Air 4 ailli WEATHE Fair and cooler with fresh winds VOL. LIV No. 29 TS ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SATURDAY, AUG. 12, 1944 PRICE FIVE CENTS Yanks Battle To Cut Off German Escape Russian 300,000 Nazi Pre 4/ Troops Face Vis Annihilation A Ra 15 Mile Advance Is Made On Front ALEUTI SKA, Aug paid this DBy The Associated Press visit today LONDON, Aug. 11-Gen. Ivan prised by Maslennikov's third Baltic Army was thrille smashed 15/2 miles through German It was t lines .on a 43-mile front in southern the Aleuti Estonia today, capturing the key cific travel junction town of Petseri in a fresh effort to annihilate possibly 300,000 Nazi troops trapped in Estonia and WASHI Latvia. President Moscow's communique announced from the the capture of 200- localitiesa by Seattle, W Maslennikov's army whose resumed Eastern V offensive is linked closely with oper- Time) the ations by three other Soviet armies tonight. which have ringed two Nazi north- ern armies and are attempting to pull off a "Baltic Stalingrad." by warship Lines Run Northwest The chief Petseri, 16 miles inside Estonia of the arm from the prewar Russian frontier, is the Aleutia a road and rail junction below lake tion progra Peipus. From it lines run northwest en out the 150 miles to Tallinn, Estonian cap- ilitary, n ital, and southwest 140 miles to remote, bat Riga, Latvian capital. bly short tA Farther south in Latvia another Fletcher A Russian army advancing on Riga Accompa captured 50 localities, including the Frank Jack rail station of Sunakste, 58 miles the North southeast of the Latvian capital. a tour of t] Moscow did not mention the pro- He expre gress of the first Baltic army, last reported within 20 miles of Riga on 711 the south. j OV Northwest and west of Bialystok in® northern Poland other Soviet units swept through 150 villages in a drive aimed at the southern border of Ger- 0 man East Prussia. In western Lith- So id uania on the central 'and northern sectors of the bitterly-contested east By Prussian front the Russians were WASHIN fighting a gigantic war of attrition, gressional Moscow dispatches said, clarify the 100 Villages Taken mit freer In the sector northeast of War- tures and s saw, immediately below the drive on Work wa the southern area of East Prussia, designed t the Russians were said to have cap- authorities tured 100 villages in their attempt to interpretat smash enemy lines linking Warsaw circulation and the German province. movies, boc ___________________restricted. New Applic Allies Bomb In the law, severa of the "Of SaAir Force" Vitl er anat post e * ordered be Freight Yards a pen por velt captio LONDON, Aug. 12, Saturday---(yP) of the Arm -Nearly 2,000 Allied heavy bombers, "There is blackening the skies from the Bel- the pictur gian border to the tip of Brittany, Soldier V smashed at Germans throughout Fri- President i day, with attacks ranging from Gen. Alexa front line support to great move- Army Pub] ments against distant, choked Ger- Interpretat man freight yards. As it nor Wave after wave of heavies of the prohibition Eighth U.S. Air Force and the RAF tion of pr roared through clear skies against national el fuel dumps and transport routes far was "diffi behind the battle lines in France, terpret thi: and in the afternoon the Americans, Quick c in a spectacular operation, rained appeared armor-piercing explosives on strong among Sen German fortifications. ator Green There was little fighter or anti- and Navy aircraft opposition from the enemy agreed on during this and other operations dur- said shoul ing the day, which included steady culties thu flights by medium bombers and Under t fighters and fighter bombers which limitation ranged the front in close support of culation o ground forces, especially those spear- books, etc. heading the advance north of Le portation Mans. fere with f Up to 500 American heavies at- of publicat tacked fuel dumps at St. Florentin tially by I and Pacy on the Armancon River 75 miles southeast of Paris, railway BROA yards at Mulhouse and Belfort in Alsace Lorraine, and three airfields in the vicinity of Paris. DI s Film on Maxim Gorky Will Be Shown Today After si activity ,a A Russian film, "Childhood of ed war vet Maxim Gorky," will be shown at .'. ti: .,. ..,. .. .. C! .+. -, ",, -. S.,. rye is . s .... * 5 Army Takes Key Junction of Petseri 'i sident Pays Surprise it to Aleutian Islands rmed Forces Praised for Campaign and apid Construction of New Military Bases The Associated Press AN ISLAND BASE, ALA- [. 3-President Roosevelt Aleutian base a surprise y and, in turn, was sur- what he saw. He said he d and gratified. he President's first trip to ans, made on his first Pa- ing of the war. He came INGTON, Aug. 11.