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Algiers Court Dooms Pucheu to Die as Traitor C-7 '\flATE * V I

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VOLUME 37. NO. 213. Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) Gannett National Service (GNS) ELMIRA, N. Y., SATURDAY EVENING, MAR. 11,1944. Delivered By Carrier

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Former Vichy

reason Algiers —- (AP) — Pierre

Pucheu, former Vichy In­terior Minister, today was convicted of treason and con-demned to death by a special military tribunal after the defendant in a last passionate declaration of innocence, had cried out "this is not a court

Reds Launch Third Drive in Ukraine; Push Nazis Back on 500-Mile Front

Italian City of Florence Study Steps Undergoes 1st Bombing; To Force

of justice its a poht.cai j, iiers AVOUI Landmarks Axis Agents coup. O •

The court, after one hour of de- m[ed "Headquarters Naples—(AP) — U. S. B-26 r \ T ? • ' liberation eonveted Pucheu of ^ ^ _ fc -TH ^ J ^ ^ f X a ™ - - * - -.* r>i _ * ^ . . I W 1 * 0 1 1 1 H i H ' C treason, malfeasance in office collaboration with the enemy. Was found innocent of illegal rests and conspiracy to overthrow the Third Republic. Pucheu was not present when the five-man c o u r t brought in the verdict. Karliee the court refused a defense motion for a general demurrer to the indictment.

Among defense witnesses had been Gen. •Henri Honore Giraud. commander'- in -chief of t h e French A r m y . who confirmed two defense con­tentions: That Pucheu had' at­tempted to dis­suade Marshal P e t a i n from' continued col­laboration with the Nazis and that P u c h e n came to North A f r i c.a at'.Gi-raud's i n v i t a -tion. G i r a u d

.Fnchen said he had seen 'Pucheu's report to ' Petain urging aid to the Allies and non-collabora­tion with the.Nazis.

Pucheu has 24 hours in which-to\ .file an appeal. His attorneys said they would decide • this afternoon whether to take an appeal.

The court, which found' Pucheu guilty on all but four of the 11 counts in the indictment, said there were no extenuating circumstances.

Pucheu appeared extremely ner­vous Awhile- the judge read the in­dictment.' He bit h<s lips repeat-! edly and seemed almost crying.

Pucheu referred to Prosecutor Weiss" former allegiance to Vichy and declared:

*M am .not the assassin in', th is . courtroom. . . . This is not a court

justice, it's a political coup." Pucheu called upon the court to

emember that the trial affected "the immense majority of French-men who never surrendered, but who wished to follow Marshal Henri Philippe Petain up to a cer­tain point."

"It would he atrocious to attack these . 'Frenchmen," he declined, adding:

"What hatred the government is building around liberation!"

Weiss attacked what he termed i!

Pucheu's "effective and deliberate" collaboration with the Germans. and then compared Hilar with the i '••virile' patriots" of Occupied Europe ajrho are-.continuing the struggle.

Referring to the defense's state­ment that essential witnesses, and documents' -were missing because they were still in France. Weiss said the -'pi.execution also lacked witnesses—80.000 in cemeteries, and 400.000 others in Vi\hy and Gestapo prisons.

It. was •eteworthy that the court declared Pucheu innocent of con­spiracy against the security of the state through membership in the Vichy Cabinet — a charge upon which the prosecution based *.,»! large part of its case.

The court thus refused: to set..a precedent; for the future trials of other Vichy*officials, such as Pierre Boisson, fo'rmer governor-general of French West. Africa; Pierre-JStienne- Flandin.' former Premier; Marcel Feyrouton. former Vichy Interior Minister, and Gen. Jean Marie Bergeret, former Vichy Sec­retary of Aviation.

and Marauders bombed the strategic railyards of Florence today H^ in the first attack on that city, taking special precautions

to spare Florence's cultural, religious, and historical land-01 a! tvS.

The Florence "freight yards are a vitally important center of rail are a communication serving the enemy front in Italy," an Air Force state­ment said.

"Up to now we have Imposed on ourselves the severe handicap of leaving them alone in order to avoid any responsibility of damage to the unique art treasures of the city."

