Christmas Floods and Wounded Veterans Mark 1944 Holiday
Rivers and creeks ran high after rain across Ohio and Kanawha valleys as floods neared, while seven violent deaths were recorded over the holiday week. War wounded at Ashford and Baker General hospitals enjoyed turkey dinners and gifts, with many industries closed and services aiding orphans and needy families.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ohio
Huntington
Kanawha
Charleston
Hinton
Teddy Cantwell
Ritchie County
Ashford General
White Sulphur Springs
Newton D. Baker
Martinsburg
Kanawha Valley
Santa Claus
Bastogne Relief Drive Gains Hope Amid Heavy German Pressure
A staff officer described the Bastogne relief push as promising with no broad enemy advances reported tonight, while German pressure continued at western penetration tips. Yarbrough praised the armored unit as one of the U S Army’s most famous and spectacular. Bastogne defenders refused surrender and blocked the vital road hub, as heavy air and ground fighting persisted with Ninth Air Force claiming multiple tanks and armored vehicles destroyed before noon.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bastogne
Yarbrough
U. S
Ulge
Ninth Air Force
Allied Fliers Report Nazi Losses and Christmas Day Air War
Allied pilots listed 29 German aircraft definitively destroyed with partial score tabulation. Christmas day raids dropped over 1500 tons of explosives on German targets after fierce combat. A 30 minute Cologne engagement featured Messerschmitt 109s and Focke-Wulf 190s described as unusually aggressive. Allied losses tonight show fighters and bombers sacrificed but with a low percentage loss given force size.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cologne
Eisenhower
Travel Through New York Heavy on Christmas Day
Christmas travel through New York City showed a 10 percent increase over a normal Sunday as servicemen and war workers returned to posts. Officials reported busier morning and evening periods, with 50 to 60 percent of travelers being servicemen, while some rail lines faced lighter traffic and cancellations. At La Guardia, 137 flights were canceled due to weather.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
New York City
Edward G. Fischer
New York Central Railroad
New Haven
Hartford
Christmas Relief for Bluefield Needy Kids Amid WWII Front Lines
Allied forces report heavy fighting near Ravenna and Faenza as the Eighth Army seizes Pieve Di Cesaro south of Faenza and clears the Senio line. Polish patrols cross the Senio near Monte Chebbio while American Fifth Army gains pause after hard drives along the Via Emilia.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ings
Rossetta
Ravenna
Eighth
Pieve di Cesaro
Faenza
Navigno Canal
Bagnacavallo
Senio
Monte Chebbio
Imola
Via Emilia
Fifth Army
Monte Belmonte
Christmas in Warfronts Across Asia and Europe
Americans and British cancel or keep plans as holidays mix with conflict. In Myitkyina 11 church services unite Americans British Indians Burmese and Kachins as a Christ pageant unfolds near a Buddha statue. Chiang Kai-shek hosts a Chinese American luncheon for U S leaders while Roosevelt’s Xmas message stirs the home front. Soviet Yuletide is two weeks away.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Far East
North
Bamabos
Myitkyina
Cross
China
Chi
Chungking
Generalissimo
Chaing Kai-Shek
Patrick Hursley
Roosevelt
Albert C. Wedemeyer
U. S. China Theater
Robert B. McClure
Staf
U. S
United States
Soviet Union
Deaths and Funerals in Local Notices
Funeral services for Ira C. Bishop age 52 of 1216 Spokane avenue and a Norfolk and Western employee will be held this afternoon at Hawkins chapel with Rev. C. G. Eastwood officiating. Interment in Monte Vista Park cemetery. Also noted are services for Mrs. T. O. Garnette of Pratt W Va and the death of infant Kenneth Humes son of Mr and Mrs Carl L Humes. Interments at Monte Vista Park cemetery and London cemetery respectively. Survivors and details listed for each case.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ira C. Bishop
Spokane Avenue
Norfolk and Western Railway
St. Luke's Hospital
Hawkins Funeral Chapel
C. G. Eastwood
Trinity Methodist Church
Monte Vista Park
Bishop
Washington
N. C
Bluefield
Norfolk and Western
Fannie
Capron
Burma
Leonard Bishop
Hagerstown
Ott Thompson
Melba Lee Bishop
V. V. Evans
Newport Palibeas Arers
C. M
T. C. Lynch
W. E. Lee
C. Evans
W. R. Stoots
T. O. Garnette
Pratt
W. Va
London Cemetery
W. J. Huddleston
J. Huddleston
Jewell Ridge
Gertrude Smott
Keystone
J. J. Brown
J. J. Huddleston
Algoma
J. L. Huddleston
Parkersburg
Kenneth Humes
Carl L. Humes
Albemarle Street
Ore Hospital
High Officers Die in Crash Over Tokyo
A U S Bomber Command B 29 from Saipan lost over Tokyo carried two colonels a major and nine others to likely death. Among the dead were Col Byron Elias Brugge 35 Col Richard Thomas King Jr 36 and Maj Robert Flood Goldsworthy 27 pilot. Disabled by Japanese gunfire the craft went down with two engines smoking and a parachute seen.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
21St U. S. Bomber Command
Saipan
Tokyo
Byron Elias Brugge
Clarence L. Tinker
Richard Thomas King, Jr
Robert Flood Goldsworthy
Rosalia
Wash
FBI Probes Train Derailment Near Poplar Grove
FBI agents pushed investigation into a Chicago and Northwestern passenger train derailment near Poplar Grove Illinois. Boone County coroner announced an inquest into the death of Mrs Anna Quirk of Beloit Wisconsin the only fatality. Five other victims remained in critical condition with details pending.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Belvidere
Ill
FBI
Chicago and Northwestern
Poplar Grove
Boone County
Anna Quirk
Beloit
Wis
