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Newspaper
Athens Messenger
Location
Athens, Ohio, United States of America
Date
Apr 20, 1944
Page
1
Allied daylight raid by Italy-based RAF bombers hit the railway center at Plovdiv Bulgaria as part of a large 36 hour offensive. Crews returning to base reported bomb flashes over the target area.
Allied naval air strikes from carriers and warships hit Sabang and Lhonga airfields in Northern Sumatra and a nearby harbor. The raid targeted dock yards power stations and facilities with direct hits while destroying Japanese ships and aircraft. The operation under Admiral Somerville followed Mountbatten shifting HQ to Ceylon and included heavy bombers fighters and sea forces.
News accounts describe continued Allied and Axis air and ground actions from Rouen to Sevastopol. Soviet reports claim heavy fighting around Sevastopol with counterattacks and prisoner takings, while Lwow changes hands amid attempts to shield supply lines. Cassino street fighting and Anzio prisoner captures are noted along the Adriatic.
Washington announces a revised sugar ration for servicemen on leave. Each man on home leave will receive one pound for every 36 meals or fewer eaten at home, replacing the prior rate of a quarter pound per nine meals.
On Hitler’s 55th birthday, Goering Goebbels and Dietrich called for steadfast German loyalty as they warned of a difficult war period. Goering warned of impending dangers, while Goebbels praised Hitler and minimized Allied bombing effects, framing the leader as misunderstood and crucial to a united Reich.
Washington reports progress in curbing gasoline black markets with no rise in illicit diversion last month. Since year start, 926 arrests were made with 464 convictions and 186 jail sentences. daily drain from legitimate use remains about 2.5 million gallons due to counterfeit and stolen coupons.
Lt. Col. Thomas Hitchcock Jr. 44, head of the U S Ninth Air Force tactical research section and renowned polo athlete, was killed in a plane crash near Salisbury. He earlier joined the Lafayette Escadrille after being denied enlistment in World War I, shot down two enemy planes, and escaped to Switzerland after a thigh wound.
Maj Maitland A Wilson 43 chief engineer at Wright Field Dayton and former Pittsburgh builder pleaded guilty to income tax infractions and was fined 1000 dollars by Federal Judge J P Schoonmaker in Pittsburgh.
An article reports Nazi discussions at Bad Salzbrunn on a postwar European social order. The plan envisions Voelkisch socialism with each people shaping its own system, aiming for a socialist Europe without a proletariat and showing parallels to the 1932 crisis.
Five U S Air Force members on English soil after a German raid saw a JU-188 crash and its pilot bail out. Corporal Robert Messick of Ohio and Private James E Mulcahy of Maryland aided in securing the surrender along with two others who waved and shouted Kamerad and surrendered without resistance.
Admiral Thomas C. Hart, chief investigator of Pearl Harbor events, said intoxication among service men did not contribute to the disaster. He described the conduct of sailors on the eve of December 7, 1941 as exemplary compared with other weekends and offered no further comments until the report is completed. He recently returned to the mainland from the central Pacific.
The Cleveland Army Ordnance District disclosed eight companies are packing 70 pound repair kits to accompany invasion units in the assault on Hitler's fortress Europe. The kits contain spare parts for every type of military machine. The first shipment timing was not announced.
Washington Maj. Gen. Barney M. Giles states the Army Air Force is sending 36,000 personnel back to ground and service forces. The men were former ground and service members who had become crew trainees but had not yet been assigned to preflight schools.
A House Naval subcommittee urged immediate steps to make permanent American possession of Western Hemisphere bases acquired from Britain in the destroyer deal. The bases are currently used under a 99 year lease.
In Columbus, about 3500 to 4000 workers were said idle by a CIO union official amid a dispute over smoking rules and 119 unionists discharged after a rest room protest. The company insists production was normal with the usual workforce on duty.
Ohio Governor John W. Bricker wrapped up a ten day Western campaign trip with a Phoenix luncheon speech. He urged Republicans to win in the fall to save the Democratic Party and attacked government regulation of agriculture as excessive. Bricker claimed lawyers rely on loose leaf books due to shifting regulations and cited a farmer's report of 70 000 government forms filed since the war.
The Ohio CIO Political Action Committee endorsed Mayor Frank G. Lausche for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in the May primary. The committee also endorsed Marvin C. Harrison of Cleveland and William G. Pickrel of Dayton for the Democratic senatorial nomination. Republican incumbent Robert A. Taft of Cincinnati has no opposition.
Joseph H. Larimore, 70, former Westerville mayor and longtime editorial writer for the Ohio State Journal, has died.
War Food Administrator Marvin Jones testified before the House Banking Committee that 1944 farm machinery production will be better than last year but not as good as hoped. He cited shortages of critical materials affecting output of combines side rakes and spreaders.
Ohio farmers received 153.501 million dollars for dairy products last year, up from 81.599 million in 1940, according to the U.S. Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Milk cows rose from 995000 four years ago to 1077000, with total milk production 4.617 billion pounds in 1940 and 4.976 billion last year.
Speculation runs on a Dewey and Warren presidential ticket with Dewey of New York and Warren of California favored by many Republicans. Some aides foresee possible shifts before the nominating conclave opening June 26 in Chicago. Mrs Katherine Kennedy Brown of Ohio argues Bricker could still win the presidential nod, urging belief in his candidacy.
The Regional War report says the CIO United Rubber Workers idle at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. must return to work at once. About 700 workers had resumed, while an estimated 300 defied disciplinary threats from international union president Sherman H. Dalrymple. Union leaders say the stoppage protests the transfer of Black workers.
Columbus 4 inch sales tax receipts totaled 1 307 395 for the week ended April 8 an increase of 275 965 over 1 031 430 for the corresponding week last year State Treasurer Don Ebright reported today.
The War Department confirms a second group of U S transport planes shot down by both Allied and enemy anti aircraft fire, with 44 men lost. The incident occurred July 13-14 near Satania Sicily, and 50 percent of losses attributed to friendly fire. Other incidents include prior Sicily losses and a Marshall Islands shelling accident.
British radio mocked Hitler on his birthday while U S monitors reported losses near Shonga air field. Allied air strikes hit Sabang oil tank and sank torpedo bombers near the fleet as Kohima and Imphal defenses held. Pacific strikes hit Ponape Woleai Satawan Pakin Ulul and Dutch New Guinea targets Rabaul.
A bi partisan group of senators urged that overalls not vanish from the earth. They say the clothing shortage leaves farmers wearing dress clothes while working, with complaints that work clothes are not available in sufficient numbers.
About seventy percent of soft coal operators plan to seek War Labor Board approval to pay miners forty dollars each as back pay for underground travel time. The Southern Operators Association challenges the measure in court.
Goodyear Aircraft Corp reports workers producing Corsair fighters and sub assemblies have increased output by 180 percent. Harry E Blythe vice president and general manager said further production gains of 50 percent are expected by expanding manpower efficiency.
In Zanesville nine year old Richard Hardesty who cannot swim saved his four year old sister Julie Ann from drowning in a seven foot pool near their home. He found a pole and used it to reach her then pulled her to safety after she sank twice.
Ashland Kentucky report: a young soldier traveling from Camp Kearns Utah died after a war accident left his wife Amanda Marlie Van Horn 21 injured. She died in hospital while he was en route home.
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