The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

THE WEATHER CLOUDY A.VD NOT SO COLD TONIGHT TCKSDAT FARTLT CLOUDY. WITH MILD TEMPERATVBES AND A FEW SHOWERS. Ten. Today a. 81 4f Tenia.

Extreme Yesterday. Sfi and Riia Tides Teday 11:34 a. n.i m. Baa 1:18 a. m.

San a. as Detail aa Pace IT. ENAL VENING Glome Edition FULL SERVICE OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, UNITED PRESS AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE Vol. 13 No. 61 Et.bIhc J.arnal Futande Every Erenlnc round 1871 I Eveninc Joaraal and Every Tenia CenioUdated Jan.

t. 1933 Wilmington, Delaware, Monday, March 12, 1945 20 Page Price Three Cents fa) RORT JVJ JOU 4 WE SOT -9 German Prisoners Marched Through Remagen Congressional Medal Winner Hit Thrice But Not Stopped Red Cross Drive Nears Half of Goal Bridgehead Is Widened To 12i Miles, Radio Claims Yanks Gain On Mindanao With Tanks Aiding Push Invaders Advance Within City Sergeant Directed Movement on Beachhead While Propped Against Wall; Told Nothing of Heroism Until War Department Publicized It "They can hit me but they can't 6top me!" That's what 26-year-old Sergt. James P. Connor of Wilmington yelled as he ignored three bad wounds, rallied the remnants of his platoon on the beachhead of Cape Cavalaire, France, last summer, and personally directed the successful completion of a mission against an overwhelming strength of German machine-gunners. i rrn i Of If Mh 4- 3 4..

Jh' fc-J 7 f'r ar at-aw At one time faint and unable to stand but propped up against a wall, the intrepid 116-pound sergeant told his follow soldiers how to outflank the Nazis, and ordered a sergeant who was holding him up: "Dig out the rats even if you AP wirephoto from Si(nai Corp Radtopbota. A long line of captured German soldiers stretches through the city of Remagen, Germany, March 9, as the prisoners are marched to P. O. W. enclosures.

Loiv-Flying B-29s Spread Fire T-kl I Jt Decame increasingly apparent In Sagoya Jan Flane Centers p' 7 I Rhine operations that the Allied 2,000 Tons of Incendiaries Dropped by 300 per- Forts Upon Third Largest Nipponese City; One Big Craft Lost Over Target TWENTY-FIRST BOMBER COMMAND HEADQUARTERS, GUAM. March 12 (JP). Speeding over their giant B-29s poured 2.000 tons of incendiary bombs on Nagoya. Japan greatest warplane producing center and third largest city, today. Nazi Artillery Still Trying to Destroy Luden dorff Bridge as Eisenhower Clamps Dimout On All Rhine Operations By Associated Press PARIS, March 12.

German 1 broadcasts said that four First Army divisions of more than 40,000 troops had widened the Rhine bridgehead today to more than 12'zi miles. Slowly but steadily, streams of American arms flooded across the Rhine much of it by the shell-raked Ludendorff bridge at Remagen and some by assault boat in a race against German artillery still trying night and day to break the span which put the Allies into one of the main roads to the Ruhr. command had clapped on a security dimout. This in itself underscored the importance of the position. Win High Ground Tank and foot troops won a few hundred more yards of high ground mIan1 from th three-mile wide bridgehead Jutting into Inner Ger many within 274 miles of Berlin.

This squeezed the Germans back any possible direct observation fire on th Ludendorf bridee. of fire on the Ludendorf Courtney H. Hodges crossed the bridge by jeep yesterday and one German shell landed within 50 feet of the First Army He spent an hour east of the Rhine. German heavy and medium guns still were firing methodically in an attempt to score a knockout hit. Berlin broadcasts said two tank and two infantry divisions were deployed east of the Rhine between Honnef, 44 miles southeast of the Ruhr capital of Duesseldorf, and Hoenningen.

