THE NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. 46.—No- 62. NOME, ALASKA, MONDAY, MAY 29, 1944. PER COPY—15c.
BOMBERS RAID SAXONY
SIXTH ARMY
» SOLIDIFY
POSITIONS
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NEW GUINEA, May 29.—CAP)—
The tough American Sixth Army
invasion veterans solidified their
f positions on Biak Island, the new
est successful leap-frog operation
undertaken in General MacAr
thur’s forces. Biak Island is less
than 900 miles from the Philip
pines.
The invasion army is now fight
ing resisting Japanese forces on
the edge of Mokmer airf eld,
headquarters reported today.
Resistance on the largest of the
Schouten Islands at the mouth of
Geelvink Bay, was increasing as
the Yanks fanned out to capture
Bosnek, on the southeas* coast of
Hi the island, pressing forward to
take the airdrome on one of the
three islands.
Snipers were beginning to take
heavier toll of the invaders, who
had ex'remely l ght losses in
their landings Saturday.
Despite the tougher Japanese
resistance than had been faced in
previous amphibious landings in
operations on the New Guinea
coast, only a few* of the Ameri
cans were'wounded, and none
killed in ‘he original landings one
mile on either side of Bosnek. in
• fighting a two-pronged offensive,
while 12 of the enemy planes at
tacked the invasion fleet.
The ships anti-aircraft fire ac
counted for four of the Japanese
bombers, and one of the enemy
planes made a suicide crash on
an American sub-chaser, causing
nine casual'ies and some damage
to the craft.
One American Thunderbolt
fighter shot down for Zeroes,
and one of the enemy bombers
was downed while attacking the
American ground troops.
The American ground forces
were aided by big Liberators,
► which doused Biak wi*h 280 tons
of high explosives.
The invaders, while driving on
Mokmer Field, made contact with
the enemy at Parai, nearly five
miles from the original beach
head. The eastern prong was
fighting at Soriari, 1 1-2 miles east
of Bosnek.
Captain Killed
By Gun Crew
• -
WASHINGTON, D. C„ May 29.
—»APi—The navy reported that
Karl Larsen, captain of the SS.
Thomas J. Walsh, was shot to
death April 19th, in an exchange
of sho4s by members of the gun
crew aboard his vessel.
The shooting occurred in a
south Pacific port under naval
jurisdiction.
Captain Larsen’s home was in
^ New York.
Raid Far Down
Kurile Islands
w. _
WASHINGTON. D. C., May 29.
—CAP)—Saturday, American air
men reached far down the Kur
iles and blasted Matsuwa Is
• land, about 1,000 miles from Tok
yo. Navy men gave no details in
reporting the pre-dawn raid.
The Liberators of the 11th Air
Force met no opposition.
A search plane of the Fleet Air
Wing 4, struck Shumushu Island
at the northern end of the Kurile
Island group.
I 1
Guardsmen Are
on Mission
Of Rescue
KETCHIKAN, May 29.—(AP>—
| Two Coast Guard officers and
five enlinsted men went to the
rescue of two stranded fishing
boats, th§ L-oangen and the Alas
| kan, which have been missing
I since last week, the district Coast
Guard office announced today.
; The announcement made no fur
ther mention of the fishermen,
who were presumably rescued.
Those ' miss ng included Lt.
(j.g.) E. Shaw, Ensign Aven An
derson.
The Ketchikan Coast Guard of
fice said the fishing boats had
been grounded and the coast
guardsmen, after going to the res
cue. signalled that they also were
in danger.
The second coast guard boat
went to the assistance of the first
rescue vessel and when they ar
rived at the spot they could find
no ‘-ice o'- the boat or the crew.
La‘er the extra life jackets, the
coastguard boat carried, were
found along the shore. The search
was continued by land, sea and
air.
The location of the mishap was
not diseased.
LONDON. May 29.—fAP>—Ger
man broadcasts reflected the in
creased tension on Marshal von
Rundstets’ entire invasion front,
facing troop-packed England, as
the temperature over the glassy
Straits of Dover reached an unof
ficial 100 degrees shortly before
noon today, with official report
claims of 81 in the shade.
Nazi commentators asserted
that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
missed on the favorable invasion
da‘e, when the tides and weather
were perfect. One observer cried
out, “Germany would prefer the
invasion to come today, rather
than tomorrow.”
