'yewitness Relates First Report of Dawn Invasion at Arawe By WILLIAM F. BONI Associated Press Correspondent ABOARD AN UNITED STATES DESTROYER RETURNING FROM ARAWE, New Britain, Dec. 15.- (Delayed)-This trim warship at the moment is cutting a mean fur- row on the homeward run from New Britain after contributing the heav- iest share of the dawn bombard- ment which preceded this morning's landings of American troops at Ar- awe. That it was a successful bom- bardment we learned a compara- tively short time after the cease- fire order had been given. From units of the ma i Iudiwm [orOec which swarmed the beach came word that they had been able to go ashore unopposed. Destroyers trained their five- inch dual-purpose guns on the intended beachhead and suspect- ed enemy gun positions shortly after 6 a.m. as the ships reached the end of their firing courses and turned to begin off-shore patrolling, there was a blanket of smoke lying over the target area and shreds of it already had be- gun drifting out over the sea. In the passage between a little island off shore and the mainland, amphibious craft carrying Army troops could be seen poking ieir noses toward shore through a haze. Our ship was in the lead of the bombardment group. If anything, ours was the most difficult assign- ment since between the ships and the shore target area stood the small island with a 200-foot ridge. meaning we had to do most of our firing "blind." On the bridge, our skipper-a commander from Mayfield, Ky., who was a 1930 graduate of Annap- olis-had the ship on its course at a predetermined speed. From the director control, our gunner officer, Lt. (j.g.) Brian "Moose" McCauley. had the crews ready and was com- puting range elevation and other figures for automatic fire. Exactly on schedule, there was a rocketing blast and the first salvo let loose. A tracer showed that the shells barely had cleared the island ridge, so McCauley called for more elevation. The next salvo had more clearance. For 20 minutes we plastered the target. Our gun crews were work- ing so smoothly in the opening minutes that the gunnery officer had to slow them down progressive- ly until finally, in order not to ex- pend more than the assigned num- ber of rounds, he was calling for guns to fire by twos and at the end, singly on command. The destroyers didn't draw a single burst of enemy fire, though at times during the two-hour pa- trolling along the beach we were within 1,500 yards of the shore. One of our warships let go two salvos against a Japanese mach- ine gun position which before dawn had fired heavily on a spe- cial landing party. Two of these parties had been assigned to at- tack strategic points. After those two salvos, nothing further was heard from the machine guns. At approximately 8:30 we turned away from the beach, put the speed up to 25 knots and started for home in formation. Behind us, still close inshore, was another destroyer from which Rear Admiral Daniel Bar- bey, Commander of the Seventh Amphibous Force, had directed the bombardment. The only planes we had seen were our own. But we were no more than 20 minutes on our homeward course when the destroyer with Admiral Barbey aboard flashed word that that she was being divebombed by at least a dozen Japanese planes. The attack was timed so neatly it seemed almost as if they must have been hiding behind the nearest ridge waiting the sig- nal that we had shoved off. Seconds later the sky was spotted with black ack-ack bursts. We saw smoke rising from the water, in- dicating that at least one raider was downed. Then came word from the destroyer .that she had got through without a hit. It wasn't until 10:15 that we heard the welcome "secure from general quarters." That was welcome word be- cause the men had been at "go" since 3:30. Land was coming into sight then but the actual tension hadn't begun until about a half hour later when aircraft which was identfied as Japanese, twice flew across our convoy. Now, while the skipper is still on the bridge, the majority of the men are in their "sacks." Our 20 of- ficers are either on their beds or in the wardroom, where this is being written, and "Doc" Haus has just finished dressing the finger of a gunloader who cut it opening a soft drink bottle. 7 days till Christmas VOL. LIV No. 39 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, DEC.17, 1943 Weather Clear and Colder PRICE FIVE CENT U.S. Tro"Arps Seize New Britain Toe-Hold Supported by Powerful Sea, Air Forces 57 Persons Killed in N.C. Train Wreck' More Than 50 Injured Oln Two Atlantic Coast Line Streamnliners By The Associated Press LUMBERTON, N.C., Dec. 16.