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VOL. LIII, No. 31-8
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, AUG. 8, 1943
PRICE FIVE CENTS
anks
Take
Troina;
Threaten Nazi Line
Red Troops
F .s
Stronghold'
Russians Gain 25
Miles in March on
German Kharkov
LONDON, Sunday, Aug. 8.-(P)-
Russian troops converging swiftly on
the German-held railway and in-
dustrial center of Kharkov gained
nine miles yesterday and captured
70 villages and towns including Grai-
voron, 45 miles to the northwest, a
4oviet communique announced early
today.
Russian units were within 25 miles
of the city, smashing along the rail-
way from Belgorod on the north,
Moscow dispatches said, and the
German radio said another threat to
the prize base had developed at
Chuguev, 25 miles to the southwest,
where another Russian Army had
gone over to the offensive. The Ger-
nans acknowledged Russian gains in
this new drive.
Rombers Endanger Bryansk
Soviet bombers and swarms of
fighters participated in the big push
which also endangered Bryansk at
the northern end of a 300-mile front.
The bombers blasted enemy railway
trains at both Kharkov and Bryansk
ahead of the racing ground troops.
Moving down from Belgorod, the
Red troops slashed into Dolbina, 37
miles nortp of Kharkov on the main
Kharkav-Belgorod railway. Eleven
miles to the west of this railway the
Russians captured Udi, which is 28
miles north of Kharkov. '
eds Oust Nazi Near Kharkov
Already in possession of Zolochev,
25 miles northwest of the Ukrainian
industrial center, the Russians wid-
ened their grip on the approaches to
Kharkov yesterday by ousting the
Germans from Graivoron and Syen-
noe, 32, miles northwest of Kharkov.
These advances cut the important
Kharkov-Bryansk line.
In capturing Borisovka, 43 miles
northwest of Kharkov, the Red Army
encircled a considerable number of
German troops and then wiped them
out, said the midnight communique,
recorded by the Soviet monitor.
800 Germans Die
In one engagement a tank unitj
killed 800 Germans, disabled or de-
stroyed 19 German tanks, took 150
war prisoners and captured 60 trucks,
and 16 big guns.
Above the Ukraine, Bryansk was;
menaced by Soviet troops spillingi
through the gap at Orel. The com-
munique said that in the past few
days they have killed at least 4,400
Germans.
Gains of seven miles were mader
during the day and the Red Army<
was believed to be within 30 miles of
Bryansk, hinge of the German cen-
tral andsouthern fronts.
Italian Group
Asks for Peace
Free Italy Movement
Is Against Fascists7
LONDON, Aug. 7.-UP)-The Free
Italy movement in London adopted
a resolution today asking that a "na-
tional front of action" representing
anti-fascist elements in Italy, open
peace negotiations with the Allies im-
mediately.
"Only a change sufficiently deep
and new, and establishment of a
government on a wide and popular
basis can resolve the momentous cris-
is, give guarantees of stability, in-
sure expulsion of the Germans, con-
clusion .of a lasting peace and the
beginning of reconstruction within
the framework of a United Europe,"
the resolution said.
Hayden To Discuss
Fiction by Negroes
Robert Hayden will discuss fiction
iwitten hyNiryrn 1thors in the fifth
Sun Sets on Convoy
Moving across the Atlantic Ocean,
The sun goes down behind a heavy cloud as nig ht settles on this American naval convoy somewhere
in the Atlantic. Carrying valuable men and vital car goes the convoys steam through dangerous waters
now partially swept clear of the submarine mena ce. Lookouts double their alertness in spite of offi-
cial announcements by American and British governments of subs sunk.
Rage, Brazilian
Steamer, Sunk
By Torpedoes
78 Passengers, Crew
Are Missing; Ship
Was Carrying 231
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 7.-()-
The Brazilian passenger steamer
Bage was torpedoed and sunk off the
State of Sergipe the night of July
31, it was announced officially here
tonight, and 78 9f her passengers
and crew are missing.
