Current Events December 25, 1943;

                  MERRY CHRISTMAS
THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY, DECEMBER 25, 1943:

 
 This was President Roosevelt's message today to the American armed forces around the
world:
"On behalf of the American people—your own people—I send this Christmas message to you who are in our armed forces 

"In our hearts are prayers for you and for all your comrades in arms who fight to rid the world of evil 

"We ask God's blessing upon you—upon your fathers and mothers. wives and children loved ones at home.
"We ask that the comfort of  God's grace shall be granted to those who are sick and wounded, and to those who are prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, waiting for the day when they will again be free. And we ask that God receive and cherish those who have given lives, and that He keep them in honor and in the grateful memory of their countrymen forever.
"God bless all of you who fight our battles on this Christmas Eve. "God bless us all. God keep us strong in our faith that we fight for a better day for man kind here and everywhere.

                                     ________________________________

The United States will.furnish 73 per cent and Great Britain 27 per cent of the troops to be used in the gigantic European attack on Germany. 

 The Allies' greatest aerial assault force in history, numbering more than 3,000 planes of which over 700 were American heavy bombers, smashed Nazi invasion defenses on the "rocket gun." coast of France in a day long assault from which every.plane returned safely.

 President Roosevelt, in a Christmas eve war report to Americans at home and overseas, disclosed today the selection of General Dwight D.Eisenhower to command early sledgehammer blows at Hitler's European stronghold.

 The shift in plans that put General Dwight' D. Eisenhower in command of the all-out onslaught, against Germany instead of General George C. Marshall, as .originally slated, today emphasized the new and preeminent .role assigned Marshall in mapping global strategy.

                             OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, DEC. 25, 1943


Britain to Furnish 27 Per Cent
0f Continent Assault Force,
Says Member of Committee
WASHINGTON. Dec. 25.—(AP}—
The United States will.furnish 73 per cent and Great Britain 27 per cent of the troops to be used in the gigantic European attack on Germany. Senator Johnson  D.. Colo.) says he has been informed.
Johnson, a member of the Military Affairs Committee, who maintains close touch with Army developments, says.

 
                                         Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, December 25, 1943


 Record Blows
Rock France
Over 3,000 Planes Aid In
Mighty Assault On Coast
By ROBERT N. STURDEVANT
Associated Press Staff Writer LONDON, Dec. 24--
The Allies' greatest aerial assault force in history, numbering more than 3,000 planes of which over 700 were American heavy bombers, smashed Nazi invasion defenses on the "rocket gun." coast of France in a day long assault from which every.plane returned safely.
Using more than 1,300 :• American planes,. including the greatest force, of big American Flying Fortresses and Liberators ever assembled on one mission, the great armada thundered virtually unopposed across the channel into the Pas de Calais department of France, 25 miles from England.
 Twisted, Smoking. Ruins
Triumphant squadrons, including Marauders, Bostons, Mitchells and Typhoons, guarded by dense fighter escort, left "special" .military installations" in . the target area -a. mass of twisted, smoking ruins.


 Eisenhower Is
Named Chief
FDR's Message Says Europe
To Be Cleansed Of Nazism
Br DOUGLAS B. CORNELL
Associated Press Stuff Writer '.
HYDE PARK, N. Y., Dec. 24—
President Roosevelt, in a Christmas eve war report to Americans at home and overseas, disclosed today the selection of General Dwight D.Eisenhower to command early sledgehammer blows at Hitler's European stronghold.
 Thus to Eisenhower goes the top field command of the Anglo-American Allies arid the all-important assignment to blast invasion routes into the continent from the west or north. The President' said the new attacks would complete t h e "encirclement of Germany.
 


 Men In Service
Hold Spotlight
 Day Is Cheerless
All \0ver Europe
A world at war greeted Christtmas
again "today: with: thoughts of -many .loved ones , -far from home; As always it was the' children's' day in America, but attention centered as never before on men and women in uniform.
Most of them were held at their war tasks, but thousands of American homes glowed with greater
joy because their boys and girls were back on holiday furloughs.'
Peace Hopes Faded
Not so long ago there was a hope that this was the day that would signal the end o£ warfare in the
European theater. But peace did not come.
The chief hope now among the Allied peoples, expressed in church and in prayer at home was that the
promised invasion of Europe would end strife there before another Christmas day.
Even that hope.- was tempered with government predictions that the next three months may cost
500,000 casualties.
In the enemy, countries of Europe the day was a cheerless one, made so by constant Allied air bombardments.

Marshall's Preeminent Role In Mapping of
Global Strategy Emphasized By Decisions
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (AP) —
The shift in plans that put General Dwight' D. Eisenhower in command of the all-out onslaught, against Germany instead of General George C. Marshall, as .originally slated, today emphasized the new and preeminent .role assigned Marshall in mapping global strategy.
As- a result 61 the military decision reached at Tehran with Marshal Stalin, close coordination of the Russian with the Anglo-American victory assaults on Germany has become possible.
That has necessitated General Marshall's retention - of his present post in Washington, not only as American Army chief of staff but as the dominant figure on the Anglo-American chiefs of staff committee. It is either through that British-American super-staff or, through some possible joint Russian-Allied staff yet to be created that. directives to govern the timing and scope of the three way attack on Germany will come.
Joint Staff Importance


By WHITNEY MARTIN
Associated Press Sports Writer
NEW YORK, Dec. 24—
It is cold in the foxhole. . Cold and cramped and wet, and when Johnny cautiously shifts his position his feet make a hollow, sucking .noise. If this incessant rain only would stop maybe he could dry out a
little.
Funny, it's raining, but away off there is a clear patch of sky, with one lone star shining brightly, steadfast as a beacon. 'The Christmas star! Christmas! That's right, it is Christmas. The third Christmas he has been away" from home.
Two years ago Johnny got his gun for Christmas. An Army rifle which he kept oiled and polished and which right now he 'is trying to protect from the steady drizzle.
 Only the gun he. is protecting isn't an Army rifle. It is that dandy double-barreled shotgun his dad gave him for Christmas when he was 15. and which he toted over the fields and through the woods and coddled in duck blinds. That's it. he's in a duck blind now, with a chill fall rain beating down and the grey dawn just breaking on the horizon.
That machine gun bullet whining over his head, isn't a machine gun bullet. It's the ping of his .22 as he.draws a bead on a tin can in his back yard.
That resounding ca-rump a few hundred yards away. That's not a shell burst. That's the throaty
(Turn to Pace 13, Column 1, Please)

 
  HYDE PARK, N. Y.. Dec. 24 (U.P.)
This was President Roosevelt's message today to the American armed forces around the
world:
"On behalf of the American people—your own people—I send this Christmas message to you who are in our armed forces "In our hearts are prayers for you and for nil your comrades in arms who fight to rid the world of evil "We ask God's blessing upon
you—upon your fathers and mojhers. wives and children loved ones at home.
"We ask that the comfort of  God's grace shall be granted to those who are sick and wounded, and to those who are prisoners of war in the hands of the enemy, waiting for the day when they will again be free. And we ask that God receive and cherish those who have given lives, and that he keep them in honor and in the grateful memory of their countrymen forever.
"God bless all of you who fight our battles on this Christmas Eve. "God bless us all. God keep us strong in our faith that we fight for a better day for man kind here and everywhere.