davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-11-04

be to established airfields from which
We could more easily bomb the Ro-
manian oil fields and Balkan territories
occupied by the Nazis. This, the Ameri-
can strategists contended, was not worth
the risk.
The American top military men at
Quebec pointed out again to their
British colleagues and to the Prime
Minister that America was chiefly
interested In winning the war as speedily
as possible and while they agreed that
the clearing of the Mediterranean of
the enemy fleets and air bases was
vitally important, they could see no adj
vantage In lengthy campaign in Italy
itself.
Mr. Churchill, however was convinced
that the Italian campaign would be
easy since his scouts" were sure that
King Victor Emmanuel and Marshal
Pietro Badoglio already were "in the
bag" and ready to surrender to the
Allies. The American strategists pointed
out that the Italian Army was incon-
sequential and that the Germans had
prepared strong positions which would
block our progress and make us nav
uedVly IOr eacn success.
Unfortunately, such predictions have
come true. After dificult and costly
operations at Salerno and Anzio we
pushed the Germans back to their main
line OF defense at a heavy price. Had
we not undertaken the invasion of
Western Europe there is no question
that we would have been able to drive
the enemy across the Alps. But as
soon as the liberation of France began
the Italian campaign became a sec
ondary operation which grew more dif1i-
cult every day because Of the difficulty
OF supplying our troops, sending re-
placements and at the same time at
tempting to provide a limited amount
OF consumer goods for millions of
Italians.
The campaign in Western Europe
turned out to be more lengthy than
was anticipated last summer. The
British, who feel that they must send
their troops into some section of the
Balkans such as Greece to establish their
influence after the withdrawal of the
Nazis, will soon be compelled to draw
on their forces in Italy. The French,
who are now fighting for their own
country, have withdrawn the divisions
they originally sent 20 help the Allies.
The casualties in the last few weeks
nave not been particularly heavy. but
there have been many cases of illness
among the men which have swelled
the number of men not available for
combat.
Evening star., 1944-11-04
This Changing World
By Consf0nfiss Brosvn

Gen. Sir Harold Alexander, COM
mander of Allied forces in Italy, an
nounced this week that the campaign
has begged down. He gave an oficial
balance sheet Of IA months Of fighting
which revealed that there had been
10000 American casualties In this cam
paign which brought the Allies to the
so-called Gothic Line. He did not
disclose the losses suffered by the British,
Imperial, French, Polish and Brazilian
forces,
On the profit side of this balance
sheet the Allies have obtained the ad-
vantages which lie in killing a large
number of Germans and holding down a
number Of German divisions
Gen. Alexander did not mention the
unseen" debit, which can be expressed
in few words as follows: a vastly
increased responsibility on the already
overtaxed Allied communications sys-
tenn; chaotic political and economic
situation in the portions of Italy under
Allied control and corresponding "loss
of face" particularly as far as the
United States is concerned, throughout
the liberated section OF Italy.
+
Moreover there is clash of ideologies
among the various Italian political fac
tions which presages nothing good for
the future. So long as the Italians were
under the Nazi-Fascist boot and their
political freedom was stified, the entire
Italian population was strongly anti
totalitarian and longed for freedom of
thought and expression. Now when this
freedom has been obtained, other eie-
ments have been injected and there is
real cat and dog fight among the all
oo-political-minded Italians. Royalist,
democratic, socialist and communistic
factions are fighting one another at the
expense OF the order we hoped to
established
The campaign in Italy, which followed
our successful liberation of Sicily, was
not the making of the American general
staff. When Prime Minister Churchill
met with President Roosevelt and his
chief military advisers at Quebec in
August, l943, the British strongly ad-
vocated campaign in the Italian main
land
American strategists opposed it, They
pointed out that Italy was going to be
headache to the Allies, who. while
capable Of expelling the Germans from
the major part of the country, could not
muster sufficient forces to make a thor
ough job of it If We were to undertake an
invasion of Europe across France. They
pointed out that strategically Italy had
only little value and the most we could
hope from successful campaign would
Evening star., 1944-11-04
Nerves in japan

