18 Dec 1944
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 21 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Portsmouth Herald
Location
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States of America
Date
Dec 18, 1944
Page
1
A fragmented report outlines early war developments across Europe with references to German moves, Western Front activity, and Allied responses. The piece notes German pressure along the Roer river, evolving front lines near Belgium, and shifting strategic positions as authorities track the broader conflict.
Fragmented OCR reveals Rev C W Parmley denouncing Portsmouth as pagan in a sermon. The piece references church attendance, Christmas mis centers, and calls for action against perceived secular influences.
Allied Superfortress attacks hit Nagoya and Hankow while U S forces push ashore on Mindoro in the Philippines. American air chiefs caution Japan cannot be knocked out quickly, as fighting rages on Leyte and in the Ormoc corridor with heavy casualties on both sides.
Portsmouth residents welcome Santa Claus during his annual world tour stop. Children and adults mob the jeep as the white whiskered official arrives in a red uniform. Santa tours Market Square and the business district, smiling and waving while youths rehearse Christmas carols.
Washington December 1B AP President Roosevelt approves a six month extension of authority and appoints an undersecretary of war. Santa Claus will tour the city between 3 and 3 30 PM Saturday, with legal isolation continuing in evenings from 7 to 1 AM after the wars end.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands awarded Gen Walter Krueger, commander of the Sixth Army, the Grand Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau with Swords for his leadership of ground forces in the campaign against Japan in Dutch New Guinea.
City offices will stay shut tomorrow morning until after funeral services for Mrs John Burkhardt wife of Ward Five councilman who died Saturday. City Clerk Edward J Hopley announced the closure.
Postmaster Peter J. Hickey announced the Portsmouth post office will keep windows open until 3 pm for the remainder of the week to assist with Christmas mailing.
Mrs Helen Tranadel of 3 Cedar Street Newmarket received a War department telegram stating her husband Pvt Frank S Tranadel USA was wounded slightly in action in France on Nev 18 and is now in a hospital there. He enlisted in March 1944 and has been awarded the Purple Heart which he is sending to his wife.
Charles M Dale of Portsmouth will be inaugurated January 4 as New Hampshire’s 82nd governor. After the oath, he will address the house and senate, followed by a public reception at the executive council chambers in Concord.
Louis deRochemont of Newington was one of four recipients awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the University of New Hampshire inauguration ceremonies for Dr. Harold W. Stoke. The producer and publisher known for The March of Time and Ramparts We Watch is praised for public education via film and his naval service.
Portsmouth citizens are urged to meet the Sixth War Loan individual sale quota of about 600000 dollars to fund a B29 Superfortress and place a marker bearing the city name on a ship. The drive continues through the month with only about 40 percent of the individual sales quota reached.
Paris dispatch reports Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges’s U S First Army checked a German counterdrive across a broad 10 mile front from Manschau to the Luxembourg border. Allied authorities withheld precise locations as hundreds of planes tanks and divisions supported a renewed German push. The invasion penetrated Belgium and Luxembourg with several miles of advance and a four mile maneuver east of Malmedy.
British newspapers welcomed the new French Russian alliance announced in Paris as a 20 year mutual commitment blending military and economic aid. The Daily Mail praised the pact while De Gaulle planned to submit the treaty for ratification this week.
President Roosevelt signed a bill extending six months beyond December 7 1945 the deadline for starting court martial or other proceedings arising from the Pearl Harbor disaster. War and Navy officials said separate investigations found no basis for court martial actions but investigations continue.
Dr Harold Walter Stoke becomes the 10th president of the University of New Hampshire in a Durham ceremony. In his inaugural speech Education For An Age of Power he urged educators to fuse knowledge and virtue to guide a power rich era.
The submarine Manta was commissioned today at Portsmouth navy yard and placed under Lt. Comdr Edward Madley, a 1937 Naval Academy graduate and Pacific war veteran, who lives in Brooklyn. He holds the Silver Star and Presidential Unit Citation. Lt. Comdr Harry E. Davey Jr of Keene, 1939 Naval Academy graduate, will be executive officer and also served in the Pacific.
Pope Pius XII will celebrate midnight Mass at St Peter's for the first time since 1939. St Peters will be open to the public and Rome streets will be lit, overcoming a prior electricity shortage.
Two Navy Yard workers from Kittery William Ward and Raymond Balio were struck by a car on Badger's Island near Portsmouth. The driver Mrs. W H Millinger said the men stepped into her path while she headed to a Messiah presentation. Ward is listed with a fractured leg and “good” condition. Balio has head injuries and is rated as “fair.”
Washington reports a five month freeze on worsted yarn will start December 31 to meet military needs and essential civilian wear. Mills may only fill high priority orders for uniforms jackets shirts and socks with the period lasting until June 2. WPB assures civilian requirements can be met in full this year and next.
In New York on December 18 1944 discussion recalls Anthony Eden as Churchill potential successor. It notes Eden's stern stance toward dictators before the war and his clash with Chamberlain during appeasement, with playful critique of his attire and manner. The piece contrasts Eden's early dismissal with later prominence.
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