-(P)- Roosevelt will broadcast Navy yard at Bremerton, ash., tomorrow at 8 p.m., War Time, (5 p.m. Seattle e White House announced p, by the way of Honolulu. executive praised members ned forces participating in n campaign and construe- im. He said they had driv- enemy and had built new aval and air bases on once rren islands in an incredi- ime. ccompanies FDR nied by Vice Admiral k Fletcher, commander of Pacific, the president made he island's installations. ssed a wish that the people RStarted 'larify the er Vote. ill The Associated Press GTON, Aug. 11.-A con- move was started today to soldier voting law to per- circulation of news, pic- peeches among the troops. s begun on an amendment to give Army and Navy wider discretion. Under ions of present law, the of various newspapers, oks and other material is cation of Law newest application of the 1 hundred thousand copies ficial Guide to the Army were banned from sale xchanges. The ban was :cause the guides contained trait of President Roose- ned "Commander in Chief ny and Navy." s a question as to whether e violates Title V (of the ote Law) now that the s a candidate," said Maj.- ander D. Surles, Chief of Lic Relations. tion Difficult w stands, Title V carries a against federal distribu- ropaganda bearing on a lection, and Surles said it cult" for the Army to in- s section. congressional clarification likely after a conference ator Taft (Rep., O.), Sen- n (Dem., R.I.), and Army officers. Green and Taft an amendment which they d overcome all the diffi- us far encountered. he amendment the only to be imposed on the cir- f newspapers, magazines, , is that whenever trans- or other problems inter- full distribution, the choice ions is to be made impar- Army-Navy methods. back home could see what had been done. The Japanese, he said, would never again be able to threaten North Am- erica with an Alaskan invasion. Mr. Roosevelt's impromptu re- marks were made at an informal lunch at an enlisted men's mess, where he made a noon stop during the inspection tour. Alaska Invites Settlers He said he considered some parts of the United States overpopulated and predicted that many soldiers and sailors would seek new homes in Ala- ska after the war. The territory's great size and known resources, he added, invited settlers. The president did not discuss any specific war plans for this or any other theaters. Neither did he com- ment on the national political cam- paign, in which he is the national Democratic nominee for a fourth term. Army Dental Program Is Discontinued Order Will Take Effect At End of Semester Col. E. H. Young, commandant of the Army, units at the University, announced yesterday that the Ar- my's dental training program here will be damz.1iinued the order taking effect at the end of the present term. The 70 dental students affected by the order will be given two choices. They may stay in the Army, be sent to a Medical replacement training center, and at the end of training there, be reassigned to units of the Medical Corps. Presumably they will then rank as privates and serve as medical aid men, technicians or hospital attendants. If they desire, however, they may request a discharge from the Army and continue their dental work as civilians. It is understood now that they will be deferred for this sub- ject to such draft regulations as ma" be in force at the time. The 25 predental students also af- fected by this new ruling wil have no alternative choice and will be sent to a Medical replacement train- ing center and from there to a medi- cal unit. Men now in the Army who applied for a transfer to dental school before June first can come to the University as civilians on the same basis as those already study- ing here. This order in no way af- fects the medical training program of the Army. GM Strikers To Obey Order DETROIT, Aug. 11.-(')-Strikers who have tied up production at five plants of Chevrolet gear and axle division of General Motors Corp. voted tonight to return to work on Monday, submitting to a War Labor Board order. The vote to end the four-day strike, precipitated by GM's firing of seven men for their part in last week's walkout at the war plants, was announced as "90 per cent" in the affirmative by Walter P. Reu-. ther, vice-president of the CIO's United Auto Workers. Iwo Island Is Bombed in Heavy Strike Bombers Based on Marianas Islands By The Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, Aug. 11.