LY2 Si6n l ii WYIEATHEER Partly Cloudy, Windy and Warmer i VOL. LV, No. 103 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SATURDAY, MARCH 24 1945 PRICE FIVE CENTS Third my Swarms ver Ri e in Great Crossing * * * * * * * * Germans Report Red Ber1in Drive No Losses as Third Army Crosses Rhine Eyewitness Gives His Own Account of Yank Assault on Inner Nazi Fortress ,v By EDWARD D. BALL Associated Press Correspondent WITH THE U.S. THRD ARMY EAST OF THE RHINE, March 23.-- The Third Army stormed aoross the Rhine at 10:25 p.m., last night with- out loss of a man and without draw- ing a single shot from the Germane until a good 20 minutes after the crossing was made good. By dawn today a solid bridgehead was driven into Hit er's inner for- Red Cross Totals 'U' Women......... ..$3,549 Army Units ........ 2,108 Qounty.... .........140,425 City............... ..78,135 Spain Protests To Tokyo, War Is In ninent MADRID, March 23-(P)-Spain appeared about to go to war on Japan tonight as the government awaited Tokyo's reply to a strong note of protestagainst the "premedi- tated murders" of Spanish nationals prior to the liberation of Manila by American troops. The Franco government seemed willing to carry the issue to the con- clusiop of war despite a report that Germany had presented a note to the Madrid government saying any Spanish action against Japan would be consideied an unfriendly act by the Reich. Spanish indignation was made pub- lic in a communique last night which listed 172 Spanish men, women and children bayoneted to death by Japa- nese troops while American troops were overrunning the Philippine cap- ital. The Spanish press-through which the government normally speaks anonymously on its most ticklish dip- lomatic subjects-continued to de- clare bluntly its disgust and impa- tience with the Japanese. Independence May Be Stayed McNutt Urges Filipinos To Wait on Freedom WASHINGTON, March 23.-(/P)- Paul V. McNutt, former high com- missioner to the Philippines, sug- gested today that independence for the commonwealth oE deferred at least until after rehabilitation from the ravages of war. "If the Filipinos defer the question of independence they are more likely o get a sympathetic reaction from Congress on rehabilitation meas- ures," McNutt said in an interview. His was the first suggestion for postponement from any high admin- istration figure. The Philippines, under the terms of the Tydings-McDutfie Act as or- imnally passed, were to obtaincom- plete independence or July 4, 1916. An amendment, passed during the period of occupation in order to off- set Japanest propaganda, permits the President to advance the date of independence if he thinks it proper. CAMPUS EVENTS Today All-campus mixer from 2-5 p. m. in the Rainbow Room at Union. Today Eric Hercules to speak on "America's Greatest Problem, the Negro," at 12:15 p. m. Luncheon in Lane Hall. Today Open House from 9 p. m. to midniht at Lane Hall. tress against oppositini that still was spotty and crratic des ite some artil- lery and mortar fire. (Jon Biyson of the Blue Ne- wcrk, bitaCcasting fr l the- field. said Bail was the only corespondent who made the croSsing Thursday night.) Weapons Silenced Most of the enemy weapons were soon silenced. By dawn many infantry units had gone across and by that time the first waves of doughboys had pushed in- land. There was a minimum of noise and confusion at the bridgehead where droves of assault boats were speeding back and forth with :nen and sup. plies. Within eight hours Lt.-Gen. George S. Patton's forces had complet iy e ,iablished a firm bridgehead in the greatest over-water assault since Noi - manxiy. Messerschmitts Knoked Down At the first crack o day a coup.a ore Messerschmitt 262 jet propelled planes poked inquisitive noses over tc bridgehead and piomptly were knecked down. Assault craft and amphibious ducks v;cre plying the calm Rhine back and forth across the river. The operation, which had been planned and rehearsed for months, went oi .r smoothes than anyone cold have hoped. The Germans simply were caught by surprise and by the overwhelming weight of American arms. Patton's men moved like lightning. heides the surprise element, the Germans utterly failed to produ:-e anvything like the amount of fire the Americans were throwing at them. Greatest Thrust Patton's Rhine-conquering exploit followed one of the greatest armor and infantry thrusts i military his- tory-the tremendous sweep through the Saarland. Together these successes appeared to be decisive blows against the Ger mans. The elated doughboys, who three weeks ago were urging the Rus- sians on to Berlin, now nominated themselves for the job of taking the German capital. I saw the doughboys who went in on Omaha Beach in Normandy last Jine o and