The Bage-the largest Brazilian
merchant ship-was carrying 129
passengers, of whom 41 were un-
accounted for after the sinking, and
a crew of 102. The passenger list
included women and children.
Loss of the Bage brought to 24
the number of Brazilian ships an-
nounced as having been sunk by
enemy submarines since the start of
the war. The Bage was hit by one
torpedo and sank quickly. Some of
the persons aboard her reached
safety by clinging to wreckage.
Twenty-seven of the passengers
were enroute to this city.
Thus far 69 crew members and 19
passengers have arrived at Aracaju,
capital of Sergipe state, which is on
the coastal hump 950 miles north-
west of Rio de Janeiro.
The fact these passengers reached
safety indicated that the attack oc-
curred near the coast.
Among the missing are two women
and six children, including a year-
old child. The captain of the Bage
-who according to reports was in
a lifeboat which had a compass and
an emergency radio--is among the
missing.
In the first two lifeboats which
arrived on the Sergipe coast Aug. 2
were 56 crewmen. Eight passengers
clinging to wreckage later were
washed ashore.
On the morning of Aug. 6, another
lifeboat appeared with 16 persons,
of whom seven were passengers and
the rest members of the crew. The
passengers in this boat included two
women, one child and four men.
Later eight other shipwrecked per-
sons from the Bage were found.
Badger To Talk
To Engineers
Former professor of chemical en-
gineering, W. L. Badger, will speak
at the A. I. Ch. E. meeting, 7:30 p.m.,
Tuesday in the Union.
His address will be an account of
the chemical engineering processes
during the Middle Ages and will be
supplemented by books dating as
early as the year 1600 and by slides
illustrating these processes.
Mr. Badger is now manager of the
Consulting Engineering Division of
the Dow Chemical Company and is
the author of several standard texts
on chemical engineering. He is also
Director of Research and Consulting
Engineers for the Swenson Eapora-
IL DUCE OF BUFFOONS:
Italians Call for Mussolini's
Death, Businessman Reports.
LONDON, Aug. 7.-UP)-A Rome
dispatch broadcast today by the
Swiss radio and recorded by the
Associated Press said the Rome
"Street of October 28th" would be
renamed "The Street of July 25th."
The first date marked the rmarch
on Rome and the beginning of Fas-
cist rule in Italy; the second the
end of Fascism.
BARCELONA, Aug. 7.- ()- An
Italian businessman who arrived
here this week from Rome said today
that signs calling for "death to Il
Duce of buffoons" were painted on
walls in Rome after Benito Musso-
lini's fall and celebrations followed a
false rumor that Adolf Hitler had
committed suicide.
This businessman, whose name is
withheld, said the end of Fascism
brought a holiday atmosphere to the
Italian capital with a streetcar con-
ductor treating his passengers to
drinks and the passengers themselves
Poll Favors
Negro Course
In a poll conducted Friday to
determine whether a course in
Negro contributions to American
literature should be offered here,
224 students, 89.6 per cent of the
total votes cast, expressed their
favor for the course
Sixteen students, 6.4 per cent of
the total voting, registered no opin-
ion and 10 students, 4 per cent of
the total vote, indicated disapprov-
al for the proposed course.
Salamatia Gets
Air Pounding
150 Thouisand-Pounld
Bombs Batter AirBase
By VERN HAUGLAND
Associated Press Correspondent
SOMEWHERE IN NEW GUINEA,
Aug. 7.- (Delayed)- Liberators
of the Fifth Airforce gave Japan's
air base of Salamaua one of the
heaviest poundings it has taken in
the war today, spraying over 150
one thousand-pound bombs on and
around it.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur's com-
munique of Aug.' 8 reported that 92
tons were dropped on Salamaua in
23 minutes and other attacks were
delivered at nearby villages.
