June 5: ON THIS DAY in 1944, Allies occupy Rome, chase Germans north

June 5, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, NAPLES (U.P.) — The 5th Army completed the occupation of Rome, first Axis-held capital in Europe to be liberated, and swept on without pause across the Tiber River today in close pursuit of German forces fleeing in disorder toward a new defense line possibly 150 miles to the north. American tank and infantry vanguards already were streaming north of Rome under orders to annihilate the enemy armies when Allied headquarters announced the triumphant liberation of the religious capital of the world in a special communique on the 271st day of the Italian campaign … Adolf Hitler was reported by the official German news agency DNB to have ordered his forces to withdraw northwest of Rome to avoid drawing the ancient capital into the battle area. The clandestine radio Atlantic said the Germans were rushing three divisions from southern France and two others from northern Italy in an attempt to stem the Allied tide.

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ON THIS DAY IN 1944, the Eagle reported, “LONDON (U.P.) — Up to 1,250 American heavy bombers and fighters raked the French invasion coast with bombs and gunfire today, carrying forward the bombardment that in four days and nights has rained more than 13,000 tons of explosives across Germany’s west wall fortifications. The American daylight blow followed a night of almost ceaseless activity across the English Channel during which swarms of the R.A.F.’s heaviest raiders blasted the same invasion-marked area and ranged on into the Rhineland to drop their blockbusters on Cologne. Other British planes laid mines in enemy waters. Not a single plane was lost in the night-long operations. Some 750 U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators, accompanied by about 500 Thunderbolt and Mustang fighters, launched the daylight blow at the West Wall this morning, their third attack on that shattered strip of coast in the past 24 hours and their sixth since the latest chain of pre-invasion bombing began Friday.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1949, the Eagle reported, “WELLESLEY, MASS. (U.P.) — Margaret Clapp, 39, assistant professor of history at Brooklyn College and a Pulitzer prize winning biographer, was named eighth president of Wellesley College today. Miss Clapp, second alumna president in Wellesley history, will succeed Mrs. Mildred McAfee Horton, wartime director of the WAVES, whose resignation is effective July 1 when the new president assumes office. The new president, elected last night at a special trustees meeting, was born in East Orange, N.J. Graduated from Wellesley in 1930, she later received the degrees of master of arts and doctor of philosophy from Columbia University. She was the first woman to teach in the history department of the college of the City of New York and subsequently was a member of the faculties of New Jersey College for Women and Columbia.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “With crash of brass and bray of trumpets, some 100,000 Sunday school teachers and children will begin parading tomorrow at 2 p.m. in honor of Brooklyn Day. However, it’s not, strictly speaking, ‘Brooklyn Day,’ says William S. Webb, treasurer of the Brooklyn Sunday School Union. It’s the celebration of the founding of the Union, established in 1816. The Union is made up of Protestant Sunday schools throughout the borough. Schools in Brooklyn and Queens were closed by law in 1860 on ‘Anniversary Day,’ because it was found that the majority of them took off to celebrate anyway. There will be 26 separate parades in Brooklyn, with the main one along the ‘long meadow’ in Prospect Park. The reviewing stand along that line of march will be studded with notables, including Mayor Wagner, Borough President Stark, Commissioner Newbold Morris and Fire Commissioner Edward Thompson. The Union was founded by Joshua Sands; the first celebration of its inception was in 1829, at the Sands St. Methodist Episcopal Church. The first annual parade was held on June 26, 1838. Now the celebration is held on the first Thursday in June.”