airborne operations, a feat-
ure of the initial landings, were re-
sumed Wednesday on a "very large
scale," the Allied communique stated,
while supplies and men moved con-
stantly to the beaches despite strong
northwest winds, which moderated
somewhat tonight.
Clearing thepbeaches of the enemy
freed the supply and reinforcement
convoys and men from small arms
attack, while naval forces silenced
remaining German coastal guns
which had escaped the first furious
air and sea assault Tuesday.
Headquarters conservatively stat-
ed: "It is not yet known whether alt
have been finally reduced."
Yank Forces
Japs Move NaIr
Railway enter
By RAY CRONIN
Associated Press War Editor
The Japanese have lost strategic
Mokmer airdrome, within bombing
distance of the Philippines, to hard-
hitting Yank forces.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Thurs-
day's communique said American
troops stormed Momker from the
rear and routed the enemy.
Changsha Threatened
In China the Japanese invaders,
driving to cut the nation in two, ap-
proached close to thei main object-
ive as a renewed offensive carried
Nippon forces to within nine and a
half miles north and 12 miles east
of Changsha, railway center and
capital of Hunan Province.
The MacArthur communique said
a flanking column of American
troops took Mokmer, on Biak island
in the Schoutens group off north
Dutch New Guinea. It is 880 miles
from the Philippines. American los-
ses were light.
Battle Lasted 12 Days
The battle for Mokmer raged for
12 days. One American column was
driven back by murderous Japanese
fire from hill positions. Yank cliff-
climbers finally rubbed out the Nip-
pon machine gunners and snipers_
and drove along the ridge to the rear
of the objective for the final assault.
The Changsha drive was the sole
Japanese military success on today's
records. The Nipponese suffered set-
backs or aerial hammerings in
China's Yunnan province, Burma,
India and the Central Pacific.
Chungking reports told of the Jap-
anese Changsha advance. In that
region the Japanese seek to gain
complete cohtrol of the north-south
Hankow-Canton railroad and thus
seal off the China coast from interior
China.
Railway Almost Destroyed
"The voice of China" radio broad-
cast from Chungking Wednesday de-
clared control of the railway in its
present condition would mean little.
The broadcast said the rail line, bad-
1- rinned un by the Chinese. could
WAR BUL LE TINS
By The Associatedl Press
ROME, June 7-Pope Pius XI urged correspondents today "to write
of a peace that can meet the approval of all well-meaning peoples" in his
first press conference since becoming pope.
"You are most welcome. You have a mission of tremendous import-
ance," His Holiness said in greeting the newsmen as he entered the throne
room of the Vatican.
w * *
* * *
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE,
June 7-French communications workers were supplied by Allied airmen
on D-Day with instructions for sabotage, it was disclosed tonight.
Maps showing rail and other communication lines, the instructions
and an "urgent message" from supreme headquarters Allied expeditionary
force were dropped.
* * *
* * #
NEW YORK, June 7-Allied parachute troops in hitherto unknown
strength have landed 30 miles south of Caen in the region between Argentan
and Falaise, the German radio said tonight in a broadcast recorded by
the CBS.
LONDON, June 7-A report to tl
said today that a large Allied fleet w
Allied landing on the Ligurian coast+
was expected hourly,"
he London press through Switzerland
ias cruising off Genoa and that "an
(Italy), or even on southern France,
Nazi Troops
Arrive by Air
Allied Paratroopers
Are Behind Front Lines
fay Tihe.Associated Press
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, AL-
LIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE,
June 7-Savage fighting for key
points behind the Normandy
beachheads was developing tonight
as the Germans began moving troops'
by air in efforts to cope with the con-
stantly-reinforced Allied airborne di-
visions whose successes highlighted
the invasion,
The Allied airborne operation,
largest ever undertaken anywhere,
was a complete success, at least as
far as its shock phases were con-
cerned, and parachutists and air-
borne infantry were ranging swiftly
behind the German frontlines, it was
said at supreme headquarters.
Authorities Tight-lipped
Authorities were tight-lipped about
the progress of troops that landed
from the sea but stated the airborne
soldiers had carried out every as-
signment given thenm, and in some
cases had seized bridges which the
command had been almost certain
the Germans would have time to
demolish.
