THE WAR IN REVIEW
THE WAR IN REVIEW THE unveiling of powerful secret weapons in both major theaters of war this week took precedence over invasion developments in world headlines. In Europe the Germans unleashed a...
...Awe-inspiring and somewhat terrifying as these two monsters of modern technological warfare were, they could not obscure for long the fact that the ordinary foot-soldier, fighting on the bomb-swept coast of France, was still providing the most significant, if not the most sensational news of the week...
...In Italy the Allied forces were still pushing ahead against somewhat stiffer resistance...
...There were several important developments in the Pacific war this week, the most outstanding, of course, being the attack on the Japanese homeland by America's new, giant bomber, the B-29...
...One-third larjrer than the Flying Fortress (B-17), which Gen...
...Recognizing the danger of the new smash, Finnish authorities called upon their people and armies "to fight to the end...
...It flies at much greater altitudes and carries a greatly increased bomb load...
...Japan Hit By B-29 s There were no developments on the other European fronts, except for the invasion of the Island of Elba by French troops...
...Kenneth Wolfe, commander of the newly established 20th Global Air" Force, as "the beginning of our organized destruction of the Japanese industrial empire...
...Fired from the French coast, the new weapon, which at first was thought to be a radio-controlled airplane, is a huge, jet-propelled bomb, capable of a 100-mile range...
...Pointing out that it was incapable of accurate direction and maneuverability, officials were disinclined to view it as an effective factor in the war...
...On the eastern front the Soviet offensive had slashed through the Mannerheim Line and was menacing Finland's second city, Viipuri...
...Here at home, meanwhile, the State Department cracked down on the Finnish legation in this country, informing Finnish minister Hjalmar Procope and three of his assistants that they were "persona non grata" in this country and requesting them to leave...
...Action In The Pacific The mission of the big bomberS, blasting the Japanese steel center of Yawata, came as a complete surprise to Americans, but not to the Japanese...
...Pitted against the well-equipped and entrenched forces of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Allied infantrymen were making a remarkable record...
...Jittery Germans, meanwhile, remained on a constant alert all along the sea wall for the second landing...
...Citing this report, Frank Hanighen, editor of the newsletter Human Events, declared that the Russians have already begun to dicker with Mihailovitch, whom the Anglo-American powers have slighted in deference to the Communists...
...In challenging the use of American-printed francs for use of invasion troops in France and by issuing orders to French authorities in the liberated areas, de Gaulle disclosed this week that he intends to stand up to President Roosevelt, the only United Nations leader who seems to be blocking the recognition of the French committee as the provisional government of France...
...Politics Muddled As Usual While the German secret weapon had failed to disrupt the invasion time-table, there was grave fear that the rapidly mounting crisis in French political affairs might have serious effects if allowed to go along in their present muddled course...
...The unveiling of the loudly-heralded Nazi secret weapon seemed to have no noticeable effect on the progress of the Allied invasion forces...
...No decision had been reached about the status of Gen...
...Tito, ostensibly at the insistence of Moscow...
...For several days preceding the raid, the Japanese radio broadcast reports that the great planes w<"-^ Vioinn- -m*Aa ready at bases in southern China and India for the attack...
...Charles de Gaulle and his French Committee of National Liberation, and President Roosevelt's continued coolness toward the French leader froze what little hope there was for speedy settlement of the problem...
...The flight was hailed by Brig...
...Omar Bradley, was said to have trapped from 25,000 to 30,000 Nazi troops who faced either annihilation or surrender...
...Writing in the Washington Star, Constantine Brown, the well-informed Washington columnist, reported that the Partisans have suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Germans and that Gen...
...Mihailovitch to deal with the Partisan leader, Gen...
...Tito has fled to Allied-occupied Italy...
...The attack was launched with a pulverizing hombardment all along the southern end of the chain, and was followed with the landing of Marines and regular Army troops on Saipan, key point in the enemy's defense system...
...British officials admitted that it was causing considerable damage in Southern England, but they insisted that not one invasion ship had been prevented from sailing...
...In Europe the Germans unleashed a strange, self-propelled, winged bomb, while in the Pacific war, America for the first time threw her mighty super-fortress of the sky, the B-29, into action in a raid on the Japanese homeland...
...In less than a fortnight from the time they landed on French soil, they had driven across the Normandy Peninsula and isolated the great port of Cherbourg...
...Another political muddle seemed to have developed in Yugoslavia, where Allied forces have been ignoring Gen...
...Nazi 'Secret Weapon' Debunked At mid-week the American veterans from North Africa were fighting to widen their corridor before the Germans could mass for a strong counter-thrust, while other units prepared to open seige against the port city...
...Bypassing the heavily fortified Caroline Islands, the MacArthur-Nimitz team struck at the Marianas Islands, the first in a long chain of islands pointing directly to Tokyo...
...The attainment of the first major Allied objective, spearheaded by the United States Ninth Division under the command of Lieut...
...Meanwhile, American forces accomplished significant landings in another island group in the Central Pacific...
...It is loaded with a ton of high explosive, which blows up on contact...
...At mid-week there were reports that de Gaulle would soon come to the United States to attempt to reach an agreement with Roosevelt...
...H. H. Arnold, Commander of Army Air Forces, not long ago described as "the last of the smaller bombers," the new Super Fortress is a four motored plane with a range exceeding the B-17 and Liberator (B-24) by more than 1,000 miles...
Vol. 8 • June 1944 • No. 26