New Crossing Feared The enemy likewise said a large scale British offensive to cross the lower Rhine was imminent. In creased artillery and reconnaissance re noted in the 40 miles of smoke MnH Htu? screened country between Em merich and Nijmegen. It was not likely that at this stage of the operation Hodges still was depending on a single bridge. Pontoon bridges could easily have been thrown across the Rhine along the stretch which supreme headquarters many hours ago said was at least nine miles wide. Supreme headquarters maintained official silence, too, about the Eifel pocket where the First and Third armies'were mopping up the last of fome 23,000 Germans who failed to escape across either the Moselle or Saar River.

The Third Army besieged Coblenx from positions at the outskirts of that middle Rhine traffic center. Other Third Army soldiers cleared all the west bank of the Moselle ex-ept a 15 mile gap and captured 14 fowns. 3,996 Naxis Captured The First and Third Armies took prisoners in all operations Sunday. The whole 150 miles of the west hank of the Rhine was firmly in Al- (See WESTERN FRONT Page 4) Ordnance Losses Since D-Day Top Half-Billion CHICAGO. March 12 of ordnance equipment alone since D-Day in Europe have totaled more than $500,000,000, CoL John Slezak.

chief of the Chicago ordnance district, announced today. This valuation covers some 6.200 tanks. 34.250 general purpose vehicles, 166.900 rifles and other small arms, and 23,000 mortars and machine-guns. Colonel Slezak reported. Tank losses alone were valued at more than $200,000,000.

"Although the quantity shipment! to Europe were almost beyond comprehension, the losses were qually high." the colonel said. Ill Today's Paper Women Division Areas Begin Reports as Second Week of Drive Opens; Downstale News Expected The $715,900 Red Cross war fund drive in Delaware swung into its second week today, and officials hope to report later today that the half-way mark has been reached. Today first report meetings of the various women's divisions which are conducting a house-to-house canvass of the state are being held. The total exceeded the $313,000 mark this morning as Area headed by Mrs. Philip J.

Kimball, reported 343 contributions for a total of $12,863.75. Area includes a section taking in Westover Hills, Westmoreland, Greenville, and Centre ville. Mrs. Kimball's district chairmen Include Mrs. C.

La lor Burdick, Mrs. Ellason Downs, Mrs. Ernest N. May, Mrs. Harold Haskell, Mrs.

W. D. Carpenter, and Mrs. Reynolds Wilson. This afternoon reports will be made by Area of which Mrs.

A. B. Owens is chairman. This territory includes the area west of Clayton Street and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to the city line. Throughout the rest of the week other areas, under direction of Mrs.

C. A. Grasselli, chairman of the Women's Division, will report at special meetings at Red Cross headquarters, 911 Delaware Avenue. Other groups, including office build ings and industrial will also begin reporting this week. Schools, public employes, and special gifts may report at any time.

Reports are also expected this week from some of the down- state areas, which have not yet sent word of their progress, with the exception of several small towns in both Kent and Susses Counties which have reported meeting their individual quotas. The American Red Cross, now supplying a touch of home to fill a (See RED CROSS Page 4) Ward Seizure Review Held Up Supreme Court Rules Circuit Bench Must Decide First WASHINGTON, March 12 OF) The Supreme Court refused today to rule on the validity of government seizure of 16 Montgomery Ward properties. As its reason for refusing, the court said that the review petition in the case was filed "prior to the judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals." This means, that the high tribunal refused to rule in the case before the Circuit court hears arguments and reaches its decision. The Justice Department and Ward asked the high tribunal for a speedy final determination whether President Roosevelt had authority under the War Labor Disputes Act or the Constitution to order the Army to take possession of Ward facilities seven cities. The U.

S. District Court in Chicago ruled the seizure was illegal. The department filed an appeal in the Seventh Federal Circuit Court, but urged the Supreme Court to assume Jurisdiction immediately so that argument before the Circuit Court would be obviated. Ward later joined in requesting the Supreme Court to take the case at once. Swedes Report Convoy Battle in Skagerrak NEW YORK, Maich 12 (JP).