Headquarters asserted "there i s no doubt, however, that the Ger­mans have made deliberate use of our reluctance."

VanLoon Dead; Noted Historian

Home from the Wai COL. JOHN J, CAREW, father of 10 children, as he arrived home in Medford, Mass., after two years of fighting in the Pacific. Greeting him are his wife and eight of the children. Colonel Carew, veteran of two wars, holds the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart and a new cita­tion from the British Empire.

Florence, the capital of the prov­ince <&t Florence, formerly Tuscany, has a population of 325.000, and ranks as the eighth largest city in Italy.

The Florentines played a promi­nent role in Italian history, with the Medicis and the reformer Savanarola among their rulers.

Few cities can match Florence in its collections of artistic and historic works. The city's chief galleries are the Ufflzi, the Pitti, and Aceademia, with masterpieces by Raphael, Botticelli, the Lippi, Titian, and many examples of antique, medieval and Renaissance sculpture.

Among F 1 o i e n r e ' s famous Churches are the Duomo tSanta Maria,' del Fiore>, the Campanile, the Baptistery. San Lorenzo, and Santa Groce. Here are five impor­tant state libraries with valuable collections. The city also is cele­brated for its palaces which housed the noble families.

British Destroyers Shell Island Towns Off Coast of Dalmatia

Allied Headquarters, Naples — (API — British destroyers have shelled towns on Korcula Island off the Dalmatian coast, reported occupied by large numbers of Germans, headquarters announced today.

A communique said the bom­bardments were'carried out Wed­nesday night and that "in spite of accurate fire ftom enemy shore batteries our ships sustained neither casualties nor damage."

British light coastal forces at­tacked a small vessel farther in­shore, between the eastern end of Hvar and the mainland, leaving it abandoned and in flames, the bul­letin added; , .

The ground bulletin said Eighth Army patrols clashed with the; Germans at many points in Italy and that two small Nazi thrustsj were repulsed by Indian forces, \ Fifth. Army troops engaged, in pa-1 trols on both the main front and! on the beachhead below Rome.

Allied planes flew about 800! sorties yesterday, destroying one German plane for a loss of five AKicd craft.

The bulletin told of the medium I assaults on the Tiburtina and Lit- • torio rail yards in Rome, which! were announced previously, and of; sweeps by light bombers against gun positions and troops concen­trations in the beachhead area.

Nazis Mass BisflArmv - ^

y

Greenwich, Conn. —«(AP) — Hen-drick Willem Van Loon, 62, histor­ian and author, died today at his home in Old Greenwich.

Van Loon, native of Holland and devoted to the cause of the Dutch in the current war, was the organ­izer of a short wave radio program directed to Holland from Station WRUL in Boston which made him known in his homeland as "Uncle Hank." The program subsequently was sponsored by the Free Nether­lands government.

Van Loon, author of "The Story of Mankind," was best known for his treatment of history as a simple story, told in simple terms. He was a prolific writer of voluminous tomes on a limitless variety of sub­jects. (Biographical Details Page Two)

London«JM AP)—I n e r e a s e German ftrces in Yugoslavia a new p&k of strength was ported in ja delayed dispatch

inghamton Man mong

British Laboi U n r e s t S p r e a d s FBI Arrest^Three

Japs Give Way In N.Burma

New Delhi, India—(AP)—The Japanese are withdrawing to the southwest in the Hukawng valley Lord Louis Mountbatten's British of Northern Burma and Admiral forces have advanced on the coast­al plane south of Maungdavv and into the foqthills southeast of Maungdaw toward Akyab, a South-east Asia communique announced :

today. Medium bombers pounded Jap­

anese positions and communica­tions on the Mayu, Arakan, Kala-dan, Chindwin. Chin Hills and Hukawng fronts. American med­ium bombers caused heavy dam­age In an attack on airfields at In-daw and Katha and knocked out the Namkwin railway bridge and the Kamaing Road bridge in the path of the Japanese retreat in the north.

V. S. t nets Honored by British

unueSdiIn Army Gas Theft London — (UP)—Labor spread throughout the Uni Kingdom's coal fields today bring-! Syracuse — (AP) — The alleged

more than 106.000 miners out theft of "several hundred" gallons

Washington — (AP) — Drastic measures to safe­guard Allied invasion pre­parations in Britain from Axis espionage based on Ire­land were expected today.

