January 3, 1945; Germans gain in Belguim:

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, JANUARY 3, 1945:

495,052 U.S. Casualties

In '44—82,634 Killed

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (AP)-

Casualty messages were delivered to the homes of 495,052 American servicemen in 1944, it was disclosed today. Army and Navy figures up to Dec. 14 revealed that 82,634 Americans lost their lives in combat in the year. Of these, 70,676 were in theArmy and 11,958 in the Navy and Marines.

An additional 318,157 were wounded, while 94,261 are missing or in enemy hands

Corridor

Cut More by

3rd Army

Lt. Gen. George S.Patton's drive between Bastogne and St. Hubert into the German bulge in Belgium has gained another two miles, and the enemy, with the waist of his salient narrowed to perhaps only ten miles, was pulling back his armor from the western tip. according to dispatches  yesterday from SHAEF, where a 36-hour time lag for security purposes was still in effect.

While the armor was moving eastward, Field Marshal Gen. von Rundsteds troops kept jabbing against Ration's forces at points along a 25-mile front running east from south of St. Hubert to south of Wilu. in Luxemburg. Dispatches suggested that the Germans were readjusting their positions within the salient, possibly for a second lunge.

On the northern flank of the bulge, U.S. patrols probed more than a mile into the no-man's-land between the lines between Hotton and Marche without making contact with the foe, who has dug in in defensive positions in this sector.

Reds Battle

Into the Heart

Of Budapest

Russian troops, gradually tightening ; ring of steel around the doomed Nazi garrison in burning Budapest, yesterday battled their way into the heart of the

Hungarian capital.

In Pest, the larger part of the city on the eastern side of the Danube, the Red Army was only three-quarters of a mile from" the center, while on the western bank the Nazis held only a narrow strip  of Buda, inside which the Royal Palace

stands.

According to reports, the German and Hungarian defenders have been forced underground and are living and fighting in hundreds of cellars and basements

linked by holes in the walls. Bloody hand-to- hand clashes were reported in these modern catacombs as the Russians pushed forward under the streets as well as along them.

Russian demolition squads have been sent into the capital to blast the Germans

out of buildings. Explosions rocked the city.

Softening-Up

Of Luzon Starts

U.S. planes have started softening-up Luzon 'Island in the Philippines. Striking Saturday at Lingayen Gulf, off the coast north of Manila, B25 Mitchells were believed to have sunk three Jap transports, two merchant ships and two

destroyers, a communique announced yesterday.

It was the most northerly penetration yet made into the Philippines by land based

planes, according to reports. Following the attack, Liberators blasted Neilson airfield at Manila and Corsairs strafed ammunition trains.

On Mindoro Island, 15 Jap planes attempted to hamper the establishment of

air bases. Three were shot down.

495,052 U.S. Casualties

In '44—82,634 Killed

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (AP)-

Casualty messages were delivered to the homes of 495,052 American servicemen in 1944, it was disclosed today. Army and Navy figures up to Dec. 14 revealed that 82,634 Americans lost their lives in combat in the year. Of these, 70,676 were in theArmy and 11,958 in the Navy and Marines.

An additional 318,157 were wounded, while 94,261 are missing or in enemy hands.