The statement suggested that
the enemy defenses had at least
once been brought up to the nerve
racking peak of alertness, only to
find that Hitler’s command had
guessed wrong.
“It is no longer a secret that
the British have missed on the
invasion date,” the German Trans
Ocean Agency said.
Quoting hte foreign office
spokesman, the ^jNB said, “There
can be no doubt that the original
date fixed for the invasion has
passed, but there are so many
symptoms and speculations con
nected with the next date tha4
Germany cannot possibly be ta
ken by surprise.”
A Swiss paper, “Gazette Do
Lausanne”, gave new clues to the
defense problem of Von Rund
stet, complicated by railroads
snarled and tangled to profusion
by allied bombers.
The paper said, “There is in
creasing fear of a general day of
strike by French railroad work
ers. The Nazis are sending in
more key men to take over the
responsible positions ”
j Nazi broadcasts asserted the
allies had passed up the most
favorable invasion opportunity
because they found out its le
gions of men and stupendous ar
ray of equipment is not as ready
for the great event as they
thought.
PACIFIC PATRO L—Planes on a U. S. aircraft carrier in the Pacific outline the distant shape
*'-> of another carrier as a task force sweeps the sea.
FIFTH ARMY
TROOPS PUSH
THROUGH LINE
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NAPLES. May 29.—<AP>—Fifth
Army troops s'ormed toward four
main strongholds in the Rome
area today, against fierce resis*
ance, thrusting forward and push
ing a wedge through the lines,
only 15 miles from the eternal
city, headquarters declared.
Three of the 18 German divi
s ons were virtually destroyed in
'he broad offensive, which was
launched May 11th, and in which
more than 11,000 prisoners were
taken.
Overwhelming Aprilia, the once
bitterly contested beachhead fort
ress, the Fifth Army forces punch
ed north to ihe outskirts of Com
polene, the closest penetration to
ward Rome in the east.
The Fifth Army has advanced
within 2,000 yards to Valmontene,
and shelled 'he town on the road
to Cassilina, the main escape
route.
• Eight German divisions are be
ing pushed back on the front to
the southeast, on the Campoleone
Valamonto line.
Other forces have fought their
way to the outskirts of Valletri
on the Appian Way, and closed
in upon Lanuvia, four miles to
the southwest, where the Alban
hills- begin to rise out of the
Pontine Marshes.
The communique from the
front, stated that “Despite several
sharp German coun'er attack!?,
the Americans are advancing
slowly in the direction of Rome.”
A battle front dispatch from
AP Correspondent Edward Ken
nedy, declared meanwhile, “the
British Eighth Army in the Liri
and Sacco Valleys to the south
west, pushed ahead, breaking
down the German rear guard
bands.
SHISHMAREF BOY IN
NOME ON FURLOUGH
Cpl. Earl Scott, of Shishmaref,
has been waiting in Nome several
days for transportation to his
home. His furlough will soon be
over, but he hopes to make the
trip.
America Is No
Better Prepared
For Peace,’ Said
WASHINGTON. D. C.. May 29.
—\\P>—"America is no better
prepared for peace now than it
was prepared for war when Ja
pan struck at Pearl Harbor,”
James B. Burns, president of the
American Federation of Govern
ment Employees, division of the
AFL, said in participa'ion in a
radio broadcast.
Burns added:
"The AFL favors the immed
iate enactment of the Kilgore
Bill, and participation with rep
resentatives of industry, labor,
and agricul'ure in the formulat
ing of policies for post-war pro
duction, and that it is said to
mean an all-out for practical
steps for re-conversion, worked
out by people of experience who
know how to set aside unwork
able experiments.”
Hitler Confers
With Jap Diplomat
LONDON, May 29.—fAP)—
Adolph Hi'ler conferred with Ja
pan’s ambassador in Berlin today
on acute “questions of Japanese
German collaboration.”
The German radio said, “Just
what Hitler expects from diplo
mate Lt. Gen. Hiroshi Oshima is
too hard a question for allied ob
servers to fa4hom.”
The meeting took place at Hit
ler’s headquarters.
Foreign Minister Joachim von
Ribbentrop is at present watching
the invasion coast.
The Berlin radio ven4ured a
guess that “General Dwight D.
Eisenhower is waiting for fresh
troops from America before strik
ing.”
FUNERAL OF CHILD
TO BE WEDNESDAY
Funeral services will be held in
the Eskimo church Wednesday
afternoon at 2:00 p. m. for 8
month-old Timothy Garfield, who
was found smothered to death
Sunday morning. The child is
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Garfield.