A large force of the B-24 Libera-
tors took part in the raid, favored
by what the pilots described as ex-
cellent weather.
The bombs were dropped in pat-
tern formation. Forty tons were
dropped at McDonald junction, where
gun positions were destroyed.
Thirty tons were dropped in the
Kela valley, destroying more guns
cheering, singing and hooting as
they rode.
"I was among the unfortunates
who slept through the news. Sunday
night, and I knew nothing of Musso-
lini's resignation when I left my
house in the suburbs of Rome on
Monday, July 26," he said.
Soldiers Were Enthusiastic
"The soldiers who guarded the
barracks near my home were the
first to tell me the news, with joy
and enthusiasm. Down the street a
group of youths were engaged in
tearing down fasces . from lamp
posts."
The traveler said no one worked in
Rome that Monday.
"It was one long, wild celebration
and for some, a day of vengeance,"
he said.
Word 'Peace' Was Universal
The word "peace" was everywhere,
he said.
"Rumors that day were tremen-
dous, for before the Duce quit re-
ports of a German invasion of Italy
were frequent. After the bombing of
Rome, which killed many more than
the Rome government ever admitted,
the city was particularly chaotic.
"Before the Vatican demonstrators
cried, 'Viva Papa! Viva Rey! Viva
Badoglio!' and even more frequently,
'Death to tyrant Mussolini.'
Ciano Led Opposition
"There was much bitter talk pre-
viously about the fact that Mussolini
was talking with Hitler when Rome
was bombed. I learned that during
the Fascist grand council meeting
Saturday, Carlo Scorza was in favor
of putting down the attempt to over-
throw the Duce by arms and had
ordered the concentration of the
Fascist militia. Roberto Farinacci,
on the other hand, advocated the
annexation of Italy to Germany, but
the opposition, led by Count Galeaz-
zo Ciano (Mussolini's son-in-law),
won out and the Duce fell.
German Radio
Reports Big
Nazi Meeting
London Suggests That
Hitler May Be Replaced
By Military Veteran
LONDON, Aug. 7. -(A)- Amid
widespread speculation that some-
thing big was about to happen in
Germany; perhaps a military coup to
replace Adolf Hitler with some army
veteran-German broadcasts report-
ed today than an important military
and political meeting had been in
progress at the Fuehrer's headquar-
ters.
Both the German International
Information bureau, a propaganda
agency, and DNB, official news
agency, broadcast that is was "un-
derstood in Berlin that a number of
important discussions of a military
and political nature have taken place
in the Fuehrer's headquarters the
last few days."
Attending the meetings, the broad-
casts reported, were all the top men
in the Nazi party as well as the com-
manders in chief of the Army, Navy
and Air Force and the Japanese Am.
bassador, Hiroshi:Oshima. There was
no mention of an Italian representa-
tive.
Thisindication, that a major deci-
sion of some kind had been or would
be made soon by the Germans came
on a day when a traveler just re-
turned to Switzerland from Germany
was reported to have told of "persist-
ent" rumors that a military dictator-
ship might be set up in Germany in
September.
The Swiss newspaper Neue Zeur-
cher Nachrichten quoted the uni-
dentified traveler as saying that a
cleft had developed among thinking
German' people, one. group eager
to see the war end and the other
wishing to. hold out to avoid "unpre-
dictable catastrophe."
The traveler was quoted as saying
he was bombarded with the question
"when will the war end?"
Piling up the signs of unrest with-
in Axis Europe, the French commit-
tee of National Liberation announced
in Algiers that hand-to-hand fight-
ing had broken out in Paris.
Rumors Hint
New Regime
MADRID, Aug .7.-()-Rumors,
diplomatic and newspaper reports
flooding this capital hinted strongly
tonight that behind the facade of
Germany's swastika, military lead-
ers gradually were taking over the
country from the Nazis.
