Editorial
Ickes-Nation's Gas
Troubles Not His Fault .. .
I
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laitj
W eather
Thundershowers
VOL LH. No. 4
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 16, 1942
2:15 A.M. FINAL
Churchill Visit May Herald Second Fi
rout
-v l
British Eighth
Army Forced
To Withidraw
n Libya Battle
English Divided Into Two
Sections After Heavy
Hammering By. Axis
For Period Of 25 Days
Rommel May Try
To Cut Coast Road
CAIRO, June 18.-(P)-Split by 25
cdays of hammering by powerful Axis
armored forces, the British Eighth
Army withdrew to new positions to-
d tay, one section taking up fortified
places near the Egyptian border while
the other fell back into the defensive
perimeter of Tobruk to defend that
Libyan coastal stronghold against
violent siege.
Only the shore road remained as
a tenuous link between Tobruk and
the British main body.
With that exception the situation
nearly duplicated that which existed
during almost eight months of last
year when Tobruk, holding firm on
the flank against every assault, stood
as a drag on a drive into Egypt, 80
miles to the east, by Nazi troops
which had by-passed the port.
Rommel To Cut Road
Informed persons expressed the be-
lief that Nazi Marshal Erwin Rom-
mel would try quickly to cut the
coastal road as a preliminary to a
grand assault -on the fortress.
The Nile valley and the Middle
East appeared to be in no immediate
danger, however.
Although British. tank strength is
admittedly less than Rommel's, no
big Allied formations have been
trapped. Withdrawals have been
conducted skillfully and at high cost
to the enemy.
So much of Rommel's offensive
power has been spent that it is pos-
sible the most he hopes to achieve
'ow is to take Tobruk and drive the
British clear back to the Egyptian
frontier.
Had he succeeded in his original
goal of taking Tobruk in the first
few days of his offensive, the story
might have been different.
Germans Plan To Take Tobruk
The German plan now seems to
be to try to take Tobruk, .use it as
a port of entry and build up for a
possible autumn offensive against
the Middle East.
Tobruk, Libya's best deep-water
harbor, is of tremendous importance
to either side; to the Nazis because
its capture would eliminate their
bugbear of, an 800-mile supply line
from their major base at Tripoli,
and to the British for the like eras-
ure of a maintenance problem over
hundreds of miles of desert.
Any plans the Germans may have
for an autumn onslaught depend on
their ability to divert sufficient men
and armor from Europe.
Should the Middle East fall, the
Axis not only would gain the food
and oil resources of this area but
both the east and west gates to the
Indian Ocean, thus opening the way
for Germany to get much needed
rubber, tin and other materials from
the far Pacific territory controlled
now by Japan.
New Shi Bill
Passes, House
American Fleet Will Be
Bigger Than All Others
WASHINGTON, June 18.--{,)-A
warship construction measure sailed
swiftly through the House today in
a drive to make the United States
Fleet stronger by the end of 1946
than the combined navies of all the
rest of the world.
The vast program, calling for more
than 500 fighting ships in the cruis-
er-carrier-destroyer category and
Nazis Pound Sevastapol
In Spite Of Great Losses
Kharkov Tank Battles Rage; Soviets Hold In Crimea;
Berlin Claims Capture Of Two Fortifications
MOSCOW, June 18.-(P-Setas-
topol admittedly was hard-pressed
tonight but from the shell-pocked
bastions which line its chalky heights
the Red Army and Navy troops who
have withstood 14 days of battering
from land and air were reported still
beating back the tank-led waves of
reinforced Axis assault.
(The German High Command as-
serted its troops were winning bit-
terly defended ground at the Soviet
Naval Base whose fall would remove
Soviet Ratifies
British-Russian
Battle Aliance
Russian Parliament Cheers
As Molotov Mentions New
European Front In '42
MOSCOW, June 18.-(/)-Thun-
dering a vote of complete confidence,,
the Supreme Soviet tonight at its
first wartime session ceremonially
approved the British-Russian Treaty,
after hearing Foreign Commissar
Vyacheslav Molotov express the deep
hope that the "common enemy soon
will feel on his own skin the mighty
blows" of Russia, Britain and the
United States.
