Oldest Newspaper 3n Alaska. w13ie iNews of lhe l)av In Pictures" Member of I he Associated Press
Per Copy 154
Navy Reports 10,000 Japs Aleutians
Nazis Back In Don River Rend Area
German Find Soft Spot Fast of Rostov
And Make Mam Drive Isolate i ancasirs
UNDATED. July 30 (.fb — Hitler’s invasion armies, ;
racing, to the Caspian Sea, reported that they have
cut the last major rail line to the Caucasian oi- fields. |
In the north, the Russians declared thev h-\e beaten
off .all German attempts to hammer wedges :nK the So
viet lines, above Stalingrad. Late dispatches in floated
that the Germans found a "soft spot" in the Russian
defenses cast of Rostov and are exerting their main
efforts in a drive to isolate the Caucasus.
Second Front Plans Couldn’t Be Divulged
Meanwhile, amid widespread agitation for an Ai
led invasion of western Europe, Sir Stafford Cripps
again told parliament that plans regarding a second
front couldn’t be divulged. Ho said the government
is not able to reveal such plans "even in secret ses
sion." Eut in response to a member’s question, he
added: "You can tell them row we have intentions."
London papers mentioned Gen. George C. Marshal
as a possible Allied generalissimo of a second front.
Stalin Invokes Names of Past Russian Heroes
In the Soviet campaign, the situation appeared to
be growing rapidly more acute in the northern Cau
casus where the Russians acknowledged fresh Nazi
advances at several points. Stalin,in a message to the
Russian people, invoked the names of Russian great
i heroes of the past as inspiration in the present crisis,
recalling such figures as Alexander Nevsky, who beat
the ancient. Teutons, and Mikhail Kutuzov, whose re
sistance helped turn Napoleon’s Russian invason int
disaster.
The German command asserted broadlv that the
Russian line of retreat in the east was cut off at the
great Don River bend, but gave no details.
Dispatches to the Red Star said that a gigantic 7
day battle is raging at the Don bend, above Stalin
grad, involving thousands of troops, planes, field
guns and tanks. The Red Star said the Germans reach
ed the eastern bank of the river in one sector, but
were driven back. Pravda, the Communst paper, >aid
Germany is now throwing her last resources into the
great summer offensive.
Aerial Warfare
Breaks Out In
Australian Area
■
Gen. Mac Arthur’s Herd
quarters, July 31 (-P) — In
‘he :gesf outburst of aer
ial "’urfare n the Austral-1
ion ns a since the Coral
Sea 'i itt e. American fliers
in Curtiss ‘‘Kittyhawks”
yesterday shot down nine
Jr p " ders over Darwin,
an ■ ■ ■ mod one or possib
ly ' -vrr New Guinea,
wh o ' : ivy Allied bomb-1
ers. * ' ur.dr ?d miles north
of N Guinea, set a rag
in_ ir • in a Jap transport
and -h t ud the destroyer
escort ^ ' |
One American plane was
shot d at. at Danvin but
the plot parachuted to
safety. The American fight,
e.s •■ •re into an attacking,
for ot 27 heavy bombers;
and 22 escorting Zero fight;
ers over Darwin. A com
munique called it a “bril-j
liar, nterception.”
Murphy Explains
Political Change
Ex-Covertior of New Hampshire
Repudiates ‘Stumbiing, Petty
Republican Leadership
NASHUA, N. H.. July — For
rr t Governor Francis P. Mur
phy set forth his reasons for
changing his party enrollment
f m Republican to Democrat.
He accused “the synthetic and
.-.tumbling leadership’’ of the Re
publican party of “petty partisan
hip" aimed at “personal and pel
deal aggrandizement at the sac
rifice of principle."
Asserting that he had lost con
tidi nee in that leadership, he ex
pressed the conviction that the
Democratic party was “best ad
apted as a political instrument to
carry on the war and guide our
d dmies whe npeace is conclud
ed" In his statement Mr. Mur
phy said:
i am entirely opposed, and
have been for some time, to the
-synthetic and stumbling leader
ship of the Republ.can party in
these dangerous times. There is
n.j program worthy of the great
tradition of the Republican par
ty in a period when the nation is
:i' dire peril and when all of our
people are determined to con
tribute, without stint, the last
ounce of their energies and re
sources to maintain their rights
aril freedoms.
