THE NOME NUGGET
OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN ALASKA—MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOL. 47.—No. 50. NOME, ALASKA, MAY 1, 1944. PER COPY—15c
i
U. S. CONTINUES
POUNDING OF
JAP-HELD AREAS
ADVANCED ALLIED HEAD
QUARTERS IN THE SOUTH
WEST PACIFIC, May 1.^-fAP)—
Allied sea and air forces directed
a steadily mounting series of at
tacks against Japanese air bases
in areas west of captured Hol
landia, with the emphasis being
placed on Schouten Islands just
north of 'he Geelvink Bay, Gen
eral MacArthur reported today.
Making the longest raid from
New Guinea, bases, Liberators
jumped off the Makmer airstrip
to Biak Island, only 125 miles
east of the enemy's stronghold at
Old Manakwari, where a dozen
Japanese planes *ried to head off
the attack and lost three and
probably five of their intercept
ors.
The Liberators dumped 77 tons
of bombs, hurling them into fue1
dumps and parked aircraft. At
least 15 were wrecked.
Three attacking bombers were
damaged but all planes returned
to their base.
Saturday night, five and six
inch guns aboard allied warships
hammered Japanese installations
at Wakde with 75 tons of explos
ive shells, after heavy bombers
poured 51 tons into coastal posi
tions in that area. Coastal guns
were silenced and buildings were
shattered. Large fires were start
ed in the area, also.
RED CROSS TO
BENEFIT FROM
HALIBUT CATCH
KETCHIKAN, May 1— (API—
The Alaska Fund of the Ameri
can Red Cross will be enriched by
approximately $2,500 from the
sale of “hot” halibut Saturday,
after securing releases on 20,000
pounds of halibut caught by Cap
tain Lars Larsen and his crew on
the fishing boat Rainier, which
put out to sea before the halibut
fleet, tied up in protest to OPA
ceilings.
The Fish and Wildlife Service
awarded the cargo by lot to buy
er Olan Bernhoffe, with only the
actual cost of ou'fitting to be re
turned to the Rainier, the balance
of the price of the catch would
go to the Red Cross.
CANADIAN SHIP
SUNK IN BATTLE
i
LONDON, May 1.—(AP)—A
Canadian destroyer was sunk in i
a torpedo naval battle in the Eng
lish Channel Saturday, and a
German destroyer was set afire
and driven ashore on the French
coast, the Admiralty announced
today.
Later, Royal Canadian Air
Force planes scored several hits
on the German vessel.
RECAPTURE GEB
AFTER FOUR DA
SEATTLE, May 1,—tAP)—Four,
German prisoners of war, who
escaped from Fort Lewis Prison
ers-of-War camp this week, were
recaptured, two are still at large.'
The three who left camp Sat
urday night were picked up near
Roy, 10 miles south, early Sunday
morning. They were Helmut Wet
NIGHT SHIFT TAKES OVER — Welders’ arcs and floodl’ ;hts give a holiday atmosphere to this night scene along the
. _ _ M *» VVt/i cl that N«w bug laud Shipbuilding Corporation yards located in South Portland, Maine.
Whitehorse Refinery Is Dedicated
WHITEHORSE, Y. T„ May 1.
—<AP—Th*» Cano! project on ti e
farther north oil field in the
world. is a venture ranking with
the 1500-mile Alaska Highway,
as one of the greatest engineer
ing feats of Canada’s war effort,
which opened the northwest to
the world, Sunday became a real
ty before Canadian and Ameri
can officials, on the outskirts of
this gold-rush town, at the refin
ery which linked the 595-mile,
above the ground 4-in. pipeline to
its source at Fort Norman, North
wes“ Territory.
•‘The project was offkdnHv
opened in a mid-afternoon cere
mony.
The Canol project was under
taken as an ‘‘emergency measure”
because enemy action threatened
the lines of supply to the United
S*ates forces in Alaska,” Prime
Minister MacKenzie King said
Brig. Gen. L. D Worsham, com
manding the Northwest Service
Command, and responsible for the
Canol project refinery, declared.