Molotov told the cheering Russian
parlianient, as Premier-Defense Com-
missar Joseph Stalin nodded agree-
ment, that the question of a second
front in Europe was given "serious
attention" both in London and in
Waslhngton. In the latter city Molo-
tov concluded a full understanding
with the United States on the war
and on post-war problems.
Roosevelt Cables r
-(The three great world powers an-
nounced on June 11 that they had
reached complete understandings on
"the urgent tasks of creating a sec-
and front in urope in 1942.")
Molotov disclosed that President
Roosevelt had cabled an invitation
to the trip which resulted in the
Washington agreement.
He told the parliament that the
Washington agreement would accel-
erate and increase deliveries to the,
Soviet Union in spite of the damag-
ing Axis attacks on convoys destined
for Murmansk and Archangel, Soviet
Arctic ports.. '
He declared that although several
Allied ships had been sunk en route
to the Soviet Union, such attacks
had not prevented increased deliv-
eries.
U.S. To Aid Monetarily
Molotov revealed that the new
agreement with the United States
envisaged American aid mounting to
$3,000,000,000.
The supreme Soviet officially ap-
proved these resolutions:
1. To approve the government for-
eign policy.
2. To ratify the treaty between
Russia and Britain on the "alliance
in the war against Hitlerite Germany
and her associates in Europe and on
collaboration and mutual assistance
thereafter."
The treaty was signed in London
on May 26.
Molotov declared that the conver-
sations in London and Washington
strengthened the conviction that
"victory over German imperialism
will be considerably faster."
Molotov emphasized that the Brit-
ish pact governed both wartime and
post-war cooperation and said that
the London treaty and the Washing-
ton agreement were "destined to
hasten the rout of Hitlerism and
serve as the basis for post-war rela-
tions among the Soviet Union, Great
Britain and the United States"
Detroiter Indcted
For Aiding German
a threat to the flank of the expected
Nazi thrust from the Crimea toward
the oil lands of the Caucasus.
.(The German communique said
its shock troops "stormed the main
forts in the northern part of the de-
fense system, including the Maxim
Gorky Fort, the most modern and
strongest bastion of the whole fort-
ress," and drove through to within
two miles of Sevastopol Harbor.)
(The Germans had claimed ear-
lier that they had seized two great
fortifications, Fort Stalin and Fort
Siberia. The Russians have never
,mentioned fortifications by these
names in their dispatches.)
A battlefront dispatch to Pravda,.
official Communist Party newspaper,
described the Soviet defense as un-
yielding with infantry standing at
their posts in the face of tank at-
tacks and with point-blank artillery
fire taking a terrific toll of the Ger-
mans.
On a single battlefield the Ger-
mans left 1,500 dead in a day, the
newspaper declared. Yet, it added,
the Germans had grimly continued
virtually unceasing attacks since
yesterday afternoon.
"The enemy attempted by every
means to break through our defense,
but failed," the Communist Party
organ asserted. "Fighting continues
in two directions, to the north and
south.",
On the Kharkov front, barring the
northern route to the Caucasus, the
Soviet Information Bureau said the
Rtussians repulsed another of the
tank-led infantry attacks by which
Field Marshal Gen. Fedor Von Bock
was attempting to regain lost ground.
Heydrich Assassin
Shot, London He rs
LONDON, June 18.-(P)-Two men
accused as the assassins of Rein-
hard Heydrich, No. 1 Gestapo execu-
tioner known to millions' in occu-
pied Europe as "the hangman," were
found in a Prague church this morn-
ing and "shot whiledresisting ar-
rest," the 13rague Radio announced
tonight.
The announcement came two hours
after the expiration of a German
ultimatum to the Czechs ,to deliver
up the assassins of Heydrich or take
the consequences.
The British Broadcasting Corpor-
ation. told the Czechs in a broadcast
from London tonight that the Nazis
had "decided to discover" the assail-
ants of Heydrich after realizing that
their -threats of heavy reprisals were
"in vain."
The British broadcast emphasized
that the Berlin announcement was
issued only, two hours after expira-
tion of the ultimatum to the Czechs.