- -Two crowded Atlantic Coast Line passenger streamliners piled up in an early morning wreck near here today, killing at least 57 persons and injuring upwards of 50. C. G. Sibley, vice-president of the railroad,.said atthat comp ny's Wil- mington headquarters tonight the known dead included 37 members of the armed services and 20 civilians. He added that 15 injured were taken to a Fayetteville hospital, 30 to Lumberton hospitals and others to the Laurinburg-Maxton Army air 'base hospital. A report from the air base hospital said more than 20 had been brought there for treatment, one of whom had died. More than 17 hours after the wreck in this rolling sandhills region of North Carolina, there had been no announcement of the list of dead. Military Police barred reporters from a mortuary in Red Springs, near here, where the bodies were taken after being removed from the wreck- age.. A broken rail was blamed by At- lantic Coast Line officials for derail- ment of three coaches of the Florida- bound Tamiami West Coast Cham- pion near the little town of Buies. At least one person was killed in this wreck. U.S. Bombers FDR Arrives Home After Conferences President Expected To Address Congress On Historic Meetings By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.-Presi- dent Roosevelt, completing a prece- dent-shattering and historic wartime journey, has arrived back in the United States from the Allied mili- tary and political conferences in Cai- ro and Teheran. "Happily, I can tell you now he has returned and is safely back in the United States," Stephen Early, White. House secretary, announced to re- porters late today. "I have not been advised when he will reach Washing- ton." Congress Plans Recess At the Capital, meanwhile, Con- gress was laying plans to take a Christmas recess beginning next week -meaning that any report to the leg- islators on the Allied conferences pro- bably will be delayed until after the first of the new year. Early said earlier this week he would "naturally anticipate" that Mr. Roosevelt would be invited to make a report to Congress on his momentous talks with Premier Stalin, President Chiang Kai-shek and Prime Minis-. ter Churchill. Home Issues Paramount Congressional leaders tentatively agreed on a recess next week until Jan. 4. The effect also would be to postpone action on the subsidy con- troversy and the new tax bill since it was agreed that action before such a recess would be impossible. The delay might also afford Presi- dent Roosevelt an opportunity to bol- ster his domestic wartime program which has been hard hit by opponents during his 35-day absence from the country. Major points at which the program is under fire are: 1. The attempt by the Farm Bloc and others in Congress to forbid use of subsidies to hold down food prices. 2. The effort to put through Con- gress approval for a 8-cents-an-hour wage increase for 1,100,000 railroad workers, opposed by stabilization di- rector Fred M. Vinson on the grounds it would break down wage stabiliza- tion. A resolution of approval was adopted by the Senate during Mr. Roosevelt's absence and is pending before a House committee. 21l New Coeds Allies Invade Arawe, Spearhead into New Britain MANUS ADMIRALTY'C .6 PacificOcecn I - 20Q S.J51'.51L 1 F4 Aitpe " ..Kavielig NEW IRELAND 'W1Yewak F4W VLOO GUINEA AAUISLANDS y Madang ,MBOI 'UKA j Invaded Nov.l - ~~NEW BUA op ,. Oct.2 , aBRITAIN r Keta Invaded Oct.28 i - -e- =La Finschhafen Gasmata BOUGAINVILLE Salamaua SHORTLAN- O.ct:. norobeSANTA MRra TROBRiAND BL Merauke ,~~JOOMAGR/ Gulf f Kokoda OOLARK NEW /' 4 FLORIDA Dau-ul+ GEORGIA RENDOVA - PORT DfERGUSSON . GROUP RUSRA /MDec.B16NGUAg. 6 GUA A ANAL SGreat Abau - AUSTRAL Ree Nov. 3. 1942 Samaria . Coral Sea I29 ALLIED CONQUESTS IN SOUTHWEST PACIFIC POINT TO RABAUL Bombs Blast Path In Surprise Attack Yank Casualties Are Extremely Light; Other Bases on Island Are Bombarded By ASAHEL BUSH Associated Press Correspondent SOUTHWEST PACIFIC ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Dec. 17, Friday- The American Sixth Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger smashed ashore at Arawe, on the southwest coast of New Britain, Wednesday at dawn supported by sea and air forces. "The enemy's surprise was complete and his resistance was quickly overcome," said Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who directed the operation from his base on an island off the north New Guinea coast. The American troops