Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994 TAG: 9405250103
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Greg Edwards
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
American and French troops, smashing through the crumbling German line in Italy, pushed the whole southern half of the Nazi front back today in a wide swing toward Terracina - only 25 miles from the Allied beachhead at Anzio. Retreating Germans left piles of equipment along their escape route.
In yet another record mass air attack, 6,000 British-based planes bombed Hitler's Atlantic wall defenses, blasting a 150-mile strip from Brittany in northern France to Belgium with at least 8,000 tons of explosives. Later in the week, a raid by 7,000 planes would occur.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's supreme invasion headquarters broadcast its first direct orders to Europe's underground, telling the huge and revenge-thirsty army to make careful note of the Germans' every move to aid in the coming invasion.
The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board planned to meet in Richmond and consider changes in the state's liquor rationing system. A spokesman said it was possible that the present quart-a-month hard-liquor ration might be increased to twice that beginning June 1.
Military planners believed for the first time in months that it was possible to destroy the German Army because of Hitler's ``fight-and-die'' orders. Hitler had issued orders to his armies in Italy to hold their positions and fight to the last man. Such orders in the past had led to two great defeats, at Stalingrad and in Tunisia.
Problems of post-war readjustment and demands that the Sabbath be kept even by war production industries were to come before the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church meeting in Montreat, N.C.
The 25-year-old American Communist Party dissolved, giving way to a non-party association for political education, which would support President Franklin D. Roosevelt for re-election.
Alvin Smith, a Navy pharmacist's mate from Roanoke, won the AAU Southeastern mile championship. Max Lanier of Denton, N.C., led National League pitchers with a 6-0 record for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The City of Roanoke, a Flying Fortress bought by Roanoke war bond investors, had been refurbished and was ready to return to the fight. The plane had already seen action in the African campaign.
Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, commander of the 5th Army in Italy, narrowly escaped death when a German booby trap on an abandoned artillery piece exploded 25 feet from him.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Office of Price Administration had the power to issue suspension orders against retailers and to withhold rationed materials from then when they had violated OPA regulations.
In an effort to cut off ball-bearing shipments to Germany, the U.S. government blacklisted 38 more Swedish firms, alleged to be helping the Nazi war effort.
Seven waves of carrier-based American planes attacked Japan's Marcus Island within 1,200 miles of Tokyo.
Massed Allied armies on the Anzio beachhead and on the main Italian front launched simultaneous offensives, touching off a great battle. Canadian tanks broke the heart of the German line and swept into the Liri Valley and Allied fronts were joined, launching the fight for Rome.
German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels said Allied airmen were committing murder on their strafing raids in Germany and Nazi authorities would not intervene if civilians attempted to lynch American and British airmen.
The National D-Day Memorial Foundation is seeking World War II documents, photographs and other artifacts, copies of which will be buried in a time capsule at the War Memorial in downtown Roanoke on June 5, the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France. If you want to participate, call Bob Slaughter at 989-6512.
by CNB