Aid Is Given
Free China
By Air Force
Col.Haynes Named Chief
Of Bomber Command
Sent ByU.S. Army
Jap Air Strength
Reing R eiforeed
CHUNGKING, China, June 18.-
()--Existehce of a United States
Army Bomber Command in imperiled
Free China was disclosed today at a
time when the Japanese enemy was
heavily reinforcing his air strength
to defend his conquest of Burma and
attempt to mop up the armies of
Chiang Kai-shek.
Col: Caleb V. Haynes, big, 46-year-
old North Carolinian who personally
directed the harrowing aerial evacu-
ation of Burma, was named chief of
the command. Just where and when
the American force will go into ac-
tion is an important military secret.
Haynes To Command
Already operating in the China
war theatre are the "Flying Tigers"
of Brig.-Gen. Claire L. Chennault's
American volunteer group.
Informed estimates of the present
aerial dispositions of the' Japanese
Air Force in the Burma and Chinese
theatre makes it seem certain the
enemy is expecting some strenuous
opposition in the sky, something the
Chinese have never been able to pro-
vide.
The Japanese are reported to have
500 planes in Burma and 300 in
China, with a new influx of aircraft
about Canton and Hankow in the
southeast. P
They have left aerial reinforce-
ment of the Manchurian theater to
the very last, apparently, although
they are reported to have restored
the Manchurian Army to its full
strength of 33 divisions, approxi-
mately 660,000 men, and seem to be
awaiting only the propitious moment
to attack Siberia. Because of the
excellent airdromes in the Manchu-
rian area, the Japanese can estab-
lish strong air forces there very
quickly.
Japs Have Large Air Fol'ee
The recent enemy attacks on Mid-
way Island and the Aleutians are
interpreted in some quarters as prep-
arations for attack on Siberia. The
Japanese, it is believed, wanted to
eliminate the possibility of a United
States attack from the east in the
event of hostilities with Russia. That
they failed to do so will not neces-
sarily deter them from a Russian
adventure. The main thing they are
waiting for is an indication that the
Russians are weakening in their
fight with Germany.
Strike Closes
Navy Arsenal,
HaltsOutput
Employment Of Negroes
In War Production Jobs
Is Cause Of Walkout
BULLETIN
DETROIT, June 18.-(P)-Offi-
cials of the United Automobile
Workers (CIO) reported late to-
night that an unauthorized work
stoppage which interrupted pro-
duction at the Hudson Naval Ord-
nance Arsenal had been "broken."
DETROIT, June 18-(P)-Protest-
ing the employment of eight Negroes
to operate machines formerly used}
by white workers, several thousand
day-shift employes, members of the
United Automobile Workers (CIO),
stopped work today at the Hudson
Naval Ordnance Arsenal.
Immediately, R..,J. Thomas, UAW-
CIO president, denounced the stop-
page as a "flagrant violation," of the
unionconstitution and ordered the
workers to return to their jobs, "at
once"~ or face expulsion.
At the same time, Secretary of
Navy Knox, in a telegram to Capt.
A. S. Wotherspoon, in charge of the
plant, declared that the work stop-
page "warrants assumption that the
men are not only disloyal and sub-
ject to immediate dismissal, but may
be prevented' from obtaining employ-
ment in other plants engaged in war
production."
Work Must Go On
"Immediate resumption of work,"
Knox said, "is therefore imperative."
The plant, operated by the Hudson
Motor Car Company, is owned by
the government which bears all op-
erating costs. It is engaged solely
in vital war production and has been
designated as a military reservation.
Capt. Wotherspoon said the stop-
page halted all-day production and
that only a part of the afternoon
shift reported for work.
"The plant management was car-
rying out the instructions of Presi-
dent Roosevelt in avoiding racial
discrimination by advancing Negro
workers to production jobs," he said.
Stoppage Began At 9 a.m.
The stoppage began at 9 a.m. when
two Negroes were placed on ma-
chines in each of four buildings. All
had accumulated seniority with the
Hudson Motor Car Company and all
were union members, Capt. Wother-
spoon said.
Thomas was in Washington at the
time of the walkout. He immediately
made plans to return here by plane
to aid in a settlement.
The walkout, he said, "amounts to
sabotage of our war effort, and plays
into the hands of the enemies of our
nation."
Thomas said the stoppage violated
the union constitution provisions re-
garding race discrimination and also
the section stating there can be no
cessation of work except on author-
ization of the International Union.
