January 13, 1944: War moves to South China Sea:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, JANUARY 13, 1945:

Daily Newspaper of U.S. Armed Forces

VOL. 5 No. 61—Id.

London Edition Paris

in the European Theater of Operations

SATURDAY, Jan. 13, 1945

Yanks Pushing South

Meet Japs; Planes Hit

Foe Off Indo-China

Two battles which might decide the fate of Luzon and the Philippines one

on land, the other at sea—were taking shape yesterday as the Japanese Prime Minister, Gen. Kuniaki Koiso, summoned chiefs of staff from all his war fronts to a strategy conference in Tokyo.

On the land: U.S. 6th Army invasion forces were fighting their first real battle on Luzon, having met the enemy nine miles southeast of San Fabian on the left flank of the Lingayen Gulf beachhead. No details of the battle were available. Other U.S.

troops were reported to have crossed the Agno River, 20 miles inland, at a point 87 miles from Manila. Ten miles of the San Fabian-Manila railroad were in American hands and the Yanks held the northern ends of four main highways running southeast to the capital.

On the sea: Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Pacific naval chief, disclosed at Pearl Harbor that planes of Adm. William F. Halsey's 3rd Fleet had gone into action off the Indo-China coast, somewhere between Saigon and Camranh Bay Though no details were given, Halsey's currier and surface ships were believed to have intercepted elements of the elusive Jap fleet convoying reinforcements to Luzon from Camranh Bay, the enemy's closest fleet base on the Asiatic mainland.

(See maps on January 12, post)

U.S. Renews

Finnish Ties'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12—

Resumption of informal diplomatic relations with Finland was disclosed today by Undersecretary of State Joseph C. Grew, who said that President Roosevelt had approved appointment of Maxwell Hamilton as representative at Helsinki, with the

personal rank of minister. Both Britain and Russia; had been informed, he added.

Grew said the subject of punishment of war criminals was under consideration by the U.S., but declined to state the government's attitude to a suggestion that atrocities committed by Germans and Hungarians against their own nationals

would be treated as war crimes.

He added that a meeting of the entire group of United Nations was in prospect

this year.

Red Assault

On in Poland

Berlin Says

Berlin claimed the long-awaited Russian winter offensive in Poland, aimed at smashing into Germany by way of the Polish plain, began yesterday when powerful Soviet forces struck westward from their Vistula River bridgehead beyond Baranov, 60 miles southeast of Warsaw'.

• There was no confirmation from Moscow, but Germany has generally-announced

Red Army offensives before the Kremlin issued a statement. Col Ernst von Hammer, German News Agency commentator, admitted the Russians had breached the German lines in a number of places.

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