The need for early and decisive action to keep enemy agents from further enlarging their knowledge of Allied plans for the second front

; assault on Europe was emphasized 1 by an official statement that, be-: cause of diplomatic spy activities I in Ireland, "not only the success of 1 the operations but the lives of thou­sands of United Nations' soldiers

jare at stake." - •; The American case was set forth

[in a note made public by Secre-Itary of State Hull last night in which Prime Minister De Valera

[was urged to expel all Axis diplo­mats and consular officials from his country.

At the same time the Irish Le­gation here released the text of De Valera's reply, turning down the appeal. -

De Valera claimed Ireland's coun­ter-spy methods were effective and asserted that no American lives would be lost "through any indif­ference or neglect of its duty" on the part of his country.

He also made two other main points: that expulsion of German and Japanese officers would be a first step toward going to war with the Axis, which his country is de­termined not to do; and that he had received assurances from the United States that it did not in­tend invading Ireland. d a v o n t n |

Several further measures appear ment thail to be open to the United States landed o l and Britain, which had backed the Lissa and| American request to the limit. All the Dalm; are believed to be under consider- pected ation. They include: Associa

Closing and fully guarding Daniel d the border between Eire, Bari, I ta

and Northern Ireland as an emer-'high offi gency military measure. National

9 Breaking diplomatic rela- ing the **'"' tions with the Dublin gov- of 20 div

ernment. This appeared to be the that the most improbable step of all since failed in it usually creates more problems crushing than it solves. ^he 0

O Clamping down on economic man ©cc * collaboration with Ireland. Dalmatian

The country is an integral part of Hvar, Solta the British economic system and Pasman i j dependent entirely upon British and and American shipping.

From the text of the two notes it was clear that the aim on both sides was a friendly solution of the difficulties.

However, the American note was equally clear in emphasizing that something has to be done to in­sure Secrecy for the most vital An­glo-American military operation of the whole war—the cross-Channel invasion of Europe.

Advices from Dublin, although asserting that the Irish people are determined to continue their neu­trality, said they were aware it would be possible for the U. S. to apply economic sanctions in an effort to force closing of the Axis listening posts in Eire.

One qualified Dublin source said,! "The people in Eire a re in no\ jr* j f> . T T / mood at this stage of the war to \A)(ll L^OStS If7 0 7 / 1 6 1 1 invite possible Nazi raids against

Konev Routs 14 Divisions In Major Red Victorv

Three

of to

re-to-

heels of a Berlin state-Allied Commandos had the Adriatic Island of that other raids along ian coast might be ex-

London—(AP) great Soviet armies, rolling forward through the mud and water of the southern Ukraine, have shattered Ger­man lines over a 500-mile front in a mammoth drive to clear the enemy from all southern Russia, Moscow dis­patches reported today.

The drive was brought into sharp focus by yesterday's announcement that a third offensive had been launched in that area—b> Marshal Ivan Konev's Second Ukrainian Army.

Moscow said his forces had broken through enemy defenses on a 109-mile line southwest of Cher-kasy, killing 20,000 Germans, cap­turing 2.500 more and liberating more than 300 towns and villages, including the pivotal stronghold of Uman less than 30 miles northwest of the Bug River.

Fourteen German divisions—ap­proximately 150,000 men were routed in this five-day drive, the Russian communique said. They included seven infantry, six tank and one artillery division.

"The true scale of this German defeat can be judged from the huqe

L i b e r a t o r s quantities of trophies captured by hill Of 011€ o u r t l 0 O n 5 . " t n e Soviet bulletin

_ * . . said. "Weapons, equipment and day and struck a heavy blow at western Germany and tne military supplies were strewn on Pas-de-Calais coast of Prance today a few hours after the the whole course of the road from *. i-*ii- • T — ^ ^„^« i r ,^« «in-V.f offor.tr on fruir l h e Gniloi Tikich River to the town RAF s Lancasters made a precision mgnt attacK on lour factories in France.

