ii: , y I /M 1 it i wn I a1 Weather Showers VOL. LIII, No. 15-S ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1943 PRICE FIVE CENTS Soviets Drive on Orel in Fierce Attack Allies Give Italy Chance To Save Honor Roosevelt, Churchill Offer Alternatives of Surrender or Defeat By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, July 16.- On the point of a sword, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill today offered harried Italy thechoice of "honorable capitulation" or utter de- feat-and the world watched eagerly tonight for any sign of a crack-up in Mussolini's regime. Few expected an immediate gen- eral uprising in a land ridden by Black Shirt militia and German gestapo. But as time goes, on and Allied armies drive closer to the heart of Italy, the high command hopes the Roosevelt - Churchill words will bear fruit among a peo- ple already bereft of empire, pounded by blockbusters and re- treating before invasion. Ultimatum Broadcast to Italy The Roosevelt-Churchill message to the Italian people was beamed to the beleaguered peninsula from ma- ny broadcast stations and showered in printed leaflets upon Italian cities from Allied planes. "At this moment," the message began, "the combined armed for- ces of the United States and Great Britain under the command of Gen. Eisenhower and his deputy, Gen. Alexander, are carrying the war deep into the territory of your country. "This is the direct consequence of the shameful leadership to which you have been subjected by Musso- lini and his fascist regime." Almost as the message went out, Allied bombs were laying the Italian cities of Nai les, San Giovanni, and Foggia in ruins. Huge-aerial'biombs drove-home 'the words of the Allied leaders : "Mussolini carried you into this war as the satellite of a brutal de- stroyer of peoples and liberties. "Mussolini plunged you into this war which he thought Hitler had al- ready won. In spite of Italy's great vulnerability to attack by air and sea, your fascist leader sent your sons, your ships, your air forces, to distant battlefields to aid Germany in her attempt to conquer England, Russia and the world." The spokesmen for the armies of democracy reminded the descendants of the Romans: 'This association with the designs of Nazi-controlled Germany was un- worthy of Italy's ancient tradition of freedom and culture-traditions to which the peoples of America and Great Britain owe so much. "Your soldiers have fought not in the interests of Italy but for Nazi Germany. They have fought cour- ageously. but they have been be- trayed and abandoned by the Ger- mans on the Russian front and on every battlefield in' Africa from El Alamein to Cape Bon." There was no indication of Italian reaction as Roosevelt and Churchill described the hopelessness of Italy's position: "Today, Germany's hopes for world conquest have been blasted on all fronts. The skies over Italy are dominated by the vast air armadas of the United States and Great Britain." Desperate Battle Rages Near Strategic Gatanict British Tommies Pass The Ammunition Ashore In Sicily / Reds Advance 12 Miles, Nazi Losses Heavy Stalin Organizes Vital Drive; Orel-Bryansk Railway Threatened City's Fall Will Give Allied Troops Of Much of Sicily Without Need of Control Occupation <+? By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, North Africa, July 17. (Saturday)-A des- perate battle raged late yesterday within 13 miles of strategic Catania whose fall would give the Allies con- trol of much of Sicily without the immediate necessity of occupation, and threaten the Axis defenders with another Cap Bon disaster. Catania was reported in flames. Twelve more towns had been over- run by the Allies, six of them by the hard-driving Americans in the in- Yanks Drop 82 Tons of Bombs On Mrnda Base Heavy RainsSlow Push as Americans Drive for Salamaua By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, June 17, Saturday-More than 100 Ameri- can planes unloaded 82 tons of bombs on Japan's defense of the Munda Air Base Friday in one of the largest and heaviest air attacks delivered in a single day against one area since the opening of the New Georgia cam- paign. Strong formations of Avenger tor- pedo bombers and Dauntless dive bombers rained high explosives and fragmentation bombs on enemy po- sitions around Lambeti, two miles east of the airdrome. Munda Airfield Bombed In the afternoon, anothen large formation of raiders struck at the Munda airfield, key point in the Cen- tral Solomons. The absence of any reports on the further progress of American jungle fighters bearing down on Munda led to the belief that heavy rains may have slowed the pace of the land drive. Last reports indicated the drive was settling down to the methodical liquidation of enemy strong points, which are made up of foxholes and log bunkers. Seven hundred miles to the south- west where Australians and Ameri- cans were last reported moving on Komiatum, within seven miles of the enemy air base at Salamaua, Nev Guinea, Boston attack planes struck at Japanese positions around