(In London the diplomatic corre-
spondent of the Sunday dispatch said
German generals were planning to
set up a military dictatorship but the
change of regime would be engi-
neered with the full consent of Nazi
party leaders who would "just go un-
derground and re-emerge later.")
The Army leaders were moving in
on the Nazi party so thoroughly that
it inspired Spanish newspapermen in
Berlin in the last two weeks to refer
frequently to "strict military orders"
governing their work.
Bombs Drop
On Lombardy
LUGANO, Switzerland, Sunday,
Aug. 8.-(,T)-A heavy bombing in
Italian Lombardy in the direction
of Milan began shortly after mid-
night.
The explosion of the bombs was
heard at this Swiss frontier city.
The flashes in the skies 4iso were
clearly visible here.
Milan is approximately 40 miles
from Lugano.
(The dispatch indicated that the
Allies were carrying their relent-
less air raids to northern Italy
following Gen. Dwight D. Eisen-
hower's warning that the Italians
either must get out of the war or
suffer the consequences of heavy
bomber attacks.)
- BULLETIN -
LONDON, Sunday, Aug. 8.-(P)
-RAF bombers were over Italy
last night, it was announced au-
thoritatively early today.
The specific target of the night
raiders was not immediately dis-
closed, nor was any indication
given of the size of the force.
(An. earlier dispatch from Lu-
gano, Switzerland, said a heavy
bombing in Italian Lombardy in
the direction of Milan began short-
ly after midnight. Milan is approx-
imately 40 miles from Lugano.)
Jap Cruiser,
Two Destroyers
Sunk by U.S.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Sun-
day, Aug. 8.-(P)-American naval
forces in a brilliant hour-long night
battle sank a Japanese cruiser, and
two 'destroyers and probably sank a
third destroyer after intercepting the
four' warships carrying supplies to
the =enemy, garrison at Vila, Kolom-
bangara Island, General MacArthur
announced today. The Americans
suffered no losses.
The action in the Vella Gulf be-
tween Vella Lavella and Kolomban-
gara Island was fought about mid-
night Aug. 6.
Torpedoes and gunfire sent the
enemy ships to the bottom to raise
the toll of enemy warships lost in
the current Solomons offensive to
at least' 23 and possibly 26 warships.
Adn. King Foretells
Victory in China
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7.-(LP)-In
an extraordinary interview on Allied
global strategy, Admiral Ernest J.
King today forecast powerful and
crippling stabs at strategic Japanese
positions in the Pacific but indicated
the key to final victory over Japan
lies in China.
The sprawling, populous but al-
most isolated Asiatic ally must be
kept in the war, the Admiral said,
for it occupies in respect to Japan a
vital place analagous to that held
by Russia in respect to Germany.
Of Russia, he said that "boiled
down t its simplest terms, the grand
strategy of war in Europe is that
Russia has the geographical position
and the manpower that is paramount
in regard to Germany."
British Take
Biancavilla
From Italians
Two Victories Narrow
Front to 45 Miles;
125,000 Are Captured
By The Associated Press
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS .IN
NORTH AFRICA, Aug. 7-U.S. troops
in Sicily have seized Troina, threat-
ening to split Nazi forces in half,
and~British units squeezing up froh
the southeast have taken fiancavilla
from Italians, headquarters and field
reports announced today.
Sicilian Front Narrowed
These two important strategic vic-
tories on the central sector narrowed
the Sicilian front to only 45 miles
in width, and the Allied bag of pris-
oners soared to 125,000.
(The Morocco radio said an entire
Italian coast, guard battalion sur-
rendered to the Allies Saturday.)
Routed from their mile-high fast-
nesses in Troina by American guns,
bayonets and bombs, remnants' of
the German 29th Motorized Division
fled toward the Messina straits to-
night in the closing phase of the
Sicilian campaign.