For Second Time
Prime Minister To Confer Immediately
With Roosevelt On Conduct Of War
WASHINGTON, June 18.-(P)-The White House disclosed tonight that
Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain was in the United States again to
begin immediate conferences with President Roosevelt on "conduct of the
war and the winning of the war."
Presidential Secretary Stephen Early made the announcement'and,
answering a question whether speculation on a second front was permissible,
he declared without the slightest hesitation, "I think that is perfectly
justified."
Churchill once before, since the United States plunged into the world
conflict, had crossed the Atlantic to see Mr. Roosevelt. That was in Decem-
ber, and it resulted in the declaration by the United Nations, to which 28
nations now adhere.
Arrives In
U. S
Early would not go into details on
<N
U.S. Training
ePioneer' Men,
Super-Fightersf
FORT LEWIS, Wash., June 18.--
"UP)-A super-fighter from the com-
bat engineers is being trained by thet
United States Army to' become onel
of the most heavily-armed soldiersf
in the world and even more versatile
than his British counterpart) the
Commando.
If a soldier of the Mikado's army
suddenly sees a black-faced, knife-
wielding warri6r jump out of the'
jungle one of these days, he prob-
ably won't have time to realize he
is about to become a victim of an
American pioneer, the name of the
new super-fighter. r h
The hard-bitten pioneer will be
called upon to do the initial work
of a battle or campaign. He is taught
to fight with machetes and wicked,
curved bush-knives, as well as with
tommy guns and rifles.
As a task force outfit, the Pioneers
are armed with rifles, tommy gunC,
30- and 0-caliber machine guns,
37-millimeter cannon, axes, boh
knives, machetes, saws and an am-
ple supply of TNT and other explo-
sives.
Officers training the pioneers here
said that as one of the best and the
most heavily-armed soldier in the
army, the Pioneer would be sent into
enemy territory to establish a bridge-
head.
War Secretary
Doubts Attack
Stimson Says Japanese
UnlikelyTo Strike
WASHINGTON, June 18.-(A )-
The danger of an immediate Japa-
nese attack on the West Coast of the
United States has greatly diminished,
Secretary' of War Stimson said to-
alay, because recent American suc-
cesses scattered the enemy fleet "all
over the Pacific" and sent it "hstl-
ing away as fast as it could in the
opposite direction,"
He was speaking primarily of the
struggle off Midway, in which Amer-
ican air power wreaked such havoc
on the Japanese Navy.
Recalling that Stimson had pre-
viously said an attack on the West
Coast might' be expected, reporters
Sasked him whether recent develop-
ments had diminished that threat.
The Secretary had little to. add to
reports of the situation in the Aleu-
tiars-a situation which has been
obscured by fog and bad weather.
The available information indicates,
ie said, that the Japanese thus far
have made only a "very small land-
ing on the island chain which
stretches from Alaska toward Si-
beria.
the exact nature of the current trip
nor would he say whether it was a
natural aftermath of the recent all-
important conferences which brought
the Soviet Foreign Commissar, V. M.
Molotov, to London and Washington.
Those two inter-related visits re-
sulted in a joint understanding on
the urgent tasks of opening a second
front in 1942.
Early's Statement
The Presidential secretary, telling
the press that it was still free, opened
the way for wide speculation on the
possible relation between the Molotov
and Churchill trips to this country.
Early called in reporters to tell them:
"Mr. Winston Churchill, Prime
Minister of Great Britain, is again
in the United States.
"The Prime Minister will confer
while here with the President. The
conferences will begin immediately.
"The subject of the conferenes
will be very naturally the war, the
conduct of the war and the winning
of the war.""
Accompanying Britain's wartiyne
leader were Generaj Sir Alan William
Brook; Major General Sir Hastings
Ismay; Brigadier General G. M.
Stewart; Sir Charles Wilson; John
Martin, secretary to Churchill, and
Commander C. V. R. Thompson, a
secretary and aide to the Prime Min-
ister.
"I do not anticipate any further
statements by the President or by
the Prime Minister this week," Early
remarked.
Utmost Seclusion
He could not say the manner in
which Churchill came to this coun-
try nor did he have anything to dis-
close on the possible length of his
stay.
