Thursday, April 5, 2012

Current Events April 5, 1944;

THIS WAS REPORTED TODAY APRIL 5, 1944:
By Bud Hutton
Stars and Stripes Staff Writer
American planes are dropping newspapers and leaflets to the conquered people of the occupied countries and Germany itself. The newspapers, edited by crack newsmen and flown to the enslaved nations by American bomber crews in specially trained task-force units, tell the straight factual story of the war as it moves toward defeat of the Axis.

 Bucharest, capital of Rumania, received its first air attack of the war yesterday as Italy-based U.S. heavy bombers, continuing their aerial blocking for Russian armies battering at the Balkan goal, smashed heavily at their second Nazi satellite communications target in as many days.

Soviet spearheads drove a strong armored wedge within 50 miles of the northernmost Rumanian oil fields yesterday, while others advanced within artillery range of the vital Jassy rail junction and Marshal Gregory Zhukov's armies launched a new thrust toward the Nazi base at Lwow, in Poland, moving on the city from a town less than 40 miles distant to the northeast.


By Bud Hutton
Stars and Stripes Staff Writer
American planes are dropping newspapers and leaflets to the conquered people of the occupied countries and Germany itself. The newspapers, edited by crack newsmen and flown to the enslaved nations by American bomber crews in specially trained task-force units, tell the straight factual story of the war as it moves toward defeat of the Axis.
Within the last two weeks, Nazi leaders have begun to show fear that through these papers and the leaflets, which have been dropped from Biscay to Berlin, the conquered peoples may learn the true status of the war.
In particular the Nazi Readers are obviously afraid that their own German subjects are finding out the truth about the war today, and they have decreed imprisonment or death for anyone found reading or discussing the airborne propaganda. Millions of the newspapers and leaflets have been flown to Europe from bases in Britain, and millions more are on the way, it was revealed.
When American bombers struck through the Luftwaffe defenses to Berlin two weeks ago and smashed Hat war factories in the Reich's capital, the bombs were accompanied by copies of a four-page, featherweight newspaper, "Sternenbanner, which means The Stars and Stripes.


Raid in Wake
Of 2nd Blow
At Budapest
RAF Follow-up Daylight
Hammering  Panicky
Hungarian Capital
Bucharest, capital of Rumania, received its first air attack of the war yesterday as Italy-based U.S. heavy bombers, continuing their aerial blocking for Russian armies battering at the Balkan goal, smashed heavily at their second Nazi satellite communications target in as many days.
The assault by Fortresses and Liberators of the 15th Air Force came within 24 hours of their daylight raid on Budapest and only 12 hours after the city was battered for a second time by RAF
Wellingtons and Liberators following up by night the war's first mass bombing of the Hungarian capital.
The Bucharest raid was described as being "of considerable strength," and German News Agency reported that "violent air battles were fought over Rumania."
Key Link in Rail System
Escorted by Thunderbolts and Lightnings, the heavies raiding Bucharest were striking at a key center in the railway system being used by the Germans to supply their armies on the Rumanian
frontier. A main line from Budapest runs south to Bucharest and then east to the border, already crossed by the Russians.

New Thrust
Takes Reds
Near Lwow
Jassy Now Within Range
Of Artillery; Net Tightens
On Trapped Divisions
Soviet spearheads drove a strong armored wedge within 50 miles of the northernmost Rumanian oil fields yesterday, while others advanced within artillery range of the vital Jassy rail junction and Marshal Gregory Zhukov's armies launched a new thrust toward the Nazi base at Lwow, in Poland, moving on the city from a town less than 40 miles distant to the northeast.
The new Russian blows, rolling forward so smoothly that Moscow reports spoke of advances "like clockwork." coincided with a push forward to the outer defenses of the Black Sea port of Odessa and a bloody battle southeast of Tarnopol which cost the Germans 2,000 dead in 24
hours as the Red Army tightened a net around the encircled remnants of 15 shattered Nazi divisions.

ejt

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