Bombers Hit West Reich French Invasion Coast

j - « r 1 • London—(AP)—American Fortresses and S 11 J L U ^ O S I H V I H ' r e s u m e d their record bombing marathon after a

Press correspondent uce. in a dispatch from

dated Mar. 1, quoted als of Marshal Tito's beration Army as say-zis now had elements ons in Yugoslavia, but winter offensive had

e primary objective of to's forces. rs declared that Ger-tion of nine important island-s—Korcula, Brae,

Drvenik, Uljan and the Split area, and Krk

Cherao near Fiume, was ac­complished at a heavy cost in lives, but failed to stop Allied sup­plies from] reaching the Partisans.

A Berlin broadcast, unconfirm­ed by any Allied source, asserted yestcrdayjphat British and Amer­ican Ceinfnamlos had landed on ljssa apparently with the objective of securing the tiny isle as a supply base for ape Partisans.

The BajB dispatch said the tisan offWilrs declared that heavy Allied airHaids had j whittled down German J r strength in Dalmatia and Bosnia to the lowest level of the war, l i t that the Nazis were building A h t e r bases deep in the country im anticipation of mighty bombingsm{ Austria and Hungary in the spring.

The new assault on the French coast where Prime Minister Chur­chill had said the Nazis were readying rockets and robot planes to bombard England was the 15th attack there by American heavy bombers since the day before Christmas. *^*

These targets on the nearby northern French coast have now been hammered by Allied planes on 60 days out of the last three months. They first were hit early in September when Allied armies and navies were staging a big inva­sion rehearsal on the Channel. -

The American bombers thun­dered out after only a day's inter­val in the campaign which has now taken them on a scorching tour of German • targets, including Berlin, on 10 of the last 13 days—an un­precedented streak of activity for this theater. Eight of these at­tacks were against Germany itself.

Neither the targets on the coast nor in western Germany were specifically identified.

The American attack on

Fliers Smash Jap Town on

i

United Press American airmen, in widespread

sweeps over the Pacific, were re­ported today to have destroyed the main town of Ponape, Japanese island base 450 miles east of Truk, and opened assaults on enemy po­sitions near newly-conquered Ta-lasea on the Willaumez Peninsula of New Britain. "

Ponape, with a population of 10,000 on the island of the same name, was knocked out in raids which started Feb, 21 with an in­cendiary bomb attack. United Press

| correspondent Ray Coll Jr., re-western ported. The seaplane base was

of Uman. All the roads were packed with enemy tanks, self-propelled guns, armored troop car­riers and trucks.''

Konev's tremendous southern lunge, covering from 25 to 50 miles since last Monday, possibly spelled the doom of the enemy's Dnieper bend forces.

Spearheads of his army, exploit­ing their success, were already driving the Germans back upon the Bug River line, farther west, and clearing out German positions to the southeast in the direction of Kirovograd.

Germany was the second quick wrecked so completely that it has dose of'bombs for that section of been decommissioned. Coll said. the Reich, the RAF's Mosquitos

; having made another of their in-Par-icursions there during the night.

American fighters again escorted the four-engined Flying'Fortresses and Liberators on today's strikes.

Farrell Takes Full Powers

On New Britain, approximately 700 miles to the southwest in the Bismarck archipelago, American fliers attacked enemy positions be­low Talasea. which U. S. Marines captured Thursday in a rapid four-day conquest of northern Willau­mez Peninsula.

Seizure of the peninsula's prin­cipal base gave the" Americans their third base on New Britain in the drive toward Rabaul, 170 miles to the northeast at the tip of the island. The Marines also held po­sitions at Rein Bay, 58 miles from

RUSSIA

50 STATUTC MILR

On Konev's right. Marshal Zhu-kov's First Ukrainian Army was storming into southern Poland across the severed Odessa-Moscow

the country by such a slap in Hit- SJ f Qf (Jlie LlUlU) ler's face." 4

mirTjn0FarrenS J h ^ a W e d ^ of two Cape" Gloucester on the north coast, | trunk railway. Yesterday his weeks as acting President of Ar- and at a point 35 miles from Arawe gentina, has assumed the office of c 1 the south coast.

of The Japanese'attacked American

mg

Washington—< AP» —A number of American airmen Friday re­ceived decorations from " Lord. Halifax.' British ambassador, on behalf of King George VI of Eng­land at a ceremony at the^ British embassy.

