Oldest Newspaper In Alaska. “The News Of The Day In Pictures" Memlwr Of 1'lie Associated Press
VOL. 42. No. 150. NOME, ALASKA. MONDAY, DEC. 9. 1940 _Price per c°pt m
London A Glowing Sea Of Fire
Anti-aircraft Defenses Almost Collapse 12-hr. Raid
Italian Army Retreating North Of Argirocastro
Mussolini’s Command Admits The
Fascist Army Is Retreating To
New Defense North of Agirocastro
Athens Crowds Rejoice and Roar .‘On To Rome’
Refugees Impede Italain Troop Movements
UNDATED. Dec. 9 </P) — In
the Balkan war, Mussolini’s com
mand admitted that the Fascist
Eleventh Army retreated to a
new defense line north of Ar
girocastro, Italy’s last big base
in southern Albania which was
captured yesterday.
Wild rejoicing swept through
out Greece as the fall of the
key city spurred them to greater
heights. Dispatches from the
front said the Greek troops were
plunging ahead, striking toward
the road and junction town of
Tepelini, 15 miles north of Ar
girocastro. The Italians fleeing
beck along the Tepelini road
were reported harassed by Greek
cavalry and bombed and ma
chine gunned by Greek warplan
es.
Shouting and singing thou
sands jammed the streets of
Athens roaring “On to Rome”
when premier General Mctaxas
waved from an open window at
general staff headquarters.
British r ports said the roads
north of the battlefront were
choked with refugees streaming
toward Tirana, the capital of A1
bania in such numbers that the
Italian troop movements were im
peded.
New Head Italian High Command
Is High Ranking Fascist, World
War Veteran Gen, Ettore Bastico
Fascist Chief to Confer with German Gen. Keitel
UNDATED, D.c. 7 i(/P) — Har
assed by the Gr eks, Italy made
another change in the high com
mand, replacing Brigadier Gen
eral Cesar Maria de Vecchi de
Val Cismon, commander of the
Aegean forms, with General Et
tore Bastico, commander of the
army of the Po. There was no
official comment made but Bss
tico is one of the highest rank
ing Fascists in the country and u
world war veteran who took part
in the march on Rome with Mus
solini in 1922.
The British broadcasting com
panv announced n utral sources
ss saying the new Italian chief
of general staff, General Ugo Cav
allero is going to confer soon
with general field marshal Wil
helm Keitel, chief of the Germ
an high command.
Athens dispatches said the It
ilians abandoned the important
ity of Argirocastro, leaving it
partly in flames as the Greeks
till doggedly advanced.
In Albania, two other Greek
olturns were reported advane -
ng both striking toward Elbas
ni from different routes.
12-Hour Raid on London Leaves
“Glowing Sea Of Fire" Visible
From F rench Goast ()() Miles Away
German Pilots Report That London Defenses Almost
Collapse — Nine Hospitals Are Reported Hit
UNDATED, Dec. 9 '(/P) — Hit
ler's command said German war
planes left “a great glowing sea
of fire” in London after the heav
iest assault since the aerial seigej
of Britain began, in a 12-hour
raid in which 700 tons of explo
sives and hundreds of tons of
incendiaries were dropped. A
Nazi communique said “in many
places great fires were started
and gas containers flew into the
air in gigantic flames as oil tanks
caught fire and smoked heavily.”
Returning German pilots said
London’s defenses almost collaps
ed in the second half of the mass
ed onslaught and that th; city’s
| anti-aircraft batteries after fu
rious early barrages appeared
lacking in ammunition. Other
German airmen said that hardly
any shots were fired at them as
they flew over London at low
altitudes. The flr:s burning in the
capital they said were visible
clear across the channel on the
Fiench coast, ninety miles away.
London to New
York Cable Out
For Six Hours
UNDATED, Dec. 7 </P)— In the
battle for Britain the govertn
ment announced that Bristol, one
of the chief ports of the west
coast bore the brunt of last
night’s bombing attacks and that
the London cable facilities to
New York w:re out for 6 hours.
Captured Italian soldiers (at left) wait their turn— icss kits in hand—to be ladled food by the Greek
army cook at right. This picture was rushed from Athens to Belgrade, telephotoed to Berlin and
then radioed to the United States.