I went across the Rhine with them last night. Willcox Gives Speech at Hillel Asserts Ethics Must Govern Use of Power "Power need not be divorced from ethics if we follow the gospel which says 'do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God," stated Prof. William B. Willcox in a talk de- livered at the Hillel Foundation last night. If we cannot follow these three principles, our power and our great- ness will be brief, he asserted. In declaring that there is a con- nection between amorality and the short-livedness of power, Prof. Will- cox cited the case of Napoleon as an example of this fact. Isolationist an Imperialist The United States, the most pow- erful nation in the world might abdi- cate its power following the war, he said. Such action would be a mani- festation of the people's fear of power, and would show a national cowardice similar to isolationism. "If you scratch an isolationist hard, you are very likely to find beneath the surface an imperialist," he stated. To Maintain Security A nation, in an effort to maintain its own security, is liable to take what it needs regardless of the con- sent of the peoples involved, he point- ed out. Citing the case of the post- Soviets Six Miles West of Oder River Moscow Reports Split in Defenses By The Associated Press LONDON, March 23-The Germans said tonight that 72,000 Russian troops and 400 tanks had reopened the battle for Berlin, crashed six miles west of the Oder River de- fense line within 31 miles of the imperiled Nazi capital. Simultaneously, Moscow announces that the defenders of Danzig and Gdynia had been split in two by a Soviet surge to Danzig bay that won the coastal town of Zoppot, mid-way between the prized Baltic ports. Launch Mighty Assault The enemy said that the Red army. had launched a mighty assault from the Oder River under a thunderous air bombardment and barrage by Red army artillery, mortars and rocket- guns. A few hours before a German front report said Russian infantrymen had reached Golzow, on the Kuestrin- Berlin trunk railroad, and a Berlin dispatch by the German-controlled Scandinavian telegraph bureau in Stockholm said: "The major Russian offensive against Berlin is immediately at hand." Report Unconfirmed The report was not confirmed by the Soviet -high command which, however, in its nightly war bulletin announced a sharp jump in German tank and plane losses-frequently an early indication of powerful new Soviet thrusts. Along the Eastern front, the Rus- sians destroyed or disabled 156 Nazi tanks and shot down 149 German planes, and more than 4,200 prison- ers were taken in East Prussia, near Danzig, and in Silesia, Moscow an- nounced. - . I,, -1 X'tcUU \wGJJ * * *. - ~ Haimm "®fi.#"~ adrborn OGelsenikirchen *DORTMUND " SENRuhr Arnsberg Brilon , WUPPERTAL 9.UHRK5E Romrch. dLuedensche iFza Rescei rp Q gSiegburg Sit R. Soic an iv' k~lJ 4 agnWerzl'N isr N~W~ed1GERM ANY R CO L Z iburg ° W osbadon " Hanau Darmstadt u. s a~d 6rach 4 zg Kaiser slautern Ludwi shafen? i.Ieg Pm s /" Heilbronn' arrcgumrnesKARLSRUHE iWissembourg. 01 aFRANCE " Lauterbourg Hatgue nau STUTTGAR Striasbourg Kehl 9 2 * * Surprise Thrusts Overwh e Im Nazis Establish Firm Bridgehead Past Light Artillery Fire on 265-Mile Berlin Road By The Associated Press PARIS, Saturday, March 24-The U. S. Third Army swarmed in strength across the Rhine Thursday night in the war's greatest river crossing, overwhelmed the startled enemy and struck inland with lightning speed from a firm bridgehead on the road to Berlin-265 miles ahead. By Friday the Americans had seized a sizeable strip of territory east of the river, for an official announcement referred to the position as a bridgehead, which in army terminology means the crossings are beyond enemy light artillery range. (That might mean they were as much as five miles beyond the Rhine.) Three other .Allied armies-thed * * * 6sNAtY -ON TERRITORY WON IN MONTH ON WESTERN FRONT-Shaded area indicates territory won by the Allies since the big American offen- sive pushed off from the Roer River Feb. 23. Boxes locate the Allied armies. The American Third army- was fighting in Mainz and Lud- wigshafen and driving toward Sreyer. Seventh Army Yanks pushed up from the-south. In the north, U. S. First Army troops expanded their Rhine bridgehead northward. Heavy line is approximate battle front. American Ninth, Canadian First and British Second-were poised at the northern end of the front for Rhine crossings which the Germans said were imminent. Carrying out to perfection a coup rehearsed for months, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., put the first American assault waves across at an undisclos- ed point on the east bank without the Germans firing a shot and. without the loss of a man in the actual