Bob- dubi, two miles nearer the base. Taberfane Is Bombed Above Australia on the Aroe Is- lands, Hudson bombers started large fires at the enemy seaplane base of Taberfane. The night raiders on Taberfane were followed in daylight by long range fighters who strafed barges and villages in the area. One enemy floatplane tried to intercept, was damaged, driven off and its rear gun- ner was believed killed. The air raid on Munda, virtually a daily performance in the Solomons sector, exceeded in extent even that of July 10 when over 100 American planes plastered the air base defend- ers with 70 tons. terior, more than 20,000 prisoners had been bagged, and gains were scored all along the front from the Agrigento area on the American left flank to the Lentini sector 13 miles below Catania where the British col- lided with the Nazi Hermann Goer- ing Division and repulsed it with severe losses. (A Vichy radio broadcast said Ag- rigento, an important Axis troop cen- ter, had fallen; Rome radio, heard by NBC, also said that the Americans had reached that city in a 10-mile gain in the extreme west; and Rome radio also said the battle of the Catania plan probably would decide the issue in Sicily.l Allies Pour Into Catania Plain (In London, the Daily Express said that it had learned that American and Canadian troops were pouring into the Catania plain after the cap- ture of Vizzini to attack the main Axis flank defenses while the British Eighth Army continues its frontal assault.) Virtually all German forces ythus far officially identified as being in Sicily now are concentrated on the Catania plan, seeking to stave off the strategic catastrophe that would be implied by the quick fall of the city itself. After dumping hundreds of tons of high explosives on Sicily and the Italian mainland, Allied planes today dropped leaflets bearing the message of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, who told the peo- ple the time had come "to decide whether Italians shall die for Mus- solini and Hitler-or live for Italy and Civilization." Leaflets Dropped From Plane Hundreds of thousands of the leaf- lets, carrying to the Italian people the virtual ultimatum of the Allied leaders to surrender honorably or be blasted out of the war, fluttered down from skies now largely domi- nated by Allied air forces. Observers, who believed the enemy had staked everything on the suc- cess of a counterattack, were confi- dent that the Allies, with an "ap- preciable number of tanks" already in Sicily, could deal successfully with the armored forces sent by Hitler to help the Italians resist invasion. * * * Allied Planes Blast Naples By The Associated Press ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA, July 16.- Adopt- ing the RAF's tactics of crushing and burning one Axis industrial city at a time, the great Allied North African bomber force yesterday turned its fury against Naples, Italy's chief seaport, and transformed it into a blazing inferno-possibly knocked it out as a factor in the waning Italian war effort. Four huge waves of American Fly- ing Fortresses deluged the stricken port with thousands of explosive and incendiary bombs, shattering the royal armory, demolishing acres of harbor 'and industrial installations and wreathing the city, famed for its one-time beauty, in smoke that billowed 20,000 feet into the air. Allied headquarters estimated the damage done by the staggering blow to be as great as that inflicted upon the Sicilian port of Messina during the previous day and night, when an area two miles long and one mile wide was gouged from the heart of its harbor section. Although British gunners had smashed the first-line tanks of the Goering division, the 15th German armored division was believed being held in reserve for further attempts to oppose the onrushing British col- umns. Identification (cards Available at 'U' Hall Students will learn the awful truth when identification cards are dis- tributed Monday in Room 2, Uni- versity Hall. The rogue gallery photos must be shown for admittance at football rameand at. nther athletie events British Tommies form a long single chain in th e surf to pass ammunition ashore hand to hand somewhere along the coast of Sicily. Farther out in deeper water, a tank lumbers toward the shore from the gaping mouth of a large landing craft whichis visible in the background. Rapid landing of troops and supplies by the Allies has largely been carried o ut by such methods from landing craft which are sent toward the shore and unloaded just off the coa st. This is an official British photograph. (Associ- ated Press photo via radio from Algiers.) Theatres Open To All Navy, Army Students Managers of Local Movie Houses Clarify Low Rates Question All men in uniform of armed forces will be admitted to Ann Arbor the- atres at reduced prices. This issue was clarified yesterday by concurrent statements from man- agers of the local Butterfield movie houses. "We will admit at reduced rates all men in easily identifiable uni- forms," Jerry Hoag, manager of the Michigan