Injured After Train Crash Delivers Multiple Critical Cases
In the wreck Mrs. Quirk was trapped under a coach while 22 others were hurt. Critical patients include MacKenzie of Chicago with possible skull fracture and chest injuries, Miller from Beloit, Mrs. Lavennia Duberry of Beloit, brakeman Thomas Foss of Elroy, and Dewey Anderson from a rural Belot route.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Quirk
MacKenzie
Chicago
Robert Franklin Miller
Beloit
Wis
Lavennia Duberry
Thomas Foss
Elroy
Dewey Anderson
Janesville
Little Joey Lives Until Christmas
Prescott Arizona December 25 four year old Joey Starewski dies with family by his bedside after a long battle with a malignant throat tumor. Doctors earlier warned he may not survive to see Christmas.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Prescott
Ariz
Joey Starewski
Arizona
Joey
Santa Claus
Stanley F. Stazewski
Phoenix
Massacre of Civilians Reported in Northern Italy
The Associated Press releases that German Elite Guard and Italian fascists massacred about 300 civilians at Monfchio in Reggio Emilia, northern Italy. Italian partisans who reached Florence say the victims were accused of aiding patriots.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Associated Press
Office of War Information
Monfchio
Reggio Emilia
Italy
OWI
Florence
Santa Claus Delivers Gifts to Bluefield Area Tots
Santa Claus visited Bluefield and Bluefield Virginia, bringing gifts to about 1,500 underprivileged children at Ramsey Auditorium and the Community Christmas Tree event. The program featured Walt Disney animatronics, festive decorations, and refreshments, with bags of gifts prepared by the Junior Woman's Club and Junior Chamber of Commerce. Gifts extended to Virginia side children, with 225 bags distributed there and a separate party for colored children at Genoa High School.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Walt Disney
Dumbo
Ramsey Auditorium
Bluefield
Santa Claus
Ramsey
Community Christmas Tree Association
Walt Sisney
Santa
Santa Clause
Jolly Old Man
Junior Woman's Club
Junior Chamber of Commerce
Boy Scout
Municipal
Saint Nick
Virginia
Christmas Snowfall Halts Italian Front Actions Near Senio
Rome reports a heavy Christmas snowfall on the Italian front confining activity to probing assaults after night artillery and machine gun fire. The Eighth Army narrowed a German salient east of the Senio river from ten miles to under five, as Canadian units moved along the eastern bank and routed many fortified positions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rome
Eighth Army
Senio
Buile
La Guardia Plans Meat Market Tours and Price Controls
Mayor La Guardia announced a tour of wholesale meat markets to enforce ceiling prices and prevent wholesalers from charging above the cap. OPA agents were sent to Chicago and Kansas City to liaise with cattlemen and feeders, with Washington meetings arranged for next Monday with meat industry representatives and officials. Jack Kranis said conferences follow price control law before new trade rules.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Jack Kranis
New York City
Meat Dealers Committee
Prisoners Of War Stage Christmas Play In Camp
German war prisoners at the Dunkirk NY camp staged a play The Origin of Silent Night for their first Christmas in captivity. Eight prisoners spoke German and a chorus of 18 sang Silent Night after a barracks performance for fellow internees and guards. The camp Protestant chaplain Rev Walter A Haas reported the event.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dunkirk
N. Y
Walter A. Haas
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Logan County Girl Dies Of Shot Wound
A 13-year-old girl Wanda Jame May died after being shot in the back while walking home from church near Ethel Logan County West Virginia State Police Corporal Ezra Zirkle said he arrested Boyd Baisden of Ethel on a manslaughter charge. Baisden admitted firing the shot claiming he was aiming at a dog and was released on bond.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Logan W. Va
Logan Hospital
Ezra Zirkle
Man
Firkle
Wanda Jame May
Roy W. May
Salt Rock
Route 1
Ethel
Boyd Baisden
Baisden
Palompon Capture Ends Leyte Campaign Phase
Allied forces seized Palompon on Christmas morning after clearing San Isidro and remnants of reinforcing Japanese convoys. The move closes the active military phase of MacArthur’s Leyte operation aimed at establishing a major base for future operations, as air strikes target Clark Field near Manila with heavy Japanese losses.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Palompon
San Isidro
Ormoc
MacArthur
Leyte
Clark Field
Manila
Famed Nazi U-boat Commander Is Held Prisoner In Arizona
A wartime mystery ends as Guenther Prien, famed for sinking the Royal Oak, is revealed to be a prisoner of war in Arizona. The report notes his early bravery and later capture, with details of his fate remaining undisclosed.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arizona
Associated Press
Guenther Prien
Germany
Prien
Scapa
Royal Oak
Adolf Hitler
Oerseas
Lewis Plans to Reopen Contract Talks With Operators
John L. Lewis signals plans to reopen wage talks with coal operators on March 1 if President Roosevelt eases wage restrictions. He would press for at least a 15 percent rise beyond the Little Steel formula, citing cost of living increases. The miners’ policy committee will meet with operators to set preliminaries and arrange attendance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
John L. Lewis
Uni
Roosevelt
Lewis
Afl-Cio
AFL and Cio
White House
Also Mentioned on This Page
T. C. Garnette
Humes Infant
Little Joey
St. Nick
Disney
Logan County
Leyte Campaign