German Line Disjointed
Maj.-Gen. Terry Allen's First Di-
vision veterans, who scaled the last
rocky heights to Troina and crushed
surviving Germans with rifle butt
and bayonet, "disjointed" the 'Ger-
man line and American troops "are
threatening to prevent the 'junction
of the German 15th Armored "and
Hermann Goering divisions retret-
ing to the east coast," headquaiters
announced.
British armored columns " ye,
forward over mined .roads and post
bloWn-up "bridges .in pincer swees
in two directions around the .dusity
foot of Mt. Etna, taking in the bomb-
dazed Italian garrison at Bl nca-
villa 15 miles northwest of CatGgii,
Goering Division Near Trap
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgomery's.
Canadian and British advance guards
were throwing back the 15th and
Goering divisions into a possible trip
if the American succeeded in reach-
ing Bronte or Randazzo on the cir-
cular Mt. Etna road before the en-
emy's withdrawal to the Messina
area is completed.
Under a blazing night and day
attack, both sides of the straits of
Messina were littered with wreked
boats, craft which might have been
used for a Nazi Dunkerque.
Yanks Meet Stiff Resistance
The Americans were meeting "stiff-
ening resistance," the communique
said, adding that "in the coastal se-
for to the north, naval units co-
tinue to cooperate."
Troina fell early Friday morning.
The mountain fortress town fell
before a withering artillery barrage
and infantry charges, poising the
First Division for a thrust to Ran-
dazzo 20 miles east.
War-sick Italian troops in Bianca-
villa, 16 miles below Troina and' 15
miles northwest of Catania, hoisted
white flags to surrender to British
'Eighth Army troops yesterday after
a heavy air attack, Associated Press
correspondent Joseph Morton report-
ed from the field.
a
FAIRY TALE FOR GROWNU PS:
Hansel and Gretel'
Will Open Wednesday
"Humperdinck's delightful opera
'Hansel and Gretel' is the sort of
a fairy tale that grown-ups love
because it reminds them of their
lost childhood, and that children
enjoy because-well, it's just a
fairy tale," Cornelius D. Gall, mus-
ical director of the opera, said
yesterday.
Presented by the Department of
Speech Repertory Players and the
School of Music, "Hansel and Gre-
tel" will appear for five perfor-
mances instead of the usual four
at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
The opera, which opens at 8:30
p.m. Wednesday, will run four days
with a special matinee at 2:30,
Saturday.
"The music in the opera is so
charming and enchanting that
we feel we've heard it all our
"'Hansel and Gretel' is a per-
fectly delightful story. The plot
is concerned with two little chil-
dren 'who are lost in the woods
while they were looking for straw-
berries. Unfortunately they fall
into the clutches of a wicked witch
who delights in turning little boys
and girls into gingerbread for din-
ner. But naturally they come out
of the difficulty all right and Ev-
erything ends happily," Gall re-
lated.
"Music plays a very important
role in the opera, of course," he
pointed out. "For instance, some
of the characters have their own
little tune, and every time the
audience hears the song they
know who is coming. It gives
one a certain pleasure to be able
to keep just a little ahead of the
and a percussion. We are very
fortunate in having several mem-
bers of the Detroit Symphony Or-
chestra to play with us for the five
performances," the conductor said.
"We are using the original
interpretation of 'Hansel and
Gretel,' and we give a great deal
of credit to Prof. Arthur Hackett
and Prof. Eric DeLamarter who
once conducted the show under,
Humiperdinck. You can see that
we'll have quite the real thing,"
Gall declared.
The opera itself, which will 'cela-
brate its fiftieth anniversary this
year, was originally written by
Engelbert Humperdinck to enter-
tain his grandchildren at Christ-
mas time. Its first performance,
given in 1893, was conducted by
Richard Strauss.
Gall, who was born in Rumania,
was director of Gilbert and Sulli-
van's "H.M.S. Pinafore" presented
here last summer. He has played
with the Utica Symphony Orches-
tra for 12 years and with the Buf
falo Symphony three years.
A student, of the eminent