May 12, 1944;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY MAY 12, 1944:

Flying Fortresses struck at railway targets in four countries late yesterday,;

climaxing a non-stop 36-hour blitz! against the transportation centers immediately supporting Hitler's Atlantic Wall defenses.

ADVANCED ALLIED HQ, New Guinea, May 11 (UP)—

British Empire troops captured by the Japanese more than two years ago when the Axis partners were winning everywhere—and liberated a month ago by American forces invading New Guinea—told today how they were brought up-to-date on the news of the war and learned for the first time of the Allies' "comeback."

Sikhs of the 216th Punjab Regiment, they were freed from Japanese captivity by U.S. forces which landed in the Hollandia and Aitape areas a month ago—the first British Empire troops to be liberated from the Japanese since the fall of Singapore.

 Berlin commentators bragged yesterday that German engineers so thoroughly destroyed Sebastopol harbor "that it will probably take years to restore the port."

 

New York, N.Y.— London, England                                 Friday, May 12, 1944

Non-Stop Offensive

Hits Lines Serving

Nazis' West Wall

Points in 5 Nations

P0unded; Heavies,

B26s Ont Twice

Flying Fortresses struck at railway targets in four countries late yesterday,;

climaxing a non-stop 36-hour blitz! against the transportation centers immediately supporting Hitler's Atlantic Wall defenses.

The Fortress attacks, second American heavy bomber mission of the day, coincided with other assaults by every type of Allied aircraft which in the 36 hours up to six o'clock last night had been smashing Nazi rail targets at the rate of .one an

hour across five nations.

Seventeen points along the network of railways leading to the invasion-jittery coastal areas of France, Belgium, Holland and/ Germany itself were pounded in

daylight yesterday and during  the night before. Nineteen were hit in the preceding daylight hours as the pre-invasion air assault on coastal Europe mounted.

All-Day Shuttle

Two forces of U.S. heavies—Liberators first and then Fortresses—carried the; major weight of bombs which blasted at 'the Nazi rail system yesterday, but medium and light forces of USAAF and RAF alike were working around the clock in thundering relays.

After Two Years in Jap Hands:

Captives Freed in Guinea Learn

For First Time Axis Is Losing

ADVANCED ALLIED HQ, New Guinea, May 11 (UP)—

British Empire troops captured by the Japanese more than two years ago when the Axis partners were winning everywhere—and liberated a month ago by American forces invading New Guinea—told today how they were brought up-to-date on the news of the war and learned for the first time of the Allies' "comeback."

Sikhs of the 216th Punjab Regiment, they were freed from Japanese captivity by U.S. forces which landed in the Hollandia and Aitape areas a month ago—the first British Empire troops to be liberated from the Japanese since the fall of Singapore. After two years of a rice diet, with occasional tuna fish but never vegetables, they got their first taste of real food when taken aboard the invasion ships.

We asked how the war was going," one said, "and then, for the first time, we heard of the great Allied victories in the Pacific and in Europe. We were satisfied."

Crimea Now

A Nazi Boast

Sebastopol Called Useless;

Reds Cite Huge Enemy

Losses; Fronts Quiet

Berlin commentators bragged yesterday that German engineers so thoroughly destroyed Sebastopol harbor "that it will probably take years to restore the port."

"All buildings have been razed to the ground," said Col. Ernst von Hammer, of the German News Agency. "Quays have been blown away and the whole landscape has been drastically changed."

The Russians, in turn, reported that the Crimean fortress' final days cost the enemy thousands of dead and hundreds of prisoners. "Ships packed with German troops were sunk before they could reach the roadstead outside," Moscow radio said.

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