cross- ing. May Be Mortal Blow Patton was pressing home what might well prove a mortal blow with- out giving the enemy time to recup- erate from the Nazi catastrophe west of the Rhine. The charging dough- boys were talking in high spirits of beating the Russians to Berlin. The enemy was so startled by this swift assault that some troops, rest- ing from their defeat west of the River, were caught eating and not a single heavy shell was fired until two hours after the first troops touched the east bank in the moonlight of 10:25 p. m. Thursday. The first hint of this dazzliAg coup, comparable to the U. S. First Army victory in seizing a bridgehead at Re- magen, came from enemy broadcasts whichIocated the landings near Op- penheim, 10 miles south of the fallen city of Mainz. Greatest Singe Normandy Wave on wave of hard-hitting vet- erans crossed in what Asso'ciated Press correspondent Edward D. Ball declared from the front was "the greatest over-water assault since the Normandy beaches." The Germans then began pouring in some mortar and anti-tank fire a'nd they were answered and silenced by thunderous salvos from American artillery drawn up along the river. By dawn the first wave had pushed on inland and more and more men and supplies were landing on the bridgehead in assault boats. Ball said the beachhead by then had be- come "as quiet as a Sunday picnic." There was no question of Patton's ability to exploit his surprise, for the stuff that he had landed far out- weighed that which the Germans were able to muster before the deba- cle west of the river. A Berlin military spokesman said American units also had attempted crossings near Duesseldorf and six miles south of Cologne. Mightie stAerial, Smashes Ruhr By The Associated Press LONDON, March 24, Saturday- History's mightiest aerial onslaught roared to a thunderous climax yes- terday as more than 8,000 Allied war- planes battered communications in and around the devastated German Ruhr. With the successful bridging of the formidable river barrier by Lt.- Gen. George S. Pattoals swashbucg- ling U.S. Third Army troops, there appeared to be no respite for the Germans from the aerial attack. The German radio indicated that Mosquito bombers were over the LONDON, March 23.-Berlin has been virtually rwined along with the devastation heaped on other German cities in unprecedented raids during the last three weeks by American and British bombers, the Air Ministry announced to- night. It is estimated unofficially that more than 50,000 persons died in the flaming ruins of the Nazi capi- tal and that 400,000 were made homeless. The center of the city is believed to be completely wrecked. Reich in strength again tonight, blasting varied targets in bright moonlight. The 19th Tactical Air Force planes formed a protective umbrella over the Third Army front and Associated Press Correspondent Edward D. Ball reported that 23 German planes were shot down in the biggest air battles in the Third Army sector in months. It was the second successive day that more than 8,000 planes ham- miered the Reich and by nightfall more than 6,000 sorties had been flown by continent-based tactical air fo ces, Nazi troops and armor in a 1,000- square mile area facing Field Mar- shal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery's armies were cut off from rear bases after 1,600 American heavy bombers and fighters ripped up 11 rail centers and three fleets of RAF Lancasters blasted ether supply links with 11- ton obliteration bombs and made direct attacks on enemy troop con- centrations. POST-WAR EUROPE: Gross Advocates International Cooperation, Minority Rights v-- State To Refund' Lfocal Expenses On Vet Measure LANSING, March 23.--(/P)- The House of Representatives today ap- proved a bill which the Senate al- ready has adopted providing for re- imbursement of local governmental units for revenues lost through the veterans homestead property tax ex- emnption law. It is the first definite step by the house this year toward meeting de- mands of the local units for greater state financial aid in a tax law revi- sion. As amended in the House, the scatute declares the first $2,000 of assessed valuation of a veteran's homestead property exempt from lo- cal real estate taxes, unless the val- uation exceeds $7,500. The ceiling now is $5,000. The bill would reim- burse the local unit for the amount of tax lost through this exemption. The bill returns to the Senate for concurrence in amendments. Another bill, of House origin, was passed and sent to the Senate in form requiring tax allocation boards to state the sum to be raised in real pi operty taxation as well as the ta- rate. Advocating freedom for small na- tions and an international confeder- ation of mutual cooperation, Dr. Fe- liks Gross, editor