chiselled their hold on this cornerstone of Japan's defenses in the southwest Pacific after the place had been blasted in the mightiest air raid in this thbatre. Planes had dumped 356 tons of bombs Allies Sm ash on Arawe and islands in the ha6rb there only the day before the .land- ing. 1azi Railways If the aerial pounding of the day before had not numbed the defend- Li Italers, the pre-invasion hammering giv- Lt y en Arawe by naval ships of Rear Ad- miral Daniel Barbey's Seventh Arl. 300 Bombers, Fighters phibious Force and by Allied bombers and attack planes served to discour- Show Blasting Range age or destroy most of the opposition. Of Combined Air Force Few Casualties Dec. 15 has 'been added to the conquest dates in the Southwest Pacific with the American landing at Arawe, near the western end of New Britain. About 75 miles west of Gasmata, which is shown on the Prime Minister Churchill .ill Of Pheumonia LONDON, Dec. 16.-()P)- Prime Minister Churchill has been stricken with his second attack of pneumonia in ten months and is under the care of three physicians, including a heart specialist, somewhere in the middle east, an anxious British nation was told today. Taking members of Parliament completely by surprise, Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced in the House of Commons that Churchill, who celebrated his 69th birthday with President Roosevelt and Premier Stalin on Nov. 30 at Teheran, now was ill with "a patch map on the southernmost bulge of New Britain, Arawe (not on map) is the greatest undertaking against the Japs begun in the war. To be in control of Arawe would mean a strategic position from which Ra- baul, shown at the northern tip of New Britain, could be jeopardized by the Allies. Gasmata was also' hit heavily by an Allied aerial at- tack Sunday following the pound- ing of Cape Gloucester, Borgen Bay and other points in the same area for two weeks. 17 Ship Allied Convoy Sunk b German Planes Lack of Aerial Defense Revealed as Cause Of Loss in Battle at Italian Supply Port of Bari By The Associatid Press 4cargo had been discharged prior to Blast Targets In Germany RAF Planes Hit Berlin In Fifth Major Attack In Less Than a Month By ROBERT N. STURDEVANT Associated Press Correspondent LONDON, Dec. 16.-United States heavy bombers blasted targets in strategic northwest Germany in great strength today and the Berlin radio reported RAF bombers struck Berlin tonight "in a terror attack on a con- siderable scale." This was the fifth major attack on the German capital in less than a month. Following a Stockholm re- port of the RAF operation, the Ger- man radio said: "British bombers to- night again attacked the capital of the Reich. Residential Quarters Hit "Well-informed circlespoint out it was carried out in full visibility. Resi- dential quarters in the capital again were hit." Heavily-escorted U.S. Flying Fort- resses and Liberators plunged through a circular wall of flak to reach their targets in a daylight op- eration and returned to darkened Eh- WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.-Lack of adequate aerial defenses, especially fighter planes, around the supply port of Bari, Italy, is now revealed to have cost the Allies 17 cargo ships and 1,000 casualties two weeks ago today. Five of the ships were Ameri- can. The anchored vessels were blown' up like sitting ducks by a handful of' German bombers which made a dev-' astating low-level attack on the har- bor at dawn Dec. 2. Approximately 1,000 persons were killed or injured, including 37 American naval men.I If there were any" losses to the force of 30-odd enemy assault planes which made the attack they could not be determined here. Informa- tion on the defeat, including details released by Secretary of War Stim- son at his press conference, dealt only with United Nations losses. While no one undertook to regard the Bari raid as anything less than an outstanding success for German aviation, there was a mitigating cir- cumstance. This was the fact re- ported by Stimson that "most of the Second Offering of Comedy Is Today Play Production of the speech de- partment will present the second per- formance of Emmet Lavery's "Brief Music" at 8:30 p.m. today in the Lyd- ia Mendelssohn Theatre. "Brief Music" is a three-act com- edy on college life in a suburban lo- the attack, and the loss of supplies was not great." As far as announced reports go, Bari was the greatest single loss of merchant shipping the Allies, have suffered within a protected harbor. Details of the Bari raid were slow getting