Local notes and promotions from Decatur area
Partly cloudy forecast for tonight and Sunday with warmer conditions in the north and center. Local promotions include First Lieutenant John Murphy promoted to captain from Keesler Field and Lt Harvey Hostetler now a captain in Decatur. War Department reports several soldiers wounded or missing in action in Europe. Community updates cover hospital moves, church activities, banking news, and local travel for family visits and events in Morgan County.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Murphy
M. C
W. M.ult
Grant Street
Decatur
Keesler Field
Harvey Hostetler
Columbus
Miss
Pennsylvania
Red Army Opens Balkan Drive Near Belgrade
Soviet forces push into Yugoslavia crossing the Danube near Orsova and Negotin as they press toward Belgrade. Tito’s Partisans advance with mixed forces in a bid to trap German units and threaten Hungary’s flank while Hungary pleads for peace amid the widening front.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
W. W. Hercher
London
Red Army
Yugoslavia
Lowerkans
Danube
Romania
Moscow
Budapest
Europe
Balkans
Belgrade
Marshal Tito
Iron Gate
Orsova
Negotin
Tito
Draja Mihailovic
Free Yugoslav Radio
Hungary
Szeged
Oradea
Germany
United Nations
Pravda flags Japan’s dire war position as blitzkrieg myth fades
Pravda reports Japan faces serious difficulties against the Western Allies. The Soviet article argues American production outpaces Japan, with U S war industry and materiel growth surpassing Japanese output. It concludes the blitzkrieg concept has weakened Japanese strategy despite no change in Soviet Japan relations.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Eddy Gilmore
Moscow
Communist Party
Pravda
Japan
United States
U.S
Apan
Seer Ra Ierale
Eusmey
Decatur Swears In New Mayor and Council Members
Decatur will swear in new mayor H. R. Sandy Summer and two new council members, T. R. Harrison and Rutledge S. Thomas, at city hall after a 7:30 start. Veterans Jack Dillehay Harlan Hunter and Russell Speake begin four year terms. Summer won a runoff in a higher turnout election, with 1641 votes cast and a 267 vote margin.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
H. R. “Sandy” Summer
Decatur
T. R. Harrison
McRae
Rutledge S. Thomas
Summer
Harrison
Fairview
Pitts Condition Improves After Wounding
Clay Pitts, seriously wounded a week ago, is now described as decidedly better though still dangerously ill at Baugh infirmary. He was shot on September 23, with the bullet injuring his bladder and lower intestines. Albert Zills was arrested by city police and jailed, with a meeting arranged by George W. Norwood, justice of the peace.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Clay Pitts
Baugh
Pitts
Albert Zills
Pebanka
George W. Norwood
Wes
Ace Nelson Leaves WPB to Take Major Foreign Economic Post
Donald M. Nelson resigns as WPB chairman to accept a new government post of major importance in foreign economic relations. J A Cap Krug succeeds as acting chairman and vows to keep operations on the rails. Roosevelt praises Nelson for arming the country and hints at postwar economic cooperation roles.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sterling F. Green
Washington
Donald M. Nelson
WPB
Roosevelt
J. A
Cap) Krug
Navy
Nelson
China
Russia
White House
Olson
Will 10 Fight to Be Costly for Germans
Washington reports that a winter stalemate and spring clean-up campaign could unleash ruthless Allied devastation on Germany. Allied planners expect Nazi destruction to be less severe than conquering Germany piecemeal, with no unconditional surrender defined for Berlin. Plans aim to limit oil and steel industries and dismantle German economic control across Europe.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John M. Hightower
Washington
Germany
Surrener
Reich
Heinrich Himmler
Gessapo
Hitler
Europe
General Coleman Dies at Hospital
John C. Coleman of Albertville former Adjutant General of Alabama died at a veterans hospital after a heart attack at home on August 6. A Marshall County native he was a planter public official and former tax assessor. He served in World War I and held leadership roles in American Legion and Spanish War Veterans circles. Survived by his widow and a sister.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Montgomery
Ala
John C. Coleman
Albertville
Alabama
Coleman
Bibb Graves
Marshall County
Alabama Democratic Executive Committee
American Legion
Stills Seizures Raise Alarm in Four-State District
Birmingham investigator James T. Rogers reports August seizures in the U S alcohol tax unit’s four-state sixth district nearly match the combined total of 15 other continental districts plus Hawaii and Puerto Rico, signaling intensified enforcement.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Birmingham
Ala
U. S
Hawaii
Puerto Rico
James T. Rogers
Courtland Air Field Seeks Civilian Employes
Courtland Army air field seeks hundreds of civilian positions to support four engine B-24 Liberator operations. Pierce Matkin of Decatur will interview applicants at the U. S. Employment office in Decatur next week for roles in aircraft repair junior electricians and related skilled positions. Women may qualify. Matkin can hire immediately for suitable applicants to help keep the bombers flying.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Courtland Army Air Field
