LO' , ; ELL THOMAS' BROAD C AST FROM CENTRAL E0ROPF.: ------------------------------------ GOOD JORNING, EVERYBODY: Over here in CentralEurope from where I am broadcasting early this Thursday morning, the one thing e h " v e been talk in 5 about sin e midnight is the word fron the Ninth Army Front, from Simpson's advanced armored sp arhead, that our troops have reached th~ city of ~agdeburg, on the River Eloe, only ahout seventy-five miles fro11 Berl in. Of course the Army officers and men, and correspondents, and r n dio people he e have had other excitin thin 5 s to talk about during the day, during ~ edn day, that is up to midnight an hour ago: such as the n e s c o in .J in from the u ia n s , t e 11 in g of how they hav n comple ely surrounded Vie~na; of how Patton' ~or c e· , . . a vanc e d into Thurin ' l , .. beyon the capit 1 c ity of Erfurt, which they have surroun ed · then co 1ing on North to the Ninth Army, the Ge man commander of the arrison in the city of Bruns ick wher the ~eek Herrenvolk y e sterday seemed to be tryin to surrender to Colonel "Doc• McGehee's Thunderbolts circling overhead, we l~arnea today th t the Com~an ant had decided to defend the city, wbereu on the Ninth Army simply bypassed Brunswick, hurrying on toward Berlin; and now the word, that they have reached ~agdeburg, with Berlin the next stop, just up the road. Nor is that all the good news. Simpson's Ninth, and, General Courtney Hodges' First Army, have squeezed the uhr Pocket, overrunning many more square miles, and giving the hundred thousand odd hopelessly trapped Nazis, and sone four hundred thousand slave laborers and the four m illi o n Ge an civilians in there, still less r o o _ in h i h t a i 11 a r o u n d . The word is t hat t l" . e Gernan in the Ruhr are runnin out of amunition. The ue t i n toni ht eem · to b : Have the Russians launch their rive to '. rd Berlin from the Oder? Rugh Gi on will undo • btedly have some ne f tr you from the Russian armi s. And, many of us are o nd in hether Gen al Si pson's Ninth Army h s a chance of Jettin there first -- maybe w·thin the next few days. For i pson:s armor, seventy-five il s to the outer city limits of Berlin, is not far to go. Now about an experience or two at the Ninth rmy Front, s I promised last night. Over b ttered citie and villa~es, down alon Hitler's super-highway, the autobahn, which is exactly like many of our four- lane concrete high ays, over German amunition and supply dumps of all Jrts, with not a soul on guard, over rail 1 ay yar s blasted to blazes, above dusty side roads with long convoys of heavily lo ed American trucks speedin to he front with an utter disregard for Goering•c vanished legions of the sky, the once ter- : rible Luft~affe, over all this I flew, at treetop level, in a tiny artillery obs r~ati n and liason plane. Just the two of us, Lieutenant Win ~mbleton of Nashua, New Ham shire, at the control~. Finally, up ahead, wa sav, moke rising from the burning German city of Bamlyn, the city of the Pied Piper of Ha lyn, which is south of H nnover, and farthe east to ~ rd Berlin. B ae ~ at Ninth i~ y Read- ua ters I h been told +n • the Th:irtieth Division was Th 0 ue t i n tooi ht eem to b: H av e the ussians launch th e ir riv to rd Berlin from the Ode? Rugh G1 on will undo btedly have some ne s fa-you from the ussian armi~s.And, many of us are o nde in hether Gen 1 Si pson' Ninth Army h s a chance