Although the Twentieth Air Force
and the War Department have fatty
declared that Tokyo was not bombed
on Wednesday, the excitement dis
played that day by the Japanese
radio indicates that some of our
Super FortresSes may have flown
over on a reconnaissance mission
and that the reaction in the i'm
perial capital was one of confusion
bordering on panic.
To begin with-judging from the
Tokyo domestic broadcasts - the
alarm system worked poorly. Ap-
parently the planes we're over the
capital city before any advance
warning had been sounded. While
beaming different version to India
and the United States, the japanese
radio kept telling It's home audience
throughout the day that raid pre-
cautions would have to be improved,
that the fighting spirit of the popu-
lace must be further strength
ened," that our Super Fortresses
were now using the Marianas as
base and that the homeland-where
"the houses burn easily" could be
attacked at any time
Possibly the whole story was a
fabrication designed to frighten the
japanese people into a full aware
ness of how very real a threat
American air power has become and
to prepare them for the shock of
raids in the making. But whether
our planes flew over or not. whether
or not the enemy staged a fake
attack merely to test the reaction
of the populace, the Tokyo radio
plainly suggested that a bad case OF
nerves was uncovered and that the
defense system was less than eff
.cient. Some factories 'lost their
calmness'; the advance warning
was missing; in land where "the
houses burn easily" things would
have to be done much better than
that.
The japanese have shown great
far ticism on the battlefield. In
some cases, the character of their
resistance has been so futilely sui
cidal as to suggest a measure of
madness-a kind Of panic in itself,
panic expressed in screaming
charges or in crazed struggle against
hopeless odds from cave positions
which they know will be swept by
flame throwers or blown apart On
the home front in Japan, when
American air power cuts loose with
full fury, this characteristic may
shstter nerves on mass scale.
As they have shown during earth
quakes. the japanese tend to be
panicky, and this, coupled with the
vulnerability of their crowded and
combustible cities, may be their
undoing when the bombs begin to
fall IN earnest. 1t is small wonder
that the Tokyo radio has begun
lecturirg them excitedly on the vir-
tues of calmness and proper pre-
cautions against the grim shape of
things to come.
Evening star., 1944-11-04
Crisis in France

4Ic pIOVlSlOIldl government OF
France headed by General Charles
de Gaulle faces what looks like a
supreme test of its authority. The
Communist party has refused to
associate itself in any way with
the decree issued a few days ago
dissolving all armed associations
except the regular military forces
and the police, and ordering them
to turn in their weapons.
This brings to a head the equivo-
cal situation which has existed ever
since the Allied armies expelled
the Germans from most of France.
During the German occupation a
strong underground" movement
developed, consisting of various ele-
ments co-ordinated in a central
committee known as the Council of
Resistance. The fighting arm of the
underground" was the "Maquis,"
but the Maquis was itself composite,
its armed bands following various
leadership, from conservative to
Communist in character. The best
organized. however, was the Com
munist Maquis, known as the Pa
triotic Militia, which was in effective
touch with Moscow.
When the provisional government
mo"sd from Algiers to Paris, with
its troops organized in North Africa
and equipped by the Allies, the
Council of Resistance did not dis
solve. 1t maintained its separate
identity, though at first working
amicably with the De Gaulle regime.
Obviously, this spelled divided au-
thority which could not long endure.
The need for political clarification
was hastened by the actions of the
more radical elements in the coun-
Gil, who set themselves up in the
provinces as virtually autonomous
organizations, acting on their own
initiative and ignoring or defying
the orders of the provisional govern
ment. In a country like France,
with its traditions of centralized
authority and strict legality, such
situat ation spelled potential anarchy.
Furthermore, the need for political
uniflcation was intensified by the
general breakdown of communica-
tions which threatened widespread
privation in the winter months that
are at hand.
Faced by these imperatives and
strengthened by Allied diplomatic
recognition, the provisional govern
ment took the bull by the horns and
issued its disarmament decree. The
Council of Resistance, after a pre-
liminary protest, seemed ready to
bow to the order. But its Commu-
mist section has baked and Is now
trying to rally its less radical COL
leagues into a general refusal to
obey. If the effort fails, the Com
munists will stand isolated and will
have to decide whether to submit or
fight. If the attempt succeeds, the
provisional government will either
be stultified or compelled to use
forceful measures against the bulk
OF the underground groups, which
might mean civil war. With so much
at stake, the outcome of the current
crisis Is OF vital importance, not
merely to Frenchmen but also to the
Allies whose armies fighting the
Germans are dependent on French
bases and lines of communication,
Evening star., 1944-11-04