London dispatches admitting
widespread property damage,
said exc pt for a pre-dawn lull
when the fog rolled in, the city
was blasted by explosions and lit
up by fires and shell bursts from
dusk to early morning. A London
resident said it “seemed as if it
were raining incendiary bombs
by the hundreds.’’
Nine hospitals were reported
hit, including a huge general hos
pital and a hospital for women.
One hospital suffered a direct
hit and inflicted many casualties
among the staff and patients.
East of London a number of vic
tims were feared trapped in an
,?ir raid shelter when a bomb ex
pioded close by.
In one phase of the attack, the
attackers reportedly flew in par
allel lines across the city drop
ping long rows of fire bombs.
One observers said the G rmans
came in “endless waves,” the din
of motors rising above the crash
of antiaircraft guns.
German Raider
Damages Cruiser
MONTEVIDEO, Dec. 7 (TP) —
The British armd merchant
cruiser Carnarvon Castle was
damaged in a sea fight with a
German raider and slid past the
breakwater in the harbor show
ing four shell impacts on the
starboard side and others on only
the smokestack. Several thou
sand persons gr-eted the ship,
shouting “Viva."
Mexico Negotiates
For Destroyers
UNDATED, Dec. 7 (TP) — Au
thoritative sources in Mexico
City said negotiations for the
transfer of 6 to 12 old typo U.
S. destroyers to Mexico, in re
turn for the use of Mexican nav
al facilities, are under way.
Compulsory Food
Storage In Italy
UNDATED. D:c. 7 (TP) —Italy
decreed a year’s imprisonment
and confiscation of crops of any
Italian farmer who withholds pro
ducts from compulsory storage,
A U. S. Department of Agricul
ture report a week ago emphasiz
ed the seriousness of the Italian
food situation with spaghetti, rice
and flour added to the ration
lists.
The Vichy government, by de
cree reorganized the nation’s ag
rieultural structure on cooperat
ive basis with farm strikes and
| lockout prohibited. The peasants
are to be organized by families.
Armv Takes Huge Area Fairbanks
TRACT 30 BY 50 MILES
NEAR FAIRBANKS BE USED
FOR GUNNERY PRACTICE
For test firing and gunnery
practice und-r sub-zero condi
tions, a tract of land 30 miles
land and 50 miles wide on the _
south side of Tanana river from.
Fairbanks is wanted by the War
Department.
In addition, a tract,three miles
* • t
wide and three miles long con
necting- Ladd Field on the north
side of the Tanana with the im
mense test-firing and gunnery-1
practice tract on th enorth side
Leaves Sweden
STOCTIOLM, Dec. 7 {IP) — U.
S Ambassador to Russia, Lau
rence Steinhardt departed sud
denly to go to Moscow, termin
ating his visit here ten days
ahead of schedule.He went via
lieisiiiki \ la aieaiiitl.
NEW JAPANESE ENVOY U. S.
TOKYO. D c. 6 — A Japanese
Foreign Office spokesman said'
that the newly appointed Am
basador to Washington, Admiral
Nomura, would sail for the Unit
ed States on December 12. No
mura will sail aboard the Jap
ar.ese liner Nitta Muru.
of the river is wanted by the
War Department.
Information to this effect was
made public by A. J. McCrary,
special agent of the Division of
Investigation of the Department
of the Interior, who arrived in
Fairbanks last Saturday from his
headquarters in San Francisco.
Both tracts of land now are un
der jurisdicaton of the Depart^
ment of the Interior. Their with
drawal from entry and their
transfer to the War Department
have been formally requested by
War Department, and the request
undoubtedly will be granted
forthwith.
NEW TRAINING BASES,
VIRGIN ISLES, NEGROES
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6—A pro
posal that naval and air bases
be set up in the \'rgin Islands
to train Negro air pilots and
sai ors was laid before President
Roosevelt in a letter from Edgar
Brown, director of the National
Negro Council.
Brown took note of visits be
ing made by high officials to the
strat. gic Caribbean and suggest
ed plans devoted to the d veiop
ment of the new bases in that
area. Ini these connections, ha
asked that attention be given to
facilities afforded on the Virgin
Islands for bringing N-gro sol
diers and sailors into the air and
fleet program.
King George of Greece (left) examines a map with Generalissimo
Alexander Papagos of the Greek army. Scene of this conference
was not disclosed. The Greeks captured Koritza. Italian base in
Albania. This picture was telephotoed from Belgrade to Berlin and
| then radioed to New York.
1 i