Weather Gates Big Land Invasion Against Germany
Allied strike plans hinge on winter bombing weather as RAF raids target northwest Germany. Escorted bombers disrupt production while German plants shift eastward. Swedish engineer says Berlin munition plant hit. Brig. Gen. LeMay estimates 1,000-plane raids every two days to end the war by June.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gladwin Hill
London
Germany
Europe
Reich
Berlin
Stockholm
Curtis Lemay
Flying Fortress
Russians Sentence German War Criminals to Death
The Soviet military tribunal in Kharkov convicted four war criminals led by Gestapo Captain William Langheld and sentenced them to death by hanging. Also listed were Hans Ritz, Reinhardt Ratzlaw, and Mikhail Bulanov. The court found guilt fully proven and the broadcast cited the defendants’ guilty pleas.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Kharkov
Moscow Radio
William Langheld
Gestapo
Hans Ritz
Reinhardt Ratzlaw
Mikhail Petrovich Bulanov
Moscow
Japanese Campaign in China Costly Defeat, Air Forces Say
U S Army Air Forces in China report Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault that the Japanese drive to seize China’s rice bowl ending in a decisive defeat. Air and Chinese forces claimed 31 enemy planes destroyed, 25 on the ground, with American Liberators and RAF support conducting raids in Burma.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
U. S. Army Air Force
China
Claire L. Chennault
U. S. 14Th Air Force
Tungting
Chennault
14Th Air Force
Changteh
Chinese High Command
Chungking
Lihsien
Linli
Yangtze
10Th U. S. Air Force
India
Rangoon
Burma
Governors End Two Day Meet
Five Northwest states governors closed a two day session in Spokane with plans to expand the advisory committee of experts and push a development program. They endorsed a step to spend nearly 580 million dollars on irrigation navigation flood control and power along the Columbia River and tributaries.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Spokane
Was
Northwest
Northwest States Development Association
Oregon
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Washington
Columbia River
Earl Snell
Kaiser says peak war production passed plans to shift to peacetime economy
Oakland shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser tells United Press the peak of U S war materials output is past and a rapid shift to peacetime efficiency must begin. He proposes nationwide questionnaires to learn veterans' civilian plans, with local draft-board like committees coordinating returns.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Frank HK. Bartholomew
United Press
Oakland
Calif
America
Henry J. Kaiser
Kaiser
Robert P. Patterson
Navy
Frank Knox
Nazis Admit Retreat At Nevel Front In White Russia
German sources said Soviet forces broke German defenses in the Nevel sector forcing the front to shorten. Ernst von Hammer noted 14 infantry divisions two tank corps two cavalry divisions and an artillery division were used in the winter offensive. Vichy radio supported the retreat claim and observers doubted Berlin’s silence about Soviet advances.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
U.P
Nevel
White Russia
Ernst von Hammer
DNB
Hed
Vichy Radio
Hammer
Berlin
Moscow
Germany
Congress Votes for Vacation
Congress approves a three week Christmas recess from December 18 delaying action on tax bills subsidies and war related measures. The session resumes January 10 with five weeks to tackle food subsidies servicemen mustering out pay and farm labor recruiting renewal.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Congress
Senate
Commodity Credit Corporation
House
McCormack
D-Mass
Rayburn
Texas
Military Committee
White House
Farm Security Administration
Farm Labor Recruiting Service
Next of Kin Notified for Liscome Bay Casualties
The Navy reported that the next of kin of all casualties aboard the sunken escort carrier Liscome Bay have been notified. The carrier was torpedoed by an enemy submarine on November 24 in the Gilbert Islands area.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Navy
Liscome Bay
Gilbert Islands
Churchill Past Illness Crisis as Pneumonia Resolves
London report says Prime Minister Churchill is safely past the illness crisis with a subsiding temperature and resolving pneumonia. A bulletin notes some irregular pulse as a concern while a heart specialist attends him in the Middle East during this illness.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Churchill
Downing Street
Middle East
Two Million Men to Be Drafted
Selective service announced October and November drafts totaling 50 465 fathers and projected about 2 000 000 men to be inducted by July 1 One million would come from the 5 000 000 draft eligible fathers and 1 418 333 fathers were 1 A in Oct and Nov but 1 000 000 obtained occupational deferments The plan relies on 427 088 reclassified 1 A but not yet called and 4 483 604 still in 3 A with deferments possible.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Selective Service