to the public. A German communique of Dec. 5 claimed the sinking of four commercial vessels and hits on nine other freighters and a ''medium warship." Such an underestimate is unusual. Stimson said that the Bari bomb- ing had been announced by General Dwight D. Eisenhower Dec. 4. House Group Inspects Campus 'U' Post-War Role Told by Ruthven University officials assured a dele- gation of the Ways and Means Com- mittee of the State House of Repre- sentatives that "Michigan will be foremost in meeting the needs of re- turning servicemen," after the group toured the campus yesterday. The four-man delegation headed by Rep. John Espie, spent part of the afternoon conferring with President Alexander Ruthven as part of their tour of the Michigan institutions. The current role of the University in its war training program as well as problems of postwar building expan- By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al- giers, Dec. 16.-America's powerful new striking arm-the 15th Strategic Air Force-tangled the slender rail- road threat linking Germany and the 10th Nazi Army in Italy with an "accurate and concentrated" attack yesterday on rail junctions in Austria and the Brenner Pass. More than 300 bombers and fight- ers winging north on this deadly mis- sion demonstrated the great destruc- tive range of the Allied Air Force in the Mediterranean by hitting railroad yards at the world-famous ski resort of Innsbruck in the Austrian Tyrol, 1,000 miles from targets they attack- ed 24 hours previously at Athens, Greece. The paralyzing blows of the big Fly- ing Fortresses and Liberators, which left railroad yards a jumble of wreck- ed and twisted equipment where it would hurt the enemy worst, again took the war spotlight in the Medi- terranean as the Allied Fifth and Eighth Armies pushed slowly and la- boriously deeper into German defens- es below Rome. Canadians and Indians of the Eighth Army, struggling forward from their bridgehead across the Moro Rover near the Adriatic Coast, chopped the road between Ortona and Orsogna in three places and reached a good position to bring heavy pres- sure on the blazing port of Ortona, which the Nazis apparently had fired in antitcipation of its evacuation. Salvage Committee To End Drive Today Climaxing a week-long drive, rep- resentatives of the Washtenaw Coun- ty Salvage Committee will tour cam- pus today making pick-ups of stu- dent-collected waste paper to help relieve the current paper shortage. Bundles of old newspapers, maga- Our ground casualties were ex- tremely light, MacArthur said. Most of the casualties were among the first assault groups who went shoreward in rubber boats. At 8:00 a.m. after 'the destroyers finished their work and turned fr home, Japanese bombers with fighter escort came over to attack the beach- heads and the surface craft. Two of the planes were shot down. The invasion was achieved without the loss of a single Allied plane or surface ship, MacArthur's communi- que said. Other Spots Bombed While the American troops were establishing a base which MacArthur said will insure the Allies surface command of Vitiaz Strait, between New Britain and New Guinea, and adjoining waters, other Allied bomb- er groups were hammering at other important enemy coastal bases on New Britain Island. Gasmata, the big supply air field center about 75 miles east of the Arawe landing, was hit by 32 tons of bombs. The Cape Gloucester area on the western tip of the island, 60 miles west of Arawe, received 92 tons of explosives among its airfield in- stallations. Other bombers struck at See INVASION, p. 2 U.S. Heavies Blas-t Marshalls PEARL HARBOR, Dec. 16.-(M- A new 40-ton bombardment of the Japanese mid-Pacific Marshalls was announced today, and, for the first time in five weeks of almost daily attacks, the loss of one of the raiding Liberators was reported. The new airfield of Taroa on Mal- eolap atoll and the main fortified base of Wotje were the targets. Thirty enemy planes battled it out over Taroa. Two were shot Volunteer taS Child Directors An additional 21 women signed up yesterday for child care work at Wil- low Run, bringing the number to 43, Lucy Chase Wright, chairman of the committee, announced yesterday. Although there will be no more formal registration until after vaca- tion, Miss Wright said that any wo- man interested in the program may WINSTON CHURCHILL - reported ill. of pneumonia in the left lung." Att- lee concluded his report: "His general condition is as satis- factory as can be expected." Commons found at least a measure