The Swedish radio said today that a "convoy battle," presumably between German ships and Allied aircraft, occurred last night in the Skagerrak, separating Norway and Denmark. The battle develop-d "far off the Swedish coast to the southwest and "was still on at 12:30 a. (Swedish time), said the broadcast as reported by the Federal Communications Commission. The Swedish radio said yesterday that a 20-minute battle between a German convoy an-i Allied planes had taken place in the Kattegat off Goeteborg yesterday The Kattegat is between Sweden and Denmark. Riots, Street Fighting Reported in Munich By Associated Press Riots and street fighting occurred yesterday in Munich, birthplace of the Nazi party, the Tidningen of Stockholm said today in a dispatch reported to the OWI.

The disturbances were in connection with the observance of Heroes' Day, German equivalent of Army Day. The newspaper gave this account: A "marked revolutionary spirit reigned in the city." Railway traffic, post and telegraph no longer functioned. German tanks drove through the streets in an effort to quell the disturbances, which continued late last night. Two Miles of Zamboanga In -Rush From Beaches With Most of San Roque Airstrip Under Control By Associated Press WITH AMERICAN FORCES AT ZAMBOANGA, MINDANAO, March 11 (Delayed). Tank-led infantrymen drove within two miles of Zamboanga town today in a swift morning push from the invasion beaches which are being plastered with Japanese mortar fire.

The 162nd and elements of the 163rd Regiments crossed the Baliwasan River, two and a half miles west of the town of Zamboanga, proceeding onward and fanning out to the northeast, simultaneously crossing two-thirds of San Roque airstrip, the principal airfield in the area. Wolfe Airstrip Overrun Within a' half hour of landing on the southwestern tip of Mindanao Saturday, the infantrymen led by tanks took small Wolfe airstrip the first main objective. There was only scattered machine-gun and sniper fire initially. Artillery spotting planes began operating from the overgrown Wolfe airstrip while it was still under Japanese artillery fire from Japanese positions in the nearby hills. American casualties in the first 24 hours were light.

After a relatively quiet landing by the Yanks, the Japanese fought back with concentrated artillery and mortar fire from their hillside positions and stubbornly resisting machine-gun and mortar nests em-placed along the principal roads. Company Pinned Down One company of the 162nd, pushing westward along the coast toward Caldera Pay. was pinned down overnight by strong Japanese positions in coconut groves but the Yanks crossed the river this morning after a destroyer bombarded the Japanese positions for a half hour at close range. An eight day air bombardment by the 13th Air Force and two-day naval shelling by Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet units preceded the 21st Philippine Island invasion landing.

Zamboanga harbor, reported A Fred Hampson from a bomber's eyeview, was cluttered with wrecked Japanese ships and the town's larger buildings were blasted or burned. The coastal towns of San Mateo, San Jose, Calarian and San Roque were captured in short order by the well-ordered swift advance. Wolfe airfield, which is 200 miles from Japanese-held oil-rich Borneo Island, was one of the first military objectives of the attack. The San Roque field, which has a 4.000 foot bomber runway, may already be in U. S.

hands. Convoy Unmolested The convoy in making the 400-mile journey was unmolested by either Japanese planes or submarines. The Americans actually were in Zamboanga city the moment they (See PHILIPPINES Page 4) Delaware Plants Get N.A.M. Honor Three to Receive Special Certificates for Industrial Advance The National Association of Manufacturers announced today that its 360 founding member companies, Including three Delaware companies, would be awarded special certificates for outstanding contributions to American industrial progress "as evidenced by their long and active leadership as founding The Delaware companies are the DuPont Company, the Lobdell and the Pusey Sc Jones Corporation. They are the only Delaware companies among the 360 companies which helped to organize the N.

A. M. in Cincinnati 50 years ago. Announcement of Uie awards, to be presented at a series of special ceremonies during the year, was made by William P. Witherow, president of Blaw-Knox Pittsburgh, Pa and N.

A. golden anniversary chairman. A. membership now totals more than 12,500 companies in 48 states. Indicative of the swift progress of modern-day inventive genius wittiin industry.

Mr. Witherow said, Is the fact that none of the founding companies originally represented "the industries of aviation, motion pictures, television, radio and plastics, to mention a few all of whicfi are now products of these charter companies." uu "aumsKHi. i 1 a 1 tti "equally lauy as successiui as uie assault Pilots said they started raging! fires which converted a five-square-mile area into a hellish Inferno and raged unchecked hours afterwards. Radio Tokyo admitted the flames burned 10 hours, but claimed they were controlled by 10 a. m.

