THE WAR IN REVIEW
THE WAR IN REVIEW AMERICAN FORCES landing spectacularly on the island of Okinawa in the Ryukyu island group south of Japan (see map) shared headlines this week with the mighty surge of Allied arms...
...Some reports declared that Field Marshal von Rundstedt was negotiating for peace, had been replaced by Field Marshal Kesselring, commander of German armies in Italy...
...The disease-ridden and snake-infested island, about midway between Japan and its heavily fortified outpost of Formosa, is the first island occupied by Japanese civilians to be taken by the Americans...
...The usually cautious and conservative Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific fleet, hailed it in the following language: "As our sea and air blockade cuts the enemy off from the world and as our bombing increases in strength and proficiency, our final decisive victory is assured," Nimitz said...
...25 (See Week in Review...
...Some experts believed, however, that a sudden, dramatic surrender would not be forth-, coming as in the last war, but that operations would be continued until the Allies themselves announced that organized resistance had been ended...
...Its seizure will give the Yanks, a valuable pivot point from which air blows can be struck at Formosa, China, and the enemy homeland with heavy la»d-based bombers...
...The landing apparently caught the enemy by complete surprise...
...Commenting on the significance of the landing, Lt...
...Rumors Fly About Germany Most of the week's political news revolved around the serious deterioration of plans for the world security conference to be held in San Francisco Apr...
...Running a close second was speculation over what was transpiring within Germany...
...Large numbers of prisoners and vast amounts of material were fall-ing into Allied hands...
...Back in the Philippines Gen...
...The invasion was said to be the largest amphibious operation of the Pacific war, involving 1,400 ships of all types, 1,500 planes, and more than 100,000 men...
...A Valuable Pivot Point The Easter morning landing on Okinawa is considered one of the most significant of the Pacific war...
...Troops pulled into the eastern defenses of the island to meet the expected thrust there will undoubtedly join with those driven back into the interior for a determined stand...
...Argentina made political news this week with a declaration of war on the Axis...
...At midweek only one major unit in the archipelago remained to be liberated...
...There were rumors of all kinds...
...Simon Bolivar Buckner, commander of the new 10th Army, declared, "From the standpoint of our offensive this is the most valuable island yet invaded...
...In western Germany great offensive power had carried Allied forces deep into the inner fortress on almost all sections of the front...
...Major activity was reported only in the Danube Valley, where the Russians were driving on Vienna, Austrian capital...
...Hitler was said to be conferring desperately with his generals, was reported to have fled Germany and gone into hiding, and to have committed suicide...
...Germany would thus be cut in two, making it impossible to establish a north-south defense line...
...Although the Nazi government showed no disposition to surrender, hopes were high at mid-week that a decision was imminent...
...As a result of the Argentine action, the U. S. State Department, which has officially declared the Farrell regime to be "fascistic," prepared to recognize the present Argentine government...
...MacArthur announced that 307,000 Japanese have been killed in the campaign to retake the Philippines, as against an American total of 30,000 killed, wounded, and missing...
...In the south the American 3rd and 7th Armies slashed ahead in what was thought to be a drive aimed at a juncture with the Red Army driving up the Danube Valley...
...The American 1st rolled into central Germany, swerved north to join the 9th and British-Canadian forces, and completed the envelopment of the Ruhr industrial area...
...Tough fighting was expected to develop momentarily, however...
...Landing parties storming ashore on the western side of the island after 10 days of naval bombardment on the east coast encountered almost no resistance in the early stages of the operation...
...The long Oder front remained static at a time that seemed propitious for an all-out, roll-back assault from one end of the front to the other...
...The shattering blows loosed when the Americans and British stormed across the Rhine last week crumbled the enemy lines and sent him reeling back in confusion...
...Meanwhile, the Soviet campaign was puzzling many observers...
...It lies about 325 miles from the Japanese mainland and about the same distance from the Chinese coast...
...The grudging nature of the declaration was seen in the official Argentine reason for the action...
...War was primarily declared on Japan for its Pearl Harbor attack, said the South American government, while the declaration against Germany was given this official basis: "In view of the character of the latter as an ally of Japan...
...The surest evidence of German desperation was seen in the Nazi broadcasts themselves which tacitly admitted that all hope of stopping the Allied tide was gone, but, nevertheless, called on the people to continue resistance...
...Enthusiasm over the invasion ran high...
...THE WAR IN REVIEW AMERICAN FORCES landing spectacularly on the island of Okinawa in the Ryukyu island group south of Japan (see map) shared headlines this week with the mighty surge of Allied arms into Germany and emphasized again the tremendous tempo reached in the offensive against the Axis...
...But the Americans had already seized several vital airstrips and new materials were pouring ashore from the naval armada lying offshore...
...Douglas MacArthur's troops continued the clean-up of those islands...
Vol. 9 • April 1945 • No. 15