-Heavy bombers of the Seventh Army Air Force bombed Iwo Island in the Vol- cano group Wednesday in the first full scale heavy strike from newly won airfields in the Marianas. Iwo is 750 miles from Tokyo. The Liberators dropped 47 tons of bombs on the Iwo airfield and adja- cent installations, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said in a press release today announcing the raid. This first Army heavy bomber strike at Iwo starts a new stage in the 7th AAF's leap-frogging air neu- tralization campaign across the Pa- cific. That campaign started with raids on Wake Island from a base on Mid- way Island and worked over the Gilberts, Marshalls and Carolines en route to the Marianas. Iwo, 725 miles northwest of con- quered Saipan, is situated about half way from Saipan to Tokyo. It was first bombed from the Marianas by Navy Liberator search planes in a series of strikes starting July 19. Those comparatively light raids had been preceded by attacks by carrier-based planes, the first of which hit the Bonin and Volcano islands on June 14. Several enemy fighter planes at- tempted to intercept Wednesday's raid, Nimitz reported, but did no damage. Anti-aircraft fire, however, caused minor damage to three of the Liberators. A dive-bombing and strafing at- tack was made the same day on Mii atoll in the Marshall Islands by more than 100 planes of the fourth Ma- rine aircraft wing. Mitehells Sink Four Jap Ships, Damage Two GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Saturday, Aug. 12--()-Mitchell bombers sank or damaged six freighters near Hal- mahera Island, northwest of New Guinea, headquarters announced to- ~day. A total of four vessels were sunk in the Halmahera region, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 tons. At the same time the Allied raiders again struck at airfields on the vital island, stepping stone to the Philippines, during their assault Thursday. In another aerial strike the same day, fighter planes killed many of 500 Japanese caught on parade at the Hamate Airdrome near Sorong, Japanese base about 60 miles south- west of the American beachhead at Sansapor. Yank planes harassed retreating Japanese in the Aitape-Wewak area of British New Guinea. Yesterday's communication announced conclu- sion of organized Japanese resistance in this region, where the enemy fruitlessly attempted to break Al- lied encirclement, losing an estimat- ed 18,000 dead and wounded. Liberater bombers again hit air- dromes on Yap island, in the western Carolines, Thursday with 33 tons of bombs. The Halmahera strike continued aerial assaults against this barrier, some 300 miles south of the southern Philippines and a barrier to the push I to the archipelago, OLD GLORY IS RAISED-U. S. troops are shown raising the Ameri- can flag on Guam. Reconquest of Guam cost 7,247 American casual- ties, of whom 1,214 were killed in action, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz announced yesterday. 10,971 Japanese dead have been counted on Guam. STATES' RIGHTS? Senate Passes George Bill on Two-wto-mOne Vote 100,000Nazis Falling Back West of Paris American Armor Advances 10 Miles WAR AT A GLANCE By The Alsociated Press FRANCE - Yanks near Paris. One report says troops on out- skirts. Allied pincers close *on Ger- man Seventh Army. Aerial war roars over enemy targets. RUSSIA-Reds hurl 12 divisions into new offensive in Estonia. Make gains all along front. ITALY-Allies gain in Adriatic sector. Some fighting near Flor- ence but battle lags. PACIFIC-Iwo Jima in Volcano Islands, 750 miles from Tokyo, blasted by planes from Marianas Islands. . *~ * SHAEF, Aug. 12, Saturday-(R)- U.S. tanks battled to close a 33-mile escape gap on an estimated 100,000 Germans reported in retreat west of Paris last night while other wide- ranging armor struck out suddenly from Nantes, burst across the Loire River barrier to southern France and plunged ten miles beyond. American armor, in apparent con- trol of the field, was lashing out in every direction across the northern plains of France and nowhere did By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, Aug. 11.-With a Republican-southern Democratcratic coalition in command, the Senate passed overwhelmingly tonight a "states rights" post-war reconversion bill after rejecting, 49 to 25, the Mur- raw-Kilgore measure setting up fed- eral standards of unemployment compensation. The vote on final passage was 55 to 19. The approved measure, sponsored by Chairman George (Dem., Ga.) of the Finance Committee, sets up an office of war mobilization and re- conversion under a presidentially- appointed director to coordinate planning for the gigantic switch back to a peacetime economy. 