is why the Allied strategic bombing Is
now turning to German oil production
as its number one priority. The fighter
production is no longer an economical
target. But planes cannot fly, nor
the supply of an air force be carried
on. without gasoline and OIL.
The Germans have lost the Romanian
and Galician wells on which they fer
meriy depended to very large extent
for their oil supply. They are now
entirely dependent on synthetic produc-
ton, which because of its nature cam
not De decentralized as in the case of
plane assembly.
Under these conditions. the synthetic
oil plants are the targets which offer
the most promising results for our
strategical bombing as far as reducing
the German air potential is concerned.
and incidentally, of course. damage to
these plants also reduces the German
ground-f1ghting potential, especially if
break-through of their defensive crust
along the Rhine is achieved and thev
have to deal once more with open
warfare conditions requiring rapidity of
movement.
The Germans must find a satisfactory
means of protecting these plants or
they will presently be crippled on every
front and in every form of combat by
shortage of fuel and lubricants. Anti
aircraft artillery is not effective as an
all-round defense: 1t has its uses. but
it must be supplemented by fighter
planes.
So the situation may be summed up
as follows: The Luftwaffe was hit verv
hard by the destruction Of its assembly
plants last winter. The process of de-
Capitalization was begun. Then the
Luftwaffe received another crushing
blow-the loss Of the Romanian and
Galician oil fields. Now the process
OF producing fighters at the decentral-
lied facilities must be speeded I'D in
order to protect the synthetic plants
which are the Luftwaffe's only source
Of fuel.
Since this cannot be done fast enough.
the Luftwaffe finds itself on the wrong
end OF declining curve of effectiveness.
1t cannot stage a comeback. It can
only struggle as best 1t can to DELAY
an inevitable end.
(Copyrioht 1QAlN
Evening star., 1944-11-04
German Plane Building
By Maj. Georee Fieldinp Eliot

1t would be mistake to describe the
increase in German interceptor activity
as resurgence of the Luftwaffe There
can be no doubt, of course, that the Ger
mans are making desperate efforts to
step up their production of interceptor
planes.
Unless they can do so there is not
much chance of their being able to carry
on defensive warfare at all. both be-
cause they cannot give their ground
forces any protection against Allied air
attacks and because in their ever-nar-
rowing circle of defended territory, they
cannot without a reasonable number Of
interceptors have any hope of protecting
their key industrial centers from Allied
heavy bombers.
In other words, without interceptors
the Germans have only anti-aircraft fire
and the weather to depend on, and they
must express serious Setbacks, leading
inexorably to final defeat, every time a
spell of good weather gives the Allied
air power full opportunity to work. That
is process which could not last long.
Hence the German efforts, present and
continuing, to turn out more interceptor
planes-that is, short-range fighters, in
cluding many very fast ones with Jet
propulsion. 1t will be remembered that
last winter, especially during February,
the German fighter production facilities
were made the particular target of the
Allied strategic aviation. In consequence,
practically all the fighter assembly
plants were knocked out, and the Luft-
waite received a mortal blow from which
1t has never recovered and never can
wholly recover, given the other condi-
tions which 1t must face.
4
But the Germans were not prevented
from turning out fighters altogether.
What they did was to disperse their
working points. Instead of small num-
Der of big assembly plants, they began
a decentralization process by which
fighters planes were assembled at a
much larger number Of places-in small
well-camouf1aged plants scattered all
over the country, sometimes even in
hangers and in facilities formerly used
only for repair or maintenance purposes.
This is highly uneconomical process;
it is wasteful of manpower and it Is
particularly wasteful of transportation.
But 1t does enable the Germans to pro-
duce certain number of fighter planes,
especially the smaller ones of the inter-
ceptor type. One Allied air authority
put the situation like this: You can
knock out 10 per cent of a given indus
try and keep it knocked out. The other
30 per cent is much more dinicult, If
not impossible, to destroy as long as
the process of decentralization can be
indefinitely continued-that is, as long
as the enemy has space enough and
facilities enough to keep on scattering it
around, so that for q number OF large
targets an infinitely greater number Of
small targets are substituted.
That Is what the Germans have done
with their fighter industry, and that
Evening star., 1944-11-04
Letters to The Star
Urges Maintenance of Local
Corps of Service Volunteers