Wren
Courtland
Decatur
Pierce Matkin
Amy Is
United States
Markin
U. S
Covirtland
Matkin
Aa Bt
China Losses Offset When Islands Fall
Allied forces gain three Palau islets as Peleliu nears final fall while Chinese high command reports Japanese reach near Kweilin and fighting near Kingan. In the Pacific, Allied air and sea power sink transports and barges from Ceram to Mindanao as American tempo grows.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Associated Press
Pacific
Palau
Philippines
U. S
Peleliu
China
Tanchuk
Kweilin
Kwangsi
Kingan
Paoching
Southwest Pacific
Ceram
Darvel Bay
British North Borneo
Douglas MacArthur
Mindanao
Halmahera
Moluccas
Navy
James Forrestal
India
Southeast Asia Command
Fifth India Division
Tiddim
Chin Hills
Burma
Myitkyina
U.S. 14Th Air Force
Samshai
Canton
Formosa Strait
Pravda
Moscow
Japan
Guam
Tinian Islands
Marianas
Tokyo Radio
Islands
Hideyoshi Obata
Hyo Takashima
Tinian
United States
Honolulu
Ghost Ship Stirs Britain Across England and Eire
An American Flying Fortress, crewless after bailing out, crossed from England to the Atlantic with several tons of explosives. Automated control guided the ship 600 miles before it supposedly sank, triggering widespread ground alarms and a dramatic wartime incident.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
England
Eire
Atlantic
George
Britain
North Sea
Liverpool
Simon Davidian to Speak at Decatur Rotary Institute
Decatur Rotary opens the Institute of International Understanding at Riverside High School with Simon Davidian as the first speaker. His topic is Russia's Position East and West. The club sponsors a four speaker series directed by Rutledge S. Thomas and others.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Decatur Rotary
Institute of International Understanding
Riverside High School
Simon Davidian
Russia
Rotary
Decatur Club
Davidian
Decatur
Rutledge S. Thomas
Sam Brown
John McGehee
Walker
Housing conversion plan announced for Decatur
Decatur may gain additional family dwelling units by converting existing structures as announced by Robert K. Creighton of the National Housing Agency. The War Production Board and NHA permit remodeling of apartment houses and other buildings to reduce housing congestion, with Form WPB 2896 required for permission and priority rating.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Decatur
Robert K. Creighton
National Housing Agency
Atlanta
War Production Board
NHA
WPB
Federal Housing Administration
Birmingham
Pvt McCulloch Killed in Action in France
The War Department reports Pvt Elton E. McCulloch was killed in action in France after previously being listed as missing. He had served about a year.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pvt. McCulloch
Pvt
Elton E. McCulloch
France
McCulloch
Bill Plans Women Officers Academy for Coast Guard
Representative E. E. Cox of Georgia announced plans to introduce a bill creating a combined artillery and naval Coast Guard Academy to train and commission women as officers. The proposal aims to establish formal education and officer status within the service.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
E.E. Cox
D.-Ga
Congress
Tory-Naval and
Coast Guard Academy
Limited Gains Recorded as Allied Forces Advance Toward Belfort
U S seventh army pushes through snow to nine miles northwest of Belfort surging along blocking routes to the Rhineland. British forces repulse German counterblows near Nijmegen while widening canal positions and sealing off retreat corridors in the Arnhem area.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Robert Eunson
Allied Expeditionary Force
U. S. Seventh Army
Vosges
Belfort
Rhineland
U. S. First
Prem
U.S. Third Army
Metz
Nancy
Nijmegen
Waal Rhine
Maas
Meuse
Arnhem
S Hertogenbosch
Merxplas
Antwerp-Turnhout
St. Leonard
Calais Taken as Germans Mutiny as Allied Push In
German resistance collapsed in Calais after a two hour bombardment and air attack. As evening fell five smoke columns rose over the town and German troops marched out as prisoners. Calais cross-channel guns had been knocked out, blocking use of the port briefly.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Calais
Nijmegen Bridge Sabotage Claim Sways Warnings
SHAEF did not confirm a German report that saboteurs destroyed the Nijmegen railroad bridge. Allied forces pressed Calais after a 24 hour truce in which 10,000 French civilians left the besieged port. Severe weather halted operations from Holland to the Swiss border with snow in the Vosges as German resistance, led by Colonel Schroeder, claimed Hitler orders to fight to the death.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Shaef
Nijmegen
French
Calais
Schroeder
Hitler
Holland
Vosges
Berlin
Belfort
Cotton Picking Records Fall At Thomas Farm
On the Jack A. Thomas farm last week cotton picking records fell. Mrs Grace Plemons, six months nursing, reportedly picked 507 pounds of cotton in a single day on a Wednesday. Her mother, 73, is said to have gathered more than a bale in one day.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jack A. Thomas
Grace Plemons
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