Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 19, 1994 TAG: 9401180166
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Greg Edwards
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In recognition of the sacrifice of the region's veterans, we take the following look at a selection of World War II headlines from the South Pacific, Europe and the home front for the week of Sunday, Jan. 16, through Saturday, Jan. 22, 1944:
Soon after Gen. Douglas MacArthur reported that the fall of two key Japanese strong points appeared imminent, American Maines battled up the slopes and took Hill 660, dominating Borgen Bay at Cape Gloucester, New Britain. Australians stormed into Sio on New Guinea's Huon peninsula.
Gov. Colgate Darden, in a message to the General Assembly, proposed adding $2.2 million to the state budget to pay for the vocational training facilities that would be needed in Virginia for returning servicemen.
U.S. infantrymen of the Fifth Army captured Mount Trocchio, the last mountain fortress blocking the way to Cassino, now only two miles away. Taking part in the assault on Cassino were troops from the Devil's Brigade, an elite commando unit of U.S. and Canadian troops that was the forerunner of today's Army Special Forces.
Royal Air Force bombers dropped 2,000 tons of bombs on the central German industrial city of Brunswick in 23 minutes, setting a record drop of 87 tons per minute. It was estimated that 600 to 700 four-engine planes were involved in the assault.
The Office of War Information reported that 20 out of every 1,000 air cadets were dying in training but said the army air force was doing a good job of holding down the number of accidents and fatalities. The period of training had been cut from the pre-war 12 months to seven months.
A scarcity of legal whiskey, which had led to rationing in state-owned stores, had led to an increase in moonshining in the Roanoke area. A gallon of moonshine was bringing up to $10 per gallon.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in England to direct the allied invasion of Europe. Eisenhower disclosed that Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley would lead the ground forces of the invasion.
A war-bond party at WSLS radio's studios launched Roanoke's $6.8 million war loan drive on its way by selling bonds worth $147,300.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would provide $300 mustering-out pay to all service men and women with at least 60 days of service, turning down proposals for payments as high as $1,120.
The Red Army toppled the ancient bastion of Novgorod in a northern offensive that had cost the Germans 44,000 men and trapped an undetermined number south of Leningrad.
Vice President Henry A. Wallace told the Southern Governor's conference that the federal government must break the power of the New York money market if the South was to achieve economic equality with other sections of the country. He cheered the governors in their efforts to force a revision of freight rates that discriminated against the region.
Gen. MacArthur, visiting fighting areas in the South Pacific, stopped to pose with members of the Bushmasters, American Indian fighters trained in the jungles of Panama. They had driven a hole in Japanese lines on New Britain in recent fighting.
In sports: Virginia boxers defeated Emory and Henry before a crowd of 2,500 in Charlottesville. Babe Didrikson was reinstated as an amateur golfer. Byron Nelson captured the $10,000 San Francisco Victory Open Golf Tournament.
University of Kansas basketball coach Forrest C. "Phog" Allen dismissed a proposal to let players, who had collected their fourth and final foul, back in the game after sitting out a three-minute penalty. He suggested instead if coaches wanted to do something truly revolutionary they should go to a 12-foot basket.
by CNB