AMERICANS
PENETRATE
BURMA B\SE
KANDY, Ceylon, May 29.—<AP>
—American and Japanese forces
have penetrated deeper into the
main Japanese north Burma base
of Myitkyina, but some 35 miles
to the west, near the town of
Mogaung. The British and Chin
dits have withdrawn from posi
tions astride the enemy’s com
munication lines from the south,
where they have held positions
since last March, blocking the
Mandalay-Myi’kyina railway.
The southeast Asia command
communique said they retired
after five days of heavy lighting,
with reinforced Japanese forces.
The air-borne Chindits have been
fighting behind the Japanese lines
of the Eighteenth Division, which,
in turn, faces the Chinese in Mo
gaung Valley.
Penetra’tng the southern end
of Myitkyina, the American Chin
ese troops said they had cut the
Japanese exit in that direction,
after two days of fighting.
Aided by clear weather, allied
planes supported the fighting
around Myitkyina , where the
enemy to the westward thrust
forward in an attempt- to rein
force the Myitkyina garrison, and
met with heavy losses.
- |
Invitations Are
Issued Bv Douglas
SANTA MONICA, Cal., May 29.1
—<AP>—Invitations were sent;
out by Mr. and Mrs. Donald W.:
Douglas, for the wedding to take
place June 10th, of their daugh
ter, Barbara, to Lt. William Ar
nold, U. S. Army Coast Artillery,
and son of the atrchief, General
Arnold, U. S. Army air forces.
Douglas is president of the
Douglas Aircraft Co.
MISS JUDITH BOCKMAN
VISITS IN NOME
Miss Judith Bookman is in
Nome over the week-end, visiting
with her mother, Mrs. Helen
Bockman. Judith is employed at
Ladd Field.
U. S. ARMADA
DRIVE DEEP
OVER GERMANY
LONDOO, May 29 —CAP>—An
allied armada, presumably LT. S.
bombers flying from Britain,
drove deep across Germany to its
farthest reaches in lower Saxony
and Pomerania, the Serlin radio
declared today, while another
fleet struck up from Italy in the
German-held Danube area
The Germans declared heavy
air battles were being fought,
with the Nazi fighters striking
through the allied fighter escort
screens into the bomber forma
tions.
The daylight assaults capped
the RAF raids and kept the snow
balling air offensive rolling un
checked, by assaults on the north
western French railroad center of
Angers, the German chemical
edy of Ludwigshafen and other
targets on the French invasion
coast.
The largest American aerial
armada yet dis ;irchad, delivered
its load of firv explosives, bomb
ing a dozen German targets Sun
day.
The raided targets included
five of 'he much-neeied synthetic
oil plants around Leipsig, Dres
den, Magdeburg and Zeitx, and
the very heart of the German
Reich.
The U. S. communique said ex
tensive fires and explosions were
recorded in the fuel factories of
the Ruhrland. Lutzenkendorf,
Merseburg, Magdeburg and Zeitx.
The German tank and armored
vehicle plan's at Konigsborn suf
fered heavy and extensive dam
age.
All the principal buildings were
hit, the communique said, in the
first big tactical operation today.
The German radio did not re
port the Reich clear of planes at
any time until 4:00 p. m
IS STIL MOOT
question;
SAYS DEWEY
UNDATED — To the long
standing fact that Gov. Dewey
would not come out in the repub
lican presidential nomination is
added the news that he is willing
“to express my views” on plat
form matters. He is doing exact
ly “nothing” to discourage the
talk of his long" pre-convention
lead.
The new development came
from a press conference on the
eve of the national conference in
Hershey, Pa., where the New
Yorker told questioners that
whether he would accept the nom
ination if it was tendered, “Was
the hypothetical question.”
Delegate listings show 336 to
64 of the votes pledged for Dew
ey over Bricker, his nearest ri
val.
Special political significance
was given to the speech given by
Governor Dewey at the special
appearance of the potential nomi
nees.
Bricker said in a press confer
ence, “In times like these, the
candida4e should discuss all issues
vital to his country and pertinent
to the office he seeks.”
Bricker did not reply to a
question whether he was talking
about Dewey, but if Dewey wants
to take up the matter, he has
another chancf tonight, when he
is on the program in Hershey,
with a speech entitled, “Organ
izing the State for the Future.”