Two of the awards were made posthumously and one of the recipients b misoing in action.

Among officers of the U. S. Army Air Forcefa^varded the Distinguish­ed Flying iCi-oslk was First Lt. John Collins Drew. 24. Binghamton. N. Y.

High officiate of government, War and Navy Departments wit­nessed the presentation. The cere­mony was the third of its kind since the beginning of the war.

in a general je scales for

on strike against \va_ workers.

At least 200 mines were closed by the walkout, which started in South Wales and spread to the northern Welsh fields. Scotland and England. In South Wales 95.000 were on strike; 3,000 in North Wales; 7,300 in Ayrshire, Scotland, and 1.000 at Durham. England.

Two additional' collieries in the West Wales anthracite field were closed today, threatening to force into idleness approximately i.OOO steel and Unplate workers in the district.

protest °^ Army aviation fuel resulted Fri-skilfed day in the arrest of three men by

the Federal Bureau of Investiga­tion (FBI).

Charged with the theft were Joseph Colagiovane. 31. Alba and Harold E. Woods. 35. Syracuse.

Accused of Illegally receiving federal-owned gasoline and of failure to give gasoline coupons for it was Sam J. Girmonde, 27, Utica.

All three pleaded innocent upon arraignment.

_ .President upon the resignation "The government's reply repre- Philadelphia—(AP> — Three wo-'Gen. Pedro Pablo Ramirez. Col. positions near Empress Augusta

sents the will of the Irish people," men who l ave a stranger $3 to $4";Gregorio Tauber, executive secre- Bay on Bougainville in the Solo-said the Irish Free Press. lapiece as I "deposit" on anthracitejtary of the Presidency, announced mons, but were thrown back.

— deliveries jleceived their coal Fri-,iast night. -:* T Stockholm, Sweden—(AP)—The day—one lump to a customer. Tauber said the Council of

Stockholm Tidmngen, commenting Judge Vincent A. Carroll made'Ministers (the Cabinet) accepted on the U. S. request to Eire to re- the "deliveries" in court, comment- Ramirez' resignation, addressed to moitg German dnd Japanese con-ing that the women should get the Vicepresident and chief of the

and diplomatic representa- omethingfer their money since the;armed forces (Farrell), and that a es> declared editorially today that coal they •rdered never came. decree appointing Farrell as Presi-

sooner or later "western neutrals" Donald JcPherson, 47, identified dent would be published in due —Eire, Spain and Portugal—must align themselves with the whether they like it or not.

"As the war draws nearer

by the victims as the man who time. He added that the matter Allies produced B"samples" from his 0f choosing a new Vicepresident

pocket when he took the orders, :n a £j n o t been discussed by the to its was sentenced to a year in jail, j Council.

end the political pressure of the The samplfc were what the women Allies on those neutral countries received, which they can control will grow McPhersfn. a Negro, pleaded stronger," the newspaper asserted, guilty to ffaud charges.

New York Emergency Tax Continued

Ihany — (AP) — Gov, Dewey >ed into law Friday a bill con-

nuing for another year New York City's emergency business turnover

Legislative action on the bill, in­troduced by Senator Frederick R. Coudert, New York City Republi­can, was completed last week.

.Dewey also signed a budget bill carrying appropriations for the

l iars and Judiciary.

State War Council To Curtail Program

Albany — (AP) — Curtailment of some activities of the State War Council is expected to result in an annual saving of more than $100,000.

Such%an estimate was made last night by Harold H- Schaff, secre­tary, when he announced elimina­tion of more than 20 positions, among them the $9,200-a-year post of director of war information held by Gregory C. Dickson.

The offices eliminated will be re* duced to skeleton staffs Apr. 1 but' will be permitted one additional

,montjj to close their projects.

Anzio Prisoners Tell of Hitler Boast

Tauber asserted that rumors ol the resignation of some ministers were untrue and that the Cabinet had not discussed any such pos­sibility.