For their momentous deliberations
the chiefs of the two great English-
speaking nations were afforded the
utmost seclusion and secrecy.
It was too early to predict whether
any ,concrete announcements might
be anticipated from this second
Churchill, visit to the United States.
But it appeared obvious that mo-
mentous decisions were in the mak-
iag and Secretary Early did nothing
to detract from the idea that the
opening of a second front in Europe
was uppermost in the conversations.
The previous Roosevelt-Churchill
meetings, which might be taken as
affording precedents, resulted in an-
nouncements of world importance.
Great Britain Expects
Quick Second Front
LONDON (Friday), June 19-1)-
Prime Minister Churchill's dramatic
flight to the United States to confer
with President Roosevelt sent a fresh
wave of second front speculation
over Britain today.
The Prime Minister's tran-Atlantic
dash to America, the second in seven
months, meant only one thing to
the man in the street-an offensive
iu 1942.
With traditional British caution
sources close to the government
sought to tone down the import of
the visit. They termed it "strictly
business," but unofficial circles woe
unanimous in the opinion that the
Roosevelt-Churchill talks would pro-
duce "big things."
The identity of the men who ac-
companied the Prime Minister gave .
a tip-off to the possible subject of
the talks.
They included General Sir Alan
Francis Brooke, Chief of the Imperial
Lexington Airmen Devastate Jap
Carrirs .In Great Coral Sea Battle
(This is another in the series of stories
supplied to the Associated Press by the
Chicago Tribune whose foreign corres-
pondent, Stanley Johnston, was the
only American newspaperman aboard'
the aircraft carrier Lexington in the
Coral Sea engagement. Previous stories
told of the shattering American air raid
on Tulagi Harbor, in which 14 out of 15
Jap ships were destroyed; the sinking
of a Jap carrier with the loss of only
two U.S. planes; the attack on the Lex-
ington and the valorous American fight
to save it. In the following story John-
ston tells of the attack on a second Jap
carrier, the sinking of which is claimed
by Naval fliers.)
0
By STANLEY JOHNSTON
(Copyright 1942 by The Chicago Tribune)
CHICAGO, June 18.-In her last
fight the Lexington was not merely
on the receiving end of battle blows.
Her airmen, banding with those of
the second carrier in our sea-borne
air force, delivered a devastating left
hook, followed by a right cross to the
Japanese chin, almost at the moment
when the Japanese were showering
thier blitz upon us.
To land these blows the Lexington's
as much within an hour after their
return to the Lexington from battle,
that they sank one of the carriers
and left another totally enveloped in
fierce flames. The least damage the
second carrier could have suffered
would have been a complete gutting.
The Japanese lost 63 planes that
day-about 30 per cent of the total
involved in both offensive and de-
fensive actions. We lost 16, three
times more than in any other of the
Coral Sea actions. And of these 11
were from the Lexington squadrons.
The remainder fell from those of the
second carrier. The name of the sec-
ond carrier may not be mentioned,
but for the sake of clarity we will call
her United States Carrier II.
Certainly there were more air-
craft fighting over the Coral Sea on
that final day of the Lexington's life
than in any previous conflict between
sea-borne air armadas.
The Japanese were fortunate in be-
ing in an area of the sea where there
was an unusually large number of
was made by one of the youngest
pilots in our scouting force. To am-
plify his report Lieut.-Comm. Robert
Dixon, skipper of the scout units, flew
into the youngster's sector and re-
mained there two hours and 50 min-
utes. During thiat time he had a
number of brushes with enemy
planes, but remained over the hostile
ships sending out radio messages and
directional signals to lead the oncom-
ing striking squadrons to the target.
The first American attack came
when Comm. Bill Ault, leading four
heavy dive bombers, and Lieut. Comm
Jimmy Brett at the head of 11 tor-
pedo planes struck at Japanese car-
rier No. 1.
The fighters that Brett had called
upon were led by Lieut. Noel Gayler
He emerged from that day's bitter air
combats as the Navy's leading ace
Gayler had three other pilots with
him and as they slid down to protect
the torpedo planes they found them-
selves in a hot dogfight with only a
._
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t
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Iowa Senator Predicts
Synthetic Tires Soon
WASHINGTON, June 18. --(P)-
Production of tires within eight