"AH works of the United States
Army in northwest Canada and
Alaska, have been designed for
the sole reason that we are at war
with a very powerful foe, and the
Canol project is one of many de
velopments designed to defeat
the enemy. Therefore, I do not
believe there is any more just
cause than the refinery be dedi
ca'ed today to the utter defeat of
the Japanese Empire.”
The refinery will furnish avia
tion fuel to planes using a series
of airfields from Edmonton to
Fairbanks, gasoline for army
trucks ancl equipment rolling
along the Alaska highway, and
for diesel fuel tractors and simi
lar equipment.
Geologists estimated the poten
tial possibilities of the field to be
between 50.000 and 100,000 bar
rels, and that the United States
would re’ain ownership of the
pipeline until the end of the war,
when it will be offered for sale
to the Canadian government
which has the first right of pur
chase .
NAVY REPORTS
ANTI-AIRCRAFT
FIRE MEAGRE'
WASHINGTON, May 1.—fAP>
—The Navy reported the latest of
a long series of attacks on the
Japanese bases in the Truk atoll,
produced '‘meagre" anti-aircraft
fire, and enemy planes kept out
of the attackers way.
Forty-one tons of bombs wen
diopped on the Truk atoll Friday,
and on Ponape the same day, fol
lowed by a 65-ton raid on re
maining objectives in the Mar
shalls, the announcement said.
CONFERS WITH
AMBASSADOR
I
—
WASHINGTON, May 1.—fAP»
—Edward Stettinius, under-seere
tary of state, is now in north Af
rica, conferring with W.- Averell
Harriman, ambassador to Russia,
and Robert Murphy, American
political adviser on the staff of
the allied commander of the Medi
terranean area.
MAN PRISONERS
YS OF FREEDOM
zel, Hans Lermun and Herman
Fischer. The fourth, Otto Zitske,
32, escaped Wednesday. He ap
proached Louis Vander Flatts of
Tacoma on the street Saturday
and asked him if he could speak
German.
Flatts said he would find some
one, then notified the police.
American Bombers Hit
German Installations
LONDON, May 1—<AP>—Oyer
a thousand American bombers
and fighters smashed German in
statin'ions in northern France in
a powerhouse sendoff to the 17fh
day m succession of pre-invasion
offensives, sustaining the over
night campaign of the offensive
with RAF heavy bombers, and
blasted a great ammunition dump
at Maintenon, 37 miles southeast
of Paris, and two more targets
and rail centers in northern
France.
The night blows followed up
tire 3,000-plane load of bombs de
livered yesterday to anti-invasion
targets.
Allied headquar'ers in Naples
announced that Italian-based
bombers hit heavily at Genoa, the
big Nazi-held Italian port, for the
third straight night, after a fleet
of more than 500 planes rained ex
plosives in the Milan rail yards
and other targets • in northern
Italy.
—
BROADCASTING
STATION OPENS
WAR CAMPAIGN
LONDON, May 1.—(AP)—1The
allies’ pre-invasron nerve war re
ceived a new United States broad
casting station in Great Britain,
which launched its first opera
tional campaign Sunday, telling
the peoples of occupied countries
in Europe, that the allies were
coming to their aid before long
‘‘from the West and from the
south," with the twin blows to be
struck in cooperation with the
Russian forces attacking from the
east, to show the Germans ‘‘what
overwhelming force can be the
end forever, of the shameful Nazi
chapter of tyranny.”
Robert Sherwood, director of
the Or W. I. tOffice of War In
formation), overseas operations,
delivered the first message initiat
ing the station, which in the fu
ture will be known as “ABSIE*’.
Sherwood urged the under
ground workers in Europe to hold
themselves in readiness for the
invasion signal.