Theatre, declared. Ellsworth Hamer, manager of the three downtown theatres, yesterday reversed his policy of not admitting at reduced rates members of the NROTC. Downtown movie houses will follow the policy of campus theatres in ad- mitting all men in easily identifiable uniforms, Hamer said. L. E. Mull, manager of the State Theatre, said, "We are very anxious to do what is right. We understand those in the NROTC are part of the Navy. They will be admitted at re- duced prices." "More than 200 uniformed men have entered the Michigan at re- duced rates this wee'k. We are very careful to see that everyone in uni- form gets that courtesy," Hoag said. "However, we cannot lower the price to those wearing dungarees or fatigue clothes as we cannot distin- guish them from civilian working clothes. Nor can we take men on their papers alone," he explained. Swiss Hint at Fascist Policies. FDR Takes Stand onI French Poli~cy Critics Roosevelt Claims U.S. Followed Consistent Plan; Calls Attackers 'Vicious Propagandists' By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, July 16.- President Roosevelt, today accused critics of his French policy of spreading vicious propaganda. He said the United States has followed a steadfast and consistent policy-one of working with Frenchmen everywhere who are patriotically resisting the Axis. It has kept aloof from French internal affairs, he added at his, press- radio conference, and has not taken sides with any personalities. The chief executive's volunteered statement was the second time this week that he emphasized the view that where France is concerned questions of personalities must be submerged in the general aim of beating the Axis and freeing French soil from the 4 enemy. On last Tuesday, he issued a state- ment in honor of Bastille Day which said: . I "There can be one symbol only for Frenchmen- France herself. She transcends all parties, personalities and groups: they live indeed only in the glory of French nationhood." Mr. Roosevelt brought up the sub- ject today by commenting that a difficult problem had been disposed of with the capitulation of Admiral Georges Robert, who so long main- tained allegiance to Vichy, as admin- istrator of Martinique and Guada- loupe, and his replacement by Henri- Etienne Hoppenot, representing the French National Committee of Lib- eration. He went on to say there had been a great deal of criticism of this gov- ernment's French policy, much of it unfair, incorrect and vicious propa- ganda. -p Yank Bombers Smash French Railway Yards LONDON, July 17, Saturday-(P) -United States medium bombers smashed at the railway yards at Abbeville, France, yesterday, while reports of a Swiss air alarm early today indicated another RAF night attack on Italy. Moving in at dusk with a thick blanket of Allied fighters, the Amer- ican bombers started fires in the German-occupied railway area as British and Dominion fighters en- gaged German interceptors, a com- munique said. Three Focke-Wulf 190's were destroyed by the Allied fighters, while one bomber was miss- ing. The Swiss alarm was reported in a Reuter dispatch from Zurich. The bombardment of Abbeville fol- lowed a night attack by the RAF which cut an arc of destruction through occupied territory from the low countries to northern Italy. The RAF's big bombers, which have been following a practice of FDII Claims Congress Is Ambiguous Roosevelt Points Out Double Meaning of CCC, Labeling Bills WASHINGTON, July 16.-(x)-a President Roosevelt took Congress to task today for passing laws so am- biguous, he said, that their meaning is uncertain. He signed a bill extend- ing the life of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), but with the ex- pressed understanding that it means what he thinks it does- That the Office of Price Adminis- tration (OPA) can set standards for a commodity where it is essential to an effective system of price fixing. Another Measure Concerned The President's perplexity arose from the fact that Congress dealt with OPA fixing of standards not only in the CCC measure, but also in another bill Price Administrator Prentiss Brown in his own interpretation had said earlier that, as he understood, Con- gress had outlawed grade labeling of hosiery, which OPA once planned to order, but had not closed the door to price-fixing by grades on such things as lumber and meat. The President in a formal state- ment said the language in the mea- sure relating to restrictions in the use of standards in maximum price regulations was so ambiguous that he felt it necessary to give his own in- terpretation of it to prevent further misconceptions. Standards Questioned He said another bill appropriating funds for the OPA had been con- strued as prohibiting the administra- tor from making use of standards in any case regardless of how essential they were to price control, unless such standards had been previously established by industry acceptance or by government action. "Such a construction," he said, "would cripple price.control because trade standards are frequently