3,500,000 Employes Covered It embraces a provision extending post-war unemployment compensa- tion coverage to 3,500,000 employes of the government, in addition to the millions now covered, but leaves the fixing of rates to the states. Under it the government would reimburse states fornpayments to ex-federal workers and set up a federal fund to guarantee the solvency of state un- employment systems. The rejection of the Murray-Kil- gore bill, setting up a much broader Office of War Mobilization and Ad- justment, came on an indirect vote by which the Senate substituted pro- visions of the George bill for sections of the rival measure which included the federal jobless pay plan. Eleventh Hour Effort Fails In an eleventh hour effort to over- come opposition, the Murray-Kilgore Churchill Is Now Visiting Italian Theatre ROME, Aug. 11-(/P)-Allied head- quarters announced tonight the ar- riva 1 of Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Italy on his first trip to this war theater. The purpose of the trip or how long he would stay were not disclosed. Earlier this week Britain's prime minister visited the Normandy beachhead in France. Churchill's visit to Italy gave the Germans a new case of jitters-this time bringing Nazi predictions that the Allies are on the verge of a new invasion of Europe. The Germans have been forecasting repeatedly bill proponentsreduced from$35to $25 a week the proposed maximum benefits payable under its terms. But, with the votes in their pock- ets, and the White House keeping hands off, the opponents of the mea- sure were in no mood for a com- promise. The George bill now goes to the House for action with indications that it will be referred to the Ways and Means Committee for considera- tion early next week. Government Takes Over 103 Truck Firms WASHINGTON, Aug. 11.- ( )- The government tonight seized 103 midwestern truck companies em- broiled in a strike of 25,000 drivers, established a federal manager and ordered all the men back to work immediately to avert a traffic bottle- neck that was rapidly endangering movement of military supplies. President Roosevelt ordered the seizure at 5:30 p.m., Eastern War Time. He assigned the office of de- fense transportation to conduct the $50,000,000 segment of the truck in- dustry until the controversy is settled and said the weight of the Army would be behind ODT in its task. The strikers quit work last week after the companies refused to pay a seven cents an hour wage increase ordered by the War Labor Board. The operators said they couldn't afford it unless they got financial relief from the government. Col. J. Monroe Johnson, director of ODT, said his organization was tak- ing over actual operations at mid- night and from that time on the men would be paid the authorized wage boost. 'Starlight Cabaret' To Be Held Today "Starlight Cabaret," a semi-formal dance styled after a dry night club will be held by the International Center from 9 to 12 p. m. today in the Rackham Lecture Hall. George Hall, assistant to the di- rector of the Center, has been in NEW YORKAugv 11-(-P)-NB reporter Ed Haaker, broadcasting from London, said tonight he had learned on the best authority that the American drive in France had carried all the way to the outskirts of Paris. the Germans seem able to parry the rain of blows, such as this new one across the Loire. Germans "In Bad Way" "The great bulk of the German forces in northwest Europe are in a bad way," Gen. Sir Bernard L. Mont- gomery, chief of Allied ground for- ces, messaged his troops in France. "We are 'round behind them in many places and it is possible some of them may not get away." Lt. Gen, Omar N. Bradley's forces striking north from Le Mans were closing in on the entire German Sev- enth Army-which once boasted over 30 divisions-and the Paris radio de- clared they already had driven through Alencon, 33 miles south of where Canadian forces were fighting before Falaise. At the southern end of the front his thrust across the broad beaches of the Loire within 24 hours after the river port of Nantes fell still had encountered no resistance in strength. American troops were mopping up along the north bank between Nan- tes and Angers, which also was cap- tured yesterday, but there was no word of any crossings. Von Kluge Gives Signal As the Germans were confronted with the same sort of peril with which they bewildered the French in the 1940 lightning war, captured troops reported that Field Marshal Gen. Guenther Von Kluge had given the signal for a general retreat. Vichy Cut Off From Paris by Partisans BARCELONA, Aug. 11.- (AP)- French partisan forces surrounding Vichy have cut all direct railroad, highway and telephone communica- tions between the collaborationist capital and Paris, reports reaching here today said. Extra Performance of Operetta Will Be Given Because of the exceptional demand for tickets, an extra performance of "The Chocolate Soldier" will be pres- D PROGRAM OUTLINED: charged War Veterans Form 'U' Club a x weeks of organizational nucleus group of discharg- erans formed the Veterans ,^" rrr.,s TT.iFrSit+M of discussed the cooperative movement with the men. "We have organized this club" Laszlo Hetenyi, President, said "in a amn to nL al ldischarged tion is planning to embark on a vigorous campaign to enlist the act- ive support of the more than 150, veterans now enrolled in the Univer- sity.