Allied Headquarters, Algiers— (AP)—Hitler promised that the Al­lies' Anzio beachhead south of Rome would be eliminated in three days, and the failure of that pro­mise—a failure that cost the Nazis heavy casualties in their recent all-out counter-attack—has had a dis­astrous effect on the morale of his troops, German prisoners were quoted as saying today.

Allied Headquarters said the pri­soners had stated that Hitler had sent a special message to the army, assuring them the Americans would "be in the sea within three

them the German air force would provide an air umbrella and that the big offensive would be spear­headed by 300 tanks, half of them the monster Mark VTS. v German troops never entered battle with greater confidence or higher morale, they said. But things began to happen.

German planes appeared, but so did American and British, and the Allied airmen were still there after the German air force had gone. The German troops saw some of their Mark Vis. But a large number of the Tigers had gaping holes spouting flames. The

J days." Their own officers had told, little radio-controlled tanks, knowa^ Russia*

on the Rjfeian front as "beetles," flopped mjirerably.

Meanwhje, although the Ger­man infaMry had gained a few thousand mrds , the Allies counter­attacked Hrith tremendous force. At the endfof Hitler's "three days," the enemy*6 net gain amounted to less thanThe equivalent of three city block™ And this was achieved at the coB of terrible casualties and an upstinted expenditure of equipment,

The prisoners described the beachhead: battles as "hellish," and said Alliejil artillery was worse than anything they encountered in

Women Cultists Support Polygamy #

Salt Lake City—(AP)—Two wo-m;n members of the "Funda­mentalist" cult, accused by federal and state authorities of advocating plural marriages, predicted Friday-polygamy would increase despite current federal-state efforts to stamp it out.

"Of course we believe in what we are doing," said Mrs. Rhea A. Kunz in an interview with the Salt Lake Telegram. "This thing is far big­ger than the individual, for it in­evitably will encompass much more than the man-made laws by which the world lives and will become a fundamental component in the lives of all right-living people,"

troops in the Proskurov area cap­tured Krasilov, 15 miles to the north, further narrowing a Ger­man escape route toward Rumania. They also swept up several towns along the Bug River in a lunge to­ward Vinnitsa.

Zhukov's right wing "continued to fight street battles in the town of Tarnopol," the inner defenses of which were breached Thursday, Moscow said. These force* were

of less than 60 miles from the Ru-for manian frontier.

(United Press said the Germans had brought up large reinforce­ments to bolster the Tarnopol gar­rison, but that the fall of the city appeared imminent.)

Southeast of Konev's front, Gen. Rodion Malinovsky's Third Ukrain­ian Army pressed on toward the Black Sea ports of Kherson and

His forces captured 150 more towns and hamlets north, west and southwest of Krivoi Rog,

ters starting at 10:10, the a n - i i n c ] u d i n g . Tavkino, 34 miles north-'east of Nikolaev, and Andreyevka.

. Ti ,. , a s dl";36 miles northeast of Kherson, rected to the Italian people, was Baratovka and Dobroye were other leported to the Office of War In­formation (OWI).

Pope to Address Refugees Sunday

New York- (AP)— The bells all Rome's churches will peal five minutes on Sunday morning immediately preceding the appear­ance of Pope Pius XII on St. Pe­ter's balcony to speak to refugees from southern Italy on the fifth an­niversary observance of his coro­nation, the Vatican radio said last night.

The Pope will speak at 10:30 a. m., E.W.T. The ceremonies will bei j^j j j^ev broadcast by the Vatican radio on wave lengths of 50.26 and 30.06 me-

nouncement said. The Vatican broadcast.

; important drive,

points taken in this

ELECTION COST $190,519 New Yorjt—(AP)—The Board of

45TH DIVISION C03IMENDED Allied Headquarters, Naples—

(AP)—The 45th Division, a NewjElections^annual reports said today Mexico and Oklahoma outfit that j some $100,519 was spent for the distinguished itself in the Sicilian (fourth proportional representation

City itself in the Sicilian

campaign and was highly com­mended during the first week after the Salerno landing, has been cited for distinguished con­duct on the beachhead below Rome, it was announced today.

election of New York City council-men last November. The report, said 32,317 domestic war ballots were mailed out and 19,931 returned, while 1,238 foreign war ballot* warm

^counted.

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