lack- ing or, as in the case of the grades of By The Associated Press LONDON, July 17. (Saturday)- mashing through new German re- erves hastily rushed into the threat- ned Orel area, Russian forces added ix to ten miles yesterday in their idvance on the vital city which the . ermans have been fortifying for a ear and a half. The Soviet midnight communique nd a special bulletin earlier said the advancing Soviet troops met 11 coun- terattacks with concentrated fire ower and repulsed the Germans vith heavy losses. Reds Advance 12 Miles Previous announcements had told f gains of 12 to 28 miles on the )rel front, and one Russian broad- ast, recorded by Reuters, said the Soviets had reached a point within '5 miles of the city as they pushed in from three sides. (The British radio said that the plight of Orel was so desperate the Germans were forming a "taxicab rmy" using every type of truck and utomobile to rush troops northward nd eastward of Orel in an attempt to stem the Russian drive. The broad- ast was heard by the United States foreign broadcast intelligence serv- ice.) The Germans were reported fran- tically strengthening their lines on the Orel-Bryansk railway which also was menaced by the Soviet counter- offensive. Stalin Visits Front The Reuters Moscow correspondent aid that Premier Stalin made a spe- ial visit to the Orel front recently where he personally directed the' plans for the present Soviet drive. The midnight bulletin recorded by the Soviet monitor said that in onE section of the Orel area the Red Army shattered 36 of 80 tanks flung at them by the Germans and routed two enemy regiments. An "advance to some extent" in the Kursk area south of Orel was reported in the special bulletin while the midnight communique said the Germans lost 2,000 men in a Russian attack that resulted in the capture of an enemy defense sector. Twenty-five German tanks were disabledror hit by the attackers while prisoners were taken and war ma- teriel captured in this thrust. Sherman Tanks in Drive American Sherman and British Churchill tanks were reported spear- heading the Red Army drive. It was presumed that the midnight bulletin's total of 2,000 Germans killed, 61 tanks disabled and four planes destroyed were in addition to tabulations given in the earlier spe- cial communique. This would boost overall German losses in 12 days to about 62,000 men, 3,242 tanks, and 1,766 planes. In the Belgorod direction where the earlier German offensive had been smashed there were only "in- tensive reconnaissance activities," the communique said. The German radio said Marshal Semeon Timoshenko was directing the Russian attack which "is now extended to the whole Orel bulge." The broadcast by Transocean's mili- tary correspondent, Capt. Ludwig Sertorius, recorded 'by the Associated Press, admitted that the Russians had begun counterattacls in the sec- tor south of Orel. Senate Group Asks For Drafting of Japs WASHINGTON, July 16.-- - The Senate Military Affairs Com- mittee recommended today that Jap- anese be drafted "in the same man- ner" as other residents of the United States. In a report based on findings of a subcommittee headed by Senator Chandler (Dem.-Ky., the commit- tee quoted Army spokesmen as say- ing, "We would like to use these peo- ple as soldiers," It also said the War Department has satisfactory meth- ods for "screening out the bad ones" and that already more than 7,500 Japanese are in the Army. Bus Drivers Ignore 'Return to Work' Plea ARMY CATCHES UP: Repertory Group Loses Three Of Its Leading Men to Draft. The Army has caught up with Michigan Repertory Players of the Department of Speech-they have lost two of their leading men in the last two weeks. John Babington will give the last performance of his University ca- reer, at least for the duration, when he appears in "Alice-Sit-by-the- Fire" tonight at the Lydia Mendels- sohn Theatre. Next Tuesday he will be inducted at Fort Custer for limited service in the Army. During his three years at the Uni- versity, Babington has appeared in a score of plays, including "Hay Fever," "Sun Down," "Stage Door," "Hanrt of the City. Caste," and "The way, Lillian Moeller, Opal Motter and' Blanche Holpar. Last week's leading man for "La- Italian Writer Claims Morale Is Not Weak BERN, Switzerland, July 16.- (P) -Informed circles in Rome hinted tonight at unexpected political de- velopments as the Fascist News Agency, at a late hour, announced the Roosevelt-Churchill appeal to the Italian people to abandon the struggle. What these developments would be was not suggested but a Swiss telegraphic agency dispatch said there was much discussion about "non-military surprises." Foreign observers believed it would involve at least dome rearrangement of the regime in an effort to bolster na- tional morale. A political writer for the Italian News Agency Stefani, in an answer to the Roosevelt-Churchill message, declared, "Feeble morale doesn't ex- ist," but that the people regretted the lack of a greater quantity of ____________________________________________ ..x...