of 6 e ttin there first -- maybe w·thin the next few days. For Sinpson's armor, seventy-five A mils to the outer city limits of Bedin, is not far to go. Now about an experience or two at the Ninth r y Front, s I promised last night. Over b · ttered citie s and villa 0 es, down along Hitler's super-highway, the autobahn, which is exactly like many of our four- lane concrete high ays, over German amuniti n and supply dumps of all orts, with not a soul on guard, over rail • ay yar d s blasted to blazes, above dusty side roads with lon convoys of heavily lo ed American trucks speedin to t he front with n utter disregard for Goering•~ vanished legions of the sky, the once tar- : rible Luftwaffe, over all this I flew, at treetop level, in a tiny artillery obs r~ati o n and liason lane. Just the two of us, Lieutenant Win fhmbleton of Nashua, New Ham shire, at the c ntrols. Finally, u ah ead, we sa~ m oke rising fn,m the burning German city of Bamlyn, the city of the Pied Piper of Ha lyn, which is south of H n n over, and farthe east to . ard Betlin. B ae ~ at Ninth ~,y Head- q ua r ters I h d been tol +~·the Thirtieth Di vision waP in .. :-- 1 1 , 0 i l l u y ivii 6 o ut th rm a n troops , an t i t i ~ ht Q l P n y risk y omin dow n in a 0 \ ? · tu r e on h ut k ir of the i e Pi er ' s home tov n . . , i o v ~ utt e buildin J s , f le · thro h h e 0 , , a n t m bum e i nt o a t! do w right a lon i t e II ' I e iv e r. hen in a J ep we cross e d a onto n bri , f ou ~ j or Gene 1 L e land Bobbs, who i s in com . and of the .30th Divisi n in fact, fo u n i m h e e o n the edge of urni nu Ha lyn, dictat- in g letters to Amer i c , a n ering ma il from parents i ho ere ask in J h im ~ o ut th e ir boys. So muc~ con- fi e nca did be b vein his en f · htin ri g ht near by that he c ou ld t ke ti m e t w rit e a f ew letters to father s a nd mother s a n d wive., at home. He says he ans e rs the m all. Th ):)th division h s a g r ea t record. It is on e of the few military outfit s of th a t s i ze to re- ceive the m u h covet e d Presidential cit at i o n, with e ach an in the division entitled to w ea r the new blue ribbon, new in this 1 . a r, the one with the gold around it. I h ad with e the names of several l a ds in SimpsonAs Ninth Ar m y, sons f nei g hbor s ; an d , I h a d b ee n lookin for Albert Johnson, son of t he President of Temple University, a n d Les Ward, one of my own son's pals. And sure eno u 0 h, to the surpri ~ e of both of us, I ran into Le , o n the outs iirts of Bamly n . Be had just taken five more Ger n p risoners,he and everal a ls. We t a l ke a b out hoille a n d hi f am ily P. n ri) - ? - - --------- -=--~ a n hi · • • n, 0 h . l h u r or . 0 , n th n I ] f rt ] n t o-. , r l B e rlin. [ ' rJ bet . on h i. h i bu of t he Ninth , le . Army, \I , i n in ,, w th e 0 Hitl c a · i al, the once i hty o n flouri hi C · Il f Ge . ll E m ire. L s, with i -= C rhin t the r c . y V C' ovin th t ay. And now e i nth i a t the Ri .r Elbe - on it s banks tonight. It's incr e dibl e . To return fo a . ome nt to the he dline ne~s: the 17 h A eri · n Airborne Divi i n to ay captured , sen, t e r ea t in ustrial city of the Ruhr. The itish toni 0 ht hav o ly a river bet , e en them a nd the eap ort of Br en, c t the ~outh of the W e sser on the e ba tled bank of i h river I ha landed, farther ups t r ~ a~, in that artillery ob ervation pl ne. More th n a thous nd