'Within the psuedo leadership
of the Republican party there
exists a spirit of petty partisan- >
hip. Men of mediocre talents
aveby chance been thrust into
places of power in the party or
ganization. But tiiey do not lead.
Their aim is personal and polit
ical aggrandizement at the sac
rifice of principle.
"They have abandoned the par
ty faiih as expounded by Alex
ander H imtilton. who said:
‘The amelioration of the con
ditions of mankind and the in
crease of human happiness ought
to be the leading objects of every
political institution, and the aim
of every individual, according to
the measure of his power, in the
Soviets Beat Off
Germans At Don
River Bend Area
Moscow, July 31 (rP) —
Soviet troops are reported
beating off German attacks
in the Kletskaya area of
the Don River bend, after
tuning back powerful as
sault formations which in
cluded novel flying-wedge
massed infantry and walls
of tanks.The Soviet inform
ation Bureau said, in one
sector 120 enemy tanks
were destroyed and more
than 2.000 officers and men
[killed. Fresh Soviet gains
were also reported in the
| bitter battle of Voronezh,
; but they admitted they
[ lost ground below Rostov.
Germans Cross
! Don River On
130-Mile Front
--
Berlin. July 31 (A5) — Ger
man. Rumanian, and Slo
I vak troops crossed the low
| er Don. on a 150-mile front
| and already thrust spear
heads 112 miles south of
the stream, the high com
mand declared, and are
now fighting for the town
of Salsk, junction point of
the railways from the Cau
casus to Stalingrad, 100
miles southeast of Rostov.
situation he occupies.'
‘This betrayal of the princip!
esof a great party, for that is
what it amounts to. is deeply re
sented by many of its members,
but the time n inapipropriate for
the inevitable house-cleaning,
when the nation is fighting for its
existence and unity is apove all
essential.
“Th# highest form of patriot
ism as I construe it, is to main
tain an independence and integ
rity of thinking and action, while
at the same time neglecting
small differences, carping crit
icism and any attitude which
conflicts with our common pur
pose of wining the war at the
cost of any and all sacrifice.
“I have lost confidence in the
leadership of the Republican par
ty nationally and in this State to
meet the problems that this great
crisis presents to the nation at
the present time, and firmly be
lieve that each individual, at a
time like this, should make his
contribution as his conscience
and his God direct him.
“In our system of democracy
one must work and fight for iprin
ciple in one political party or
another. It is my conviction that
in this day and age the Demo
cratic party is best adapted as a
political instrument to carry on
the war and guide our destinies
when peace is concluded.
“Therefore I sincerely and firm
■ !y believe it to be my duty, as
■ American, to contribute my hum
ble part in the support of the
magnificent and inpiring leader
hip of Franklin D. Roosevelt.’’
-—New York Times
<uy Defense Bonds and Stamp.
Aavv Reports 10.000 Japs In Aleutians
WASHINGTON, Juiv 31 (.P) — A naval spokesman
' a:d taut there are about 10.000 Japs in the western
Adr ians but aerial reconnaissance has failed to show
any in the Pribilofs. His remarks were made in re
sponse to inquiries prompted by reports that the en
emy had occupied the island. “We are not in a position
to say that the Japanese aren’t there but we have no
evidence that they are.” Asked whether the Navy in
vesigated recently, an official who declined to be
quoted by name said “Yes, we have, by aerial reconn
naissance, but we have seen no Japs.”
When asked about the number of Japs in the Aleu
tians he said: “We believe that there are not more
than 10,000, probably about one-half shore and one
half afloat.” The islands said to be occupied are still
only Attu, Kiska and Agattu.
RUSSIANS REVIEW HEROIC YEAR
MOSCOW. July — Soviet Rus
sia ends the first year of war pro
foundly and, many would say.
permanently changed. In the
long run it may be that the
most important of these changes
has been in the minds and hearts
f the Russian people who have j
j come to regard in a new light
, their country’s past, their fellow !
j citizens and the lands with which j
! they are now firmly bound in ‘
! alliance.
I The Kremlin knows tae peo
ple, Front the aar’s beginning It
is • i them a stiff course Stern
efforts were demanded of the
.corkers and the Red Army dur
ing tiie Winter. No veils have
been drawn over the horrors of
the German occupation and the
terrible trail of the aggressor has
been made famliar by poster and
jphotograph.