Pearl Harbor
Army
Selective Service Headquarters Re
Fort Wayne Pilot Receives Distinguished Service Cross
Capt. Walter Mahurin of Fort Wayne Indiana earned the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism on October 4 while flying in the European theater. He shot down three German fighters on a lone mission despite being outnumbered and at lower altitude.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Walter Mahurin
Fort Wayne
Ind
Ira C. Baker
Yanks Close In on Segment of Rome Road
Allied forces tighten grip on the Cassino Rome road near San Pietro seven miles southeast of Cassino as hand to hand fighting continues. American units push at Mount Lungo defenses while German forces withdraw along a single escape road. Lagone taken after street fighting. Eighth Army clashes along Adriatic front with tank supported counterattacks.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Yanks
Rome Road
Wes Gallagher
Algiers
San Pietro
Cassino
Lungo
Cassino Plain
Russia
Fifth Army
Lagone
Filgnano
Eighth Army
Adriatic
Balkans
293 Receive Purple Heart Awards
Pearl Harbor reports 293 Navy and Marine Corps personnel received Purple Heart awards aboard a Navy hospital ship. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz and 10 other flag and general officers presented the decorations during a Saturday ceremony.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pearl Harbor
Navy
Marine Corps
Adm
Chester W. Nimitz
Senate confirms Vandegrift as Marine Commandant
Washington December 18 The Senate on Saturday confirmed Lt Gen Alexander A Vandegrift to succeed Lt Gen Thomas Holcomb as commandant of the U S Marine Corps He will serve a four year term beginning January 1 and take over duties immediately
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Senate
Alexander A. Vandegrift
U. S. Marine Corps
Thomas Holcomb
General Vandegrift
ODT Warns Travel Surge Will Worsen In 1942
The Office of Defense Transportation warned that travel on American trains buses and planes will rise about 15 percent next year. Eastman said a fifth of rail travel and a third of bus travel this year was unnecessary and urged people to stay home to ease crowding.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Office of Defense Transportation
ODT
Joseph B. Eastman
Yugoslav Partisans Hit Back in Sixth German Offensive
Yugoslav partisans claim to have repelled the sixth German assault in 13 days and begun a counter offensive from Montenegro to Croatia as Allied air support increases. Reports cite German terror in civilian areas around Zagreb and possible Hungarian troop redeployments. Allied air action rises, with seven planes down in two days.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Montenegro
Bosnia
Croatia
Josefp Bro
Tito
Free Yugoslav Radio
Zagreb
Hans Pubacher
Balkans
Budapest
Yugoslavia
France
Algiers
Adriatic
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Italy
Albania
Factory Destroyed in Berlin Blitz Raid Report
A Swedish engineer who just returned from Berlin said a major munitions factory in Babelsberg near Berlin was blown up in a Thursday night raid by the Royal Air Force. The blast reportedly occurred near Stockholm on December 18.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Stockholm
Berlin
Babelsberg
Reich
Americans seize Umtingalu village in New Britain drive
American Sixth Army troops advanced one mile from Arawe neck to capture Umtingalu village on New Britain and seized enemy equipment including three 75 mm field guns. MacArthur’s spokesman said American positions continue to expand three miles from Housefireman beach as Bougainville and Empress Augusta bay operations unfold.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brydon Taves
New Guinea
Sixth Army
Arawe Peninsula
New Britain Island
Umtingalu
Douglas MacArthur
Housefireman
President Acts to Stop Leaks
President Roosevelt orders the war and navy secretaries and the director of the Office of War Information to withhold advance release of any news with a security value. He directs rapid publication of safe information and criticizes prior delays, stressing Americans deserve timely war news without artificial barriers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Roosevelt
War and Navy
Office of War Information
Cairo
Teheran
Montana Weather Forecast Reads Fair and Mild Sunday
Montana forecast shows fair and mild conditions with cloudy periods. Sunday turns mostly cloudy with colder temperatures concentrated in the northeast and extreme eastern regions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Montana
Also Mentioned on This Page
Tarawa
Betio
Tarawa Atoll
Nips
Tees
United States
Lumberton
N. C
Red Cross
Bougainville
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