American h ea vy bombers ere smashing Nure mb urg and Munich today; while P ~ton's Third Ary ente _ a the Ger an city of Coburg. Oh y s, and what t les the American airmen h · ve h to rel a t e toda.)l hile lendin~ a han to ~i m s on' - 2 nd Ar or ed Divl bn, the one that stormed to the F.1 to 1 y, a · quadron of Thunderbolts of the 29th Tac, an o utfit I've b e en visiting, s ot own I seventeen n e · type lon 6 -no ed FW-190s, in a gr at air ba tle th a t l~ s te an hour over the city of Magde- burg an o v Berl in. With a lo ss of one of our Thun er ol The G e~ ~an ir n ha ~ or fi ht in the th an 1 u a l, but Lt. _ d a rd d 1 ards of Lans al e, ' l 1 ----- ------ -- - n i C. ' o t o · n , r , . a i o ne of t e . 1 O S 0 h to h e a · t yond r l in. T 0 '" n , . y. ' g ot re it or ,• : 0 0 Bu o f ur l ston, , ,. es 'l i r in i 0 0 1' • u it' . u v e n I t 1 car the h lf of it. Over the ci y o 1 a hr ticul ur ly a gre sive a nd fam us Mus n ri hter Grou, fourteen of them, spotted t e n t y - f i v e o r or i;, 1 J s a n F \" I 9 0 s , ab o.e t e m - - with the Gr a n fli e s having a ll the vanta 0 e.But the Mustang . ilots dro _ ped their bombs an . belly tank .:, and up they li bed to take on the Ge r ans. Y s , and Ca tain E rl Brushwood of ,ou ltrie, Georgia -- page Jimmy ~elton! destroyed t enty of the Na z i planes, dama ed six, and then raced back, un s cath d, to heir ba e, to celebrate. S ix hundred and forty-one German plans have been destroyed by that P51 outfit, the Pioneer ~ustang Group they are c a lled. Y s , t he war o v e r t . e re is sure mo v in g at h i g h s peed; an if it isn't all over but the shouting, and some ~ oppinu up in the mountains of Bavaria, before long now, then I ' the Pied Piper of Bamlyn! So long, and back to Hugh Gibson in the U.S.A. - - 0 - - ".: .. E O T ------------ oo venin 0 , At half -pa t- e i g h t this mor nin , a t a point a little south of the Ge r man city of Brunswick, an A eri an Bria ier Gen a l spoke up with a brisk fflemark. He was the command r of the Se c ond Armored Division of ~ the Ninth r y, Brig a dier General ! ? aac D. White. They call his outfit, "Hell-on-Wheels,", and he m a de the - -- --- pro i se that his tanks would reach the River Elbe by nightfall. He vowed th a t by sundown his armored units would be in the city of ~agdeburg, on the last important riverline before Berlin. - That might have seemed a rash boast, for it was fifty-five ile~ from Brunswick to . Jagdeburg on the Elbe, and fifty-five ~ iles is almost incredible going for armor in battle. But Hell-on-Wheels made it. After their co m ander•s jubilant promise, they started east in the most sensational sweep of the war. At only one place ~- .. ,., . ~ they/halted -- and only briefly. This was at the hu g e Goerin S teel Works, where so m e fanatical Nazis were re s is tan c e • ent 1· en c hed. It didn't t a ke - the t a ~ ~ a s h ivi s i o n r e a c h e d Ma 0 deburg and the S l e a the d a y close -- at eight-thirty Central e~J,- . - - . Eu r opean Ti e. -- Be e i a sidelight. Brigadier ~l.iene ra l .V hite good hunting, wa s pro m oted today to Major Gen e al -- General! Late wo d is that st.ill another A m erican column has reached the Elbe -- and is only fifty miles from Berlin. And we hear th a t the assault on the line of the Elbe has alre a dy b~gun. Still farther south, Patton's Third Am is driving, but we don't know much about