of "New Europe" spoke on "Small Nations in Post- War Europe" yesterday in the Rack- ham Amphitheater under the auspi- ces of the political science depart- ment. Dr. Gross, who bassd his argument on the premise that mi]orities which Union Election Won by Ruck Fewer than 50 votes were cast in the election yesterday which made Frank Ruck, Naval student in the School of Business Administration, a vice-president of the Board of Di- rectors of the Union for the spring term. Winning over candidates Morton Scholnick and Don Lund, Ruck will represent the combined schools of Business Administration, Public Health, Music, Education and Fores- try on the Board. John Timms was unopposed as a candidate to repre- sent the Law school. Ballot returns showed that Ruck received 37, Scholnick 5, and Lund 3 votes. Ballot will be filed with the Men's Judiciary Council for at least 30 days. disagi-ee have a right to freedom, de- clared that small nati ns must be protected against any abuse of power by the great nations. Small Nations Need Cooperation "The small nations of Central and Eastern Europe," Dr. Gross asserted, "are in need of some kind of cooper- ation among themselves." He ex- plaited that the ethnological fron- tier; of these nations do not corre- spond with their individual economic needs. 'After the ordeal of the war," Dr. Gross continued, "the small nations long for any kind of cooperation. There is no ,one in Poland, for exam- ple " he said, "that does not want a friend in Russia. The friendly neigh- bor system is the only wise attitude." Must Destroy Nazi War Machine Dr. Gross contended that we must destroy the Nazi war machine and formulate a string of strong nations around Germany to preserve peace. "The Germans will give up when they see that they are too weak," he said. Dr. Gross quoted Wafter Lippman as writing that there is a trend to- ward spheres of influence in Europe after the war and that the large nations will expect the small nations to make sacrifices. "We have no right to overlook," Gross declared, "the psychology, mental habits and traditi.ns of the small nations." Frontline Fighters Say They'll Come Baek Human Beings JAG OFFICERS ON TOUR: Latin Americans To Visit School By SID FEDER Associated Press Correspondent WITH THE FIFTH ARMY IN ITALY-The boys up front-those' who practically have taken a lease on the foxholes in these parts- would like the folks to know they are not going to be so tough to get along with when they come home, in spite of what some of the "experts" would have you believe. For weeks they have been reading and hearing from here and there about how changed they are going to be from the shooting, and how loaded with war psychoses, and how the women folk will have to make adjustments, and they are wonder- ing how everyone knows so much about it-that is, everyone but themselves. As Pfc. Lorin Schipper of Kansas City asked, "just what do they expect us to be when we get back?" "I figure I'll be just as normal as I ever was," he insists. Schipper has been a heavy weapons man overseas for 35 months with the 34th Division -the outfit that has seen more com- When all the returns were counted, Diamond found out few, if any, were figuring on hitting the high and hot spots when they get back. "In order of their popularity" Diamond reports on postwar plans, "these were the exact intentions: "To return to school. "To get back to work (particu- larly the married men). "To travel (in the U. S.) "To marry and settle down." Pfc. Jack Mance, a Browning auto- matic rifle operator, from Evansville, Ind., wants the home folks to know "I'm still human." "I haven't changed a bit" he de- clares, "and tell my wife she'd bet- ter not change either-or I'll really be browned off." As for any possibility that they'll be coming home "trigger happy" T/4 Harold W. Kunde, who came over from Princeton, Ia., 36 months ago, wants it understood he won't even shoot a rabbit when he gets back. <9', Military legal officers, represent- ing thirteen South and Central Amer- ican nations, will visit the JAG School Wednesday through Friday as part of a nationwide inspection tour of schools, disciplinary barracks and other military installations. Plans for their three-day soiourn. will formally welcome the 22 visiting officers, who will be feted at a formal dinner with members of the JAG School Staff and their wives and at a reception in the International Cen- ter. The group will be quartered in the Lawyers Club. Since March 15, the visiting {benefit." Participating in the con- ference are Lt.-Col. Jose M. Villa- nueva and Capt. Luis Ramos Arce, Bolivia; Maj.-Gen. Washington Vax dl Mello, Minister of Supreme Mili- tary Tribunal and Member of Mili- tary Justice of the BrasiAisn Expe- ditior ary Force, and Brig.-Gen. Am-