The first Super-Fortresses struck Nagoya just after midnight. Tokyo time barely 48 hours after their record incendiary raid on a 15-square mile area of central Tokyo. Fires from Saturday's holocaust still were smouldering in the Japanese capital. One B-29 was lost over the target in today's raid despite the low level or the attack and the number participating. All other planes returned safely, 21st Bomber Command Headquarters announced.

Some of the first pilots returning from Nagoya said the raid did not appear as destructive as Saturday's devastation of the heart of Tokyo. However, many saw only the earliest fires started. The crew of Capt. Walter Timm, Milwaukee, Ore, said they could see fires for 90 miles. Timm a B-29 flew so low (possibly 5.000 feet) that his left gunner, Sergt.

Ben Moffa, Philadelphia, shot out a searchlight with 50 caliber machine-gun fire. With two-thirds of the B-29s (See SUPER-FORTS Page 4) Cache of Grenades Found in Colombia BOGOTA, Colombia, March 12 (JP). A special Judge was investigating today the discovery of several hundred home-made hand grenades found in sacks beside an organ in the cathedral here, following rumors of a projected uprising against the government of President Alfonso Lopez. Disapproval by the church of any subversive movement was expressed by Archbishop Ismael Perdomo, who promised canonical sanctions against those who placed the explosives in the cathedral. The government newspaper El Liberal said 20 persons had been arrested.

I have to do it with your hands." Sergeant Connor, reared on Wil mington's East Side, almost gave his life in that assault but today is reported to be back with his outfit and wearing the coveted Congressional Medal of Honor the highest tribute the nation can give a soldier. Although the awarding "of the Congressional medal was announced last week, it wasn't until today that the War Department revealed the story of Sergeant Connor the only living Delaware soldier to receive the Congressional Medal to date in World War II. Sergeant Connor, son of James B. Connor of 218 West Eighth Street, was described today by his friends as just an average local boy who disliked school, rarely showed traits of leadership, and was quiet until he got "fighting mad. He never looked for trouble but never ran away from it.

When he heard he miht get the Congressional Med a he wrote (See SERGT. CONNOR Page 9) Housing Authority Office to Be 3Ioved The Wilmington Housing Authority will relocate it central control office by May 1, Matthew F. Judge, chairman, announced today following the monthly" meeting of the commissioners. The office will be moved to the Eastlake project, he revealed. It has previously been in the Continental American Building.

Several months ago the possibility of moving the main office to one of the projects, as an economy measure, was discussed. 3,500 Liberated Allied Captives Leave Odessa MOSCOW, March 12 OF). Approximately 3.400 American, British and French war prisoners liberated from the Germans by the Red Army already have sailed for home from Odessa and almost more still are awaiting repatriation, according to the Communist organ. Pravda. Last Wednesday and Thursday 969 U.

S. soldiers and 227 officers left Odessa. Pravda said. Jap Cabinet Approves Aluminum Currency By Associated Press The vice ministers in Premier Kuniaki Koiso's cabinet approved the "general issuance of aluminum currency" at todays meeting, the Tokyo radio said today. Such aluminum has been Issued in Japanese-conquered countries.

The subject of "lighter" money was weighed with a heavy discussion of "measures for the relief of air raid damages," the broadcast recorded by the Federal Communications Commission said. Von Papen Captured, German Report Says STOCKHOLM, March 12 (JP). The former Turkish minister to Berlin, Kemal Koc, told interviewers today that there were reports in Germany that diplomat Franz Von Papen became an Allied prisoner when his estate in the Saar area was overrun. There has been no hint from other Allied quarters of such a capture, although the estate was seized several months ago. Osmena Thanks Nation, Red Cross, For Relief MANILA, March 12 (JP) President Sergio Osmena in a statement from Malacanan Palace today expressed "our heartfelt thanks to the American Red Cross and the American people for aid and succor extended us in these days of dire need and distress." the streets.

