Current Events February 8, 1944;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY FEBRUARY 8, 1944:

Allied Headquarters, Algiers—(AP)

—Waves of German planes struck in heavy attack yesterday at the Allied invasion beachhead below Rome, headquarters announced today, and thunderous artillery shelling continued in prelude to an impending major battle.

With the Fifth Army on the Anzio

Beachhead, Feb. 7 (delayed)— (AP)—

Two German fighter-bombers in b r i g h t sunlight this afternoon bombed a crowded beachhead evacuation

hospital, killing 27 persons and wounding 64 including; nurses". Sixteen of the dead and 43 of the wounded were members of the hospital's American personnel

 

 

London—(AP)—

The Red Army has liquidated the German bridgehead at Nikopol, driving the Germans from their last stronghold east of the Dnieper river, and has captured the city of Nikopol itself on the .right bank of the river, Moscow announced tonight

HEAVY ATTACKS

MADE MONDAY

Thunderous Artillery Shelling

Continues in Beachhead

Area.

LITTLE LAND FIGHTING

By EDWARD KENNEDY

Allied Headquarters, Algiers—(AP)

—Waves of German planes struck in heavy attack yesterday at the Allied invasion beachhead below Rome, headquarters announced today, and thunderous artillery shelling continued in prelude to an impending major battle.

Two Nazi fighter bombers attacked an American evacuation hospital on the beachhead in bright sunlight

yesterday, killing at least 27 persons and wounding 65, including U. S. nurses, Associated Press Correspondent Daniel De Luce said in a front dispatch, and the death toll threatened to rise.

Two nurses were killed along with. 14 other persons of the hospital personnel. Forty-three of the wounded,

including three nurses and a Red

Cross aide, were attached to the hospital. The other victims were

soldiers.

De Luce declared it was a deliberate a tack, for the hospital was plainly marked with Red Crosses and lay a mile from any major military target.

(The war department in Washington said today the women nurses killed in the attack on the Anzio

evacuation hospital were the first American nurses to lose their lives through direct enemy action in this war.)

 

BOMB HOSPITAL

ON BEACHEAD

German Planes Drop Bombs

Killing 27 Persons, Injuring

65 Others.

ATTACK WAS DELIBERATE

By DANIEL DE LUCE

Associated Press Correspondent

Representing the Combined

American Press.

With the Fifth Army on the Anzio

Beachhead, Feb. 7 (delayed)— (AP)—

Two German fighter-bombers in b r i g h t sunlight this afternoon bombed a crowded beachhead evacuation

hospital, killing 27 persons and wounding 64 including; nurses". Sixteen of the dead and 43 of the wounded were members of the hospital's American personnel.

Two nurses were killed, three seriously wounded, and one Red Cross girl was wounded.

The figures were given by Lt. Col. Hubert L. Blinkley, Denver. Colo., hospital executive officer who escaped

injury, but the death toll already was mounting as he talked two hours after the raid at 3:30

p. m.

                                                                          First Nurses Killed

(In Washington the war department said the nurses were the first to lose their lives through direct enemy action in this war.)

There apparently was not the remotest reason to doubt that it was a deliberate attack.

 

German Bridgehead

Liquidated By Reds

VITAL CITY OF

NIKOPOL TAKEN

Russian Army Clears Wide

Area, Takes Important

Manganese Center.

OTHER CITIES CAPTURED

London—(AP)—

The Red Army has liquidated the German bridgehead at Nikopol, driving the Germans from their last stronghold east of the Dnieper river, and has captured the city of Nikopol itself on the .right bank of the river, Moscow announced tonight.

In two orders of the day, Marshall Stalin said the Russian army in the Dnieper bend had defeated seven German infantry divisions to clear a bridgehead 72 miles wide and 21 miles deep, and then gone on to seize Nikopol, important manganese center across the Dneiper.

The mines of the Nikopol area produce most of the manganese, a steel-hardening element, that has been used by the German war machine. Hence the defenders o£ the area have fought bitterly to retain their hold. The Russian communique last night told how the Germans there were being outflanked.

New Nazi Aerial

Weapon Is Threat

Against Shipping

By DON WH1TEHEAD

Naples— (fl5)—

When the great invasion of the European continent begins, one of the big responsibilities of the Allied airforces will be to prevent any concentrated use by the Germans of rocket-propelled glider bombs.

There is no breach of security involved In saying that this new aerial weapon of the Nazis is a potent threat against shipping. The Germans know it and the Allies know it. '

An invasion fleet at anchor is like a flock of sitting ducks unless air cover can intercept the control plane

from which the gliders are directed by radio.

Anti-aircraft fire is only partly effective against the small winged projectiles, because they sweep down on their targets swiftly and are difficult to hit.

                                                              Used Glider Bombs

The Germans used glider bombs against the invasion fleet at Salerno and again at Anzio during the fifth army's behind-the-lines thrust. Censorship prevented disclosure of the full effectiveness of this weapon until Winston Churchill announced its use at Salerno. Again at Anzio, correspondents with the landing forces were forbidden to say the Germans were using rocket bombs against shipping. Since then, however, these restrictions have been lifted. Now the correspondents may tell something in detail of what the rocket bombs are like and how the Germans use them.

From descriptions piece together by several eyewitnesses, it is learned the bomb is about 20 to 30 feet long, with tail fins acting as a stabilizer and rudder. It has a wing-spread of some 15 feet and in flight it looks like a small plane.

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