Corps of Service Volunteers
To the Editor OF the Star.
AS one who for more than three
decades has been interested lin principle
and practice) in the human welfare Of
our city, permit me to "doff my cap" to
you and your editorial entitled Civilian
Defense Volunteers"
The kudos you pass them as they go on
inactive status Is more than deserved
by these many thousand consecrated
men and women who manned" the pro-
tective services (air-raid wardens and
allied services)
The need for their retention as such,
is passed, but there is now, as there has
been all along, great need to harness
the potential good these earnest folks
could render their town in a Minute
Man Warden Corps to serve needs Gre
still at high tide!
In the field, at their neighbors' door,
knob level, this willing crew could do
yeoman service right now in assisting
those agencies and organizations, de-
voting themselves to promoting purchase
of War Bonds. recruiting nurses aides
(male and female), blood donors, and
getting out on the firing lire thousands
of registered volunteer workers listed
with the Volunteer Office of the Dis
trict of Columbia, long a part of the
protective OCD and now of the Civilian
War Services Division Of the District
government.
In the future. this great cohesive
corps could well be placed at the dis
posal of War Fund, Chest or Red Cross
fund campaigns.
The threat of air raids is mirfuscule,
but the field of human needs is epi-
demic and here is potential army
that stands Gf held together in current,
constructive community service to
score great victory in less colorful but
more fundamental and lasting endeavor
On with the Minute Man Warden
Corps. JOSEPH D. KAUFMAN.
Evening star., 1944-11-04
President Commended

To the Editor Of The Star:
We have had many Presidents of the
United States in the past and we will
have many more in the future; and, If
the voters are wise they will vote for
the reelection of President Roosevelt.
He made it possible for the people to
get food to eat and clothes to wear when
unemployment and chaos swept the
Nation
Mr. Roosevelt's contribution to busi-
ness and culture has been rich. His
whole public career has been devoted to
the improvement of social and moral
life, and his truthfulness will live for
ever In the minds and hearts of the
people. He will be loved and admired
long after he retires from the White
House. HERBERT v. HUDGNs.
Evening star., 1944-11-04
Another six Reasons"

1 have just read letter in this eve
ning's paper signed by Powell B. Sherry
and giving six reasons for not voting
for Gov. Dewey.
I would like to match him with six
reasons for voting for Dewey-Harry
Hopkins, Harold Ickes. Sidney Hillman.
Edward j. Flynn, Edward J. Kelly and
Frank Hague-and add Earl Browder
for good measure. LAB.
Evening star., 1944-11-04
Port Acquired
From the Montreal Star.

HUH lHe NHUHCleAI 6LNr. y
With Antwerp in use the Allied supply
problem will be considerably eased.
There seems to be no doubt now that
We were debarred from continuing our
rapid advance by the dimculty Of
maintaining supply over the long dis
tance from the temporary ports we set
up on the Channel to the armies
stretched along the German border and
IN Belgium and Holland. German
strategy has clearly been to agRravate
our supply problem by retaining as long
q possible those ports whose use would
nave shortened our supply line.
Evening star., 1944-11-04

converts. public and semipubnc
buildings Of every kind still stand
very much as they were in the
Renaissance. The Allied forces are
accompanied by experts charged
with the care of these monuments
and the treasures they shelter.
Evening star., 1944-11-04

toward MESA and the none-to-sym-
pathetic attitude adopted by the
War Labor Board In the past.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-16
- In - Hollywood
By ERsKINE JOHNSON MIA stan Correspondent