Germany’s Full Might
For many months the people
1 were told that they were taking
on Germany’s full might almost
i alone, and though assurances
from ighest quarters that Hitler
could be beaten this year were 1
an encouragement to the people j
to “stick it,” they also constitut
ed an order to make every effort
to turn the possibility into a
reality. The idea has been kept i
firmly before the people that it
is in a man's power to make his ;
own history and that there are
no inevitable currents by which i
Soviet Russia could sail to vic
tory, just because fascism was a ■
doomed creed
Invocation of the heroic past j
! has done much to steady morale, j
but much also is due to the:
sober optimism which has filter
ed down from above and which '
lias found its most remarkable j
expression in Premier Stalin’s !
| fighting speeches of Nov. 6 and i
7, when the enemy was hammer- ■
j mg at the gates of Moscow and 1
the Siberian divisions were j
i scarcely in line. Since then the I
j war itself has added much to the i
heroic legend and the people do i
not need to look so far back
into history to find examples.
In literature, the theatre and
the cinema the heroes of this
war are becoming more prom
inent. Much writing is devoted
to dauntless defenders of Lenin
grad, and the Sevastopol battle is
i now stirring Russia as no other
episode of the war. Films are
being made of the late General
Panfilov’s Eighth Divisions of
Guards which during October
broke down tiie attack of four
German divisions before Mos
cow. Red Army theatres have
presented plays about guerrillas,
vvhile in Moscow several plays
are running based on events of
the war. Many sculptors are
working on monuments of fam
ous soldiers and guerrillas which
are intended for a great exhibi
tion to celebrate the twenty-fifth
anniversary of tire October Revo
lution.
The War in Music
Tiie war has had an even more
remarkable effect on Soviet mu
sic. Apart from Shostakovich's
strongly impressionistic Seventh
Symphony and Prokoviev's suite
“1941." the same composer’s
opera “War and Peace," Dzer
zhinsky's opera “Blood of the
People," on the guerrilla theme;
the choral music of Victor Byely
whose “Songs of Wrath" has a
Yugoslav theme, there has occur
red a blossoming forte, of pop
ular community songs.
Soldiers returning from the
front bring a large number of
sentimental, nostgalic tunes not
yet heard at the base. Jaunty
combative songs, howev >r, still
are very popular, including one
dedicated to Angio-Russian com
radeship at Murmansk, called
“Okay."
To the encouragement from
the past, distant and recent, is
added the knowledge, which is
being filled out daily that Great
Britain and the United States
are now' in line with Soviet Rus
sia in the war. There is much of
the Allies' war effort still un
known; a vigilant censor still re
stricts knowledge of the tremen
dous battle of the Arctic route
and as little is known of the ef
forts on the home front. But it
is results not preparation that
people are interested in. Their
own experience tells them that
material aid from the Allies is
reaching them and the RAP of
fensive cheers far more than
news of self-imposed privation
or increased austerity in customs.
Profound Changes
A year of war has brought
many profound changes in ways
of life. There is scarcely a fam
ily that has not been bereaved.
There is uncertainty about the
fate of millions. A vast army of
workers has given up the homes
which during the past four or
five years gained elements of
comfort denied during the hard
period of construction. In the fac
tory, on the farm and in the pub
lie services the aged and young
are working long hours in emer
gency conditions
The enormous vitality and re
cuperaitve powers of the Rus
sian people, their power of ad
aptation to the most unfavorable
circumstances, the patience with
which individuals make the ut
most sacrifices to promote the
strength of the State, their buoy
ant health and cheerful optim
ism—these are apparent in every
phase of Soviet life today.
By Ralph Parker, New York
Times.
%
SECOND YEAR OF WAR ON RED FRONT
RUSSIA 1
I
j
i
»
!
II was jupt over a year ago that Hitler launched his attack on
Russia, an attack which progressed steadily until the German
Armies were stopped late in November on the thresholds of
Moscow and Leningrad. This map summarizes the first year of
battle. The start of Hitler’s attack, June 22, 19*1 was marked by
three main sweeps: to Leningrad, toward Moscow via Smolensk,
and through the Ukraine with multi-pronged drives. Broken line
shows farthest gains made by Nazis up to December. Through
the winter Reds kept hammering at the Leningrad^Staraya Rus
sa sector, pecked away around the Rzhev pocket, tried the pinc
ers around Smolensk, pushed the line back toward Kursk, loosed
a smashing drive at Kharkov and points south — and recaptured
shaded area, including the key point of Rostov.