PREMIER TELLS
OF AMERICA’S
CONTRIBUTION
__ __ 1
LONDON, May 1.—(AP>—Prem
ier Joseph Stalin, in a triumphant
May-Day order, in a broadcast
from Moscow, “acknowledged
considerable contribution” from
America and Britain for Russia’s
victories, but that ‘‘there can be
no doubt that only their combin
ed blows can crush Hitlerite Ger
many completely, for the libera
tion of occupied countries, and the
deliverance of the Poles, Czechs,
and all the others, whom he des
cribed as brothers in bondage.”
The freeing of down-trodden
peoples can only be accomplish
ed by the joint efforts of the Sov
iet Union, Great Britain and the
United States, in joint blows dealt
in the east by our troops, and in
the west by the troops of our al
lies,” he added.
REPORTS LOSS
OF VESSEL AND
COMPLEMENT
WASHINGTON, May 1— iAP>
—The sinking of an American
ship with the loss of 498 mili
tary personnel in the Mediterran
ean, was announced by the War
Department. The date of the sink
ing was not given except that the
department stated that it was re
cent also it was not disclosed by
the department whether or not it
was sunk by aircraft, surface or
submarine action. The announce
ment said “The vessel sank swift
ly."
Next of kin have been notified,
the department said.
CO-ORDINATOR
IN ALASKA AREA
KETCHIKAN, May 1.—rAP>—
V. J. Sampson, Seattle coordina
tor of fisheries in the area, ar
rived yesterday to meet halibut
buyers concerning the allocation
program, which he says will be
compulsory in accordance with an
order being drafted in Washing
ton, D. C.
SOVIET UNION AGREES WITH
CZECHS ON TERRITORY RULE
LONDON, May 1—(AP>—The
Soviet Union agreed with the
Czechoslovak government on the
administration of Czechoslovak
territory liberated by the Red
Army.
Moscow said, quoting the state
ment of Andrei Vishinsky, vice
commisar of foreign affairs, in
an agreement which provided su
preme authority to the military
powers in the operational zone in
Czech territory, be vested in the
supreme commander of the Red
Army, and has long been requir
ed' _■- « jJj
[GEN. STILLWELL
(RECAPTURES
PART OF VALLEY
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, Mar l
—(AP)—Two years after talc
ing a ‘‘hell of a beating' in
Burma, Gen. Stillwell recaptur
ed nearly half of the Mogaung
Valley and sent into action tha
first all-American tank unit to
fight on the Asiatic continent
The announcement said that
medium tanks were spearheading
the drh'e down the valley, and
increased the hopes of "Vinegar
Joe” Stillwell, that they could
reach the enemy base at Mogaung
before the Monsoon rain season
began, which would be in about
two weeks.
At the main Japanese base in
North Burma. Myitkyina, 40 miles
east from the battle front in
northern India, came the reports
that the Japanese forces in this
area were massing for an ail-out
offensive in an assault on Em
phal, the main allied base
MacARTHUR
REFUSES C.O.P.
NOMINATION
WASHINGTON, May I.— AP)
—The republican field narrowed
perceptionally over the week-end
with Gen. MacArthur's unequivo
cal statement Saturday that he
would not accept the nomination
movement to draft him for the
presidency.
This was a knockout punch to
the sad Chicago headquarters of
the “MacArthur for President
Club”, which announced that they
would disband. Thi.-, has been the
greatest burst of political activi
ty in the presidential campaign
thus far.
This month the democrats are
naming delegates representing
476 convention votes, with the
republicans naming 25 L in 28
states.
CHINESE ADMIT
FALL OF I ILL AO
CHUNGKING, May 1 —'AP>—
Chinese field reports admitted the
fall of historic Hulao pass, the
ancient battleground guarding
the way to Loyang, in Honan
Province. This is a distinct blow
to the Chinese.
The eight-day battle preceded
the fall of the pass near the
Yellow river, north of the Lung
sai railway, from which the
Chinese had taken all the tracks.
The invaders were reported to
have begun immediate fortifica
tion of the pass, rushing prepara
tions in a possible drive on Lo
yang.
It was disclosed by U. S. Army
headquarters that American
planes were aiding the Chinese
troops who were battling the in
vaders in an offensive in the
Chenghsien area.