Bebruary 20, 1944;Japan on Invasion Scale

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1945:

Salt Lake City, Utah, Tuesday Morning, February 20. 1945

Americans Gain

Foot at Time

In Fierce Fight

Superforts Find Japan Capital Still

Smoking From Carrier Attack;

Nimitz Sees Jap Homeland Invasion

U. S. PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, Guam, Tuesday,

Feb. 20 (UP)—

U. S. marines fought their way onto the No.1 airfield of Japan's home front island of Iwo Monday and Adm. Chester W. Nimitz in a ringing message of congratulations to his Pacific forces revealed Tuesday that Nippon itself is on the American invasion schedule.

Meanwhile the largest force of B-29s in history left large fires burning in th0 center of Tokyo Monday and shot down or damaged 66 Japanese planes as they dealt another devastating blow to the capital, still smouldering from task force 58's historic assault.

Crews of Tinian-based Superforts, the last over the target in the fourth heavy assault on the Japanese homeland in five days, said they were able to observe and

photograph "several large fires burning in the center of the city."

Photos Inconclusive

However, the strike photos were inconclusive because of a general overcast, and 21st bomber command headquarters said no definite assessment of damage could

be made.

Iyo Yanks

Meet Hot

Reception

Eye Witness Story

By William F. Tyree

(Representing the Combined

American Press, distributed

by the Associated

Press.)

ABOARD A NAVY LIBERATOR

BOMBER OVER

IWO JIMA, Feb. 19 (UP) —

After nearly four hours under fire on one of the toughest beachheads ever wrested from the Japanese, American marines Monday night held the southern end of the triangular No. 1 airfield on Iwo Jima, rugged little island 750 miles southeast of Tokyo.

From this Liberator, only 1000 feet above the struggling leathernecks, I watched them Monday afternoon as they plunged inland from the hotly contested beach and reached the edge of the airfield. This evening the airfield is no man's land, with the marines and Nipponese stalking each other over volcanic rock.

Storm Up Sandy Beach

Behind a terrific bombardment of battleships, cruisers and destroyers and a final barrage of a thousand rockets launched from specially equipped smaller craft, the

marines stormed up the sandy beach to meet the strong Nipponese garrison—a garrison picked to hold this doorstep outpost of their empire.

Allied Tanks Clear Goch

Drive for Ruhr Basin

PARIS, Feb. 19 (/P)—

Scottish troops and tanks virtually cleared the Siegfried line keystone of Goch Monday, and east of that town of 14,000 other forces battled south a mile and a half in a drive threatening the rear of the wavering enemy defenses of the Ruhr basin.

In the center of the western front, the U. S, Third army expanded its assault lines in the Eifel mountains to 55 miles, engulfed seven more German towns find hacked clear through the three-mile deep Siegfried line on a seven-mile sector south of the

Rhennish Prussian base at Bitburg,

One division went over to the attack farther south in the Moselle valley and gained a mile to a point near Muzingen, five miles inside the reich.

The U. S. Seventh army captured 1000 prisoners as it fought back Into Germany's Saar basin six miles southeast of the province's capital of Sarrbruecken in a limited attack.

The Roer river on the U. S. First and Ninth army fronts in the area of Aachen was dropping slowly, the reservoirs upstream feeding the flood were expected to be drained within several days, and the river above the reservoirs also was receding as the effect of recent thaws waned.