It was confirmed tonight, for ex-
ample, that the British sixth air-
borne division had captured a series
of bridges north of Caen.
Front dispatches said airborne
troops had joined those from the
sea in some places after capturing
towns, roads and various bridges,
and that reinforcements poured in
today aboard a 50-mile-long train
of ninth air force gliders.
The German radio yesterday listed
four to six Allied airborne divisions
as having landed behind the Atlantic
wall defenses, and said tonight that
another Britislh division had landed
during today.
Allied Planes Hammer
Nvazi Troops9, Supplies
i
Court Martia1s
WASHINGTON, June 7- ( )-
Compromising Senate and House
differences, Congress settled today on
a six months' extension f'rom mid-I
night tonight of the time in which
court martials may be held on any
charges arising from the Pearl Har-
bor disaster.
A bill approved by both legislative
branches and sent to the White
House directs that, meantime, the
secretaries of war and Navy are to
make investigations and take such
action as appears justified.
The measure extends anew the
statute of limitations which already
had been extended for six months
past Dec. 7, 1943, because the War
and Navy Departments opposed Pearl
Harbor trials during wartime.
CIO ToFight
By The Associated Press
Chairman Sidney Hillman ut the
CIO Political Action Committee defi-
nitely on the line against Gov. Thom-
as E. Dewey in the presidential race
yesterday.
Contending that Dewey "is in com-
plete ignorance of the major prob-
lems that face the nation," Iillman
at a Washington news conference
called on the New York Governor to
make known his views regarding
postwar employment.
Democratic eyes were turned,
meanwhile, on the results of a meet-
ing of Mississippi members of that
party to pick delegates with 20
national convention votes.
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, AL-
LIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE,
June 7.-Allied warplanes, which
have flown a total of 31,000 sorties
against Europe since June 1, threw
down blazing curtains of bombs and
bullets intended to cut off both help
and escape for German troops on the
perimeters of the expanding beach-
heads in France,
Road Junctions Attacked.
South of Caen 250 to 500 Flying
Fortresses and Liberators heavily
attacked road junctions to block off
German reinforcements. In this un-
usual front line use of heavy bomb-
ers, neither antiaircraft fire nor
German. fighter opposition was en=.
countered,
Clouds prevented assessment of the
damage done,
Allied fighter planes were holding
an aerial cordon around the beach-
CIO Strikr
Ey The Associated Press
Representatives of the Army, man-
agement and unions urged strikers
yesterday to resume production of
airplane engines at the huge Wright
Aeronautical Corporation plant in
Lockland, Ohio.
Between 12.000 and 1 ,000i m-
heads that spelled a virtual death
warrant for enemy aircraft trying to
attack, while swarms of other planes
of nearly every sor"t scourged the
German reinforcement routes.
Flying weather continued bad and
enemy resistance slowly increased,
but the Allied airmen flew lower than
customary to pour explosives and
airborne reinforcements down on the
Germans,
Fed Bridges Undamaged
The effects of the tremendous Al-
lied pre-invasion attacks on Nazi
communications was reflected in the
disclosure than on D-Day only one
railroad bridge and five highway
bridges were undamaged over the
Seine between Paris and the sea.
Every railroad'bridge and all except
two highway bridges between Paris
and Rouen had been destroyed. Some
bridges still intact were captured by
Allied airborne forces before the Ger-
mans could damage them.
The German air force, absent from
the skies through most of D-Day,
began to rise slowly to Reichsmar-
shal Hermann Goering's order to
fight or perish and its losses mounted
to at least 70 planes since invasion
began.
Losses Increased
Allied losses in a like period
reached 73 as air units threw caution
to the winds and defied weather and
ground defenses alike to bomb and
Get . Bradley To Head Yankls ill Fratne
SUPREME , HEADQUARTERS,
ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE,
June 7-(AP)-Lanky Omar N.
Bradley-The "Doughboys' general"
who has killed more Germans than
In the initial stages of the land-
ings in France, Gen. Bradley was tied
by the need for communications to
the deck of the flagship U. S. S.
head of the infantry officers' school
at Fort Benning, Ga.
He also has trained more "shave
tails" than any other U. S. general