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Newspaper
Decatur Daily
Location
Decatur, Alabama, United States of America
Date
Jul 25, 1944
Page
1
The forecast calls for fair tonight and Wednesday with widely scattered thundershowers in the west in the afternoon. The state may see a high of 93 and a low of 69. Local updates include furloughs, hospital news, reunions, and several arrests and social notices from Decatur and Morgan County.
Allied forces press the Marianas operation as Tokyo signals hold in home waters. The Japanese broadcast quotes Masanori Ito saying the coup de grace is not yet arrived and air superiority remains decisive. Japan hints at delaying a direct clash while U.S. carrier groups maneuver.
U S Pacific Fleet reports Marines stormed about a mile inland on Tinian capturing the western third of the island’s main airdrome. In Guam 125 miles south Allied forces isolated a major airstrip and pressed toward Agana as casualties rise.
Allied forces break stalemate in Normandy with about 4000 aircraft supporting American and British pushes. U S first army advances from St. Lo toward Lessay and Caen while British Canadian units seize St Martin de Fontenay Verrieres and May Sur Orne. Front clips past Falaise with ground gains and heavy air support amid intense resistance.
Mrs. Robert L. Benoit of 1209 Sixth Avenue East received word from the War Department that her husband Pfc. Robert L. Benoit was killed in action in France on June 23. He served as a paratrooper. Mrs. Benoit was formerly Miss Edna Orme.
Ernie Pyle explains ordnance support in Normandy noting its repair and supply role, the large ordnance personnel share of the army, thousands of ordnance workers, and the vast daily ammunition expenditure worth more than ten million dollars.
Ordnance is a vital part of the military effort on the beachhead with 275000 catalog items and a 20 foot shelf of parts. A central headquarters filing system tracks 500 major items in use from tanks to pistols. Dozens of ordnance companies operate as self contained firms able to repair all Army equipment, often with craftsmen from civilian life now serving as sergeants.
The Lions club event at Benson Field Friday at 7 30 p m will showcase top harness and three gaited horses. Entrants include Oaklawn's Star Solid Mahogany Crimson Sum Courageous Fashion and Gay Pirate among others with riders from Huntsville Decatur Murfreesboro and Nashville. Box-seat reservations are available by calling 915.
Telegram from the War Department reports Capt Leon Huthnance killed in action in France on June 23. His wife Mrs. Fran ces Huthnance, formerly Frances Cowden, resides with her mother on East Vine Street while awaiting details.
Edward A. Johnson, 83, a Negro lawyer who began life as a slave and became the first Black member elected to New York's legislature, died yesterday at Sydenham hospital. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, he studied law at Shaw University, taught on its faculty, attended Atlanta University, and directed a Negro school there. He moved to New York in 1907 after serving as an Alderman in Raleigh.
Allied forces pressed toward Florence advancing within 10 miles amid German withdrawals. Fifth and Eighth Army units moved along an arc south of the city while South African and British troops seized Strada and Monte Fili. German losses were reported between Pescara and Ancona with 3000 to 4000 casualties in the fighting.
The War Department announced that Pfc. Percy E. Burgess of Somerville, Marine, was killed in action in the South Pacific. He leaves a wife and baby, his parents Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Burgess, a brother Staff Sergeant Wilson Burgess in the Army Air Forces, El Paso, Texas, and five sisters in Moulton, Leighton, Muscle Shoals, and Decatur.
Soviet columns led by tanks and planes advanced within 50 miles of Warsaw after crossing the San and capturing Lublin and Lwow. The Red Army pushed about 40 miles in 24 hours, approaching the Wisla as German forces retreat from Lublin and Silesia looms within 150 miles. Panic reported around Warsaw as German defenses resist in Lwow while others join from the northeast and Lublin fronts.
The Soviet Union announced it would conclude an accord with the Polish Committee of National Liberation rather than the London exile government to govern relations with the Red Army and the civil administration in liberated Polish areas. Moscow said it had no aims to claim Polish territory and placed the Western Bug as a frontier while Red Army units pushed within about 50 miles of Warsaw.
Within two hours a forced march targets East Prussia while frontal assaults aim at Brest Litovsk to cut off forces behind the lines. Advancing less than 70 miles southeast of Riga and near Bialystok on the Leningrad Warsaw rail, troops press toward Daugavpils and Kaunas as fronts shift northeast.
Navy Secretary Forrestal announced total American casualties in Saipan at 16 463 with 3 049 killed in action 13 049 wounded and 365 missing. He cited 20 720 enemy dead 1 707 Japanese POWs and 14 192 civilians interned as the Marianas campaign continued toward Tinian and Guam.
Funeral services for Mrs Dottie D Holley age sixty eight longtime Danville resident who died Tuesday at Irvin Dyar infirmary Moulton will be held at Center church in Lawrence county on Wednesday at three p m Rev Riggle Jones and Rev G R Jarrett officiating. She is survived by two daughters Mrs P W Looney of Danville and Mrs J W Garnett of Cullman and eleven grandchildren. Pallbearers are Lloyd Jarrett Ray Burnett Charlie Steel Dewey Hogan Walker Steel and Johnny Steel. Interment in Center cemetery Peck directing.
The article argues that a renewed Allied assault in Normandy is likely and could decide the European war. It notes quiet dawn actions by British Canadian and American forces, heavy materiel and troop buildup, and Russian anticipation of a concurrent push on the Eastern Front. The piece warns German defenses remain stubborn despite expectations of a large breakout.
Adolf Hitlers decree names Hermann Goering as council chairman for defense of the Reich and Paul Joseph Goebbels as total war commissar. Heinrich Himmler to head the home army as a purge widens through military ranks.
A retired Methodist minister from Oregon and his Alabama sister were together yesterday for the first time in 50 years in Birmingham. J. T. McPherson of Portland was a delegate-at-large to the Democratic National Convention last week. He wired his sister Mrs. Mattie Wishher to visit and return to Oregon.
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