This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
This newspaper page contains 19 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Aug 24, 1944
Page
1
Partly cloudy with afternoon and evening showers and thundershowers. Alabama forecasts show a high near 90 and a low around 70. Local business and community notes include visits by Mock Judson & Voehringer leaders to Greensboro NC, hospital updates, church notices, lodge meeting, and a few criminal and civic items.
London reports German radio claim that parts of Paris suffered heavy damage while Nazis still held the capital. A second dispatch notes Patton's Third Army preparing a southeast sweep and Allied forces advancing toward Paris. Supreme HQ says Paris not liberated and fighting continues as underground leaders seek an armistice later repudiated by Germans.
Washington Aug 24 The White House announced the resignation of Charles E. Wilson from the War Production Board posting in a letter citing unfair attacks from subordinates and staff connected with Nelson The president accepted the move with reluctance praising Wilson’s wartime production work
Lt. Col. Francis Gabreski, 25, America’s top aerial ace with 31 confirmed kills, including 28 in the air, is a prisoner of war in Germany according to a War Department disclosure. The Oil City, Pennsylvania native had been reported missing on July 20.
Ernie Pyle recalls on the Western Front how American soldiers freed a wounded RAF pilot trapped in wreckage for eight days. They used pliers and wire cutters to tear through metal, creating a cavity to reach him amid frantic, dangerous efforts on the battlefield.
A narrator details rescuing a wounded pilot from a shattered cockpit. Fellow Americans rapidly breached wreckage, pulled him through a hole, and supplied water. The pilot’s strength contrasts with his injuries as rescuers attend him with care and blankets.
Mrs Bertha Jayne Randolph learns from the War Department that her husband Sgt Vernon A Randolph was killed in action on August 4 while serving with General Patton s Second Armored Division in France. Born in Courtland he volunteered for service four years ago and married two years ago while home on furlough.
Three cases were called Wednesday in non jury criminal court before Judge James E. Crow Jr. The State of Alabama versus Sammie Jones, vagrancy, remains in jail on a murder charge. The State of Alabama versus Kassie Harris, prohibition law violation, pled guilty and was fined $50 plus costs. The State of Alabama versus Sam Eddie Hill, petit larceny, pled guilty and was fined $50 plus costs.
The Senate amended its surplus property disposal bill to raise the 1944 loan rate on cotton from 92.5 to 95 percent parity. Senator Bankhead of Alabama offered the amendment as part of a series of proposals under consideration in Washington.
Farm interests in the Tennessee Valley of Alabama request a 10 cent per hundredweight drought subsidy for milk producers. If approved, the aid would help several thousand dairy farmers in North Alabama counties hit by extended dry weather. The push is led by Decatur Chamber of Commerce and supported by Alabama AAA, Extension Service, Senators Bankhead and Hill, Congressman Sparkman, and John A. Caddell.
Within two hours after receiving information on the North Alabama situation, Senator Lister Hill wires a reply expressing willingness to help. He says he is contacting Judge Vinson and Mr. Walker to do everything possible and will advise them.
Reports from Limestone Lawrence Morgan counties describe drouth destroying early corn and permanent pastures with no recovery until fall rains. Hay is below normal and cattle require winter feed earlier. North Alabama Experiment Station notes four straight years of rainfall well below normal. State National Bank cites widespread crop failure across 14 branches.
Lt. Gen. Joseph Pierre Koenig, governor of Paris and head of French interior forces, planned to move into liberated Paris with his London staff on August 24. Paris had been freed after four days of street fighting with German invaders, according to APWirephoto.
Japanese Premier Koiso warned of an unprecedented national crisis as Liberator air raids and Soviet of Chichi Jima were reported. Allied bomber strikes hit Mindanao Davao and Halmahera while MacArthur raided south of the Philippines. Hengyang battles along the Hankow-Canton railway continued with halted enemy thrusts.
Aug 24 reports from Bucharest say Romanian troops march toward Transylvania as Romania sides with the Allies, denouncing the king and forming a Communist regime. Riots erupt over Ploesti oil, while Hungary and Bulgaria fear German-occupied shifts and Finland seeks peace moves.
The Romanian capitulation alters momentum in the Balkans, signaling potential follow-ons by Bulgaria and Hungary. It deprives Hitler of vital oil from Ploesti and foodstuffs, while boosting Allied morale and signaling the widening impact on German and Japanese resolve.
Allied and French underground forces report heavy street fighting in Paris with the German garrison, a possible armistice in doubt and evacuation fleets off Le Havre bombed by British naval air power. American troops advance toward the Swiss border as Bordeaux falls and German control in France wanes.
King George VI telegraphed General Eisenhower sending warm congratulations to all in the Allied expeditionary force. He praised the glorious victories in France and said his peoples share in thanking God for the success of Allied arms.
U S Seventh Army under Lt Gen Alexander Patch reaches Swiss border after a 200 mile 10 day drive through the Alps from the Mediterranean. Lt Gen George S Patton’s Third Army advances 62 miles southeast of liberated Paris toward the German frontier. Bordeaux reportedly falls as American and Maquis forces converge from the Loire and Spanish border to seize key ports and cities including Lyon and Perpignan.
We want people to find what they are looking for at NewspaperArchive. We are confident that we have the newspapers that will increase the value of your family history or other historical research. With our 7-day free trial, you can view the documents you find for free.
People find the most success using advanced search. Try plugging in keywords, names, dates, and locations, and get matched with results from the entire collection of newspapers at NewspaperArchive!
You can also successfully find newspapers by these browse options. Explore our archives on your own!
Browse by location and discover newspapers from all across the world.
Browse by date and find publications for a specific day or era.
Browse old newspaper publications to find specific newspapers.