Septemer 25, 1944: Assault on Phillipenes:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1944:

Lowell. Mass.  Monday September 25 J 944

103 Ships

405 -Airplanes

Smashed

Tokio Insists

Yank Invasion of

Isles Imminent

By Frank Tremaine

PEARL HARBOR, Sept 25 (UP)—

Admiral William F. Halsey's Third fleet, smashing 103 ships and 405 planes in' a two-day assault on the Manila area, was revealed today to have knocked out Japan's air power in the- Philippines and wrecked the enemy's inter-island communications. The heavy assault, on Wednesday and Thursday, brought the Japanese face to' face with the problem of whether to throw their home fleet and air force into battle to repel an American invasion of the islands, which Tokio insisted was "imminent." The situation of the Japanese in the Philippines was emphasized by  (insert map) Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's official report of the results of Halsey's powerful attacks.

"The operations of the Third fleet have forced the enemy to withdraw his naval forces from their former anchorages in the Philippines area to seek

new refuges In the same general area, have disrupted interisland communications, and have broken his airforce in the. Philippines," he said.

Although Nimitz' communique on the Manila attack did not specify the number of combatant ships among those wrecked, it was believed

they largely were cargo vessel; and transports, indicating the Japanese were making an attempt to reinforce the large garrison on Luzon.

School Hit

by Robombs

Terror Weapons Strike

Twice During Night

LONDON, Sept. 25 .(/P)—

The Germans struck at the London area and the southern counties with flying bombs twice during the night. The attacks came in two short bursts—just after dark and again early this morning— and caused some casualties. Eleven persons were injured when one bomb exploded on the grounds of a Roman Catholic boys' school in the country, blowing the roofs off school buildings and smashing windows

and doors.

The government r e m a i n e d frankly concerned over housing facilities for bombed out Londoners before winter sets in. An appeal has gone out to carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers and painters to volunteer for the job of repairing some 900,000 homes which have been damaged in the capital.

Usability

Of Ledo Road

Revealed

SEATTLE, Sept." 25 USA

Ability." of 'China's new life-line, the Ledo road, was disclosed today by the Post-Intelligencer.' The paper said the juncture of the vital overland link with existing arteries in China first was learned from n '"visiting source close lo the Chinese embassy." It was confirmed officially by the US army engineers in Washington, D. C.

'Further usefulness o£ the route as a source of llth-hour supplies to beleaguered Chinese armies is contingent upon efforts to stave off mounting Japanese 'pressure on the Yunan 'Feeder' roads," the paper pointed but. . . .Extending from the Ledo railhead in eastern India, the road passes through the jungles of

northern Burma and joins roadways of China's Yunan province at Trjimghka, Burma