In the background were the ruins of Aachen, The picture also shows General Hodges with a revolver slung over his shoulder, and carrying a tommy gun, looking at the work of the prisoners. Then, very casually in the letter. Colonel Seitz wrote that a few minutes after the picture was taken, a German shell blew that section of the street to bits. Colonel Seitz, commander of an infantry regiment of the First Di- (See COL. SEITZ Page 4) Sergt.

James P. Connor 3 Delaware Soldiers Die, 5 Are Wounded Missing Fortress Officer Killed Combat Engineer, Infantryman Also Dead Three dead and five wounded are on today's war casualty report for Delaware. These included Second Lieut. Ca-simir L. Blaska, 24, navigator of a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 15th Air Force based in Italy, who was reported missing in a mission over Hungary June 27.

He is now re ported to have been killed in action on that date, according to word received from the War Department by his wife, Mrs. Mary Hussey Blaska of 3205 Jefferson Street, and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. August Blaska of 100 Poplar Street. A combat engineer who never wrote of being in danger has also been reported killed in action in Germany, and an infantryman previously reported wounded has died at a hospital.

They are: Killed in Action Staff Sergt: Cecil E. Jordan, 26, husband of Mrs. Charlotte E. Reed Jordan, 20 West Thirty-6ixth Street; March 2 in Germany. Died of Wounds Private Frank J.

Lapkiewicz, 27, son of Mrs. Nellie Dudzinskl, 1111 Maple Street; Dec. 6 in England. Wounded Pfc. Eugene R.

DiCinque, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. William DiCinque, 1304 Lancaster Avenue; Jan. 27 in Belgium, for the second time. Pfc.

Alfred H. Eastburn, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel E. East-burn of Newark; Jan.

25 in France. Private Edward Nelson Maguigan, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R-Maguigan, 327 Seven th Avenue; Jan. 22 in Belgium.

Pfc. Byron E. Cooper, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Cooper of Petersburg; in January in Germany.

Pfc. William J. Grogan, 26, son of Mrs. Mary Grogan, 704 East Eleventh Street; Jan. 19 in Luxembourg.

The War Department today issued three casualty lists. One named 1,229 soldiers killed in action in the Asiatic, European, Mediterranean and Pacific Ocean areas. The second named 2,266 soldiers wounded in the European area, and the third named 2,136 soldiers held prisoners by Germany. The Navy Department today issued the 26th Merchant Marine cas- (See CASUALTIES Page 17) U. S.

Heavies Blast Targets Along Baltic 650 Bombers Assist Reds With Attacks On Stettin Area; Ruhr Hit LONDON, March 12 iJPf.A might armada of more than 2,100 American warplanes slashed a wide path across northern Germany today with the main force of 650 bombers blasting military and naval installations on the Baltic coast in direct support of the Russian armies. The German radio declared the Pomeranian capital of Stettin and the Nazi U-boat and naval base at Swimemuende, 35 miles northeast of Stettin, were the targets. An R. A. F.

spokesman credited Allied bombers based in Britain with laying waste to more than 450 square miles of the Ruhr. Swinemuende is the naval base and outer harbor for Stettin and is only 15 miles from where the most advanced Russian troops were last reported. Red Army troops meanwhile are hammering at the gates of Stettin. The remainder of the bomber fleet split up for attacks on railway yards behind the desolated Ruhr valley, the Eighth Air Force announcement said. In addition to the Baltic attacks other heavies battered half a dozen towns between Frankfurt-On-Main and the Ruhr which turn out the bulk of the German war materials.

They included Siegen, Betzdorf, (See AERIAL Page 4) Millions of Yule Packages Stalled Lawmaker Wants Pacific Area Gifts Given To 'Forgotten' WASHINGTON. March 12 (JP) Representative Fulton (R-Pa) said today millions of unclaimed and un delivered Christmas packages for members of the armed forces are stacked in Pacific military bases. He told a reporter he will recommend that Congress suggest turning the packages over to the American Red Cross to be distributed to GI's who were forgotten at Christmas. The packages haven't been delivered, Fulton said, because of battle casualties, transfers, and various other reasons. Many contain perishable food, candy, and other delicacies.