The Taek-Up Boy and Bobby Socks went for sled ride and sang Q duet on . sound stage today and it was so cold even the camera and the mike were wearing mufflers, But the best words to the song didn't get on film.
 While technicians ground cakes of ice into snow and three em- barrassed.looking grips doubled for Alaskan huskies pulling the sled, the Tack-Up Boy and Bobby Socks that's what Bing Crosby and Bob Hope call each other-warbled into the shiverlng mike:
 pr don't care where I'm going just
 as long as I'm with you, Put 'it there, pal, put it there"
 Then ping would sing;
 '"This country's full of wolves but
 you should make them
 laughing stocks, The girls are fond of blubber and
 the igloos have no locks"
 And Bob would retort:
 "YouIl WOW the lady Eskimos,
 NAACH AOAA WN"A NNNNS
 socks"
 There were a lot of other lines all funny-and after each one Bing and Bob would shake hands, harmoniEing: Put 1t there, pal, put 1t there"
 The musical friendship routine was for Paramount's latest road" picture "T'he Road to Utopia" in which Bing and Bob get mix up with bears and Eskimos and Dor othy Lamour and even Santa Claus in frozen Alaska.
 But If people think the Put It There, Pal" duet is funny, they should hear a special recording Hope and Bing made of the song before the camera started turn ing. Songwriters Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen wrote
The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-16
STRAND

opening tomorrow at the Strand for a weeks engagement is the tli- rect holdover of Daryl F. Zanuck'S s "The Purple Heart" which stars such notables as Dana Andrews, sam Levene and Farley Granger
 "The Purple Heart in all real ity, is one motion picture that can truthfully be described as being as timely as today's very headlines, The film is presented as a carefully prepared version of the Japanese trial and execution as "murderers" of eight of the American flyers who bombed Tokyo in April, l942, The picture hits the screen right in the midst of all the seething resentment against the Japanese for their ill., treatment of prisoners of war,
 On this same bill is another grand
The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-16
MOVieS Playing Today
STATE

Every one of us is waiting tensely for the news Of wars end, not only to see our loved ones come home, but for the retribution and just punishment which will be meted out to the vicious men who instigRted its horrors and perpetrated It's sad ism across the scared face of a continent.
 The powerfully dramatic film None Shall Escape" currently at Warmers State theater takes th!s news by the forelock and foresha- iows the facts of things to come, Here in the most prophetic picture of our time, is how the NaLl crimes will be avenged. This moving drama shows the whole horrible tragedy of NaA brutality and demands punishment. Every phase of 1t Is shockingly true, so terrible frank that 1t sears the screen with its life shattering story.
 It shows the NaA swine who kill- ed his own brother; the one who let his own mother die in Nazi concentration camp; the Nazi who pillaged and brutali7ed his own peo- pie; how lash by lash they pillageo their way across a continent; and then, how step by step they are forced to relieve their crimes dread- full act in court of justice in a little village on the German-Polish border,
 Played by cast of brilliant ac. tors and actresses. None Shall ES- cape" comes to the screen with an impact no one will ever forget.
 Marsha Hunt as Maria Pacier- kowSki, a village school teacher who is one of the chief victims oi Nazi domination, gives u heart stopping performance of sheer art istry. While Henry Travers, aS Father Varecki the village priest outdoeS his usual sympatheti( characterization with a performance which stamps him as one Of th' greatest players of this type of rolt the screen has ever seen. Still or the sympathetic side of the story \ Richard Hale as Rabbi Levin, In hi' performance, Hale understandingll projects a composite portrait Of al the sufferings of the Jewish race.
 The other featured players who s' magniflcently weave their dramati performances into the tapestry o this realistic story are Erik Rolf Richard Crane. Dorothy Morris Ruth Nelson and Kurt Kreuger,
 And for your further enjoymen the management presents "Larcen, With Music with Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones
 with The Marines At Tarawa presented by the U, $, Governmen and photographed In technicolor b, combat photographers of the Sec ond Marine Division Is also included on the same program,
The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-16
RITZ MARDI CRAS
 TOMORROW NIGHT

Faith an it's fun we're havin' =, what with snakes, n jigs, n the merry ould tunes . and 0 bit O blarney at Mccormack and Barrys St, Patrick's Mardi Gras at the Ritz ballroom in Bridgeport tomorrow night. Irv Hintz and his Ribernian Farmers will play a pro- gram of Jigs, square sets, polkas, and modern tunes and there1l Do souvenirs, hats and favors to make merry with, Every year the St. Patricks party is an eagerly anti- cipated event at the Ritz, so come, be happy and young at this gala event.