that, because of a security blackout. Thee is no indication whether . Patton's ar~or is moving to the northeast toward Be:rlin, or southward into Bavaria • • 0 One report today deposed, his place taken the lan to was that Hitler has b e e ~ by Himmler, the chief ofNazi terror. Another ll~ which was voiced in the London Bouse of C om m ons was that Bitler wax has been killed. And a t i 11 o h r r ep or t s p i c tu .. e t he i a z i fan at i c s fi g hting amon g the e lv es. The r e is in s istent word of a prospective uprising in the pa r ts of Germany the - ~ azis still control, and one storJ tells of executions of Ger m an ai r force offic er s, including a general, to forestall an outbreak. 1 n j us t a : o 1 en t., e w i 11 he a Lo we 11 'rho as speaking fro ux '1lbour 0 , b t f i t, a • nessage fro n S an ar of .,al iforn ia. .,.. i on : T ha n y,:; Lo · e ll, ii e ' l l be l i tening P.n n ow · . . . . AI \' A , - ---- --- - T · r at y of he air w a r to ay refle c ted the new r a pi ur n of th e ~ ilit a. y s i tua ti on -- the collapse of Ge " . an r e · i ' tan c e in the \\es t. A dispatch fro in h e a q ua t~ ~a tells u s that Allied air power has switch~ its a~ ~ attac ks to a line separating enemy forces in No r th ~e any fro - the couth Ge ~an m ountains, where th e N a z is plan to m ak e their last stand. - ..... ... ----- .n l-- • : i; a a 1 ,(' .. ::. e a;:. i, n e se ial - : es. l e . ra c ~ ... . • i:: i" . e ... vi 0 0 ::iies 0 be ~ a 2 .. w eT'~ . ey a e -Y i :'. · - e ig t i €6 ~ ... - t) ~n ~ . A .: iam:ii 1 L .. a : ns are• c a : . s iao ~ea~- hr gh i s a rea~y eginni~ i - ' jos~o• inti ates t aw in be fin~l ~- i·e o Berlin, a fore~os and art will be pla ej by ~ e lradttlsaa! n i h i.. ~e ussian ~=-seen of the Eu a sian e ;:es, -a--kc: .:;;.. - -- . f .ien:ia is be i g c pleted. be e:i ar 1 bas ~ Li " iE i- .. _ !le ~ i "' = ... - i I' 'u ,.. . C&pi al - 1 - . . "- .. ... - - aL ... ' f -;:: 9 .;; t: · ... - :::. ' ~ l a, = e :- e~-- ◄ e .:-50: . ! f r:.- · · ·c - - ... .... . ... 4 .-.SL r. : i - in I LY _ _ _ h e p ' p o s J f · - he n e w A 11 i e r1 die o s i v e in It a 1 y was st e to y a a n a t t. e mp t to c r a k G e r ~ a n f o r c e s efo e h e y a n a l l b c k throu g h t he Alps to join th e die - h a r Na is in t h e i _ la s t de f en e in m ountainous st onghol d s. We hea r that. the re a e probably now in t a ly n o re o ganized Ger m an d ivisi o ns than there are on the i e st.er a Front. GerJlan m orale in Italy is good, and h a s n o t b e en g e a t ly a ff e c t e d b . t he di s a s t er s on Jk•xl the e s t e rn Fron t . So the fact is that collapsin 0 Na z i Ger m any has a powerfal and efficient army in I t aly. PA C IF I ----- I th e a~pai 0 n f r Okinawa, A mer i ca n troops to ay o • :1 pl t _ t h c aptu r e of a s all but i m portant i land. Thi bi t of lan, ca lled Tsu en, do in t es Nakaguwuku Bay, on th ea st c oa o t of Okinawa. American lan in 1 s enc oun t ed only o erate res istance. On Okin a a, savag e fi g hting continued today and little p rog e ss w a s ill a d e a 6 ainst the powerful defense line f r o ·bor e to ~h ore just north of the town of N aha. On e dispatch today sta t ed: "The Ja p anese have now opene d a powe r ful bo r ob a rd ent, with field guns and 11 o t a ~ s , and pro g r es s was a 1 mcm. i mp o as i b 1 e • " ~Y And now, Bugh Ja m es. ri LTP.1945.04.11i.pdf LTP.1945.04.11ii.pdf