"There are 32,000 mail bags at one Pacific base alone," said the con gressman who recently returned from Navy duty in the Pacific. "At an other base I counted 5,000 mail sacks stacked right out in the rain and weather. San Francisco Fetes 274 Liberated Heroes SAN FRANCISCO, March 12 (JP). The hospital seclusion period for the nation's 274 liberated heroes of Bataan and Corregidor ends today as they are feted publicly in a huge civic celebration of the deliverance from Cabanatuan prison camp. Shedding their maroon hospital robes and donning their first U.

S. Army uniforms in three years, the refreshed group of former Japanese prisoners of war pile into motor lorries at Letterman Hospital for a day of civic functions Many of the group already wear new awards fo: heroism in Bataan action, presented at Letterman hospital rites yesterday. A luncheon in the exclusive Palace Hotel will end the formal ceremony.1 target at only 5,000 feet altitude, 300 mm i 11 .1 tu.J 1 1 U- ucs-uucu uir on loicyo- two aays earuer.j Soviets Shift Large Forces To Berlin Area Troops From Pomerania, Polish Corridor Called Back for All-Out Drive LONDON, March 12 (JP). The Russians were renorted carrvinz out a large-scale regrouping of armiesl I today preparatory to another mas sive shove on the Berlin front aimed at linking up with Allied armies somewhere in the Elbe Valley in th heart of Germany. Moscow dispatches said the Russians might by-pass Berlin as a knot of resistance in the drive to cut Germany in two and that the Elbe, which slices diagonally across Germany from Prague in Czecho-Sio- vakia to Hamburg on the North Sea.

might be as important in Soviet plans for future operations as the Vistula and Oder in the past and current drives. Moscow dispatches hinted that large formations of Marshal Kon stantin Rokossovsky's Second White Russian Army were being shifted to the Oder from Pomeranian and Polish fronts to share the Oder bat tleline with Marshal Gregory Zhukov's First White Russian Army. Rokossovskv had shortened his front vastly by a hard-driving of fensive in Pomerania which had re duced the German-held pocket along the Baltic east of the Oder to a 35 by 20-mile area around uan-zig and Gdynia. He was speeding his assault on these two ports with an impatience which suggested that even larger parts of his armies might soon be (See RUSSIAN WAR Page 4) Stanton L. Lutton Gail A.

Lutton June 1942. He received early train ing at Philadelphia and then had flight training at Corpus Christi. Tex. He won his wings and com mission as a Marine flier In April (See BROTHERS Pare 4) I i Wilmington Marine Brothers Meet First Time in Two Years Hodges Barely Missed Death In Aachen, Officer Writes Marine Corps orders took the two sons of Mr. and Mrs.

B. A. Lutton of 1 Riverside Drive, Wilmington, In opposite directions. Pfc. Gail A.

Lutton, 25, went to Ireland where he served for 28 months. First Lieut Stanton L. Lutton, 28, Marine flier, went to the Central Pacific. Again. Marine Corps orders took a hand in things.

Private Lutton was brought home from Ireland and sent to Camp Pendleton, for further training. After 45 missions and 300 hours of combat flying, Lieutenant Lutton was returned to the Marine corps Air Depot. Mir amir, Calif, after a year overseas. Last week-end the brothers met for the first time in two years. Private Lutton enlisted in the Marine Corps on Dec.

26, 1941. He had been employed at the DuPont Company here. His broJier mis ted in the Naval Air Training program in Page WAR NEWS 4-5 Amusements 14 Answers te Questions Classified 18-19 Comics 18 Culbertson en Contract 13 Death Notices 18 Editorials Financial IS Obituary 18 Radio IS Sports IS Society Women's Interests 13 4 How Courtney Hodges, commanding general of the American First Army, escaped a Nazi shell by only a few minutes while entering Aachen was revealed in a letter from CoL John F. R. Seitz, son of Mrs.

George H. Seitz of 411 Lore Avenue, Hillcrest. Colonel Seitz sent his brother, Collins J. Seitz, Wilmington attorney, a photograph showing the two otner omcers wauung aiong uie rubble-covered streets of Aachen. Along the sidelines of the photograph are Nazi prisoners clearing.